Thrill Me (Fool's Gold #18)(28)
“Very much. I like the small town vibe.”
“Me, too. I’m a recent transplant. There’s something about this town.”
Patience leaned toward Maya. “I heard that Eddie and Gladys can’t do their butt contest anymore. Please say that isn’t true. I love the butt contest.”
“Don’t tell them you love it,” Maya muttered. “I’m trying to get them under control.”
“Good luck with that,” Dellina told her.
“I love them, too,” Phoebe admitted. “They’re so adventurous. Remember how great they were on the cattle drive? They weren’t afraid of anything.”
“You say that like it’s a good thing,” Maya told her, then sighed. She had a feeling there was no winning on the Eddie-Gladys front. They were like bad weather. Easier to hunker down and endure than try to fight the inevitable.
“Oh, I heard you’re going to help out with the Saplings,” Patience said. “That’s so great.”
It took Maya a second to figure out what the other woman was talking about. Because she had no plans to help with trees.
“You mean the little girls in the Future Warriors of the Máa-zib?” Maya asked. “Yes, I was asked to give a talk on how to use a camera.”
Patience smiled. “I know. My daughter is a Sapling now and you’ll be talking to her grove. The first year they start out as Acorns. The second year they’re Sprouts, then Saplings and so on. We’re all excited about the afternoon. It’ll be fun.”
“I hope so,” Maya murmured, thinking she wasn’t sure she was qualified to teach several eight-year-olds how to do anything, but she would do her best.
* * *
DEL STUDIED THE two paths that cut through the forest. The one on the left headed straight up the hillside and looked a lot less used. As he wasn’t looking for company, he picked that one.
The afternoon was clear and warm. Although it was still technically summer, he’d seen more than a few leaves had started to turn. In a month or two the whole mountainside would be red and gold with changing leaves. A beautiful sight he wouldn’t be around to see.
While he was glad he’d decided to come home to see his family he couldn’t say he would be sorry to leave. He was already feeling restless. There was a whole world out there and he needed to be in it. The only question was what to do with himself when he got there.
Even as he turned over possibilities, he found himself feeling he should talk to Maya. She would have a sensible solution. Or if not, she would be willing to brainstorm with him. She was smart, with enough creativity to keep her interesting.
Thinking about Maya meant remembering their last conversation. When she’d admitted never seeing a successful romantic relationship until moving to town.
He’d grown up with parents who were embarrassingly in love with each other. Even when he hadn’t understood why his mother put up with his father’s drinking and moodiness, he’d never questioned her devotion to him or Ceallach’s to his wife. They were a single unit made up of two halves. Like a coin. Without one, there couldn’t be the other.
He might not be interested in a traditional relationship for himself, but—
Del circled around a tree and paused to grab his water bottle. There was no point in lying to himself. He did want something traditional. Maybe not exactly what his parents had—he wanted a relationship of equals—but still, the together forever appealed.
He supposed in his and Maya’s case, they’d both been too young. She’d been dealing with things he couldn’t possibly have understood. She’d reacted to her feelings and he’d been caught in the fallout. With Hyacinth, well, he’d chosen badly there.
Which left him with a problem. He knew he wasn’t the kind of man who would be comfortable in one place for very long. He wouldn’t mind a home base, as long as he didn’t have to spend much time there. But how was he supposed to find someone who shared that dream with him? Hell, he couldn’t even figure out what to do with his life, let alone find his damn soul mate.
He dropped the water bottle into his backpack and continued up the trail. The path was rocky and steep, just challenging enough to be interesting. The hike might take longer than he’d planned, but he had plenty of time. Not to mention GPS so he wouldn’t get lost. One of the advantages of the new search-and-rescue program was cell towers all over the mountains. With a smartphone even the most tenderfooted of tourists should manage to find his or her way back to civilization.
Or not, he thought humorously, considering how many search-and-rescue calls there had been this summer.
He wondered if he and Maya should talk about interviewing the search-and-rescue people for their videos. Although maybe talking about getting lost wasn’t good for tourism. He knew Maya would get the humor of it, though. She always did.
He thought about what she’d told him. Although he believed her, he had trouble imagining what it must have been like never to have seen two adults in a happy relationship. No wonder she hadn’t been able to deal with the two of them falling in love. Her past also explained her close relationship with his mother.
After he and Maya had broken up, he’d thought it was strange that she stayed in touch with Elaine. Now he knew it had something to do with her upbringing. Elaine would have provided stability and caring—two things Maya would have needed. She would have been the nurturing mother Maya had never had.