by Eve Gaddy
Death by Chocolate looked more like death warmed over. What had started as layers were now a jumbled mess, the remaining whipped topping sprinkled with little bits of dirt and debris.
“Just leave it alone,” she snapped, trying to wrestle the dish back from him. “You’ve done enough.”
He had the nerve to grin at her. “It’s a dessert, Maya. Not a priceless work of art. Besides, there’s plenty of food. Here, let me.” Rather than continuing to struggle, she let go of the dish. Taking the serving spoon from her unresisting hand, he carried the dessert over to the trashcan and scraped off the top layer. “There. It’s fine.” He handed it to her.
“That depends on your definition of fine.” She inspected her once beautiful dessert and sighed. “At least the serving dish isn’t broken.” She should have known better than to use a glass compote, but that’s what she always used to serve this dish.
Jack picked up her bags from the floor and opened the gym doors. Resigned, Maya accepted his help and walked through.
“It’s good to see you again, Maya. I’d heard you moved back to Marietta recently,” Jack said walking beside her towards the food tables. “How are you liking it?”
Heartbroken, hah! she thought. He was all grown up and smoothly sure of himself. “It’s not as if I’ve never been back,” she reminded him.
“Living here is different from visiting.”
“True. A lot has changed, especially here at the high school. The old gym was nothing like this one.” Maya looked around, taking in the polished basketball court, the retractable bleachers, the giant scoreboard hanging above it all. “How did they pay for it?”
“Fundraisers and generous donors,” Jack said. “Same goes for the new football stadium. Have you seen it yet?”
“Yes, I went to the first game with my sister Amy. Go Grizzlies,” she added, smiling.
“Everyone is excited about this year’s team. We have high hopes for them.”
“I take it Marietta is still football crazy.”
He laughed. “Did you ever doubt it? Marietta hasn’t changed that much.”
Apparently not. “There are some tables set up against the far wall,” she said, gesturing towards the long tables, decorated in red and white, the school colors. “We can take all this stuff over there.”
“You never said whether or not you liked being back,” Jack prompted.
Maya set down the compote, wincing again at the looks of it. “I like it. It’s Carmen I’m not so sure about.”
“Your daughter?” he asked, as he set out the paper and plastic goods Maya had brought.
Maya nodded. “She’s fifteen. Not a good age to uproot her and move across the country, but when I inherited the house on Bramble Lane from my great-great-aunt, I decided it was a sign.” Especially since it had coincided with her ex marrying and moving to Europe, and no longer having alternate weekends with their daughter. “I wanted a fresh start for both Carmen and me.” Maya glanced around, looking for Carmen without success.
“A fresh start?” he asked.
“It’s a long story. But both Carmen and I needed a change.”
“You must have liked Texas, since you’ve been living there ever since you left Marietta.”
He’d kept up with her. The knowledge perked her up. She didn’t want to analyze why. “I did. I still do. But Carmen started to get involved with the wrong crowd and I wanted her out of there before she got in any deeper.”
“Marietta High is a good choice, then. My daughter Gina is Carmen’s age. She’s in Spirit Club, too, obviously. I’ll ask Gina to be sure and introduce Carmen to some of her friends.”
“That’s very nice, but maybe we should just see how it plays out without our help. They’re pretty contrary at this age. At least, Carmen is. The last thing we want is for them to think we’re pushing them to be friends.”
He laughed. “You’re right about that. Okay, we’ll leave them on their own.”
He seemed about to say something, but a woman Maya didn’t know came up and took over the conversation. Jack introduced the two of them, but the other woman clearly had no interest in Maya, choosing instead to hang on Jack’s every word.
As Maya started to wander away she heard the woman, whose name she’d already forgotten, say, “Can you believe someone brought that?” pointing at Maya’s dessert. “I’d be afraid to eat it.”
Jack’s eyes met hers and she could tell he was struggling not to laugh. “I think it looks delicious,” he said firmly, scooping a large portion onto a paper plate.
“Oh, Jack, you should have a piece of my chocolate meringue pie. Now this is delicious.” She pointed to the paragon of pies, as yet uncut, its fluffy, whipped topping perfectly browned and just begging to be eaten.
At that exact moment, a foam football came sailing over Jack’s head to land on top of the pie, splattering chocolate filling and meringue all over Ms. Perfect Pie’s white blouse.
Find out what happens next in Sing Me Back Home...
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About the Author
Eve Gaddy is the best-selling award-winning author of more than seventeen novels. Her books have won and been nominated for awards from Romantic Times, Golden Quill, Bookseller’s Best, Holt Medallion, Texas Gold, Daphne Du Maurier and more. She was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Innovative Series romance as well as winning the 2008 Romantic Times Career Achievement award for Series Storyteller of the year. Eve’s books have sold over a million copies worldwide and been published in many foreign countries. Eve lives in East Texas with her husband of many years.
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