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“We should do something once we get the office all in order. Something that lets us welcome everyone and try to rebuild the community. A chance to showcase the successful businesses and the up-and-coming ones.”
“I like that idea. We could have it in the town square. Maybe we could have businesses come by with items or food that they sell to showcase them. Provide them with booths and cover the costs for marketing to other nearby cities to try and get some new people in town.” I loved the idea of having a celebration for old and new businesses in town. Something to start building a community together.
“That sounds perfect,” she agreed with a warm smile.
“Welcome to La Bistro Mr. Mayor. It is an honor to have you here tonight,” the female hostess said with a bright smile.
“The honor is all ours. I hope it’s okay that we don’t have a reservation.” I was hoping it would be alright. I didn’t know if we would need one or not. I had no idea how busy it might get here.
“It’s no problem at all. We only tend to do reservations for large parties. We used to have to do them all the time, but …” she trailed off, and we didn’t need her to finish to know exactly what she meant.
“I am going to work very hard to try and rejuvenate the town. I have heard that it was once beautiful and full of tourists. That is our goal,” I said with a warm smile.
“I hope so. It would be great to see some life back in the town. I’ll show you to a table,” she said as she picked up two menus and made her way through the dining room.
When we arrived at the table, I held the chair out for Maya before taking my own. We both took the menu offered and once the hostess headed back to her station, it only took a minute before the waitress came over and we both ordered a drink before we were alone once again. I didn’t know how to ease into this conversation so I figured it might be best to just get it out there so we could move on with the dinner and hopefully a less painful topic.
“I don’t want to spend all evening discussing this. I know we could use the break. However, I did want to let you know I have reached out to Lucas, and he is going to look into the case. He also said you staying here regardless was a viable option.”
“My friend said the same thing. I think she is right, that I could try and stay here. I just don’t wish to put you and especially Zoey in danger.”
“We can always ensure that everyone is safe. Who is this friend?” This was the first I was hearing of one.
“Someone I met a couple of years back. She is also in the program and has been for a dozen years now. She lives in this small town in Montana. She’s been living there for a number of years now and no problems have come up. She believes it would be smarter and safer for me to stay in a town like this compared to leaving again. But, if a real threat does come up, I am going to leave. I can’t risk you or Zoey being hurt.”
“I can understand that, but if you do need to leave, I need you to tell me so I can ensure you are properly set up to disappear.” It was a huge relief to hear that she wanted to stay; however, I also knew that was just one hurdle of many in our path. “There was something else that Lucas pointed out to me.”
“Okay.” I could hear the slight worry within her voice, but I knew in a moment that would dissolve.
“He pointed out that you revealed something deeply personal about yourself and turnaround is fair play.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, slightly confused now.
“It means that I don’t want you to feel like you have no power between us. I want us to be equals. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do what I say, or you have to act a certain way. And that’s not even because of the baby. I don’t ever want you to feel like if you don’t act a certain way that I will end the contract between us and kick you out. That’s not going to happen. I don’t want to share a home with someone who doesn’t exist or is holding back.”
She was quiet for a moment before she responded, “I guess I have been worried about that and holding back. And I do agree that if we are entertaining the thought of raising this baby, then we do need to know each other better on a deeper level.”
“Oh, we are doing more than just entertaining the idea Darling,” I countered with a smirk. I knew it was still hard for her to believe that she could have this baby, and everything would be okay, but I wasn’t going to rest until she did believe that.
“That’s a whole other discussion. One that can wait until tomorrow or another day. I want to know more about you tonight.”
I wanted to argue, but I could see she wasn’t going to budge yet. That was fine. She had texted me letting me know that she made a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow so we would be able to talk about it afterwards and sort all of that out.
“Fair enough. What would you like to know?” I knew what I had to tell her, but I wanted to give her a chance to feel like she could ask me anything.
Before she had the chance to respond, our waitress was back with our drinks, and we put in our food order as well. Once we were alone, Maya spoke, “Anything you are willing to share.”
“You told me about your childhood. I guess it’s only fair that I tell you about mine,” I finally said. I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, but it was one that needed to be had. Hopefully by the end of it she would feel closer to me, and we could finally connect on a deeper level.
Maya
ThiswasnothowI expected for this dinner to go. I would have figured he would be trying to convince me to have this baby with him. I wasn’t expecting for him to tell me that he wanted to talk about his childhood. He had been completely adamant that he was never going to talk about it and that I should never even bring it up. He lost it over me looking at an old photo album. This was a drastic turn of events, but I guess everything that happened within the past twenty-four hours had drastically changed the dynamic of our relationship. It was surprising, but not unwanted.
“Are you sure?” I didn’t want to pressure him into revealing anything that he wasn’t ready for. At the same time, I really wanted to know.
“Do I want to talk about this? No, but it is only fair. It’s not something that I talk about. It’s a memory that I have put into a box and stuck it into the back of my mind to never open again. However, given the new turn of our relationship, it’s only fair that you know about my past.”
He didn’t seem all that happy to talk about this, but he was pushing through to try and connect with me and I appreciated that. I could also understand that it was a sore subject still even after all these years. I had my own share of scarred memories that I preferred to keep in the recesses of my mind.
