Page 34 of Maid in Heaven

“Wow, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks.” He sipped his drink and fidgeted with the cup’s handle.

“That had to be such a rough time.”

“It was. I’m not gonna lie. It really was. Right after my ex’s little disappearing act, I found out Starla haddiabetes,sogetting her the right treatment was stressful. It was a lot to learn, evenwiththe nursing courses I’d taken. It was alot of trial and error.”

“I’m sorry you went through that.”

“Thank you.” He shifted back against the leather of the booth with a squeak and watchedthe swirling steam rise from the lightning bolt drawn in the foam of his cappuccino. “So, since we are asking the hard-hitting questions, I know you have your fur-baby, Kuda, but do you ever want kids?”

Ava’s heart sank. The words hit her like a cinder block to the stomach.

He should know now before we waste each other’s time.

“It’s sadly not in the cards for me. I unfortunately can’t have kids,” she said, voice laced with melancholy. “I really wanted them,but I’ve seen several specialists, and… it’s just not the way my life was meant to go, I guess.”

Will’s eyes locked onto hers, apologetic and dazzling. “Oh my God, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s fine. Better you know upfront. I know that’s usually a deal-breaker for people.”

Will shook his head and took a tiny sip of his piping-hot drink.

“Iconsideredadoption or fostering, but my ex-husband, Dan, wasn’t a big fan of eitherone. I didn’t feel like it was fair for a child to only be truly wanted by one parent, especially when some come from such painful situations. So I threw myself into my workas soon as that door closed for me.”She leaned back, mimicking his body language without thinking about it. “And, now, I don’t even have that.”

I have nothing to offer you. Hell, I have nothing to offer anyone right now,she thought.

A sting of embarrassment turned her cheeks pink. Her eyes told more of a sad story that her lips could never utter.

“I’ve made the most of it. I’ve seen and done all the things I wanted to do instead. I travel. I eatexotic foods. I’veexperienced different ways of life. And I’m sure I’d be alotmore stressed about losing my job right now if I had someone dependant upon me.”

“Truth,” Will said quietly with a nod. Their eyes locked for a moment. Ava felt suddenly giddy, her stomach clenched with excitement. Will looked away.

“So, what are your customers like?”

Will chuckled. “Well, none of them are quite like you, if that’s what you’re wondering. Most of them are excited to have a man cleaning their house in basically his underwear.”

Ava blushed again and covered part of her face with her hand. “I’m sorry. Madison caught me off guard. It was bad timing. Plus, it’s not every day I just let a total stranger rummage through my home, clothed or not.”

“I get that.” Will smirked. “The majority of my clients are awesome. I meet a lot of cool people doing what I do. Some of these people are new to being millionaires and tipobscene amounts of money for the basics.They’re never gonna get on theirhands and knees to scrub their own bathroomwhen they can afford to hire it out. But the costume thing just exploded with the lonely housewife crowd. They feel a little zing of naughty excitement using me for their cleaning… andentertainment.With their husbands being gone all the time, the wives are just looking for a cheap thrill. Plus, I genuinely enjoy cleaning.”

“I wish I could say you caught me at a bad time, but that would probably be a bit of a fib. I can thrive in messy.Iknow where everything is.”

“Yeah, not me. Since I was really young, I’d always help my mother around the house. She’d let me use the vacuum and showed mehow to do the dusting. We’d listen to music, spray each other with water, and just enjoy time with each other. I loved that feeling you get from scrubbing out a stubborn stain and the accomplishment of looking at a clean room that was chaos before. People seemlighterwhen their home isin order. I’m helping people like I always wanted. Just…in a different waythan I thought I would. Plus, the schedulinggives me the flexibility to be there like Iwantto be for my daughter. I want to pick her up from schooland go to her recitals and choir performances. I want to be there to monitorher sugars, make sure she’s eating right,and tuck her in at night.”

“Do you have any family around to help with her?”

“Nope.My parents are old-fashioned conservatives. I havebarelytalked to them since my daughter was born‘out of wedlock.’My folks had ahugeproblem with that. They retired just after she was born and moved down to Boca Raton. Barely heard from ‘em since.” He shrugged. “My brother and I aren’t really closeeither. He moved down to Florida to be near them. So,it’s just me.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize.”

“Yeah, my neighbor’s daughter babysits from time to time, like tonight, but it’s mostly just me and Starla.”

“I’m sorry your family’s so distant, but they’re the ones who are really missing out in the end.”

“Yeah.” Will sounded quiet, unsure.

“...And what is it with people and Florida? I didn’t like it there. It’s like everyone thinks it’s some sort of mecca or something.”

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