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Maya smiled because she couldn’t not. The man before her was adorable— and he clearly wanted to help. “I’d like that very much, Brad,” she said. “Thank you.”
ChapterThree
Maya waited nervously, shifting her weight from foot to foot, as Brad convinced Thaddeus DeWitt to go ahead to the coffee shop without him; he needed to guide Maya to the best bed and breakfast in the area, where he was sure she would be most comfortable during her stay. It was curious to Maya that he wanted to help her so much; she wasn’t accustomed to such generosity, not even in the small town where she and her ex-husband had raised Phoebe. She had to bite her tongue not to ask how much the bed and breakfast cost per night. She didn’t want to seem like a desperate woman. Then again, she was on a Christmas scavenger hunt set by an aunt she’d never met. That was maybe the definition of desperation.
Brad, Mr. DeWitt, and Maya left the law offices together. Mr. DeWitt locked the door behind them and whistled under his breath as though pleased with his long day of work. He waved goodbye and said, “See you in a few, Brad.”
“You guys are really close?” Maya asked as soon as Mr. DeWitt disappeared around the corner because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. The silence between them was thick in her ears.
“We’ve been friends since high school,” Brad said. “The guy’s a genius. I know he comes off a little cold at times, but that exterior falls away pretty quickly.”
Maya was surprised at how smiley Brad was. Maybe he was just friendly; maybe he wasn’t flirting with her in the least. Did she want Brad to flirt with her? No, she decided. She just wanted to sit in a room alone. She just wanted to process the previous weeks of her life.
“So, your aunt is Veronica Albright!” Brad said. “That’s really something.”
“I just found out. I thought I was basically alone in the world, save for my daughter.”
Brad arched his eyebrow, and his smile fell slightly. “You never had contact with Veronica?”
Maya shook her head. “I’m going to drive over to her nursing home later today to say hello. But I’m so nervous. My hands are all clammy.”
“Do you know why she never reached out?”
“I don’t think I’ll ask her today,” Maya said. “But I’m dying to know.”
After a short walk, they appeared before an ornate Victorian home with sharp rooftops and turquoise-painted siding. A gray-haired woman stepped out of the foyer and waved to Brad. “Are you bringing us more customers?”
Maya smiled up at Brad as they mounted the steps. Somehow, in his presence, she felt as though everything was going to be okay. Had she felt that way when she’d met Nick? She couldn’t remember anymore. Not that Brad was a romantic prospect. Although he wore no wedding ring, he probably had a girlfriend. He seemed normal. Nice. The kind of guy a small-town woman would have loved coming home to.
The Hollygrove Bed and Breakfast was owned and operated by a husband and wife named Conor and Felicity. They were both in their seventies, and they squabbled over the computer at the front desk, trying to check Maya in.
“The computer is new,” Felicity explained. “And we haven’t figured it out fully yet.”
When Felicity handed Maya the big iron key to her room, Maya turned to Brad and said, “Thank you for your help. I guess you have to run to see Thaddeus?”
Brad palmed the back of his neck. Was it her imagination, or did he not want to go? He smiled. “When should we meet to discuss the festival? We don’t have long to plan it.”
“The Christmas Festival?” Felicity’s voice brightened. “You’re planning it? I was so worried when I heard Veronica was sick.”
“It’s up to us,” Brad affirmed. “Do you think we can do it, Felicity?”
“If anyone can, it’s you, Brad.” Felicity winked. It occurred to Maya that probably, the older women around Hollygrove flirted with Brad all the time.
“Maybe tomorrow?” Maya suggested.
“Perfect,” Brad said. “I usually leave school around three-thirty or four.”
“I can meet you outside the elementary school,” Maya suggested.
“Great,” Brad said. “See you later.”
Maya went to the second floor and inserted the iron key into her bedroom lock. Inside, she found a spacious and well-lit bedroom suite with a thick queen-sized bed and a mahogany desk that was perfect for food writing if she found the time (or the creativity, which seemed dead in the water these days). There was also a clawed bathtub in the bathroom, which she planned to use later. She’d previously loved to take baths on the long nights Nick had spent at the restaurant.
It occurred to her, now, that Nick probably hadn’t been at the restaurant during some of those long nights. He’d probably been with someone— a woman, maybe even the one who’d taken him away. But this wasn’t the time to get down about that. She had to get ready and head to the nursing home. She had to meet her final link to her mother. Perhaps, standing before her, she would understand her mother and her family lineage in a way she’d never been allowed. As an orphan, a dark cloud had lurked in her mind where family details should have been.
But when Maya reached the nursing home on the outskirts of town, the woman at the front desk informed her that Veronica was far too ill to see anyone right now.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Maya said softly. “Do you know when she’ll be up for a visit?”
