Thrill Me (24 page)

“I won't. He and I aren't exactly speaking right now.”

“Pshaw.” Gladys shook her head. “He'll come around. They always do. Then you'll go see the world. Take lots of pictures and send them to us. We'll love seeing what you're doing.”

She raised her hand toward her friend. “High five for a job well done?”

“You bet.” Eddie raised her hand and they slapped palms.

Maya looked between them. She felt as if an important truth was sitting right in front of her, only she couldn't quite grasp it.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“You,” Eddie told her. “We're proud of you, child.”

Gladys chuckled. “You still don't get it, do you? You've been asking around about your college scholarship. It was us. We're the ones who put you through school.”

Maya was sure her mouth dropped open, but she couldn't seem to care. “You?” Her mind had trouble grasping the information. “The two of you?”

“Slick, huh?” Eddie asked. “We've been doing stuff like this for years. Our husbands left us well-off and we both have family money. We're not going to spend it on silly things like cars or clothes, so why not?”

Maya scrambled to her feet and circled the desk. She hugged them both, as tightly as she could, before remembering they had elderly bones.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much that scholarship meant to me.”

Gladys touched her cheek. “We know, and we're proud of you, Maya. We want you to be happy. Pay it forward or whatever it is you young people say today.”

“I will.”

Eddie smiled at her. “Don't worry about Del. I've known him all his life. He'll figure out what's what. And if he doesn't, I'll smack him with my purse.”

Maya hugged them again. They'd believed in her back when she hadn't been able to begin to believe in herself. Whatever happened, she would keep moving forward. If not for herself, then for the two old ladies who had seen promise in her when she wasn't sure there had been very much.

* * *

D
EL
HAD
LOST
count of the beers he'd had, but what with being able to walk back to the cabin, knew it didn't matter. Nick was sprawled next to him on the sofa, while Aidan had claimed his big recliner.

The evening together hadn't been planned, but somehow they'd all ended up here, at Aidan's place. They'd talked about football, the chances of an early snow and whether or not they should get in a camping trip together before it got too cold. But they hadn't addressed the real reason they were drinking beer together.

Del figured he was the oldest, so it was up to him. “The twins didn't tell either of you?”

Calling Ronan and Mathias “the twins” was no longer applicable, but they'd been that for as long as he could remember. Changing now seemed impossible. He wondered how they thought of themselves.

“Never said a word,” Aidan told him. “I didn't know either of them were capable of keeping any kind of secret, let alone one this big.”

“Damned straight,” Nick muttered. “Secrets. Hell of a way to live.” He looked up. “No. They didn't tell me. Didn't even hint when they were home for Dad's birthday.”

“How'd they do that?” Aidan asked.

Del had the same question. Sure, they'd had three years to work through what they'd learned, but to not share it with their brothers.
Talk about a twisted family dynamic
, Del thought grimly.

“At least we know why they moved,” Nick said. “They wanted to get away from Dad.”

“Mom, too,” Del added. “She kept the truth from them, too.” Ronan would have been wrestling with his identity, while Mathias would have lost half of how he'd defined himself. They'd always been the twins. Two parts of a whole.

“Wonder what else they're keeping from us.” Aidan sipped his beer. “Could be a million things.”

“It's not like they're going to tell us,” Nick said. “Too many secrets.”

Del thought of his brother's artwork, hidden in the forest. Not that he was going to mention it. There was enough to deal with. He didn't want to be fighting with his brothers. Not today.

Aidan looked at him. “You're being an ass about Maya. In case you didn't know.”

So much for not fighting
, Del thought. “No one cares what you think.”

“I have to agree with Aidan,” Nick said. “Come on. She was helping Mom.”

“She lied to all of us.”

“She kept something from us.”

“That our mother has cancer.” Del glared at both of them. “That's unforgivable.”

“Only if you decide to make it unforgivable,” Nick told him. “It was Mom's decision to tell us or not. I don't agree with what she did, but that was all her. Maya was doing a good thing. She kept a promise.”

Del stood up and walked into the kitchen. He finished his beer and grabbed another from the refrigerator.

“You can run, but you can't hide,” Aidan called from the living room. “She's good for you, bro. She's smart and sexy and for reasons neither of us can figure out, she wants to be with you. You've got a good thing. Don't screw it up by being a jerk.”

Del returned to the living room, but didn't take his seat. “I'm not the bad guy. I trusted her and she lied to me. I knew better. She'd already done it once. She lied about being scared and she lied when she broke up with me. Nothing's changed.”

“If that's what you learned from what happened with Maya, then you don't deserve her. Go on. Make your movies by yourself. Because you shouldn't bother trying to make it work with another person. One way or another, they'll screw up and then what? You'll have to get rid of them. It must be a bitch being the only perfect person in the room.”

“You wouldn't understand,” Del said, putting down the beer and heading for the door.

“We do understand,” Aidan told him. “You're looking for a guarantee. Life isn't that tidy. Shit happens and you deal. At the end of the day, the question is, can you trust the person you love to have your back? That's what always went wrong with Dad. We knew that the art came first. Always. I don't know how Mom reconciles that, but she chose to marry him and she's going to stay with him. It just is. But with Maya—she had Mom's back. Considering what she'd had to deal with, married to Dad, I'm glad someone was there for her.”

“We could have been there for her,” Del pointed out.

“She didn't want us. She wanted Maya. And Maya didn't let her down. That should count for a lot. If you're too stupid to see that means Maya would have your back, too, then walk out of here. I'm not going to stop you.”

Del looked at the door, then back at his brothers. Nick raised a shoulder.

“He's got a point. I'm as surprised as you, but even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.”

“You know I could take you,” Aidan said conversationally.

“In your dreams.”

Del grabbed his beer and returned to the sofa. “You two give me a pain in my ass.”

“I know.” Aidan grinned. “Gotta love family.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

M
AYA
HAD
HEARD
all about the infamous Fool's Gold breakup parties, but she'd never been to one herself. Her only regret was that her first time attending one was because Del had broken her heart. She had a feeling she would have enjoyed the night a lot more if it hadn't been for her benefit.

Her small living room was crowded with women, and loud with the sound of a blender making drinks. All her friends were there. Phoebe, of course, Madeline, Shelby and several other women from town. Jo was handling the drinks. On the food front, everyone had shown up with some kind of sugary or salty snack. There were chips and nuts, brownies, cookies, chocolate and gallons of ice cream. Maya hadn't yet started eating, but her pants already felt tight. There was going to be some serious working out in her future. After she recovered from the hangover she planned to have in the morning.

Sophie, who was staying with her for a few days, was in beagle heaven, going from guest to guest. Maya wasn't sure which the happy dog was enjoying more—all the attention, or the crumbs that fell on the floor.

“You doing okay?” Phoebe asked, passing her a margarita.

“Sure.”

“Okay, silly question.” Her sister-in-law hugged her. “I'm just so mad at Del.”

“Men are stupid,” Destiny Gilmore called from across the room. “Difficult, emotional and annoying.”

“Including Kipling?” Shelby asked.

Destiny sighed as she touched her growing pregnant belly. “No. Not Kipling. He's kind of sweet.”

“You're not helping,” Phoebe told her.

Destiny wrinkled her nose. “Sorry. Men are idiots.”

Maya managed a smile. She appreciated the evening of being coddled. The past couple of days had been long and lonely. She'd had a lot of time to think about what had happened and where she was going from here. None of it had been easy.

She understood why Del felt betrayed. She wasn't sure she could even blame him for how he'd reacted. If she'd been in his position, she would have been as angry.

Madeline walked over and sat next to her on the sofa. “I'm sorry,” she said. “How are you holding up? How is Elaine?”

Word of the other woman's cancer diagnosis and treatment had spread quickly through town.

“She stopped by the office this morning,” Maya said, and put her arm around Sophie. The pretty girl snuggled close, then sniffed the carpet. “She feels awful about all of this. I keep telling her that she doesn't have anything to apologize for. She had enough to deal with.”

Phoebe and Madeline exchanged a look.

“What?” Maya asked. “Don't you get on Elaine.”

“We won't,” Phoebe promised. “You're sweet to defend her. It's just if she hadn't asked you to keep the information private in the first place, you and Del would still be together.”

“Maybe,” Maya said. “But something would have happened to piss him off or make him feel he couldn't trust me. Del's looking for a reason not to get involved.” Sadly, knowing that was great, but it didn't take away the emptiness in her heart.

Shelby joined them. “I talked to Elaine this morning. She said that she and Ceallach are going away for a few days. Just the two of them.”

Her friend had stopped by to tell Maya the same thing and to ask if Sophie could stay for a couple of days. Maya was pleased for her. Elaine deserved a vacation. Elaine had also offered to talk to Del again, but Maya had refused. There was no need. Del would either figure out why she'd done what she'd done or he wouldn't. Telling him over and over again wasn't going to help either of them.

“It's so interesting about Ronan and Mathias,” Madeline said. “That they're half brothers. I knew them all through school and I never would have guessed.” She tilted her head. “Okay, maybe
interesting
is the wrong word.”

Maya smiled at her. “We know what you mean. They always seemed like twins.”

“I've been thinking about that,” Destiny said. “Do we act the way we act because of how we are or because of what we're told?”

“Feeling a song coming on?” Shelby asked, her voice teasing.

“Maybe. You never know. Life inspires me.”

“Would being half siblings change things?” Shelby asked. “Kipling and I are technically half brother and sister, but I can't imagine feeling closer to him.”

Maya was an only child and didn't have a frame of reference. Being Zane's stepsister had always made her happy. Even though they hadn't always gotten along, he'd been like an anchor. Something she could depend on.

“Starr and I are half sisters,” Destiny said slowly. “You and Kipling.”

“Chase and Zane,” Phoebe added. “They share a father.”

Maya wondered what differences would have occurred in her life if she'd had a sibling. Someone with whom to share the journey. The blame from her mother would have been split between them, she thought. At least she could hope it would have been. Maybe hearing how someone else ruined her mother's life would have made her realize sooner that she wasn't actually to blame. That would have changed her relationship with Del.

If only
, she thought sadly. If only she'd been able to tell him the truth all those years ago. If only she'd been able to say she was scared instead of dumping him by telling him he was too boring. So many regrets.

As for what had happened with his mother, she still didn't have an answer. If Del couldn't understand why she'd kept her friend's secret, then he was the wrong guy for her. But saying that didn't much help her fall out of love with him. If only it could.

Madeline raised her own margarita. “As a sign of love and friendship, Maya, I offer you Jonny Blaze.”

Nearly everyone laughed and there were a few hoots.

“I didn't know he was yours to give,” Jo said from the kitchen. “Does he know?”

“I suspect somewhere in his soul he senses we're destined to be together,” Madeline said primly. “He's resisting, but that only makes our love stronger.”

“You're a weird and twisted person,” Destiny said cheerfully. “That makes me like you more.” She turned to Maya. “Any interest in our newest, most famous resident?”

“Not really,” Maya said. “No offense.”

“None taken. I know he's amazing.”

“He probably knows, as well,” Shelby murmured.

Despite the pain inside, Maya joined in the laughter. She hurt everywhere. It was as if she'd been hit by a truck and then thrown off the side of a mountain. Her bones ached, her muscles were sore and her heart, well, it was nothing more than a wound. Odd how her mother had never fallen in love with anyone and yet Maya had turned out to be a one-man woman. Biology was funny that way.

She wanted to tell herself she would get over him, but she knew better. She would always love him.

As if sensing her discomfort, Sophie returned to her side and leaned against her. Maya scratched her ears.

She hoped that with time, she would hurt less. Maybe she would find someone else who made her laugh and love, but even then, there would be Del. She didn't know why she responded so uniquely to him, but she did.

She didn't even have the satisfaction of a breakup, she thought. Because they'd never truly been together. Not in a committed way. They'd worked together, become lovers, but had never talked about their personal relationship. Everything had happened under the umbrella of work. Even his offer for her to go with him had been work related. There hadn't been any intimate words. No confessions. No promises.

She was as guilty as he in that, she thought. She'd never told him how she felt. Not that knowing would change anything for him. He'd made his decision based on what he knew to be true.

Larissa, a pretty blonde in yoga pants and a T-shirt, leaned toward Maya. “Want me to have Jack beat him up?” she offered. “He would. Jack isn't the beat-up kind of guy, but he has a strong sense of fair play.”

Patience nodded. “Justice would do it, too,” she said. “He knows things.”

“We're not going to get into a competition of whose husband or boyfriend could beat up Del the best,” Maya said. “Not that I don't appreciate the offer.”

“We want to help however we can,” Phoebe told her. “Any suggestions?”

Make him love me back.
Only that wasn't going to happen, and she had to figure out a way to move on. She wasn't going to be like her mom and blame everything on someone else. So her love life sucked. She could be happy in other ways. And she would find them.

“Be my friend,” she told Phoebe.

“Easy enough. I love you and I'll be your friend forever.”

“Then I'm going to be fine.”

* * *

M
AYA
SAT
IN
Mayor Marsha's office. She'd already handed over her letter of resignation.

“I'm sorry to be making you find someone else so quickly,” she said. “I didn't mean to be irresponsible. I'll stay until you find a suitable replacement, unless you'd like me to leave right away.”

Mayor Marsha sat behind her desk, her pleasant expression completely unreadable.

“You're feeling guilty—I can see that. Well, let me be clear. There's no need for any of that nonsense. Maya, you've been a joy to work with. You got Eddie and Gladys to listen, which isn't anything I thought could happen. Now you're ready to go do something else. If you're happy, then the town is happy.”

Maya didn't think
happy
was a word she would use to describe herself. She was more than a little hungover, and she had no idea where, exactly, she was going. But when she'd gotten up that morning, she'd known that she wasn't going to be staying in Fool's Gold.

“I appreciate the opportunity you've given me,” she said instead. “I've really liked working here.”

“I'm glad.” The mayor smiled. “May I ask what you're going to do next?”

“I'm going to look for a film partner. I want to make documentaries—more educational than entertainment. Stories that are geared toward children.”

“Sounds a little like what Del will be doing,” the mayor said.

Maya wasn't surprised she knew about that. From what she could tell, the mayor knew everything happening in her town.

“I would go in a different direction,” Maya told the other woman. “The day in the life kind of project is his, of course. But there are a lot of stories to be told. I have some contacts who work with the documentary arm of a major studio. I'll start by talking to them.”

“You're very talented, Maya. Anyone would be lucky to have you on their team. What about Ernesto and Robert? Will you be doing the commercials for them?”

“I don't know. I've set up a meeting with them. They were unexpectedly called out of town and won't be back until the weekend.”

By then, Maya hoped to have spoken to Del. They might not be friends anymore, but there was still a business deal on the table. Her preference was for them to do it together. If he wasn't interested in that, she would talk to the casino owners about her doing it on her own. As she'd just quit her job, she could sure use the money.

“Do you want me to help with the candidate search?” she asked. “I could ask around, get some names.”

Mayor Marsha shook her head. “There's no need for that. The Director of Communications position won't be filled after you leave.”

“I don't understand.”

“I created the job for you, Maya. You needed us and we certainly needed you. You have the cable access schedule running smoothly. You've created a series of wonderful videos highlighting our town. That's what we needed.”

Maya couldn't believe what she was hearing. Tears burned, although she blinked them away.

“You did this,” she said quietly. “You made up the job so I could come home.”

“I created a position so you could get some work done for me,” the older woman corrected with a smile. “Maya, you'll always be one of us, and you'll always have a home here. Having said that, I have to admit that I think you've discovered that Fool's Gold is just a little too small for you right now. It's time to go explore the world. Just don't forget to come back and show us what you've found.”

* * *

M
AYA
PULLED
THE
thumb drive from her computer. She had a stack of DVDs ready to deliver to Del, along with a master set on the drive. She'd finished going through all his footage and editing his videos, just as she'd said she would. What he did with them was up to him, but she thought he had some good material there.

She also went through the B-roll they'd done around town, pulling together a two-minute video of different shots. The last clip was of them kissing.

She'd spent most of the night trying to come up with exactly what to say on the voice-over. She'd paced, written, scratched out, tried to sleep and then had started all over again.

Now she was exhausted, but finished. If there were right words, she couldn't find them. All she was left with was what she felt in her heart. If it wasn't enough, then what she and Del had was never going to work, anyway.

She found the file on her computer and started it. The opening shot was of the town, with a slow pan to the park. Del was doing push-ups on the grass. Even with the emptiness inside of her, she smiled as she watched him.

Her voice came through her speakers.

“I'm sorry about everything that happened, Del. Most especially with your mom. I know you don't agree with what I did. You can't understand how I kept the truth from you. Cancer is a big deal. I get that. I know you're angry. I didn't mean to hurt you.”

The scene changed to them on the sidewalk in front of The Man Cave. She was trying to get a light reading and he was crowding next to her. They were both laughing.