“A guy like him?” Samantha pointed to her finished cityscape and rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Mom.”
Maya glanced at the finished cityscape and turned her back on Samantha to work on the flowers. The girl worked fast. And she was still talking. “Did you not see the suit he had on? He obviously works on Lex. Not way out here in Queens.”
Alarms blasted in Maya’s head. “How do you know he works on Lex?”
“I found him on a Google search,” she mumbled.
“What were you looking for?” Maya snapped her head around, and in doing so, crumpled the current flower she had been sculpting.
Samantha paused and made eye contact before spitting out her reply. “I was looking for my dad!”
Maya was treated to the full teenage head-shake that stood in for the wordduh. She stepped away from her work area and closed in on her daughter. “What do you mean, you were looking for your dad?”
“Exactly what I said! I can figure things out, you know!” Samantha did not waver under Maya’s anger. She took a deep breath. “And that man is my father.”
Oh God. Maya’s hand flew to herGaneshapendant.Obstacle!Do something!
“Oh, honey. Stop searching for your dad. We’re fine. Finding your dad will only lead to—” she looked down at the crumpled flower somehow still in her hand “—confusion. Can’t you just be content with me and your grandmother?”
Samantha gaped at her, anger blazing in her eyes. It was Maya’s turn to stay firm. She tossed the crumpled flower and stood. “Tell you what, since you’re all done painting, you can work on making these flowers. Might as well make the best use of that suspension.”
“Are you saying he’s not my dad?”
“I’m saying Mr. Hutcherson has agreed to help us so that you won’t have a record, and for that, we should be grateful.” She inhaled, summoning the strength to remain calm.
“You’re not answering the question.”
“Listen, we’ve done fine without your dad all these years, and we’ll continue to be fine without him. I’m done with this conversation.” Maya put on her best “stern mother” expression. “Get the flowers done. I’m going for a swim.”
Samantha glared at her but remained silent as she snatched up clean gloves and started work on the gum paste flowers. Maya sighed and grabbed the keys to the van.
“Well, you needed him now, didn’t you?” Samantha mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear.
Maya pretended she hadn’t heard as she let the door slam behind her. This was far from being over.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SAM
Maryland, 1996
THELIGHTWASstill on at Sam’s parents’ house when he pulled into the driveway after the concert. He inhaled Maya’s lingering floral scent. He could still feel her lips on his, and the way her body had shaken as she’d faced off with her uncle. Maybe he should go back and check on her. That phone call in the morning with her mother was going to suck. He knew Maya’s mother was going to forbid her to see him. What if Maya listened to her mother? His stomach clenched at just the thought. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
“Here he is.” John Hutcherson lowered the volume on his game as Sam entered.
“Hey, Dad.” Sam sat down in his seat, giving wide berth to the middle cushion. No one sat there anymore. It was Arjun’s seat. “Mom.” He ran a hand through his hair.
His dad was comfortably ensconced in his chair, while his mother curled up at her end of the sofa, reading under a lamp.
“How was your date?” John studied Sam’s face.
“My date? My date was amazing.Sheis amazing.”
“So what’s the problem?” John took off his glasses. His mother looked over her own half eyeglasses at her son.
“Her family is—very conservative Indian.”
John side-eyed his wife. “I’ve been there.”
