“I’m watching you, Maya.” Then he turned around and walked out.
Well. That wasn’t threatening or anything.
2
Shaking off that encounter, Maya headed out to where Livvy and Millie were waiting. She decided not to say anything about what had happened. She didn’t want Millie to worry or blame herself.
“Hey! You ready?” she asked.
They both smiled and all of them headed out. Mr. Fluffy was moving slowly next to Millie. At least she’d gotten him moving.
“I told him he’d get a treat,” Millie said as though reading her mind. “He loves treats.”
She bet he did.
“So how do the two of you know each other?” she asked Livvy and Millie.
“Through our men,” Livvy said. “They belong to the same motorcycle club.”
“Oh, right, what was it called? Iron Shadows?” she asked.
It had been surprising that sweet, lovely Livvy was involved with a scary, but gorgeous member of a motorcycle club. But after seeing Sav with her for just a few minutes, it was clear he adored her.
Still, it was even harder to see Millie, who was carrying a handbag in the shape of a brontosaurus, with a motorcycle club member.
But, hey, never judge a book by its cover. People loved to judge her with her lavender-colored hair and her penchant for dramatic makeup and black clothes. And those people included her own family.
However, few people actually knew the real Maya. The one who liked strawberry-themed pajamas and playing with Lego and slept with a toy dolphin each night.
They didn’t realize that her sometimes prickly exterior protected a soft interior.
It was hard for her to trust anyone. The only person she’d ever fully trusted was her mom. And she’d left her. Losing her mom at fourteen had shaped her into the guarded person she was now. It didn’t help that her dad had remarried within a year of her mom’s death. To a woman she didn’t like and who had had no interest in helping a heartbroken, lost teenage girl.
Yeah, there wasn’t much love lost between her and Kathryn, her stepmother. But Maya had made it through her teenage years. Barely.
And now she was an adult who got to make her own decisions.
“Come on, Mr. Fluffy,” Millie said as the dog attempted to lie down in the middle of the pavement. “We’re not there yet. I’m sorry that mean lady called you the F-word. But you know that the vet said you had to lose some weight so a walk will do you some good.”
He heaved a sigh and stared up at her balefully.
“You can’t get that treat unless you walk to the café and I really want a coffee and a muffin.”
Mr. Fluffy’s ear twitched as though he’d heard the word ‘muffin’ and liked it. Maya thought she might be able to give him another incentive.
“Pretty sure they do pup cups there, too.”
Mr Fluffy sighed and heaved himself onto his feet.
“That did it,” Millie said. “Thank goodness. Pup cups are his favorite. He has a real addiction to whipped cream. I swear, sometimes it takes him twenty minutes to walk from one room to another, but as soon as I squirt cream from a can, he is right next to me with his tongue hanging out. Which might have something to do with the fact that he’s a teensy-tiny bit overweight.”
Millie whispered the last word as though worried Mr. Fluffy might take offense. From what Maya had seen of the dog, she thought that was a wise course of action.
They reached the café and Millie waited outside while Livvy and Maya went in.
“Are you sure everything will be okay with your boss?” Livvy asked.
“It’s fine, honestly. I don’t care about David. He’s a dick.” They ordered their drinks and food. “And Millie has every right to bring Mr. Fluffy in. He’s a service dog.”
