Page 28 of Sunsets and Happy Ever Afters

CHAPTER 14

April

“Hey, Maya!”

Maya, hearing her name being called, looked up from her phone and the flirty text from Pierce that she’d been smiling at. She was waiting for Lewis to come out of his classroom. She’d been dating Pierce for nearly three weeks now and could hardly believe it. He showered her with gifts and was very attentive in bed — they’d got to the stage of sleeping with one another. She had instigated it, not Pierce. He was so damn sexy.

Sam was making his way across the school playground towards her, surrounded by excited kids breaking up for the Easter holidays. He was dressed smartly in a suit, as if he’d come directly from the office, and had Chloe and Amber with him. The way Amber was fluttering her eyelashes and putting on a pleading face, Maya could feel something coming. Probably an impossible request. Sam looked harassed.

“Hey,” she said, smiling and slipping her phone back into her handbag. She wiped her lip, feeling a stray hair clinging to her mouth. She tried tucking it behind her ear, but it was windy today. All the loose tendrils from her ponytail were blowing around, and she doubted it was an attractive sight. She battled to calm her windswept hair.

“Mummy, please can I have a sleepover at Chloe’s on Saturday night?” Amber burst out before Sam could say anything. His mouth opened, then shut.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but you’re going to Nanny and Granddad’s this weekend. Maybe another time?” Maya looked at Sam apologetically. The girls were moaning, but she ignored them. “Maybe after the Easter holidays.”

“Yes, that sounds like a better plan, rather than springing it on me when you come out of school, Chloe,” Sam said, grimacing with disapproval. His expression softened as he turned his gaze back on Maya.

“Oh, did they decide during school?” Maya looked at her daughter, frowning. “They do have a habit of doing that and don’t quite understand that we adults like a bit of notice.” By this point, Lewis had bounded out of his classroom and was running towards his mother.

“Hi, Mummy!” Lewis said, hugging Maya. She ruffled his hair and turned her attention back to Sam as Lewis let her go.

“They forget we may have plans too. I can imagine them in the playground organising their social diaries, and then they sulk when we say no,” Maya said. “It is okay to say no to them, Sam.”

“Yes, I know I can. I’m not used to it, yet,” Sam said. “They seem to be growing up so fast, I’m not sure what the norm is. I suppose I just want her to be happy.” They all headed towards the school gate, the kids running ahead while Sam and Maya walked together. Maya felt a self-consciousness she wouldn’t have if she was walking out of the school with another mother. Why was it different because it was Sam?

Stopoverthinking. You’reallowedtowalkoutofschoolwithaman. Justbecausehe’ssingleandyou’resingle, itdoesn’tmeananything.

“Chloe seems very happy.” Amber and Chloe were skipping along together, laughing. “But, no, I don’t like it either,” Maya continued. “That is, I don’t like things being sprung on me at the last minute. I’m not very good at spontaneous decisions to go to places, do things. Sets my anxiety off. Kyle could never whisk me away for a surprise weekend.” Maybe it was the confidence she’d got from dating Pierce, but Maya was finding it easier to talk to Sam about Kyle.

“I’ll remember that,” Sam said, grinning cheekily. What on earth did he mean? Before Maya could ponder on his statement, he quickly continued, “The girls have a good way of laying on the old guilt trip. Which weekend would be good for you?”

“Oh, I’ll check my diary, but next weekend we’re away as it’s the Easter weekend.” Maya retrieved her phone from her handbag and started searching for her diary app.

“Yes, I am too.”

“I don’t want to muck Mum and Dad around this weekend. They’re so good to me.” Plus, Maya was meeting Pierce, and she didn’t want it all to go askew by complicating the arrangements.

“Two weeks’ time, then?”

“Yes, that’ll be the weekend before they go back to school. Is that all right with you?” She met his warm brown eyes, and for some reason, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. He nodded while she gave herself a mental shake. “Any problems, I’ll text you.”

“We can agree the finer details nearer the time.” Sam held out his arm, to allow Maya to walk through the school gate first.

She turned and hesitantly waved in thanks. “Have a good Easter holiday, then.”

“And you.” Sam gave a nod, then led his daughter away in the opposite direction.

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