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“There’s going to be a huge front porch on the cabin,” she told Atwater. “And a fenced yard in back, so the kids can’t wander too close to the woods. In the summertime, that hillside is just alive with wildflowers and song-birds…and the deer come out at twilight to nibble the tender grasses.” She sighed wistfully, visualizing it all just the way she’d always done. “And we’ll have a dog. A big, oversized, long-eared, shaggy mutt of a dog.”
She was smiling broadly as she let the curtain fall and turned to glance back at the table, at Caleb. He was sitting there very still and very quiet, his face expressionless, and she felt her smile slowly die. Maybe she’d shocked him. Maybe her dreams didn’t fit in with his plans at all.
“So this is for real, this marriage of yours? It’s not just for appearance’s sake?” Dirk Atwater turned away from the window to address Caleb.
Caleb stared at Maya, and she stared back.
Bobby got up and came over to the table. “Look at the two of them,” he said to Atwater. “Does that look to you like it’s for real?” The cameraman fired off a series of shots.
Maya felt her stomach clench and quickly averted her eyes.
But there was no stopping Bobby once he got started. “Over eight months ago, these two met by chance. Or maybe it was fate. The middle of a rainstorm, a flat tire, a man looking to get warm and dry walks into a charming little roadhouse and meets the girl of his dreams. It was love at first sight.”
And as he spoke, Caleb never took his eyes off Maya. She wanted to look away, but found she couldn’t.
“Through a series of misunderstandings and bad decisions,” Bobby went on, “they fell out of touch. Ms. Brand didn’t want to be labeled a gold digger—a fear that was justified, if the tabloids are any indication. And Mr. Montgomery didn’t even know about the babies. Now these two have managed to get past all of that and put things together again. Not for the sake of the press, Mr. Atwater. They’ve done this in spite of the press. In spite of public opinion. In spite of irresponsible journalists who see fit to drag Miss Brand’s family and her character through the mud to sell papers. In spite of the whole damned world, Mr. Atwater, these two star-crossed lovers have found their way back to each other. This is not a political scandal. This is a love story, Atwater. A Christmas story. A miracle.”
Maya blinked back her senseless tears and wondered if Bobby was about to burst into a chorus of the “Star Spangled Banner” or “Silent Night.” She thought Dirk Atwater might very well shed a tear of his own at any moment.
But then he pursed his lips, met her eyes and said, “So then there won’t be any prenuptial agreement?”
Bobby’s jaw dropped, and Caleb said, “Don’t you think that’s getting a bit too personal, Atwater? That’s over the line.”
Maya held up a hand. “Actually, I’m insisting on one.” She sent a gentle smile Caleb’s way. She’d been watching Bobby, and she thought she got it now. This art of “spinning.” “I know you’re against it, Caleb,” she said, though she had no idea if he was or not. In fact, she rather thought he would be nuts not to ask for a prenup. “I just see no other way to prove to the world that all of this isn’t an elaborate conspiracy to get my hands on your family’s money.”
“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone, Maya,” Caleb told her.
She sighed, nodded, but from the corner of her eye she saw Bobby’s slight nod of approval. Good. She’d done her job, and maybe she ought to quit while she was ahead. “I’m a little tired,” she said, rubbing the small of her back.
Caleb was beside her in a flash, arms sliding easily around her as he eased her back to her chair. The camera went off. “Do you need anything? A drink? Something to eat?”
Bobby cleared his throat. “I think this is going to have to conclude the interview. Dirk, you have the exclusive on the impending marriage and the twins until tomorrow morning. Then we’ll issue a press release. That’s all.”
Atwater clicked off the tape recorder, nodded once and gathered up his notebook. “Thank you both,” he said. “I appreciate this, and I think you’ll see that when my story runs tonight.” He shook Caleb’s hand. Gave Maya a gentle smile. “You take care, Ms. Brand.”
The photographer snapped another shot and then they left.
Maya blew air through her lips and let her head fall backward in the chair. “God, I’m glad that’s over.”
“Oh, come on, don’t tell me that was tough on you,” Bobby chirped, smiling. “You sailed through it like a pro! Hell, where did you get all that stuff about the log cabin and the dog and the pansies? I couldn’t have made that stuff up if I’d tried!”
She brought her head level again, saw Caleb searching her eyes. He said, “You fell back on your dreams, didn’t you, Maya?”
She shrugged. “Maybe I’m just a good liar.”
“I don’t think so.”
Looking away, she said, “So do you think he bought it?”
“We’ll know in a few hours, when the evening edition hits the streets,” Bobby said. “You two ought to go into town between now and then. Be seen together. Pick out some baby clothes or something. Great photo op, with all the press in Big Falls.”
Maya tried not to grimace at the thought.
Caleb said, “No. I think maybe a quiet, healthy meal and then a long nap would be a better choice. Don’t you, Maya?”
“Sounds like heaven to me,” she said. “You must be reading my mind.”
“I wish. Come on, let’s get you someplace more comfy than this hard chair. Sofa or bed?”
