Maya’s breath caught when he came into view, just as it always did and she berated herself yet again for it. But damn if he didn’t make jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt lookgood. It must be unseasonably warm today, because he carried his leather jacket. He and Samantha were intense in conversation, and Maya found herself smiling at how easily they got along. Sam pulled out his phone and showed it to Samantha. Her eyes lit up.
They stopped just outside the entrance to the coffee shop but didn’t come in, as if they were waiting for something. Sure enough, a cab pulled up, and from it emerged a stunning young woman. Her dark hair was in a ponytail and she, too, wore jeans and a T-shirt. She smiled broadly upon seeing Sam and wrapped her arms around him as he lifted her off her feet in a hug. He put her down and kissed her cheek. Maya forgot her customers and became enthralled by what was unfolding outside her window.
Sam kept his arm around the woman and turned to Samantha. Samantha extended her hand but the woman bypassed it and hugged her. Maya’s heart dropped into her stomach. They made quite the attractive family. Well, it certainly didn’t take him long, did it? It had hardly been seven days since he and Paige had broken up, according to Samantha. But honestly, introducing every woman he dated to his daughter was not going to be healthy for Samantha. No, Maya could not stand for this.
Sam put his hand on the doorknob to enter the shop and Maya rushed to occupy herself. “Well, I just thought you two should finally meet.” Sam was smiling. “Samantha is very interested in people who are important to me.”
Really? This woman was already important to him? They hadn’t seen her yet, so Maya slipped into the kitchen. Why did he have to bring his little chippy here?
“Maya, I’m going up. Raj is coming to get me in a few minutes. Can you close up?”
“Sure, Mum. Go ahead.” Maya barely registered her mother’s words.
“She’s probably finishing up in the kitchen. She was making chai masala today,” Maya heard Samantha say. “Come on back. I’m sure she’d love to see you.”
They were coming into the kitchen! Maya froze with horror, recovering just in time to rip off her hairnet and fluff her hair in the small mirror.
“Mom! Mom! You’ll never guess who Dad just introduced me to!” The excitement in Samantha’s voice grated on Maya. She’djust metthis woman! Sam and the young woman were just behind Samantha. Sam still had his arm draped on the woman’s shoulders and he was beaming. If Maya weren’t so irritated with him, his smile would’ve made her stomach flutter. The woman standing next to him was actually more of a girl—way too young for Sam.What the hell was he thinking?
Maya couldn’t contain herself. “Well, it looks like he’s brought around a young girlfriend.” She turned to Sam and tried to burn holes in him with her eyes. Honestly, Maya hadn’t seen him this happy since...well, in a long time. Her face got hot and she didn’t even care that the girl was standing right there.
“Honestly, Sam. Do you even think before you act?” She moved toward him. “If you want to have a girlfriend that’s actually young enough to be your daughter, that is certainly your business, but to introduce her toourdaughter?” Maya poked a finger into Sam’s chest and he looked at her like she was a crazy woman.
“Seriously, Maya. Calm down!” Sam’s eyes were wide with surprise. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Oh, a date then?” Maya was incredulous. Had he just rolled his eyes at her? She poked her finger harder, nearly hurting herself as she came up against hard muscle. “How is that any better?”
“It’s not! Stop poking me.” He was clearly getting irritated.
“I. Will. Not.” She accented each word with a poke. “I saw you hugging and kissing her! In front of our daughter! This is irresponsible, but what did I expect, anyway?” The warmth in her face was causing her to sweat a little as she realized that she might be getting a little shrill. Whatever.
“Maya.” He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at her through his lashes. “You might want me to explain.” He spoke to her from between clenched teeth.
“Oh, let’s hear it!” She stepped back.
“Well, actually, maybe I should.” The young woman looked to Sam for permission.
Sam grinned broadly. He spread open his arms and took a few steps back from Maya. “Please do.”
The young woman turned her huge, chocolate-brown eyes on Maya and smiled. “Maya, I suppose it has been a long time. Close to sixteen years.”
Maya narrowed her eyes and looked closely at the woman for the first time. There was something familiar about her. She stepped closer to her.
“It’s me, Maya. It’s—”
“Niki!” Maya covered her mouth with her hand as realization hit. “Oh, Niki. It’s really you! You’re so grown up!” She laughed even as tears spilled from her eyes. “Oh, I’m an idiot, going on like I did!”
Niki gave Maya a hug. “Oh, we’ve missed you! That summer with you was one of our favorites.” Niki pulled back. “But then you left so suddenly...” She looked from Sam to Samantha. “I suppose it all makes sense now. And no, you’re not an idiot—I take every chance I can to yell at Sammy.”
Maya flushed and was thankful that Sam was standing behind her where she didn’t have to see his I-told-you-so face. She nodded to Niki. “Yes, well. I’m sorry for how I left things with you and Ben and your parents. It really was thoughtless. I was young and scared and—”
“No, no. Don’t.” Niki gave a vigorous shake of her head and wiped tears from her own eyes. “Don’t give it another thought. It’s all in the past.” She glanced over Maya’s shoulder at Sam. “We can all start over. Now we have Samantha, too.”
Niki’s words hung in the air, almost palpable. A beat too late, Maya answered her, “Sure, of course.” She had been holding Niki’s hands and now she dropped them. “Listen, since it’s Saturday, we’ll be closing in a few minutes. I do have a cake meeting, but it’s not for another hour. Stay and have lunch here.”
Niki smiled broadly, and Maya was taken aback by the similarity in Niki’s and Sam’s smiles. “That sounds wonderful. We haven’t eaten yet and it would be nice to catch up.”
Sam had edged toward the door and was rapidly moving the pull tab of his jacket zipper up and down. “Well, I’ll just leave you girls to it, then.” He made a move to leave.
