Page 70 of Never Give Up

“Of course. They’re tired of my crappy cooking, and they like her.” I smile at the thought of my kids helping me win her over.

“Good boys.” My dad said what we both know.

“That’s what I said. How’s Mom?” I just want to change the subject before my dad gets too invasive.

“She’s good, just tired now. She misses those boys when they aren’t here. But I know they wear her out. The curse of getting older, I suppose.” He takes another drink of his beer and looks at me.

“I was talking to the sheriff, and he’s talking about having a barbeque after the range next weekend. Do you think you and Ma will want to go?” The sheriff and my dad had worked together for years in the department and had grown close over the shared experiences.

“Yeah, of course. Your mother loves the chance to socialize.” What neither of us say is that she also loves to be around the other women.

“Great. I’ll let them know that you’ll be there.” I smile, knowing that it’s going to be a great time.

“You planning on bringing Maya?” My dad looks at me out of the corner of his eye again.

Not wanting to answer the question my dad is asking, I sidestep. “Well, she’ll go because she’s an employee of the department.”

“I meant are you taking her with you as your date, you nimrod.” He slaps me upside the head.

“Jeez, Dad. I don’t know how she’d even feel about that.” Rubbing my head, I scoot away from my dad and finish the beer in my hand. I stand up and grab the empty can from my dad’s hand and walk into the kitchen.

“Well, you’re sleeping with her. So chances are that she’ll like it. Girls like that sort of thing,” my dad calls after me.

“Okay, I’ll talk to her about it.” I give in mostly because I know if I don’t, my dad will never let me hear the end of it.

“Here’s your chance,” my dad calls back at me, and I’m looking directly into Maya’s brown eyes as I go into the living room.

“Hey, doll.” The endearment slips from my lips before I can stop it, and I kiss her on the cheek before stepping back.

“What are you doing here, Brian?” I don’t answer her. I simply look down at the bag she holds in her hand. Colorful and big enough for maybe a night’s worth of clothes and essentials.

“Is that all you packed?” I ask her with raised eyebrows.

“No, the rest of my stuff is in my car. Why are you here?” She doesn’t miss a beat and drops her bag to cross her arms.

“No reason.” Turning to the kitchen, I holler, “Boys! Maya is here!” Then I wait until roughly the count of five before I’m almost run over by my two heathens.

“Maya!” they call together.

“You’re going to come stay with us, right?” Jonathan asks. “Because Dad said you’re going to stay here with Grandma and Grandpa, but I told him he was wrong because youloveus and you’ll come stay with us instead.”

“Well—” Maya starts to say something, but James cuts her off.

“Dad makes breakfast but it’s terrible. When we spent the night at your house, you made us good food. His isn’t even good enough for puppies. So, you have to come save us. Or we’ll starve to death.” He’s adorable, and his older brother is in on it too.

Jonathan speaks up. “Well, we won’t starve, but we’ll end up eating cereal all the time and we won’t get anything good.” They both start pouting. “And we just need you to come stay with us. So, that’s it, right? You’ll come home with us tonight after dinner?”

I just cross my arms and let my sons handle the dirty work. I smile at Maya, who is grasping at straws, trying to figure out what to do. I almost chuckle, but I don’t want to break the boys’ concentration. Maya looks up at me, and I simply shrug back at her with my ridiculous grin. I look to my father, who just winks.

There’s a noise in the doorway, and my mom joins us. She looks gorgeous for her age, and my father jumps right up to give her a kiss. The boys stop the barrage on Maya for a minute to say hi to their grandmother.

“Grandma! You have to tell Maya that she’s going to stay at our house instead.” James grabs her hand and pulls her into the living room with the other adults.

“Well, I heard you and Jonathan talking to her about it, and I think it’s a perfect idea.” My mom looks at me and smiles in the way a mother smiles at her favorite child. “I think we’re supposed to have your brothers up to visit this summer, and I know Maya would like to be able to sleep since she works nights,” my mom says with a knowing smile.

“I can just stay at my house. I don’t mind.” Maya is trying to pull a fast one, but there’s no way it will happen.

“You will do no such thing.” Even the boys stop chattering to look at my dad, whose face is starting to turn red. “Boys, you go out back for a minute,” he orders.

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