Thrill Me (Fool's Gold #18)(86)

When it came to loving him, she had a bad feeling that was going to be with her always. She’d never fallen out of love with him, and they’d been apart ten years. The difference was, before she hadn’t known. She’d been able to go on with her life without being aware her heart was forever in the possession of someone who didn’t want it.

Close to noon, Eddie and Gladys walked into her office.

“Do you have a minute?” Eddie asked as they took the plastic chairs on the other side of her desk. “We have to talk.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Gladys told her. “You’ll scare the poor girl.” Gladys gave her a bright smile. “We love our show.”

That made Maya smile. “I suspect everyone already knows that. Your enthusiasm is both obvious and contagious.”

“Except for the butt segments,” Eddie said. “We’re still getting some flak for those. Marsha needs to get a sense of humor, if you ask me.”

“Or maybe you shouldn’t show so many naked butts.”

“As if that’s going to happen.” Gladys winked. “It’s our highest rated segment. But that’s not why we’re here.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask the reason,” Maya admitted. Silently, though, she was happy for the interruption. It was impossible to feel sorry for herself while in the company of these two.

“We heard what happened with Del and his family,” Eddie said, her voice low. “Breast cancer. Poor thing.”

While part of her brain assumed Eddie was referring to Elaine, the rest of her was trying to figure out how they knew.

“Word is spreading quickly,” Gladys said. “Now that it’s out. Ceallach ran into Morgan this morning, and while I love Morgan, he’s something of a talker. It sounds like they got it all and got it early, so that’s good.”

Eddie pressed her hands against her chest. “I know I worry about my girls, but what can you do but get them checked? Elaine was very brave and you were a good friend.”

“Not everyone sees it that way,” Maya murmured.

“Some people are buttheads. He’ll come around. She needed you and you were there. That’s what counts.”

Maya knew that Eddie was right. And when she was curled up in pain from missing Del, she would tell herself the same thing. While she regretted the outcome and she’d thought her friend had been wrong to keep the information from her family, she didn’t regret what she’d done. And if the situation were to happen again, she would do exactly the same thing. She would be a friend.

Gladys smiled at her. “We want to thank you for your help with our show. We’ve used everything you taught us in class and it’s made a big difference.”

“I’m glad you’re happy with the results.”

Eddie nodded. “We are. You know, we’ve always admired you, Maya. Even when you were a teenager, you understood that making something of your life was up to you. Your mother wasn’t the nicest person, but you didn’t let that stop you. You worked hard in school and applied yourself.”

The unexpected compliment had Maya fighting tears. “Thank you for saying that,” she said softly, not sure how they knew so much about her. But then this was Fool’s Gold, and information had a way of getting out.

“We knew you were destined for greatness,” Gladys added.

“Then you must be disappointed. Here I am, back where I started.”

The two old ladies exchanged a glance, then returned their attention to her.

“Don’t be silly,” Eddie said. “You were in television. That was really something. We liked seeing your name in the credits every night when we watched your TV show online. And now you’ll be taking off with Del to travel the world.”

“I won’t. He and I aren’t exactly speaking right now.”

“Pshaw.” Gladys shook her head. “He’ll come around. They always do. Then you’ll go see the world. Take lots of pictures and send them to us. We’ll love seeing what you’re doing.”

She raised her hand toward her friend. “High five for a job well done?”

“You bet.” Eddie raised her hand and they slapped palms.

Maya looked between them. She felt as if an important truth was sitting right in front of her, only she couldn’t quite grasp it.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“You,” Eddie told her. “We’re proud of you, child.”

Gladys chuckled. “You still don’t get it, do you? You’ve been asking around about your college scholarship. It was us. We’re the ones who put you through school.”

Maya was sure her mouth dropped open, but she couldn’t seem to care. “You?” Her mind had trouble grasping the information. “The two of you?”

“Slick, huh?” Eddie asked. “We’ve been doing stuff like this for years. Our husbands left us well-off and we both have family money. We’re not going to spend it on silly things like cars or clothes, so why not?”

Maya scrambled to her feet and circled the desk. She hugged them both, as tightly as she could, before remembering they had elderly bones.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much that scholarship meant to me.”