‘Then how about a date on the back porch at my place? It’s not the most exciting venue but there’ll be beer…’ He put his hands on either side of her face. ‘…there’ll be nachos…’ His lips were tantalisingly close to hers. ‘We could watch the sun go down over the river. And we could say goodbye to the bench?’
Confused, she waited for him to say more.
‘I’ve got a porch swing on order, especially for you.’
Her eyes closed as her words came out on a whisper. ‘It all sounds perfect.’
And no matter how many people were about to bear witness to the start of something for Maya and Noah, he kissed her as though it were only the two of them out here.
41
It had been six weeks since the Whistlestop River Air Ambulance open day. Noah had started the process of applying to adopt Eva so he would officially become her father. He knew, having found out that Paul had been charged and a couple more women had come out of the woodwork, that the guy would never get close to Eva again, but he still wanted the finality, the completion of a circle that he knew would be exactly what his sister had wanted.
A few weeks ago, Eva, now fifteen months, had taken her first steps and Noah’s excitement had been off the scale for his little girl, who’d spent every day since trying out her new party trick. He’d put cushions in the lounge and had moved any tables well out of the way so she could practise without getting injured. He’d also gone out and bought a bumper pack of child safety catches, locks, corner protectors to stop her hurting herself on the edge of tables, something to stop her opening the toilet and putting her head inside. She was suddenly into everything. It was both exciting and terrifying. But with Geraldine there to give him advice and Maya too, it was a case of bring it on. All of it.
Noah was sweeping up inside the hangar at the base when a call came in. He and Bess collected all the equipment andmade their way through the reception, heading out to the rapid response vehicle given the call was so close and easily accessible by road. Maya gave Noah a little smile as she went to grab the door. They’d been careful to keep it professional at all times at work, as had the rest of the team, but some days it was hard not to reach for her, to pull her into his arms and lose himself in a woman he’d thought was way out of his reach. Cassie would’ve loved her.
‘I’ll see you tonight,’ he said softly before sneaking a quick peck on her cheek that nobody else clocked.
Maya blushed. He was still getting used to Maya being coy when it came to his affections. It wasn’t the part of her personality he knew so well – she was the capable, in-control pilot at work. But he liked it. He liked everything about her.
Bess grinned when he got into the car. ‘Saw that,’ she said.
So he hadn’t got away with it after all.
‘Just drive, woman.’
Bess laughed; she loved to tease him. And he didn’t mind it either. Yesterday, she said he was like a cartoon character with hearts in his eyes, and as he drove away from the base, he couldn’t deny it. Perhaps she was right.
With Bess and Noah out in the rapid response vehicle all shift and the helicopter back in situ and ready for the off, Maya had something special planned. She’d cleared it with the powers that be, she’d made a donation to cover any financial costs and when her dad arrived in reception to what he assumed was a cup of tea and catch up with his eldest daughter, she felt mischievous but excited. She’d kept her life separate from his for far too long andhim coming to the open day had shown that he wanted to change that as much as she did.
Her dad kissed her on the cheek and she led him through reception. ‘I’m still getting used to this place,’ he said. ‘I’m still getting used to my daughter, the pilot.’
She beamed. Over the last few weeks, they’d had lunches together and they’d talked, really talked, about life when her mum was alive, about her life since, about Julie and their grandparents and about Isaac. She’d even been taking a bit of advice from her dad about Conrad. He’d suggested she took a step back and let Isaac and Conrad sort things out themselves; he told her that if anyone had pushed him to try more with Maya, he wasn’t sure it would’ve helped. He’d had to get to that point himself; it was part of what was making it work between the both of them now.
Maya had no idea whether it would work with Conrad and Isaac. Right now, they were as they’d been before, at a stalemate over this Christmas and New Year request. But Conrad no longer had a hold over Maya, so her dad was right; the rest was down to them.
‘Mr Anderson.’ It was Nadia. She’d come into the room now with a clipboard and papers plus a pen, which she handed to Maya’s dad.
‘Oh, please, it’s Nigel.’
‘Very well,’ Nadia smiled pleasantly. ‘Nigel. Here are the forms I told you about. No pressure, remember.’ She gave him a smile, another one for Maya and left them alone.
‘What’s going on, Dad?’
‘I thought my company might hold a fundraiser for this place.’ He looked up from the forms he’d already begun to peruse. ‘Unless I’d be stepping on your toes. If it’s too much?—’
‘Dad, no. It’s not. It’s amazing.’ She didn’t know how to possibly express her gratitude, the feeling that he finally saw her, here, a part of this. ‘But… leave the forms for now. Please.’
Confused, he set them onto the nearby table.
And Maya went out of the room for a second but returned with a helmet. ‘Put this on.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Put it on, Dad. I want to show you what I do, properly.’
‘You mean…’
