“You’re right,” Bev replied levelly. “But...history isn’t pulling strong in his favor.”
Once the kitchen door swung shut behind her, Abby sighed. Maybe Dean Hughes hadn’t been daddy material up until now, but she couldn’t imagine him simply walking away from his niece. True, she didn’t really know him – had barely spoken more than a handful of words to him and most of them were about his food order – but she had a...feeling about him.
A sexy feeling.
Not the time! She admonished herself.
“Abby, can we get the check?” her diners called out. She smiled, nodded and pulled out her receipt pad to total everything up. As she walked over, she was a little surprised to find them talking about the Hughes family too.
“All I’m saying is Alan and Amber Hughes have been through so much. There’s no way they can possibly take on a five year old...”
“They don’t really have a choice. Who else is going to take in that poor little girl?”
“Maybe Karen assigned a guardian for her? You know, a friend or something.”
“The girl should be with family – and that’s Alan and Amber. It’s not like Dean’s going to do it.”
“That’s true...”
With a little more force than she intended, Abby ripped the receipt off her pad and slammed it down on the table. With a huff, she asked if she could take their plates and once she had, she stalked off.
Maybe no one else in Silver Bell believed that Dean Hughes was a stand up kind of guy, but Abby did.
She just hoped he’d prove her right.
****
Dean was exhausted. There was no other word for it. Mentally and physically, he was worn out. The week had been hellacious. The funeral. His parents. The paperwork.
And Maya.
He had no idea what he was doing where she was concerned and yet...he had to hand it to the kid, she was fairly self-sufficient.
For a five year old.
From what he could tell, his sister had not been the greatest parent and Maya learned to do a lot for herself. And he might not know anything about kids, but he had a feeling that this wasn’t a particularly good thing.
He was sitting at his sister’s dining room table in the tiny apartment she’d been living in for the last few years when he heard his parents come into the room.
With their luggage.
“What’s...what’s going on?” he asked cautiously.
“We’re heading back to Florida, Dean,” his father said.
“Now? You’re leaving now? Is Maya even packed?”
His parents looked at each other and then at him. “Um...Dean,” his mother began, her voice small and uncertain. “We’re not taking Maya with us. We can’t.”
“So where is she supposed to go?” he demanded, but he had a sinking suspicion he already knew.
They sat down on either side of him and he knew that look...the one where they had the capability of guilting him into understanding them. He knew this was a possibility – a really slim one – and yet now that it was actually happening, he wanted to scream that enough was enough. He’d been the good child, the good son. He’d worked hard, got good grades and had a respectable job.
Then why – why?! – was he always having to clean up after everyone? Why did everyone else get to do what they wanted and he was the one left holding the bag?
“Dean, Maya’s just a little girl. She has a lot of energy and needs,” his mother went on. “We just can’t give that to her. You’re young and Silver Bell Falls is a wonderful place for her to grow up.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I don’t know shit about raising a little girl,” he hissed quietly – unwilling to let Maya hear this conversation. “Why can’t she stay with you for a little while? Just...just through the holidays? That will give me time to get things situated back home and who knows? Maybe you’ll find that you want her to stay with you.”
“It’s not going to happen, Dean,” his father said, his voice quiet but firm. “Maya needs to be in school and we live in a retirement community. There are no children there for her and the nearest school is far enough away that she wouldn’t even get a bus. Taking her to live with you is the most practical way to go.”
Jumping up he looked down at his parents. “To hell with being practical!” His voice rose and for a moment he didn’t care. “There has to be another option! I came here and I handled all of the funeral arrangements. I’m handling all of the damn legalities and getting Karen’s shit in order. You can’t lay all of that and a kid on me!”
“Grandma?” a small voice called from the kitchen. Dean wanted to kick himself. He just said that he didn’t want Maya to hear this conversation and now look what he’d done.
Rising from her seat, Amber Hughes stood and looked at her son with disapproval before heading into the kitchen.
Dean sat back down and raked a hand through his dark brown hair. He wanted to tug it out in frustration. He wanted to scream and yell and stamp his foot and demand that someone listen to him – that someone let him have his damn life! Hadn’t he sacrificed enough? As it was, he barely had a life and now...now he was supposed to be responsible for a five year old?
“Dean, I know we’re asking a lot of you. And believe me, I wish there were another solution. But...she’s your niece.”
“She’s your granddaughter,” he quickly interrupted.
Alan sighed. “I want you to think about this reasonably and think about what is best for Maya.”
“Two loving grandparents would be better for her than one reclusive uncle,” Dean reasoned. “Hasn’t Maya been through enough? I’m not what she needs right now, Dad.”
His father studied him for a long moment before he finally spoke. “I think you both need each other.”
“What?”
“Dean, you are a fine young man – no father could be prouder. But you’ve gone to such lengths to be the opposite of your sister that I don’t think you know who you really are. You’ve been hiding for so damn long and it’s time for that to stop. Having Maya with you will ensure that.”
“Dad...”
“I know it all looks bleak right now, but once you get this apartment packed up and you head back to Silver Bell? You’ll see. It’s going to be a good thing.”
He wasn’t going to win this argument. Dean realized that now. “How...how am I supposed to know what to do? I mean, I know it looks like Maya’s a pretty independent kid, but...she’s going to be dealing with so much. Too much. She’s lost both her parents and then I’m going to make her move and start a new school. How much can a kid that young take?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. Kids are fairly resilient in so many ways, but this? I think you’re going to have to go to her school, talk to her teacher and maybe get the name of a counselor in Silver Bell.”
“A counselor? For what?”
“Maya may need to talk to someone – someone she can express her grief to who will understand. And maybe someone who can help the both of you bond and learn how to move forward.”
“You make it sound very neat and tidy, Dad. I think there’s more to it than that.”
“If you’re looking for a cut-and-dried answer, I don’t have one. This is new territory for all of us.” Alan stood. “But I do think that the key here is trying to keep things as normal as possible. Don’t let her stay at home for too long. Get her back to school. Get her involved in the community. She’s going to need the distractions.” He paused. “And so will you.”
“Dad, I really wish you’d reconsider...”
“Maya has decided that she would like to say something to all of us,” Amber said as she led her granddaughter back into the room.
Dean’s heart beat madly in his chest. How could he have screwed this up so fast? This tiny girl with the wide blue eyes and blonde ringlet curls looked like she had her shit together more than the three adults in the room did. She hopped up to stand on one of the dining room chairs and looked at
her grandparents and then at Dean with a grim expression.
“I know Grandma and Grandpa are going back to Florida. Grandma says I can come and visit and we’ll go to Disney World,” Maya began. Then she looked at Dean and her gaze narrowed. “I’m s’pose to live with you now.”
He swallowed hard and nodded. “Uh...that’s right. You’re going to come and live with me in Silver Bell Falls.”
She studied him silently for another minute. “Can I have a pink bedroom?”
Her question took him by surprise. His eyes went a little wide and he looked over at his parents for approval. When they nodded, he said, “Uh...sure. We’ll paint it when we get back.”
“Are there kids in Bell Falls?” she asked.
“Bell Falls?”
“Where you live,” she said, her tone already conveying that she thought he was a moron.
Rather than correct her right now, he nodded. “Yes. Yes, there’s a lot of kids there.”
“Do you like pizza?”
Seriously? Was the kid interviewing him? “I do,” he replied and then decided to turn the tables. “Do you like burgers?’
“Can I have french fries with them?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at her response. “Of course.”
She nodded. “I like ice cream.”
“Me too. Butter pecan is my favorite.”
“I like strawberry,” she said, a little disappointed. “Will I have to learn to like butter pecan?”
Dean shook his head. “Nope. You don’t have to learn to like it. If you like strawberry ice cream, then we’ll buy strawberry ice cream.”
Maya crossed her skinny arms and seemed to be thinking of her next question. “Can we go to the library?”
“Now?” he asked, a little confused.
“No, when we get to your house. Do you have a library there?”
“Uh...yes. There’s a library there.” He had a feeling they had some sort of kids groups and activities there. Maybe he could look into that.
“Can I bring my bike with me?”
“We’re going to bring all of your things with you,” he told her softly. “Whatever you want to take with you, we will.”
She bit her bottom lip and then looked down at her toes. “Will...will I have to sleep at the babysitter’s house all the time? Or stay in my room when you’re not home?”
Beside him, his mother gasped quietly.
And in that moment, Dean’s heart broke. He had his suspicions about what life was like here for his niece, but to hear her start to confirm some of his worst fears just about killed him. Moving in close to Maya, he tucked a finger under her chin so she had to look at him.
“You’re never going to be left alone again, Maya. I promise. I...I don’t know how we’re going to make all of this work yet. This is all new to me too. But I can tell you right now that I won’t make you stay anywhere that you don’t want to stay. And the only time you’re going to sleep out is if a friend asks you to. How does that sound?”
Her blue eyes went wide. “I’m allowed to sleep at a friend’s house?” she asked with awe.
Unable to speak over the lump in his throat, Dean nodded.
Maya looked at her grandparents before giving Dean her attention again. “Uncle Dean?”
“Yes, Sweetheart?”
“Um...do you think...um...can I...”
“What would you like, Maya?” he asked gently.
She bit her lip again and for the first time since he’d arrived, she seemed uncertain of herself. “My mom always said that I had to stay home. That I had to be a good girl and be quiet and not ask for so much stuff.”
Dean knew it was wrong to be angry with his sister, and yet....
“Some of my friends from school, they...they get to go to classes after school,” she said quietly. “Do you think I can go to classes after school?”
He wasn’t sure he understood what she was asking. “What kind of classes?”
“My friend Dawn and my friend Jackie take ballet and...and...they get to wear pink tights and tutus and whenever I asked Mommy, she said I asked for too much stuff so I couldn’t do it. But Dawn would show me some of her dances and...” she jumped down from the chair and moved into some sort of pose and then another until she was practically leaping all over the dining room.
“I know I’m not very good at it,” she said and then took another big leap before spinning around. “But if I go to classes, I’ll get better. So can I? Can I please?”
“You want to take ballet classes?” he asked, part of him loving the look of happiness he saw on her face.
She nodded vigorously and then did a few more uncoordinated leaps around the room. “I do! I do! I really do!”
For the life of him, he had no idea how or where he was going to find ballet classes for Maya but he did know this – he wasn’t going to rest until he found her one.
“Then I guess you’re going to take ballet classes,” he said with a big smile.
“Yeah!” she cried as she ran over and wrapped her arms around his legs and squeezed. When she looked at him, she reminded him of a cherubic angel. “Can we leave for Bell Falls right now?”
Two
It wasn’t as if she was stalking.
Not really.
But Abby found herself being more than mildly curious about when Dean was coming back to town and how he was doing. She casually asked Josiah about him whenever he came in to the diner.
Which was every day.
And maybe she asked Bev for an update when they worked together.
Which was almost every day.
And maybe – just maybe – she even drove by Dean’s house to see if he was back yet. It wasn’t stalking. It was...neighborly concern.
And if anyone wanted to argue her “neighborly” reference when she lived right in town and Dean’s house was right on the edges of Silver Bell Falls then...so be it. He was a hometown guy and she was a hometown girl and she could argue that she was simply concerned for one of her own.
Dean had been gone for almost two weeks and as she made her way around the diner – wiping down tables and refilling the condiments – she began to wonder if he was even going to come back. Maybe there was a lot to do to settle his sister’s affairs. There was probably a lot of paperwork and with a child to consider, he probably had even more paperwork to deal with.
Just thinking of the little girl made Abby’s chest ache a little bit. The poor little thing – to be without the only parent she’d ever known? It must be terrifying for her. No one had mentioned the daughter or what was going to happen to her, which only made Abby even more curious.
“Table six needs their check,” Bev said as she walked back toward the kitchen.
“Thanks.”
It was almost three o’clock and that meant it was almost time for Abby to clock out. She did a final sweep of the diner and was amazed to see that it was almost empty. Her couple at table six were standing and once their check was paid, the place would be clear. With a smile, she told them she’d meet them at the register.
“How are things going for the Christmas show, Abby?” Millie Taylor asked. “You did such a beautiful job last year that we just can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for us!”
Blushing, Abby smiled. “Things are coming along. I’m working with some of the moms on costume designs and I think we may go for a fun group number with all the ages for at least one dance.”
“Oh, that’s going to be wonderful! Especially for the families that have more than one child dancing! What a treat!” Millie gushed. “I wish my little Caroline had an interest in ballet. I would love to see her up on the stage.”
“You know, if there were something Caroline was interested in, tell her to come and talk to me. I’m always open to doing more classes.”
“You’re too good, Abby,” Millie said with a smile and then looked over at her husband Paul. “We don’t want you to over-commit. And the community center can only hold so many classes
.”
“Believe me, I would love to have a real dance studio and have other teachers working with me where we could have every kind of dance class imaginable – including ones for couples!”
“Couples?” Millie asked excitedly. “You mean like ballroom dancing? We always wanted to try that, didn’t we, Paul?”
He nodded but didn’t look overly enthused. “We watch Dancing with the Stars all the time and Millie swears we can look like that too with a little practice.”
The gears were already turning in Abby’s head. “We could even do swing dancing and country western dancing or even dancing for weight loss like Zumba! Oh, if we had the space, the sky would be the limit!”
“Abby Foster you have gotten me all excited about this! What do we have to do to make it happen?”
For a minute, Abby could only stare. Was Millie serious? “Well...um...we’d need a building. Some place that would be big enough to house several dance studios – rooms – and maybe even a stage for practice recitals. We’d need to find teachers but I don’t think that would be a problem at all. I know plenty of dancers. And...”
“So why haven’t we done this?” Millie asked.
Ugh. Where did she even begin? “It’s not a simple thing, unfortunately. I know that I can’t afford to build something like this and I don’t think there are any existing spaces that can be transformed. Even if there were, renovations are expensive too.”
“You could take on investors, couldn’t you?” Paul asked, suddenly very interested in the conversation.
“I suppose. I never really thought about it. I just thought it was something only I was interested in,” Abby said.
“Listen, you just leave it to me,” Millie began. “I know that the whole town of Silver Bell Falls benefits from the classes you teach and the performances you do at the holidays and during the festivals. And I think if we put it out there to the masses, we can come up with something that would work.”
Her heart began to beat like crazy. “I...I don’t even know what to say to that, Millie. I mean...I...I...”
Millie reached across the counter and patted her hand. “Give me a week and then we’ll sit down and talk,” she said. “But I’m already formulating a plan!”
Christmas On Pointe (A Silver Bell Falls Holiday Novella) Page 2
