Page 29 of Quiet Beautiful Things

My phone vibrates with a text. I ignore it, keeping it in my pocket, and I read to Maisy. I do the signs I know as I read. But she’s not looking at me or my hands. Her eyes are glued to the book. And once again, sadness washes over me knowing she’s never been properly read to.

Don’t pity her,I hear in my head. It’s one of the rules Ellie told me. But she texted it to me. Why then, do I hear a voice in my head? A soft feminine voice that I imagine to be hers. It makes me wonder if she ever speaks.

I keep reading until Maisy drifts off. Then I slide out of the bed, secure the bed rail, and turn out the lights, thinking how horribly this evening could have ended.

Just as I’m shutting her door, the doorbell chimes. It… couldn’t be Ellie, right? It’s eight o’clock on Thursday. I know it’s not her. But I’m willing it to be.

I push a laundry basket behind the couch on my way to the door. Opening it, I’m disappointed to find it’s just my friends, Dax Cruz and Cooper Calloway. Dax holds up a case of my favorite beer. “If the rumors are true, we thought you might need this.”

I laugh appreciatively and step aside.

Cooper enters first, glancing around my mess of a house. He chuckles. “You should have seen my place when I first got Cody.” He grips my shoulder. “It’ll get easier.”

“From your lips to God’s ears,” I say.

Dax pulls out three beers, opening them as he hands one to Cooper and me. “I never thought I’d see the day when Blake Montana had a kid, but cheers to you for stepping up.” He clinks his bottle to mine then Cooper’s.

I glance down the hallway. “We need to keep it down. I just got her to bed.”

Dax narrows his brows. “Uh, Blake, isn’t she deaf?”

I look at the ceiling and sigh. “Shit. Yeah. I’m… still getting used to this.”

Cooper sweeps a toy aside and sits on the couch. “Addy told me she can’t even communicate. Is that true?”

“Your sister must have been talking to my sister.” I take a drink and sit. “She’s right though. Maisy doesn’t even know her own name. I’m not even sure she understands that I’m her dad.”

“That’s fucked up,” Dax says.

“It is.”

“So what’s up with Maisy’s mom?”

I shrug. “I have no clue. All I know is that she’s in rehab for ninety days. For all I know, Maisy will go back to her after that. I mean, I’m going to fight it. I would hope CPS wouldn’t give her back to a woman who didn’t ever bother to communicate with her own kid.”

“So you really are stepping up,” Cooper says.

“She’s so small,” I say. “And scared. She has nobody.” I swallow hard. “Fucking nobody. Her grandparents abandoned her to go on a goddamn cruise.” I stare down the hallway. “She’s amazing. I know she is. How could she not be after what she’s been through?”

“What are you going to do?” Cooper asks. “How do you talk to her? Can she understand anything?”

“We’re working with a woman from the Deaf school. Maisy will start Pre-K there on Monday. I’m learning sign language. But for now, we mainly just play.” I gesture around the trashed room. “As you can clearly see.” I pick up some papers off the coffee table. “And draw.” I show them a picture I drew of this house with Maisy and me inside. “I’m trying to help her understand this is her house and I’m her dad. But I have no idea if I’m getting through.”

“Think of it like having a baby,” Cooper says. “They have no idea what you’re saying, but they learn. Just keep repeating it. Keep drawing it. She’ll understand soon enough.”

“When did you get so smart?” Dax teases.

“When I had to man up and become a father to Cody,” he says. “Speaking of which, I could bring him over and introducehim. Better yet, I could bring my nieces, Ashley and Aurora, they’re both four. Isn’t that how old Maisy is?”

“Oh, man, that would be great,” I say. “Ellie says Maisy lacks social skills. I bet having her around other kids her age would be amazing. I’ll ask her about it.”

“Ellie?” Cooper’s brow shoots up.

“Maisy’s mentor from the Deaf school.”

“Ellie?” he repeats. “As in notMrs. So-and-so,but Ellie? Already on a first-name basis with your kid’s teacher?”

I snort. “I’m not gonna lie. She’s all that and more.” I picture her in my head. Sandy-blonde hair. Blue eyes. Inviting smile. Small hands that look so graceful when she signs.

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