Page 72 of The Mistletoe Bluff
Nerves prickled like needles under my skin. “Pardon?”
Emma didn’t back down, her hands fisting at her sides. “Maya has been through enough people abandoning her in her life. She doesn’t need anyone else to break her heart.”
“Emma, I would never hurt her. I’m…” I sighed. “I’m in love with Maya.” The truth of the words snapped through me. Nothing had ever felt so right.
“Love makes people do strange things. People leave all the timein the name of love.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t intend on leaving, Emma. Not unless she wants me to.”
She arched a brow.
I took it a step further. “I left my life in England behind just for a chance of seeing her again. I can’t get her out of my head, nor do I want to. If she’ll have me, I don’t plan on walking away from her ever again.”
Emma’s eyes widened, silence descending in the hallway before she sighed.
“Maya has a big heart, Oliver. She spends so much time helping others that it often comes at the cost of taking care of herself. She puts her heart on the line only to have it cracked and shattered. Don’t be one of those people.”
I lifted my chin, taking her words as a challenge. “I would never.”
“I hope you’re telling the truth, or so help me you’ll never find Meridel to be a welcoming place again.”
Her words sent an eerie chill through my body that had nothing to do with the fact that I was still in wet clothes. Though Emma was tall, she wasn’t the type of person I would have been afraid of, but something about her words, and the protective, no-nonsense way she threatened me had me backing up a step.
Emma is a little frightening.
The bathroom door opened, and Maya emerged, freezing when she saw us standing there. Her eyes narrowed as she looked between the two of us, our bodies tense from the conversation.
“What’s going on?” she asked, crossing her arms over the giant T-shirt that went to her knees.
“Nothing,” Emma sang before bouncing back into the living room.
Not wanting to admit to Maya that her cousin was a little scary, I just gave her a smile and slipped behind her into the bathroom to change.When I came back out, Maya, Emma, and Elsie were piled on the couch, each nursing a mug of hot chocolate, while Jameson sat in a modern version of a bean bag chair on the floor.
As scary as it was risking my heart on someone who had been adamant about hating me for the past year, I felt a sense of belonging here, even despite Emma’s warning. I had spent a single evening with these people, and I already adored them. I hated the thought of saying goodbye or never seeing them again.
I wanted Maya and this goofy family of hers.
What I told Emma was the truth. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not unless Maya asked me to.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur as the four of them fell into an easy rhythm, trading jests and poking fun at each other.
I had never experienced anything like this.
I was an only child, and it was just me, my dad, and mum for much of my life. I never had close cousins, and once I got older and started traveling more often, it didn’t leave room for having many friends.
Christmas was always a tense holiday in the Lewis household. It was just another chance for my father to be rude and belittle me and the choices I’d made for my life.
The words I had said to Maya at the Christmas tree farm about this being a time to celebrate the people thatarewith us, while true, was something that I, too, struggled with. I was trying to make her feel better, but I related to her. My parents might not have abandoned me, but I’d never felt like I belonged, even in my own family.
But here, with Maya and her family, even though I wasn’t technically a part of theirs, I still felt a sense of belonging, of acceptance.
My heart ached over all the heartbreak Maya had gone through. Yes, my relationship with my father was strained, but at least neither of my parents had walked out on me.Though I hated going to them or relying on them for anything, at least I knew they were there if I needed them. I couldn’t imagine growing up without that support.
It only proved how strong this woman was, that she faced so much, overcame all that should have destroyed her, and still held onto that spark of life.
Maya laughed at something Jameson said, her blonde hair spilling over her shoulder as she threw her head back in sheer joy.
I never wanted that expression to fall off her face.
