But that was ridiculous. She had already lied to her own parents. Holding his hand wasn’t going to change anything.
Plus, she had kind of been dying for him to hold herhand again since pretty much the second she let go of his last night.
She slipped her hand into his before she could overthink things any more.
Even through their gloves, she could feel the heat of his fingers wrapped securely around hers, and her poor heart gave another helpless flutter.
“Daddy, Miss Lawrence,” Maya yelled happily. “Do you want to play with us?”
“Yes,” Ash said right away.
Maya squealed with delight.
Eloise got a funny look on her face and mouthed something that Allie was pretty sure was the wordwow.
“I’ve never played this game before,” Ash said. “So you girls might have to explain it to me.”
Eloise smiled with pure joy, almost like she couldn’t believe that grownups were going to play too. Maya began shouting out instructions, her feet marching and hopping in place like she couldn’t wait to get started.
Allie laughed, and realized she really couldn’t wait to play hide-and-go-seek tag with her new crew.
It might not be real, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.
10
ASH
Later that day, Ash stood in the driveway of Lawrence Farm, holding Maya’s hand.
They’d had an incredible early morning at the park with Allie, and a wonderful afternoon, too.
All day long, Maya had been talking about going to Miss Lawrence’s house for a big family dinner. She let slip all kinds of things Allie had shared with her students about her brothers and parents and the farm, and Ash had filed away each detail to think about later.
But now that they were finally here, Maya had gotten out of the truck and then stopped in her tracks.
“What’s the hold-up?” he asked lightly.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” he told her, crouching down so that she could look right into his eyes. “It can be scary to meet new people.”
Maya just looked down at the ground.
“I’m a little nervous too,” Ash heard himself admit.
Maya’s eyes flashed up to his again.
“I really like Miss Lawrence,” he explained. “And I want her family to like me too.”
“Yes,” Maya said in a surprised way. “Me too, Daddy.”
“Well, Iknowthey’re going to love you,” Ash told her. “Do you know why?”
Maya shook her head, but her eyes were alive with interest.
“First of all because you’re awesome,” he told her. “And second of all because Miss Lawrence told me that you remind her ofherwhen she was little. And we know they already love her, so they’ll definitely love you too.”
“She said that?” Maya asked.
