Page 22 of Quiet Beautiful Things

Ellie: We’ll meet again this Friday then. We can go over more options then too. She can start Pre-K on Monday if you’re good with that. We’ll meet with a few administrators and educators at the school to come up with an IEP. That gives you a few days to do some learning. Watch videos. There are some great on-line programs that can teach hearing people ASL. I’ll text you some links. Your homework—learn to sign Maisy’s name.

I have a hard time not smiling when I use my right hand to fingerspell M-A-I-S-Y.

Ellie’s eyebrows practically touch her hairline, making me laugh.

“My sister, Allie, taught me last night. It’s all I know.”

Ellie: What’s your sister’s name? It looked like you said my name.

Me: It’s Allie.

She fingerspells Allie’s name and shows me the sign for sister.

Ellie: You’ve gotten off to a great start, Blake. And it’s very encouraging to see a parent who wants to be so involved.

It’s hard not to show my disgust over parents who would simply ignore their child’s deafness. I mean, I’ve only known Maisy for one day and I already want to give her the goddamn world.

Ellie waves to Maisy and points to the door. Maisy looks upset and shakes her head. Ellie picks up the flashcards and hands them to me then points her finger between me and Maisy. Maisy seems to understand, but from what I can see, wants nothing to do with me. She wants Ellie. She hops off her chair, runs over, and hugs Ellie.

A pang of jealousy courses through me. Maisy is my daughter. She should be huggingme.

Ellie stares at me and the look on her face tells me she knows exactly what I’m thinking. She sinks to Maisy’s level, points at herself, then at her eyes, then at Maisy, then she does a sign. I’m not sure what the sign means, but it looks like it might mean ‘later.’ If I picked up on it, I wonder if Maisy did too.

Maisy looks sadly at the ground, picks up her cat, and heads back down the hallway, presumably to her room, and maybe even her closet.

Ellie: Don’t worry. It’ll come.

Then she waves at me, gathers up whatever she didn’t leave for us, and walks out the door.

I feel the loss when she’s gone. Like I’m emptier somehow. I just wonder if it’s because Dr. Stone—Maisy’s mentor—just walked out the door. Or because Ellie—the woman—did.

Chapter Eight

8

Ellie

Blake’s house is only a mile from my apartment, so I walk home. I haven’t felt the need to buy a car yet. I guess that’s the city girl in me. But the thought of having to Uber to some of my other clients’ houses that are farther away isn’t all that pleasant. The first time I ordered an Uber, I had to wait forty-five minutes. A far cry from the city where you can wave your hand and a cab magically appears.

Before turning the corner to head out of his neighborhood, I glance back at his house. Blake has the perfect family home and doesn’t even know it. His yard is bigger than some of the others. His house appears larger as well. Interesting that in this family-friendly neighborhood, the bachelor may have the largest home.

He didn’t seem the least bit cocky about it though. The guy must have serious money, or at least his parents do, but he didn’t seem entitled. And I’m impressed at how much he wants to help the daughter he didn’t even know he had until yesterday. I’m sure he could easily send her away. Pay for a boarding school. Hire a nanny to ‘deal’ with her so he doesn’t have to.

The guy seems too good to be true. There must be something wrong with him. In my experience, no man is that handsome, well-off, and caring. Well, if you don’t count my dad. A smile cracks my face knowing I’m going to see my parents and Beth tonight. They’re coming into town to take me to dinner.

Hope flutters through me. I want so much for Maisy to one day feel about Blake the way I do my father. We have a long wayto go, and I’m not exactly sure she even understands who Blake is to her. WhoIam.

Maisy and I already have chemistry, that much is evident. But I need to be careful. She may see me as more of a parent than Blake. It’s a fine line I’ll have to navigate.

Maisy and I aren’t the only ones who have chemistry, though. He asked me to dinner. Well, sort of. It’s the only time in my adult life I’ve been tempted to accept a date with a hearing man. I’ve never dated one. Never wanted to. I was sure I’d never be able to have a connection with one. Especially one who doesn’t even know ASL or the first thing about Deaf culture.

Then why do I feel this pull whenever I see him? Why do I get the sense we can communicate without spoken words, without ASL, without anything but our eyes? It’s the strangest feeling in the world.

But he’s the father of a client. There’s a line. One I’m not sure I want to cross. No matter how much my body seems to want me to. Just thinking about him—his inviting lips, his electric touch, his chocolate-brown hair and how it falls perfectly back into place after he runs a hand through it—has dampness soaking my panties. What is happening to me?

A familiar SUV pulls up alongside me as I’m approaching my apartment complex. My smile is a mile wide when I see Dad at the wheel, Mom to his right, and Beth lowering the backseat window. Dad nods for me to get in the back, then angles the rearview mirror once I’m settled so I can see his lips. “Do you need to go home and change, or are you ready?”

“Let’s go eat,” I say and sign.

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