Impossible Dreams (26 page)

“What are you doing, taking up shopkeeping? I thought
you wanted to be a teacher.” Stephen followed close on her heels.

“I am a teacher. I’m part owner of a day school.
This is Cleo’s. I’m just helping out while she’s away.”

“Away, yeah. That’s a polite way of putting it.
C’mon, Maya. We know each other too well. You weren’t cut out for
this small town shop-keeper thing. Why’d you do it? If it’s money,
I’ll have money. I don’t want my kid growing up to be a country
hick.”

If she were the confrontational type, she’d shove him
down the stairs, Maya mused. Normally, aggression wasn’t her style. Maybe
she’d absorbed a little of that loose testosterone. She didn’t even
bother looking at him. She couldn’t imagine why she’d enjoyed
looking at him before. Nordic gods were infinitely more appealing than skinny
musicians with long hair. The adolescent tingle at the base of her belly
threatened to ignite at the thought of Axell calmly stalking to her rescue.

“This is scarcely country. We’re minutes from
one of the fastest growing cities in the South. If you’d open your narrow
mind, you’d see this is an ideal place for a child to grow up, with all
the benefits of city and country and none of the disadvantages of the
artificial life in L.A. I’m never going back.”

Stephen didn’t reply. Teresa appeared with Alexa in
her arms, and his attention was focused entirely on his daughter.

Maya bit her lower lip and wondered how she’d thought
this would be easy. Or if she’d thought at all.

Out of my mind, back in five minutes.

Axell gritted his teeth and tried to pleasantly question
Constance about her day as they drove into town. He’d learned from Maya
how to be a little more subtle. If he asked, “How’s your
day?” which made sense to him, Constance would only grunt and shrug. If
he asked, “Did the teacher judge your essay today?” he got a more
direct response. But today, she seemed to pick up on his tension and did little
more than cross her arms and glare out the window in unconscious imitation of
him.

Being a parent was damned hard, harder even than persuading
the town council to talk sense. Kids picked up on all the wrong signals and
ignored the right ones. With a sigh, Axell tried the Maya approach. “All
right, I’m upset, but not with you. Grown-ups get mad at lots of things
that don’t have anything to do with kids.”

Steering the car around a particularly treacherous curve,
Axell felt more than saw his daughter’s curious look.

“Maya gives me a code word to let me know when
she’s angry with me.”

That was a new one. “You don’t mind if Maya gets
mad?”

Constance shrugged. “Everybody gets mad. She says
‘we’ll talk’ is a good code word, ’cause that’s
what most people say when they’re mad and trying not to show it.”

Amazed, Axell absorbed this tidbit. How many times had he
said “we’ll talk” and meant he’d like to verbally chop
someone into sushi? He’d probably said it to Maya. The damned woman was
entirely too perceptive, and that seemingly open smile of hers hid a mind with
more twists and turns than he’d ever explore in a million years. She was
downright dangerous. And he’d left her back in that apartment with her
lover. Shit.

“All right, then I’ll say ‘we’ll
talk’ if I’m mad at you,” he forced his thoughts back to
Constance, “but it still means I just want to talk so we can work things
out, okay?”

Constance considered that briefly, then nodded. “Okay.
Are you mad at Maya?”

Realizing they were actually having a conversation, Axell
was almost disappointed that they had reached town. Communicating with his
daughter could have some real benefits. “Yeah, I’m probably mad at
Maya, but it’s not her fault. And I’m madder because I got mad, and
I don’t like to lose my temper.”

Constance grinned. “That’s what Maya said. She
says you get mad at yourself and not me.”

“I’m beginning to think Maya is a witch,”
he muttered as he parked in front of Cleo’s shop.

“Like Glinda, the Good Witch.” Constance nodded
knowingly. “Their hair is a lot alike.”

Axell chuckled. “Except red.”

“I wish my hair was red,” Constance said
wistfully as she unbuckled her seat belt.

“Your hair is just right the way it is. It matches
your eyes. You’ll be beautiful like your mother one of these days.”

“I want to be pretty like Maya,” Constance
replied with an almost rebellious tone as they entered the store.

“Well, Maya being a witch and all, she might manage
that.” Axell prayed Maya had set a spell on her ex while he’d been
gone, or he’d have to throw his ass out a window. He didn’t think a
charge of assault would help him maintain his liquor license. The drug charge
rumors were only just settling down.

“The Impossible Dream” blared from the speakers
as they reached the top of the stairs. One of these days he’d figure out
if Maya’s choice of music reflected her mood. Maybe what he needed was
more code words. Figuring out women was worse than untangling a Rubik’s
cube. How the hell was he supposed to tell where things stood?

The first thing he saw as he walked into the front room was
the skinny musician in tight jeans cradling Alexa in his arms. Axell
wasn’t prepared for the fury and possessiveness punching him in the gut
at the sight of another man holding his daughter. His daughter. He hadn’t
fully realized how he’d come to think of her. Alexa was his. And so was
Maya. Primitive jungle instincts would have him circling the intruder shortly,
waiting to rip his throat out.

Axell automatically swung to the corner where Maya stood,
hoping her serenity would civilize his unexpected surge of violence. He knew
instinctively where she was at any given moment, just as he’d known to
look out his office window when she walked down the street with Stephen.

She wore her fey smile as she rocked with Matty on her lap,
but Axell had the gut feeling that she was anything but happy. Gravitating in
her direction, he introduced Stephen to Constance, then placed a reassuring
hand on Maya’s shoulder. She didn’t relax, but she threw him a grin
that trembled only a little.

“I can take you and the kids out to the school, if
you’d like,” he offered. “Why don’t you invite Stephen
to supper?”

“You have the lawyer, and the kids’ have the
doctor’s...” She gestured helplessly.

Stephen frowned at both of them. “We have to
talk.”

Axell grinned. He couldn’t help it. The situation had
reached the limits of absurdity and Maya’s code phrase pushed him over.
With the ease he used in escorting drunken bar patrons to a taxi, he crossed
the room and appropriated Alexa from Stephen’s arms. He’d learned a
lot about holding babies these past weeks, and he handled her with expertise
now.

“We’ll talk, but not now,” he told the
startled young musician as he shifted Alexa to his shoulder.
“Maya’s not strong enough yet for major battles. This apartment is
empty for the moment. Make yourself at home and we’ll get back to
you.”

Oddly, Axell had the feeling Maya bristled like her cat as
he took the reins, but that’s what he did—took charge. She might as
well get used to it.

“I’m not a weak, helpless idiot,” she
whispered in protest as the kids ran down the stairs ahead of them a minute
later.

“No, but you’re supposed to pretend you are so I
can feel like Amazon man. This is the south. Learn the culture.” Axell
lifted the squirming baby from his shoulder and dropped her in Maya’s
arms. “She’s wet.”

“Amazon Man.” She shook her head in disbelief.
“Why do I do this to myself? You’d think by now, I’d have
learned.”

“You’re a quick study,” he reassured her.
Then before she could climb into the car and escape into the protection of the
children, Axell caught her by her pointy little chin and made her look at him.
“And you’re doing it because you’re as curious as I am to see
what we’ll be like in bed.”

That shocked her into speechlessness, he noted with
satisfaction. He’d damned well never said anything so blatantly suggestive
to any woman in his life, but with Maya, he felt free to say or do anything he
pleased without frightening her. He could really get into that kind of
understanding.

But first, he had to eliminate the competition.

***

“All right, Chickadees, what do
you
think
Madeline should have told the teacher?”

“She should have told the truth!” two of the
Chickadee girls chirped.

“That she’s full of dog poop,” the
outnumbered male Chickadee answered sullenly.

Silently, Maya had to agree with the boy. Sometimes, honesty
just didn’t pay and dog poop was much more satisfying. She didn’t
think the children’s parents would agree.

She held up the book she’d been reading to them.
“Well, let’s see if Madeline chooses truth or dog poop.”

The children laughed and giggled, and she relaxed into the
story. She loved the Madeline books. Maybe she would run away to New York and
sell children’s book illustrations. Anything was better than a town with
both Axell and Steve in it.

Or maybe even the whole state wasn’t wide enough to hold
her and all her troubles, she decided a little later as Selene flagged her down
before she could escape for the day.

“Did you know that miniskirted bitch of Axell’s
is working for the mayor now?” Selene demanded as soon as Maya shut the
office door.

“I do believe three or four people may have mentioned
it,” she said, dropping onto the couch. “People do seem to have an
interest in Katherine the Long-Legged.” She looked at Selene with
curiosity. Her partner didn’t use words like “bitch” lightly.

Selene ignored her sarcasm. “The Scorned Woman and the
Bought Mayor are a bad combination, girl. I oughta know. I went to school with
Ralph Arnold back when I bothered going. That man isn’t a skirt chaser.
He’s a manipulator. And so’s she.”

Selene and the mayor in the same school? A private one, no
doubt. Wealthy families around here supported an abundance of them. She
didn’t follow Selene’s train of thought, however.

Sighing with impatience, Selene pointed out the obvious.
“Now that we’ve nailed the school license inspection, those two are
pushing for the highway condemnation route, and there ain’t a man on that
DOT board who’s going to see anything but Katherine’s legs when she
makes her spiel.”

“Well, we could always get one of the secretaries to
substitute the bill with one favoring us, and hope their minds are so addled
they won’t notice the difference,” Maya suggested brightly.

Selene glared. “That’s weak, even for you. All
right, spill, girlfriend. Is that Viking of yours giving you grief?”

Maya worked her shoulders edgily beneath the gauzy layers of
her dress. “The world’s giving me grief. It’s nothing new.
Alexa’s father showed up today.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Selene shrieked.
“Girl, what did you do?”

“Nothing, yet.” Maya stood and reached for the
door. “Look, I’ve got to get the kids to the doctor. I’ll
tell Axell about the road condemnation thing, though right about now, I’d
say he ought to be sick and tired of all my problems.”

“Does that musician fellow want you back?”
Selene demanded shrewdly. “Is that the problem? You’re regretting
playing yuppie lady already?”

Maya tilted her head and thought about it. “No,
I’m not exactly regretting it. Axell will be a much better father, if
only because he’ll be there and Stephen wouldn’t. I’m just
wondering if I should have steered clear of men altogether. They mess up my
mind.”

“Your mind’s already messed, but I agree, men
don’t help it none. Maybe you should go back to living at the store until
you work it out.”

“Repay Axell for all his hard work by moving out? I don’t
think so. Besides, he’s installed Stephen in the apartment.”

“One round for the white boy.” Selene whistled
appreciatively. “I thought the place was still closed for repairs.”

“Axell thinks we’ll get a clean inspection next
week. I suppose, if Stephen isn’t paying rent, maybe his staying there
doesn’t count. If I dawdle around long enough, perhaps he’ll get
tired of waiting and leave me alone. Stephen never hangs around long.”

“Oh, no doubt you’ll wiggle your way out of
this, too, but someday, you’re going to hit that wall, girl, and
you’ll have to face a few realities.”

“Yeah, thanks, I needed that reminder on a day like
today.” With a wry twist of her lips, Maya went to collect the kids.

And with her luck, she supposed she wouldn’t see the
wall until she ran slap bang into it.

***

Axell walked into the kitchen as Maya was clearing the table
after supper. She caught Matty’s glass as he threw it at the dishwasher
in his haste to get a hug before Constance did.

“I thought you were eating at the restaurant,”
she said as noncommittally as she could with her heart banging through her rib
cage. Axell didn’t exactly have his “happy” face on, but he
bent and hugged Matty, as if he were an old hand at dispensing hugs.

“I thought maybe we should talk,” he said in the
same offhand manner.

Maya glanced up sharply at Constance’s snicker, but
Axell’s expression remained bland. She waved a dirty fork at her
stepdaughter. Stepdaughter. She’d never thought to have such a thing, but
that was the right legal term, she was certain. “You need to pick out
your clothes for tomorrow. Matty, you, too.”

Prepared to protest, Constance caught her father’s
eye, thought better of it, and grabbed Matty’s hand. “We’ll
both wear dragons tomorrow,” she said defiantly, dragging Matty after her.

“You never did tell me how you got Constance to dress
on her own.” Voice still neutral, Axell helped clear the rest of the
table.

Baby Alexa was awake but not protesting yet. Maya
straightened her in the infant seat rather than face Axell. “It was just
her means of getting your attention for a few extra minutes a day. Kids have
weird ways of striking back when all’s not well in their universe. After
she picks out her clothes, I go in and compliment her choice, find a barrette
or ribbon that matches, discuss what the other kids are wearing, and
she’s happy.”