“I’m going to work from home on Wednesday,” he said, taking a bite of his own cookie.
“You can work from here? How come you don’t do that all the time?”
“Sometimes I do, but the job I’m working on right now requires me to go into the office and work with a lot of other people. From now until after New Year’s, though, I’ll be working from home more. I’ll be able to pick you up from the bus after school some more. Won’t that be great?”
“But I go to ballet!” she cried.
He chuckled again. “Abby will still pick you up on ballet days. But on the days when you don’t have a class and I’m working from home, I’ll pick you up.” He looked at her and couldn’t help but grin as he watched her trying to work out all of this new information in her head.
“I like going to Abby’s,” Maya stated. “She’s a fun ballet teacher and babysitter. I like her a lot.”
“Me too.”
“You should marry Abby!” she said excitedly. “Then I’d have a whole family like everyone else! Abby would be my new mom and you would be my new dad – even though you’re my uncle. And then Abby could teach me to dance all the time!”
Dean nearly choked on the cookie and began to cough wildly. Maya patted him on the back to help him but it took several minutes for him to be able to breathe normally.
“Are you okay?” Maya asked when he finally stopped.
Nodding, he took a long drink from the glass of milk he’d poured earlier and scrambled to try to figure out how to respond to his niece’s comment. He was used to her simply blurting out what was on her mind, but...this one was a little more shocking than anything she’d thrown out there before.
Putting his empty glass down, Dean looked at Maya.
And couldn’t think of one word to say.
“So will you?” she asked excitedly. “Will you marry Abby?”
Crap. Now what?
“We could all live here and then maybe we could get a dog and I could name him Snuffles and he can sleep in my bed!” She stopped for a moment – Dean figured it was simply to catch her breath. “I hope he likes the cold because it’s always cold here. I bet Abby will like Snuffles too and...”
“Maya!” Dean snapped, finally at his limit.
She looked at him – a little shocked at his tone.
He took a deep, steadying breath before speaking. “Maya...sweetheart...Abby and I aren’t...I mean...”
“You like her, don’t you?”
“I do,” he began, “but people don’t just rush off and get married because they like each other. At least...they shouldn’t. I know you like Abby and she likes you too, but I don’t want you getting your hopes up and planning on all these things, okay?”
Those big blue eyes filled with tears – but he was ready for them this time and swore they would not affect him.
“O-kay,” she said quietly, her bottom lip quivering ever so slightly.
And now he felt like crap.
Maya finished her cookie and wiped her hands and mouth with a napkin. “May I be excused? I’m going to go play in my room now.”
Dean couldn’t have uttered a word even if he wanted to, so he simply nodded. With a sigh, he watched her walk from the room and wondered when he was going to get to the point where Maya’s sadness and disappointment didn’t feel like a kick in the gut.
He heard her bedroom door close and knew.
A long time.
****
Something was up.
All week long Abby felt like there was something wrong and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. It was Thanksgiving and Dean and Maya had just arrived and both seemed a little...subdued.
Just as they had all week.
She had been aware of Dean being able to work from home this week because of the holiday and with no dance classes scheduled, she didn’t see Maya as much as she usually did, but when she did, the little girl was much quieter than usual. When Abby tried to find out if everything was all right, Maya simply shrugged and changed the subject.
And then there was Dean.
He had been sexy as all get-out every time she’d seen him, but he hadn’t been particularly...attentive. She had a feeling it had to do with Maya and not wanting to do anything that might be considered inappropriate in front of her. While she completely understood the reasoning, it didn’t mean that she didn’t find the whole thing a little off-putting. After spending the night together, Abby had been looking forward to seeing Dean and being able to kiss him and touch him – in a completely appropriate way. Clearly that wasn’t part of his plan because other than a distracted kiss on the cheek, he hadn’t touched her at all since he left her house Sunday afternoon.
And that was completely unacceptable.
Dean carried in a couple of grocery bags and got things situated while Maya stood quietly by the kitchen table.
Yeah. Something was definitely up.
Rubbing her hands together, Abby asked, “Okay, who’s ready to help me stuff the turkey?”
“Me! Me! Me!” Finally, Maya perked up.
“Excellent! I want you to go into the bathroom and wash your hands really well and dry them and then come back out here, okay?”
“Okay!” Maya cried excitedly right before she ran from the room.
Abby walked over and, without a word, cupped Dean’s face in her hands and kissed him. She almost sagged with relief when he returned her kiss with the same passion. He hauled her close and she immediately wanted to wrap herself around him as his tongue tangled with hers. As much as she wanted to continue – to drag him down to the floor and have her way with him – she wanted answers more.
Reluctantly, she pulled her mouth from his and tried to catch her breath. “Okay. Good,” she said breathlessly.
Dean looked at her funny.
“I was just making sure I hadn’t imagined what happened Saturday night and Sunday morning,” she said for clarification.
He still looked confused.
Sighing, Abby pulled out of his embrace and kept her voice low. “You’ve been very distant since Sunday. I’m sure some of it’s because you don’t want to do anything...inappropriate in front of Maya but...come on. You’re treating me like I have the plague or something. So I just wanted to kiss you and see if...”
Dean held up a hand to stop her. “Okay, yeah. I got it.” He sighed. “There was an awkward conversation on Sunday after I brought Maya home from Jenny’s.”
“What happened?”
He didn’t get to elaborate because Maya came racing back into the room. “Look! My hands are super clean! I washed them three times! See?”
Abby smiled and complimented her on her great job. “Okay, let’s get our aprons on and stuff this bird!”
The three of them worked together to get the meal prepped and the turkey in the oven. “I know this is all for a good cause, but I had no idea it was so much work!” she said, sitting down on the couch almost an hour later. Maya sat down beside her and Dean sat at the other end of the sofa, with his niece between them. Abby’s mind raced with possibilities about what the awkward conversation could have possibly been, but for the life of her, she couldn’t seem to settle on any one topic.
“What do we do while the turkey cooks?” Maya asked.
“Well, I was thinking we could either...watch a movie or...play a game,” Abby said. “What do you think?”
“Can we do both? Can we watch a movie and then play a game?” Maya asked.
“Absolutely!” Grabbing the remote, Abby pulled up Netflix on the television and they searched through all of the children’s movies until they found a Disney movie that Maya hadn’t seen. Once it started, she got up and made some popcorn, grabbed drinks for everyone and, when she came back into the living room, she found Maya on the floor propped up on some pillows. She looked at Dean curiously.
“She prefers to be on the floor for a movie,” he said softly. His arm was stretched out along the back of the couch and Abby wasn’t sur
e if that meant she could sit close to him or if she needed to keep her distance.
“Give me just one minute,” she said and went back into the kitchen to put Maya’s snack into her own bowl. She walked back and put the bowl on the floor next to her but Maya barely acknowledged Abby because she was already so engrossed in the movie.
When she turned toward the couch, Dean motioned for her to sit next to him and Abby’s stomach fluttered. God, what was it about this man that had her feeling so...giddy? She was a grown woman and yet when Dean smiled at her, she felt like a teenage girl with her first crush! She thought she’d be more mature about it at this point in her life but Dean Hughes just had a way of making everything girly in her go on hyper-alert when he was near.
And that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
As soon as she sat down, Dean wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, tucking her in at his side. Abby felt his warm breath next to her ear. “I missed you.”
Oh thank God. She didn’t realize just how much she needed to hear that. As much as she wanted to turn and talk to him, the feel of his lips brushing her ear and his warm breath on her skin kept her exactly where she was.
“If it were up to me,” Dean went on quietly, “I’d take you down the hall to your room, shut the door, and strip you down.” His tongue traced the shell of her ear and Abby shivered with pleasure. “Then I’d lay you down on the bed and kiss every inch of you.”
For a moment, Abby let herself wonder if Maya would even notice that they’d left the room.
“And after I had you crying out my name,” he murmured for her ears only, “I’d get undressed and cover your body with mine so that we were skin-to-skin from head to toe.”
She was panting. Literally, she sat there panting at his words.
“I’d have your hands in mine, pinned above your head. And then I’d take my time making love to you over and over again until we were both exhausted and too tired to move.”
Oh God, did that sound wonderful. Once again, she looked over at Maya and then toward the hallway and wondered...
Dean chuckled lowly beside her. “Believe me, I wish,” he said. “I’ve thought of it at least a hundred times this week.”
Abby sagged and shifted until she could rest her head on his shoulder. “That was just mean,” she whispered. “Telling me such a sexy story and then being responsible and telling me we can’t do it.”
“What are you doing tomorrow night?” he asked quietly.
A small smile played at her lips as she lifted her head and looked at him. “I have nothing planned.”
“Maya’s sleeping at Jenny’s again. I was thinking you and I could have another sleepover too.”
Her smile grew. “I like the way you think.”
“And then on Saturday afternoon we’re going out to pick out a Christmas tree. Maya’s never had a real tree so we’re going to make a day of it. We’re going to get the tree and then I’m going to take her out to pick out some decorations of her own – you know, so she’ll feel like it’s her tree too. Then we’ll have dinner and get the tree set in the stand.”
“Are you going to decorate it that night?”
He shook his head. “I always let the tree settle for at least one night – let it get acclimated to the temperature in the house and all that before putting anything on it. It means staring at a bare tree for a day, but it’s the way we’ve always done it.”
“Us too. I normally get my tree this weekend too. Once Thanksgiving weekend is over, I’m so busy with rehearsals for the Christmas play that I don’t have any other time to get one and decorate it. My mom and I almost always had a real tree and I remember hating to have to wait the extra day to let it settle in the stand. I imagine Maya’s going to be a little impatient too. You’ll have to let me know how she does.”
Dean studied her for a long moment like he was trying to work something out in his head. Finally, he asked, “Would you like to join us?”
There was something in the way he asked. There was a hint of reluctance that had her feeling a little uncomfortable with readily accepting – which was what she really wanted to do. Putting a little space between them, Abby faced Dean. “Okay, what’s going on?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What happened on Sunday?”
With a sigh, Dean shifted in his spot as well and hung his head, shaking it slightly before looking up at her again. “I guess at the sleepover the girls talked about their families. Their parents. Maya felt a little out of place and sad. She told me about it when we got home. Then she...well...she mentioned how much she likes spending time with you and then asked if I liked you and the next thing I know...she’s making plans for us. As a family.”
It took a minute for what he was saying to really sink in. Oh. Oh! “You mean...?”
He nodded. “She said we could get married and then she’d have a mom and a dad like everyone else. It just about killed me. She’s too young to have to deal with all of this and I’m doing everything in my power to make sure she has everything she needs, but...”
Reaching out, Abby put her hand over his. “Dean, no one expects you to get married just to make your niece feel better. That’s crazy.”
He shook his head again and sighed. “I had no idea how to respond to her at first and then when I explained that...you know...you and I were...” He paused. “Anyway, she gave me the big sad eyes and quivering lip and then went to her room. I know some of that is a manipulation thing to get her way, but that time? It was genuine and it bothered me. So when we saw you during the week...”
“You didn’t want to do anything to get her hopes up,” Abby finished for him. Of course. Now it all made sense.
She moved a little bit farther away.
Dean held onto her hand and gently tugged her back toward him. “Abby...”
There were so many things she wanted to say, but now certainly wasn’t the time. She wasn’t exactly sure she could get into this with him with Maya sitting only a few feet away. While she knew Dean was going to have to face many challenges with his new role as a parent, she didn’t want him thinking he had to make such a dramatic sacrifice for Maya’s happiness. And even though Abby had grown up with a single parent, that parent was her biological mother. Maya didn’t have that and as much as it broke her heart for the little girl, nothing Dean could do was going to change that.
But then another thought raced around her head.
Marry Dean.
Oh yeah...that had been part of her fantasy for a long time. Whenever Abby thought about getting married, she imagined Dean in the groom’s role. Even when they didn’t know each other beyond saying hello at the diner, she still held on to the silly dream.
If he asked her right now, she’d say yes. It wouldn’t matter if he didn’t love her; in time he would grow to. Wouldn’t he? She had fallen in love with Dean Hughes a long time ago and it had only grown stronger once they started spending time together.
So yes, she’d marry him. Raise Maya with him.
And love every minute of it.
How crazy was that?
“You’re looking pretty serious right now,” Dean said, interrupting her thoughts. “What are you thinking?”
There was no way she could tell him that. So she fibbed a little. “I was thinking about all that food inside and hoping we timed it out right so it all comes out at the same time.”
The look he gave said he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he pulled her back and settled her beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled a little when he rested his head against hers. They held hands and both did their best to focus on the animated movie on the television.
Resting against him and breathing in, Abby could smell Dean’s cologne and feel the heat of his body. A few feet away, Maya giggled at the song the characters were singing.
It was a good day.
And for now, that was more than enough.
Eight
/> Thanksgiving had been a huge success, Dean thought the next day. They made way too much food but they enjoyed it and laughed and all in all, it had been a great day. He had agonized on whether or not to share with Abby his conversation with Maya regarding getting married, but in the end, it had been the right thing to do.
And in typical Abby form, she didn’t seem the least bit shocked by it.
He just wasn’t sure if he was relieved or not.
Hell, if he were honest, he’d admit that life would be a lot less stressful and complicated if he were married. There would be someone beside him to navigate this whole new phase with Maya. Someone who would share his fears and anxiety with. Someone who would understand that being thrown into the role of parenting was overwhelming and finally, someone who would tell him that it was all going to be all right and that it was normal to screw up once in a while.
You already have that someone.
You’re just not married to her.
Okay, so there was that.
“So not the time,” he murmured as he walked down the hall to Maya’s room. She was packing up for her sleepover and they were running a little behind. “Hey, kiddo! You ready?”
“Yup!” She ran past him with her sleeping bag and a backpack full of toys. Dean picked up her little suitcase and turned off the light in her room before following her to the front door.
“Do you have everything?”
“Uh-huh!”
“Let’s go,” he said with a smile. Within minutes, they were in the car and heading down the road.
“Are we really going to go and get a Christmas tree tomorrow?” Maya asked with wonder.
“We sure are,” he replied, smiling at her in the rear-view mirror.
“And I’m going to get to pick out my own decorations?”
“That’s right!”
“And Abby’s going to come with us?”
This had been the pattern. Even after he’d explained that he and Abby weren’t getting married, Maya found a way to bring Abby’s name into just about every conversation. “She is. She needs to get her tree this weekend too.”
Christmas On Pointe (A Silver Bell Falls Holiday Novella) Page 10
