Chapter Twenty

Mai poured the hot water over the grounds in the coffee press. While it steeped, she leaned against the counter and wrote out her grocery list. A key scraped in the back door lock. Thomas opened the door. “It smells good in here.” He unlaced his shoes, toed them off, and placed them next to the door.

“Is there enough for me too?” Seth entered the kitchen from the basement. He scratched at the stubble on his chin.

Mai raised her eyebrow. “Why are both of you here early?” The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Thomas flushed. “We wanted to talk to you.”

Seth drew three cups from the cabinet. “Yeah.” He placed the cups next to the press.

Mai pressed the grounds down and poured three cups of coffee. “Is this where you tell me to leave your mom alone? Ask me my intentions?” She leveled her gaze at the two of them. “Because I’m not going anywhere. You can shove off if that’s your mission. Your mom is a grown woman who is more than capable of telling me to hit the bricks if she wants me to leave. And I’m an honorable person, no matter what filth Sidney has been spreading.” Seth and Thomas’s mouths gaped. “And she is the only one who I’m going to listen to, so if that’s your agenda, kindly fuck off.”

“Woah!” Thomas pushed his glasses up on his nose. “That is so not what we wanted to talk about.”

“We wanted to ask if you would help us do something nice for her birthday.”

Mai flushed. “Oh damn. I’m sorry.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m sorry, guys.”

Seth picked up his cup and sipped his coffee. “But since you brought it up. You’re not going to break Mom’s heart, right? I mean you’re in it for real, aren’t you?”

“I am. What did you have in mind for her birthday?”

Thomas sat down next to Seth. “You love Mom?”

Mai rolled her eyes. “I haven’t said that to her yet, so please let’s leave it at I care, okay?”

Thomas pulled his glasses off and pulled a lens cloth from his shirt pocket and cleaned them. “Look, I’m not a warm fuzzy feeling kinda guy, and even I can see it’s more than that, but whatever.” He sipped his coffee and leaned back in his chair.

“We want you to help to surprise her with a super-special dinner and a cake. She always did great birthday parties for us when we were kids. Even when we were flat broke she made them special.” Seth frowned. “Last year Sidney got in the way, insisted she take Mom to a fancy restaurant.” His eyes grew dark. “I don’t know what happened, but Mom broke up with her that night.”

Mai pursed her lips. “Can’t say I’m unhappy about that. But I hate your mom had a horrible birthday. I know how that feels.” Mai blinked away the memory of her mother forgetting her nineteenth birthday. The last one she ever spent at home. Twenty-one years later and it still stung. She tapped her finger to her lips. “What is her favorite kind of cake?”

“Yellow with chocolate icing.” Thomas picked up an apple and bit into it.

“You guys planning Mom’s birthday without me?” Noah’s indignant whisper startled them.

“No, Tiny Tot, we were just getting started.”

The bruises on Noah’s cheeks and around his eyes shone yellow-purple against his pale skin under the fluorescent kitchen lights.

“Don’t push it, Noah. You’re supposed take it easy for another two weeks.” Mai poured Noah a glass of apple juice and placed it on the table.

Noah sat down heavily in the kitchen chair and rubbed his fingers over the cartoon figure of SpongeBob decorated on the side of the glass. “Who’d have thought I’d miss school so much?”

Mai held up her notepad. “Okay, so far we have yellow cake with chocolate frosting. What else should we make?”

“Mom used to make us pizza all the time for our birthdays.”

“Yeah, but that was for us. What would Mom like?” Thomas sipped his coffee.

“French onion soup to start, with homemade bread. Salad.” Seth shifted in his seat. “That’s what she orders when we go out for Grandpa’s birthday.”

“Can we think more fancy?” Noah huffed. “We make that for her all the time.”

“What do you think she would like, Mai?” Noah gulped his juice.

Mai tapped the pen against her lip. “She loved the ravioli we made Noah. What if we do three different kinds of ravioli and a salad?”

“Cool.” Seth frowned. “I think Thomas and I can make the cake.”

Mai grinned. “If you can build a house, Seth, you can bake a cake. I’ll leave the cake to you two. Noah and I will make the dinner. How are we going to work the surprise?”

Thomas sat back and crossed his arms. “I’ll get Grandpa in on it. He’s good at faking Mom out.”

Love, bright and warm, washed over Mai. She loved this family. These young men who wanted to do something special for their mother. She leaned back against the counter. The sense of being included in the plans for Dale’s surprise birthday warmed her, made her catch her breath. Family.

*

Dale drew her fingers along the valley over Mai’s spine, stopping to swirl her fingertip over the dimple above her ass. “I almost fell out of my truck the day I watched you change in your car.” She shifted her hips and rolled them against the round muscle of Mai’s ass and skated her palms over the broad planes of Mai’s back.

Mai reached back and stroked the outside of Dale’s calf. “I couldn’t believe you were early. I planned on being dressed before you got there.”

Dale leaned down and kissed the nape of Mai’s neck. “I’m glad I was early for once.”

She stretched out over Mai and rubbed her nipples along her back before she lowered herself with a groan. Mai arched her hips under her, and Dale ground her clit against her ass. She nibbled her neck and rolled to the side. Mai turned toward her.

With one leg over Mai’s thighs to hold her in place, Dale teased a finger over Mai’s stiff clit. She edged her, slicking her fingers over the hard knot of her clit, drawing back each time Mai’s breathing shifted, signaling she was close to coming.

She pressed her lips against the shell of Mai’s ear. “You’re beautiful. Every time I touch you, I can hardly believe you’re in my bed.”

Mai panted. “I love being in your bed. I love being in your life.”

Dale pushed two fingers inside and stroked gently, drawing out Mai’s orgasm until she shuddered and shouted into the pillow as she came.

Dale shifted and rolled her over to look into her face.

Mai leaned up and kissed her. She broke their kiss and gazed into Dale’s eyes. “I love you.”

Dale’s breath hitched. She had known this was coming. Had sensed it herself. Had opened her mouth to say something in the weeks since Noah’s attack. She cupped Mai’s face in both hands. She hesitated a beat too long.

Mai’s withdrawal was so sharp it seemed physical and her gaze slid away from Dale’s. “It’s fine if you don’t feel the same. I wanted you to know.” She broke free from Dale’s grip and rolled away from her. She scooted to the edge of the bed, shoved off, and stalked to the bathroom. The click of the door lock echoed in the room.

Why didn’t I say it back? Why can’t I say it? Because every time I say I love you in a relationship it goes pear-shaped. And she’s never going to be satisfied here. With us. With me. The sound of the shower running made her drag herself from her bed. She grabbed the bathroom doorknob and turned it. Locked. She had locked her out. And who could blame her? Dale must seem like everyone else who wanted Mai for what she was, not who she was.

Dale grabbed her jeans off the floor and pulled her multitool from its pouch. Using the punch, she opened the door.

“I know it’s your house, but I locked it for some privacy.” Mai’s hollow voice called from behind the shower glass.

Dale yanked open the shower door, stepped into the tub, and pulled Mai into her arms.

“Damn it, Mai. Give a woman a chance to respond before you bolt out of her bed. I care about you. I’ve cared about you since we had our first argument.”

Mai kissed her and Dale clung to her as Mai’s kisses swept away her fears. She cupped Dale’s neck, her eyes dark under her thick brows. “Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.”

“You’re the best thing ever walked into my life. I want to be with you.”

The water cooled. Dale shivered and Mai shut off the flow.

Mai stepped out, grabbed a towel, and passed it on to Dale. She dried herself off briskly. “Come on.”

Dale followed Mai to the bed. Clasping her shoulders, Mai used her body weight to encourage Dale to lay back. Mai kneeled at the bedside. She kissed the inside of Dale’s thigh and Dale let her legs fall open. Her wet tongue slid along and over her skin.

Mai blew her warm breath over Dale’s clit before she licked it. Nuzzling the inside of her leg before she kissed the crease of her thigh, she moved back to her center and thrust her tongue deep and then swirled it over her clit again. Dale grabbed the sheets with both hands as Mai took her time and brought her off.

*

“This is amazing.” Mai shifted the hard hat back to look up at the ceiling of the restaurant. “You saved the copper ceiling? It looks like it did when I was a kid.”

Dale basked in Mai’s happiness. “There wasn’t as much water damage as we thought down here.” She pressed her lips together in a thin line. “Upstairs, we had to gut most of it.”

Mai walked over to the frame for the bar and leaned on it. “I know you did what you could.”

“Come with me.” Dale’s gut tightened as she hoped Mai would approve of the changes she had made to the upstairs apartment. They took the elevator up. “It will hold up to eight hundred pounds. I checked the recommended specs for potential electric wheelchair use.” Dale pressed the button to open the door. “This keypad can be programed to operate the elevator remotely.”

Mai stepped out into the open floor plan. The wall dividing the apartments was gone. A long kitchen bar separated the living room and kitchen.

She ran her hand along the reclaimed barn wood countertop and whistled. “This is much more than I imagined.”

“The countertop and everything are ADA compliant. I asked a few friends with mobility issues what they would want and incorporated their suggestions.”

Mai turned to her. “Thank you. So much. This is fantastic.”

Dale took her hand. “Come see the bedrooms.”

Mai followed Dale down the short hall to the bedrooms.

“There will be two bedrooms with full bathrooms. Both will have in roll-in showers, with benches and grab bars. I know it doesn’t look like much now but as soon as the wiring and the plumbing rough-in is complete we can get started on the rest of it.”

Dale opened the door and Mai stepped in.

Mai turned in a slow circle. “This will be perfect for Yvonne and me.”

Dale looked away briefly to smooth her grimace at the reminder Mai would leave her home as soon as the renovation was complete. “I’m sure.”

“You made a skylight? Wow. It’s wonderful. It was always dark in here growing up.”

“Since the roof needed to be rebuilt anyway it was easy.” Dale flushed with Mai’s delight.

“I can’t wait to lie in bed and look at the sky change.” Mai swept her hard hat off and cupped Dale’s chin. “With you.” She kissed her and Dale rested her hands on her hips and tugged her closer, making full contact with Mai’s firm body.

“You’re violating safety rules.” She smiled against Mai’s mouth. “Pretty stiff penalty for that.”

Mai rocked into Dale’s body. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

“Maybe we can.” Dale nipped her lip and stepped back.

Mai put her hard hat back on. “Is Yvonne’s room the same?”

“Exactly. No sister fights over who gets the skylight.”

Mai clasped both of Dale’s hands in hers. “Thank you, for all of this. I’m impressed. It’s more than I ever dreamed of.”

Dale nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She’d made Mai happy, ecstatic even. But the reality of Mai moving out of her home, and potentially out of her life, twisted a knife in her gut and squeezed her heart.

She dropped Mai’s hands and stepped back and glanced away from her sparkling eyes. “Let me show you the rest of it. I need you to make some decisions.”

Dale turned and walked away from Mai, wondering when it would be the last time. Of course, she would leave. It had only been a temporary arrangement to save Mai money, and to help Dale. And now? Now Dale didn’t know what they were. Family? Friends? Friends with hella benefits? She finished the tour and made notes of Mai’s choices for paint colors and tile for the kitchen and bathroom.

Mai bubbled with excitement as they walked down the stairs. “I can’t wait to be here. I’ve been working on the menus with Sally and the folks at the co-op. Do you have an estimate when it will be complete?”

Dale clutched her clipboard to her chest. “Some of it will depend on the city inspector’s schedule. And then once the building is cleared, you’ll need to check with the health department about their inspections.”

Mai sighed. “Hurry up and wait, as my mom used to say.”

Dale gestured to the outlines of the equipment painted on the floor with fluorescent paint. “This is according to the layout you approved. Would you walk it and let me know if you still want it this way? Once we plumb it and put the wiring in it will get expensive to change anything.”

Mai moved around the kitchen space and Dale stood off to the side and imagined her in chef’s whites working the open kitchen. She found the concentration on her face as she prepared an imaginary meal fascinating. She moved across the kitchen like a dancer. Mai stopped mid-stride and a frown crossed her face.

“Something wrong?”

Mai raised her gaze to Dale’s face. “A memory. My mom. She used to run the meals. We never had waitresses. Yvonne wasn’t steady enough to carry a tray.” Mai pointed to the bright-orange line on the floor that indicated where the pass-through would be built. “Yvonne sat there, she answered the phone, took the orders, and ran the cash register.” Mai glanced up, her eyes bright. “It was hell on Friday and Saturday nights, but I’d give everything I have to have my mom yelling at me to hurry up with the dish I was taking too much time to plate.”

Dale walked to Mai and gathered her in her arms. “I get that. Even the hard times are precious once someone’s gone.”