Maya made a face and smiled. “No.”
“You’re awful skinny. I was just wondering.”
“Mom,” scolded Kevin.
“It’s okay. I am skinny. Been teased all my life with nicknames like string bean, toothpick, and stretch.”
“String bean and Bam Bam.” He winked.
He eyed Maya. Now that he knew her so well, he was certain she was more nervous than she led on. He rubbed her back to calm her.
“We can sit at the table,” Franny said enthusiastically. “It’s ready to serve. I like having conversations around a dinner table, don’t you? We can eat and take it easy.”
“Yes,” smiled Maya. “That sounds wonderful.”
Franny had planned out where everyone would sit. She pulled out their chairs until Kevin reached over her and drew the chair out for her.
He pushed everyone in and took his seat. Franny rubbed Maya’s arm affectionately before she dished out the food. His mom wasn’t a fancy cook, but a good one. She’d prepared beef stew and a green salad. It was reminiscent of the meal Maya made for Kevin and Damon. She had a basket full of rolls that Kevin knew she had baked.
At the far end of the table was a stack of photo albums. Franny was going to show Maya family and football pictures. She was bringing Maya into the fold one photo at a time. He smiled to himself.
“Any thoughts about when you will have the wedding?”
He noted that Franny gave Maya as much food as she gave him.
“Mom,” he chastised. “She’s not Damon.”
“What?” asked Franny innocently.
He never knew if she was as clueless as she appeared or if it was her cover, but he never called her on it.
“Too much?” He pointed to the serving large enough to stuff a football player.
Maya nodded her head. “Yes, it’s a bit too much.”
He picked up Maya’s plate and put some of it back. He knew her, she’d eat every bite so as not to offend and she’d hate herself for the rest of the night because she’d be miserably full.
“There you go,” he said. “In answer to your question, we don’t know exactly when we'll have the wedding.”
“I know we want to have it soon.” She looked at him with such love and devotion in her eyes. “I think we want it to take place within the next few months.”
He took Maya’s hand.
Franny giggled. She seemed beside herself with excitement.
“Good.” She nodded.
“We’re going to have the reception at the saloon.”
Franny gazed at him with a blank expression and then shrugged.
“Is that a shrug of approval or disapproval?” He wasn’t always sure with his mom.
“I like it. I know it’s a saloon, but it’s no different from the diner which serves beer too, so I’m fine with it.”
“You know, Damon said that was the first building in town?”
“I guess so.” Franny dipped her spoon into her stew and pulled up a carrot. “People can’t live without their watering holes.” She took a bite and hummed.
“Mom, it’s not just a watering hole. It’s a gathering place. They dance there and they listen to music. Besides, my best friend owns the place.”
“Did you all belong to a church here?” asked Maya, changing the subject on purpose. Better to talk about the ceremony than the reception at this point. “There is one church here in the town and then there are a few in Idaho Springs.”
“What about John’s house?” he asked. “It’s roomy. There’s nothing in it. It has a deck that runs all the way around it. That would be perfect. I mean, if you two agree.”
“Actually, that’s a great idea,” Maya added.
Franny made a face or tried hard not to.
Maya explained. “My cousin John has this big A-frame house in the hills. It is a grand log cabin that he doesn’t need since he married and moved. I’ve been staying in it. It has nothing in it but the bare essentials so we wouldn’t have to move anything. It has big picture windows so you see the outdoors.”
“Is it the place you stayed in right after Lucy left?”
The mention of Lucy stopped the conversation. Maya paused politely and smiled. Kevin cleared his throat and filled his glass of water from the pitcher Franny set out for them.
“Yes, Mom. That’s the one.”
“That sounds like a lovely idea.”
It sounded like she meant it and wasn’t just saying it to cover for her blunder.
“You and I can go over and you can see what I mean,” Maya offered. “If you have a church in mind, we can check that out too.”
“Thank you. It’s nice that you’re including me.” Franny picked up the ladle and poured herself another helping. She looked at Maya’s bowl but Kevin shook his head.
Maya giggled. “It’s getting real.”
“It was real the day I put that ring on your finger.”
They both looked at Franny, knowing the ring came from her.
“Thank you.” Maya held out her hand for Franny to see.
“It looks like it was made for you.” Franny patted her hand in a motherly fashion and all tension left the room.
When their plates were empty, They leaned back in their chairs. It was more food than they were used to but neither of them was willing to not eat every bite.
“Would anyone like coffee?” asked Franny, clearing the plates.
“I’ll get those, Mom.” Kevin rose from the table.
“The coffee is made if you want to bring it out to us.”
“Sure thing, Mom.”
Franny walked over to the photo albums at the end of the table and looked at Maya.
“Would you like to see some pictures?”
“I would love to.”
Kevin cleared the table and rinsed the dishes. He took his time joining the women. It was more fun to eavesdrop on them. The conversation was a different experience without him there. He took his time walking into the living room where Franny had moved them and sat in what used to be his father’s favorite chair.
His dad had been gone for some time, but Franny was such a creature of habit and rarely sat anywhere else but a few select places—mostly at the kitchen table.
Kevin realized his hand was where his dad’s hand had been at one time or another. He speculated as to how his father might like Maya.
As he looked at his mother and his fiancée, it occurred to him that he was looking at the future mother of his children.
She looked up from the photo album and caught him studying her.
He winked.
She blushed and returned her attention to the pictures. She let out an “aww” as his mother turned the page.
“What?” he asked.
Maya picked up the photo album and showed him a picture of himself in first grade.
“Oh, my goodness.” She made her I-love-you face.
He laughed softly. Next Franny reached for the first of many football albums.
He held up his hand. “Okay, Mom.”
“I’m interested. I want to see them all.”
“Turnabout is fair play. Just wait until I get ahold of your photo albums.”
“We might have to go to Mrs. Jensen for those,” she teased. “My parents have passed.”
Kevin was stunned. It was a major measure of how fast things had moved between them. He didn’t know and he should have.
“I feel stupid right now.”
He realized they never talked about her family besides Clem, and occasionally her sister Jennifer.
“Yes,” said Maya. “Plane crash after a ski weekend. It took all the living senior Blackwoods. That’s how me, Clem, Jennifer, John, Patrick, and Caleb inherited everything.”
Franny nodded. “I’d read about that.” She looked at her son and frowned. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“It was a while ago. In hindsight, I can’t say it was a huge loss. They weren’t around much. Us kids spent most of our time in privat
e school and summer camp. You might say they never got over their youth. They valued their ski trips and their vodka.”
She looked to both Kevin and Franny. Her eyes opened wide as if she’d figured something out. “They say drinking problems run in the family.”
“They can, dear, but not always, if you’re worried about Kevin.”
“I meant me,” she said with a laugh. “As always, I just realized my parents were both alcoholics. I wouldn’t have thought about them that way before, but now I see it clearly. I was thinking I would have Clem walk me down the aisle. Franny, would you be willing to help me get ready? I’ll ask Jennifer to be my maid of honor.”
Franny nearly choked she was so happy. She wrapped her arms around Maya without saying a word.
“I’m going to ask Damon to be my best man.”
“Do you think we should invite the whole town?” Maya tilted her head in question.
Kevin looked to the ceiling, not believing what he’d just heard, but there was no way he could say no. Maya had been alienated from her town, who was he to stop her from integrating into it now?
“Okay,” he said easily. “I don’t care. Sure, why not? We’ll have the town over to John’s and then a party at the saloon afterward.”
“No, I mean to the reception,” she clarified. “We can have family and close friends to John’s and then everyone is invited to the saloon.”
“That makes more sense.” Kevin rubbed his hands together. “Deal. Wow, we are making some kind of progress here. I guess now we have to pick at least a time frame.”
“Well … I’ve been talking to Deena. She thinks her morning sickness should be gone in the next couple of months. That will make ours a summer wedding.”
“Then we should have it out back of John’s house with the mountains as our backdrop.”
Franny touched her lips as her eyes glistened with tears. God, he loved his mom.
But looking at Maya made his heart nearly burst. Soon. Very soon, she would be his.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maya
Since they figured they would have a summer wedding, Maya and Kevin decided they needed to have a version of a bachelor and bachelorette party. Maya called together all her female family members and friends. She invited her sister Jennifer, her cousins-in-law Lucy and Deena, Kaitlin of course, and her sponsor Togi.
She called Franny, but Franny declined.
“I understand, but is there something else you’d like to do? Do you want to help me with the menu? Damon said he’ll make anything we ask for.”
She liked that suggestion very much. She also said she would check out a few churches just so they had options, which Maya had to admit was not a bad idea.
Despite the bad memories of Idaho Springs, Maya took everyone to the spa at Indian Springs outside the town. She had a house there that had been empty since she’d cleaned up her act nearly a year ago.
When she announced the location, Deena admitted she was not feeling well enough to deal with the sulfur scent of the spa, so Maya had one fewer guest to consider.
She’d never canceled her maid service even though she hadn’t been back to the place for all that time. It had been cleaned once a week ever since. For her guests, she had all the sheets changed on the beds and the refrigerator stocked. Outside of that, everything was set.
Togi and Maya went up ahead of everyone else. It was a strange feeling being in the house again. It didn’t feel like it was hers.
There were a few things out of place and she wondered if the cleaning service had something to do with it. The shower curtain was torn where it hung off the hooks, like it had been yanked and she worried that maybe someone had been hurt while cleaning and had grabbed the curtain for balance.
That wasn’t so weird, but there was a cigarette burn on her bedspread that caused her a moment of concern. Even when she was drinking, at least she thought, she never smoked. She didn’t let people smoke in the house either. She would ask the service about it, though something told her it wasn’t them. Otherwise, the place was perfect and ready for guests.
“Someone smoked in the house, Togi.”
“Yeah?” Togi lifted her shoulders in a shrug.
“I must have been out of it at the end. It’s so out of character.”
“We usually are.” Togi walked around the place like she was walking around the Ritz.
Maya had ordered a bunch of flowers to be delivered and placed them all over the house and in each bedroom. She and Togi picked up some last minute goodies at the local grocer—lots of chocolate.
She and Togi were the only nondrinkers, but Maya couldn’t have alcohol around so she bought a lot of flavored sparkling water, which happened to be her favorite.
They hung out and waited for her other guests. When the ladies arrived, they headed over to the spa at Indian Springs. The sulfur springs were natural hot tubs. They each had warm mud wraps, facials, massages, and mani-pedis.
When they were all soft-skinned, relaxed and beautiful, she took everyone shopping at Eldora’s.
Togi said she’d never been, so that was actually the first thing she put on her girls’ getaway list.
“I can’t,” said Togi shyly.
“I can,” Maya insisted. “You know I can. It’s no secret. Why have it if I can’t share? I want you to enjoy yourself. Get what you need or get what you don’t need. Just get something.”
Togi gave her a great big hug.
She looked around for wedding inspiration. She had the location and the time, more or less. Now she needed attire. She was looking at herself in the mirror at Eldora’s, which like all the other shops in town, had an Old West motif. Maya suddenly saw herself as though she were back in time. Maybe when the building was new. In her imagination, the roads were dirt, ladies in lace and parasols walked through town. Wooden hitching posts were filled with tethered horses. Carriages carried families to the corner store to buy fresh farmed eggs.
“I have to have an Old West wedding,” she blurted out.
She held up a blouse that looked antique. She summoned her sister over.
“Jennifer, what do you think?”
“Oh, my gosh, that’s a great idea. One of the designers had a son who did that. It was so cool.”
Of all the Blackwoods, Jennifer was the jet setter. She’d grown up realizing she had money and it made her feel better. She lived a pretty lavish lifestyle compared to the rest of the Blackwood children.
Maya envisioned her entire wedding. John’s backyard rolling with mountain wildflowers, the bright blue Colorado sky. Kevin in an old-fashioned suit and a ribbon tie, and she in a gown with ivory lace. She fancied her hair in a messy bun.
She warmed with the idea. She would be married in her Old West hometown looking like the settlers might have.
Her great, great grandparents had settled Blackwood after they made a fortune on its gold, but the richness that she found was in the town itself and its people. She couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the love of the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. It would be a fitting way to begin life there. If she got the town back, it would be like starting over from the beginning again, minus the gold rush.
“I think that’s a great idea, Maya.”
“Kaitlin, was I being insensitive inviting you? Where are you and Clem?”
“We’re figuring that out.” Kaitlin gave her a weak smile.
“I wish I knew if my mother had a wedding gown. I’m not sure I would fit it because I’m taller, but I kind of wish, you know? I can’t remember, did you have a custom gown or was one handed down?”
“Clem has a lot of your parents’ stuff in our attic back in Aspen. We could look. I had my mother’s dress, but I thought some of your mom’s things were there too.” Kaitlin stopped cold and then closed her eyes. “I’m okay.” She swallowed hard. “People go through things. Marriages go through things.”
“They do,” said Maya. “Hey, I can fly out there and look.
Our plane is here.”
“Why don’t I see if Clem and I could go, if you don’t mind?” Kaitlin made a mischievous face through her tears.
By the time the women got back to Maya’s, they were wiped out. They gathered around the sofas and overstuffed chaises in their pajamas. She set tapas out and everyone ate at will. They were having a quiet and easy time when they heard what sounded like a key in the door.
The chain was on, so even someone with a key couldn’t get in. They braced themselves. She looked to Togi out of reflex, but she had no idea what was going on.
“Is this a bachelorette prank?” She glanced around the room to see everyone’s faces, but they were all serious.
“I have a feeling it’s not.” Togi lifted from her seat like she was ready to fight.
“You call Kevin,” Maya told Togi. “And Lucy… you call 911.”
Everyone scattered. She decided she would find out who was trying to get into her house. Armed with her cellphone and a fireplace poker, she crept to the front door as a hand tried to reach around to undo the chain. She came down on the perpetrator’s arm with the metal bar.
“Mother—!” the man cursed. She recognized Tim Johnson’s voice.
Maya charged the door and closed it with her shoulder, slamming his arm again. He withdrew it with a scream. She heard footsteps running away from the scene.
The Idaho Springs Police sirens rang in the distance.
“I knew it,” declared Maya. “I knew someone had been here. I cannot believe it. He’s been staying in my house the entire time.”
Maya wondered how the security company that operated the closed-circuit camera system hadn’t alerted her. She shook with rage. When the spinning blue lights lit up the front of her house, she unlocked the door and greeted the police.
“We want to let you know we caught him,” the officer said. “He’s in custody, but we have to take him to the hospital. Want to tell us what happened?”
“This man has been pestering her, that’s what happened,” Togi said. “He shows up everywhere she is, and I just happened to be with her. He tried to break into the house.”
Maya nodded to confirm.
Imagine That: A Small Town Big Love Novel Page 16
