Maverick laughed so hard that no sound came out. I just grinned, knowing exactly how it sounded. To be honest, I found them entertaining, and since my book club was online, it was easy to still participate from here.
“I have questions about the fairies fucking.” He blew out a quick breath as he tried to regain his composure.
“You know, most days, so do I.” I crossed my arms. “So, how does one put in a request for a custom table? I happen to have abrand new house, and a Maverick original would be the perfect addition.”
“Maverick original,” he scoffed, like it wasn’t all that impressive. I knew that was just him—that he downplayed the good things about himself. Still, I really hoped he understood how talented he was. If not, I had my work cut out for me because I refused to let him think otherwise. “You just tell me what you want, and I’ll make it. Like I said, I just like making them.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
I wanted to tell him that I was proud of him—that this thing he’d built was amazing—but the words didn’t feel like enough. There weren’t enough words to describe how proud I was to see the ways he’d grown and changed. The way he’d come into himself. The world hadn’t been kind to him in a lot of ways. Despite that, the life he’d carved out for himself was nothing short of impressive.
The pride I felt had nothing to do with nostalgia or old feelings. It was so much simpler than that. It was the undeniable satisfaction of seeing someone find their footing in the world after everything they’d been through. Maverick had always deserved a life like this, and I was grateful to know he had it.
CHAPTER 89
maverick
We talked about you at school today,” Aria said, changing the subject for the millionth time. Okay, not the millionth time, but she was so all over the place that it was hard to keep up. But I didn’t mind. It was nice to have a little company as I worked to replace steps in the barn’s staircase.
“Are you and Carson talking shit about me again?” I teased. I only swore around her because Harley gave me the okay to do so. His theory was that she’d be exposed to swearing anyway. If hemade it taboo, she’d swear just to push the boundaries. Instead, he taught her that they were just words. Some words were good, some were bad. And something about you didn’t need to swear to hurt a person’s feelings. I liked it.
Granted, this girl was more likely to punch someone than try to hurt their feelings with words.And I found that shit funny. Throwing glitter and punching things were her go-to moves.
“No, silly!” She giggled. “He was telling me that you’re going to dress up as Sully fromMonsters, Inc.for Halloween this year.”
“Ahh.” I chuckled. “The infamous onesie.”
For Carson’s first Halloween, Roxy wanted to go all out like the rest of her family did. Except her brothers, who had kids, also had partners, and all did their own thing. She’d felt weird trying to do something just her and Carson, so I volunteered, which was how I ended up with a stupidly fuzzy Sully onesie.The thing was actually damn comfortable.I wore it every year, even if I didn’t match their theme or join them.
I also wore it around the office and left the door open so kids could come in and get candy. Devon always ended up in a Mike Wazowski costume and hung out with me all day.At this point, there was no way I could say I did any of this for Carson.
“Are you wearing it this year?” Aria asked. “I want to see it!”
“Well, I wear it every year. What are you dressing up as?”
“I’m going to be a witch, and Daddy’s going to be my cat,” she said.
“Oh, is he?”
“I told him that he’d be a cute cat!”
Damn straight he’d make a cute cat.Granted, I was biased because I thought he’d make a cute anything. But I kept that comment to myself.
Honestly, they were thoughts I needed to get rid of. Thinking Harley was cute would get me nowhere. The slip-up of calling him princess had gone undiscussed between us. I didn’t knowhow to explain that it just came out of me naturally. And if he didn’t want to talk about it, there was no reason that I had to bring it up.
“Buying you a farm was a bad idea,” Harley announced when he found us. “You can’t keep running away, you know that, right?”
“But I am home!” she whined, protesting the idea immediately. I held my laughter because I knew it wouldn’t help Harley, but the girl wasn’t wrong, either.
“I know,” he began, “but you still can’t run out of the house without telling me.”
“What happened to the locks I installed?” I asked as I paused what I was doing to glance at him.
“Go ahead and tell him,” Harley told her.
“You put the locks too low, so I got a stool and unlocked the door,” Aria informed me very matter-of-factly.
“You’re a resourceful little thing, aren’t you?” I muttered.
