Page 33 of Paths

On the other hand, I can’t tell where Weston’s carrying. Still, I have no doubt I could have them face first on the floor within fifteen seconds.

Weston’s eyes move to where Maya’s clinging to my arm and he finally growls out an answer to my question.

“I’ve come to take Maya home.”

*****

Maya –

Of course, I should’ve expected this from him, but I’ve been so distracted by Grady, I haven’t thought about the possibility of him showing up here.

So far this morning, if Grady wasn’t being sweet or finding a way to touch me, he was charming the old ladies’ club. He made them so happy, it was almost too much for me to watch. I haven’t had very many genuine people in my life—my brother is pretty much it. Everyone else wanted to be my friend because of whose daughter I was. The worst was when people wanted absolutely nothing to do with me because of who I was. It sucked because no one wanted to invest in a true friendship, and honestly, most people were too careful with me to be genuine.

But I’ve come to love all the residents here, and I think I’ve done okay at winning them over. They don’t have an ulterior motive to like or hate me—they’re just happy I’m here to spend time with them and provide some fun in their lives.

Many of them don’t have a lot of visitors, it doesn’t take much to give their day a boost. It doesn’t matter if Grady only brought them joy by some secondary means while he primarily wanted to follow me around all day. He brought a smile to the faces of many. It was hard for me to overlook that all morning as he flirted with his harem.

So almost walking into Weston after being distracted by the wonderfulness of Grady shouldn’t surprise me, but nonetheless, it does. Weston was alone last night, but I shouldn’t be surprised he has a lackey with him.

And of course, he brought Byron Murray, the man who made my options clear just before I decided I had to escape. He sure did his part threatening me before I left. Of course, it wasn’t Weston or his dad who explained the ways of their world to me.

I couldn’t help it, the second I saw Weston walk through the front door of my place of employment, I latched onto Grady before I realized what I was doing.

“I’ve come to take Maya home,” Weston growls, staring straight at Grady.

I cringe, and if I could melt into Grady’s side, I would.

“I think we went over this last night—but just to jog your memory—she’s not going anywhere. She doesn’t want you here. She told you as much last night, and after you left, she continued to express it to me the rest of the night in our bed.”

I really need to have a talk with Grady about Weston. It’s not a good idea to goad him, and at this point, that’s exactly what Grady is doing by insinuating we’re something we’re not. Grady doesn’t know the tiniest fraction of my background with Weston, but he needs to stop. He’s only making things worse.

Weston looks back to me, anger radiating from every pore of his body. “Okay, I get it—you want to give me a taste of my own medicine with this guy?” He jerks his chin toward Grady. “Fine, it’s done, but this shit is getting old, Maya. Whatever phase you’re going through, get over it—I’m losing my patience. We’re even. I told my father you’d be home. You know I won’t disappoint him.”

“Not sure who your father is,” Grady answers before I can, “but Maya’s not with me to get back at you. It’s time you come to terms with your disappointment and realize she’s not going anywhere.” Grady then looks Byron up and down before adding, “I have no idea who you are, but she’s really not going anywhere with you.”

Weston looks to me and keeps talking. “I don’t know what you’re doing, what you think you’re going to accomplish here, but you know you’ll end up back home eventually. Don’t drag it out and make it harder than it needs to be. If you come now, we can easily explain things—to your family and mine. Everyone wants you home.”

Saying my first words, I look at Byron when I respond, “Oh, I bet they do.”

“Maya,” Weston bites out my name to get my attention.

I might be grasping at Grady, but from somewhere deep inside, I find the will to strengthen my voice. “I’m not going anywhere with you ever again. You shit all over what was left of our relationship a year ago when I found you with her. Your perseverance did no good, and others telling me to look the other way was more than I could handle. But you know what pushed me over the edge.” I look back to Byron and narrow my eyes. “The threats. I’m never coming back.”

“You should call and talk to Joseph.” Weston gets my attention, and my eyes shoot back to him. Grady squeezes my hand and pulls me in back of him a little more, keeping his protective stance in front of me. “He’s home. He’s having seizures again. But you wouldn’t know that, would you?”

My heart catches and I can only imagine the expression on my face, because all of a sudden, Weston turns smug. He raises a brow and that evil smirk creeps across his face, one I’m more familiar with than anyone has the right to be. He knows he’s one-upped me, even though I shouldn’t trust a single word that passes his lips. It’s a sure possibility what he says is true.

“You haven’t called him in all this time? I’ve heard he’s more worried about you than anyone. Maybe it’s the stress causing the flare-up.”

Weston’s been around Joseph long enough, he knows stress has nothing to do with it, he’s just trying everything he can to get to me. Even though I know it’s not true, guilt flows through me for not being there. I haven’t contacted Joe since I left—I knew they’d expect me to do just that. It was all I could do to keep myself from reaching out to him. I miss him terribly. Now that they know where I am, it shouldn’t matter.

Weston goes on. “He wants to see you, you should come with me now. I’ll book you a flight home with us and take you right to him.”

“Enough,” Grady says, as if he’s bored with the entire horse and pony show. “I’ve told Maya if she wants to see her brother, I’ll take her. She’ll talk to him this afternoon, if she wants to go, we’ll go, but I’m not going to say this again—she’s not going anywhere with you. Now get the hell out of our way before you create a scene.”

I thought Grady was going to move to leave, but he doesn’t. He’s patient and stands stock-still, holding my hand tight. Byron finally slaps Weston on the back. “Come on, you know what your dad said.” I don’t like the eerie look on his face when he turns to me, but keeps speaking to Weston. “I’m sure she remembers her last conversation with me. She knows what’ll happen if she doesn’t come home. She’ll come around eventually, I just hope it’s soon enough.”

They finally turn to leave, even though Weston seems reluctant. They walk to the same car that was parked outside my bungalow last night, and I finally exhale deeply for the first time since we practically walked into them.

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