I swore, Maria was the only one I ever allowed to get away with calling me by my middle name. I actually kind of liked that she used it, too. It felt like it made our relationship somewhat personal, more than client-and-employer status.
“Good.”
“And have you chosen a major yet?” she asked.
She already knew the answer to that, and she still always asked. I’d be studying law, per my father’s request, and I was supposed to go ahead and follow in his footsteps. I went along with it because what else was I supposed to do? I didn’t know what I wanted to be, so it made it a little easier having my father tell me what to become.
“You can go undecided,” Maria said gently, as if she could read my thoughts. “You don’t have to know everything right this second. You just need to decide on a few topics you think could make you grow the best. You’re a smart, talented young man, Landon. You could do anything if you put in the work, and it doesn’t have to be law just because your father said it should be.”
“You don’t think I’d make a good lawyer?” I joked.
“You’d make a good anything. I just want you to be passionate about it.”
I kept quiet because I didn’t want to spoil the mood by notifying Maria that I wasn’t passionate about anything.
I headed to the kitchen to put the food into the fridge.
Before Maria dove deep into her cleaning routine, she peeked her head into the kitchen and nodded in my direction. “How’s your heart today?” she asked me, the same question she asked every time she stopped by.
“Still beating.”
“Good.”
If anyone else had asked me an overly dramatic question like that, I would’ve flipped them off, but since it came from Maria, I figured she deserved at least some kind of response. I couldn’t be rude to that woman even if I tried, probably because I knew she’d whoop my butt and toss holy water at me if I ever spoke back to her.
“And yours?” I asked because I cared, which was shocking. I could count on one hand the number of people I cared about, and Maria held a steady spot on that list. I swore, sometimes, she even darted in and out of the number-one spot.
She smiled. “Still beating.”
She left and later came to my bedroom, knocking on the door. When she opened it, she had a bra dangling off the end of a broom. “Just a low-key night with Greyson, huh?” She glared.
I laughed. “Things got weird after midnight.”
She shook her head and muttered something under her breath—probably a prayer for my soul—before going to finish up her work.
A few hours later, I tossed the dinner into the oven, and Maria set the table for two. Sundays with Maria; it was our ritual. Before we ate, she always took my hand into hers and said a prayer.
My eyes stayed open, but she didn’t care. She always said one didn’t have to close their eyes to receive their blessings.
She talked to me about school, reminded me to not be a dick to people, and gave me advice on just being a good person. I never really said it, but her Sunday dinners meant the world to me. I needed her around, and she was always there. If there was someone you could always count on to show up, it was Maria.
Maria often went on and on about her family—mostly Shay. For the past few years, I’d tuned out the Shay conversations. I didn’t care to know more about the girl I hated and how happy she was, but now that the bet was going on, I wanted to know as much as I could. I knew I could use the information to get her to fall in love with me.
“Shay is getting ready for the upcoming auditions for your high school’s theater show, so that’s all that’s been going on in the house. She’s spending the whole summer rehearsingher piece before auditions in August. She’s amazing, though. Writing and the performing arts are her gifts to this world.” Maria beamed as she spoke about her granddaughter. “The arts are in her blood. It’s her bread and butter. It was the one good thing her father gave to her—his talent.”
“Acting, huh?” I questioned, taking a bite of the lasagna.
So. Good.
“Yes. She’s amazing. Truly gifted.”
I wanted to know more about Shay, but I knew Maria would get suspicious of me asking too many questions.
My current list of facts: Actor. Writer. Beautiful, too.
That last one didn’t matter, but it crossed my mind enough to make note of it.
I collected the small clues Maria gave me about her granddaughter, and I put them in my back pocket. I was certain they’d come in handy down the line.