He flicked his gaze away for a second and folded his arms across his chest before staring her firmly in the eyes. “I paid the soccer fees.”
“You didwhat? Without even talking to me about it?” Maya glowered as she leaned toward him. He smelled of soap and sandalwood, and Maya had to force herself to ignore how badly she wanted to lean even closer into him and wrap herself up in his scent like she used to do.
“What? I’m supposed to talk to you about everything I want to do for her?” His voice was filled with indignation, but it seemed to peter out at the end as if he was just now hearing his own words.
Her eyes widened. “Yes! That’s what parents do!”
“I wouldn’t know that since I’ve only been a parent for a month.” Now he was just being snarky.
Heat rose into Maya’s face. “Is that what this is?” She lowered her voice to speak in an undertone, as some of her guests had started to look her way. “Are you getting back at me by paying her soccer fees behind my back?”
He uncrossed his arms and smirked as he looked away from her. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Maya’s mouth gaped open. “I think that’s exactly what you did.” She stepped closer to him as she poked a finger into his chest. He really did smell good. “I think you know you should’ve come to me first, but you’re pissed and you didn’t care!”
Sam did not speak.
Maya took his silence as a triumph. “Listen.” Her gaze was steady. “I can’t turn back time. I can’t stop you from being angry. However, Iam notgoing to pay for my mistake for the rest of our lives. And I’m certainly not going to let you use it as an excuse to do things behind my back. Even nice things.”
She poked a finger into his very firm chest again. “If we’rebothgoing to be her parents, then we need to be able to discuss things related to her. Can you do that?”
He rubbed the area she’d poked, as if she’d really hurt him, and the edges of his mouth turned up as he nodded in agreement.
“Okay.” She bit her bottom lip. “Good. In that case, thank you.” Adrenaline was pumping through her body, but civility was called for here, so she made every effort to calm her voice. “Soccer makes her very happy, and I hated taking it away from her.” She glanced at him. “And I think she’ll benefit from you training her. So, thank you.”
Sam just stared at her, those big brown eyes studying her face. The smile that had started formed instead into a tight line before he turned away from her to join the festivities. “Don’t thank me. I’m her father.”
Maya was left standing there as he made his way around the room, ending up face-to-face with Sunita and Raju-kaka. After a moment of Maya’s mom glaring at him, Sam bent down to touch her feet. She allowed him to finish the gesture, and when he stood, Maya noted his crooked smile, as her mother had to reach up to place her hand on his head to offer her blessings.
Maya turned away before she was caught staring again and headed into the kitchen. Soft laughter reached her as she saw Samantha trying and failing at pinning Paige’s sari.
“Hi. Here, let me get it.” She approached Paige, and Samantha stepped aside.
“The material is too soft, I can’t get the pleats right.”
Maya nodded and studied the other woman. “Did you do this yourself?”
Paige nodded. “YouTube.”
Maya half smiled. “Well, it’s a great first attempt. But Samantha is right, with this material, it can be challenging. Do you mind?” She reached for the material on Paige’s shoulder.
“No. Please.”
Maya gathered the material and started to remove part of the sari so she could rewrap it. “Samantha, you can go. I’ll get this.”
“Okay. So, Paige-auntie, great seeing you. And I will definitely take you up on that offer,” Samantha called as she returned to the party.
What was she talking about?Maya turned to Paige, the question on her face.
“I offered to help with her with her art history homework.” Paige’s green eyes were huge. “If that’s okay with you.”
Maya continued to wrap the sari on Paige. “Yeah. Sure. Why not?” She pinned the pleats to the blouse at the shoulder before stepping back to inspect her work. The navy blue did amazing things to Paige’s eyes, and she was stunning in the sari now that it was secured properly. “Actually, that’s very kind. I’m sure none of this is easy for you.”
Paige smiled. “Well, I guess we have to make the best of it. And Samantha is great.” She paused. “I told him to discuss the soccer fees with you first. But you know Sam. Once he gets an idea...”
Maya nodded, her mouth set in a line. “It’s fine.” No, she didn’t really know Sam. Though there was a time she thought she had. “There’s a full-length mirror on a door in the back if you want to take a look and freshen up.”
“Great.” Paige nodded at Maya and went in search of the mirror.
