Page 84 of Snow, Ice, and Spice
She playfully pats his chest and grins at him. And then he leans down and pecks her on the lips.
I feel myself tense up. Yeah, they’re not my parents, but it still feels weird to watch them kiss when clearly they were wanting a moment to themselves.
I glance over at Maya, who’s looking at them, her expression something between weirded out and shocked.
I hold my breath and try to stay quiet, despite the urge to run off. This may be awkward as fuck for me to witness, but it’s gotta be ten times worse for Maya given the fact that these are her parents we’re watching.
“We’d better head back inside before people start wondering where we ran off to,” Maya’s mom says.
Her dad huffs out a disappointed sigh through his sly smile. “You’re probably right. Call me tomorrow, will you?”
She grins up at him. “Okay.” She steps back and smooths her palm over the front of her dress. “I’ll go in first, then you wait a minute and you follow.”
Andre winks at her. She goes back inside. He stands there smiling to himself and for a second, the weirdness I’m feeling starts to fade away. Because I can relate to him right now, feeling giddy as hell after stealing a kiss from the woman he’s nuts about.
He heads back inside, leaving Maya and me alone outside once again.
I glance at her and take in her dazed expression. She’s staring straight ahead at where her parents were, her mouth in a perfect “o” shape.
I’m tempted to ask her if she’s okay, but I already know the answer to that.
The thing is, I have no idea what to even say. That moment earlier, when I was about to tell her that I want things between us to go from casual to serious, is long gone. Right now she’s processing the weird and jarring moment of seeing her divorced parents sneak off together. This isn’t the right time to try and take our hook-up status to the next level.
Maya huffs out a breath, then laughs. But it’s not a happy-sounding laugh. More like she’s confused and in disbelief.
“What the hell was that?” she says.
“Um, I think that was your parents sneaking out so they could kiss.”
She whips her head to look at me and frowns. Okay, that was definitely the wrong thing to say.
She slumps against the railing and gazes off to the side, clearly lost in her thoughts. Instead of saying another stupid thing, I stand there with my hands in my pockets and stay quiet.
Then she suddenly turns to look at me. “That was weird, seeing my mom and dad do…that.”
“Yeah, um, I can imagine.”
She sighs, her shoulders falling forward with the movement. “Never in a million years did I think she’d ever give my dad a second chance.” Maya speaks to the pavement, her tone bewildered.
“What do you mean?”
She straightens back up. “My parents got divorced when I was seven. My dad was a workaholic. Too busy traveling the world and building his restaurant empire. My mom was pretty much a single mom my whole life, even when she was married.”
“Wow. That sounds tough.”
Maya nods. “It was. After they split up, my brothers and I would see our dad whenever he was back in town. But it was never consistent, just whenever he could fit us into his busy schedule. So we were always with my mom. And I didn’t really understand it when I was little, but as I got older I realized how lonely that must have been for her. To have her husband traveling all over the world, setting up glamorous restaurants, and mingling with celebrities while she stayed home and raised his kids. He pretty much ditched her during the hardest part of their marriage. That must have felt like a slap in the face.”
I take a second to process what she’s said. I have no idea what it’s like to be left at home while my partner is gone nearly all the time, but I’m certain it would piss me off. And hurt my feelings.
“That’s really upsetting, Maya. I’m sorry your dad treated your mom like that.”
“Me too,” she says softly. “I don’t ever remember them happily together, even when they were married. All I remember is them fighting. They were always arguing about my dad being gone and leaving my mom alone with us. And when they got divorced, I just got so used to seeing her on her own. She didn’t pine after him. She just seemed so independent for the longest time. And honestly? I was proud of her for that. That she wasn’t heartbroken over a guy who would treat her like an afterthought.”
“I know I just met your mom tonight, but she seems like a really wonderful lady,” I say. “She comes off so confident and genuine and kind-hearted. And pretty damn incredible that she raised three kids practically on her own.”
A small smile appears on Maya’s face. It feels like fireworks going off in my chest at getting her to smile when she’s so upset.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad,” she says. “He finally seemed to realize just how badly he messed up with us kids, apologized to us, and has been a more active presence in our lives recently. He goes out of his way to spend time with us. Yeah, that doesn’t make up for what he did in the past, but I’m happy he’s in our lives again.” She pauses for a moment. “It just doesn’t feel right for him to weasel his way back into my mom’s love life and try and put the moves on her again. She deserves better than to wait twenty years for him to realize what a catch she is.”
