10. Maya

Chapter ten

Maya

L andon looked at the contents of the fridge incredulously before turning to Maya with his hands on his hips. “How am I meant to work in these conditions? There’s nothing here I can make for us.”

“Who said you were making food? And I’ve barely had time to shower, let alone go get groceries.”

Landon sniffed at the air before screwing up his face playfully. “And once again, you smell ripe.”

Maya threw the rest of the bagged loaf of bread at him, and he caught it easily. “I just showered, asshat. And strike two for that one. If I hear one more thing about me showering…” She tried looking at him menacingly but knew that had never been her forte .

Despite his teasing, happy wasn’t a strong enough word for what she felt now that he was here. She’d missed out on a lot with her brothers, but even more so with Landon, and being in LA with him again made her feel nostalgic for the rare times they’d hung out after Colton left for Crestview. Sure, she’d made efforts to keep in touch with them while on tour, but those had mostly been superficial. This felt like it had the potential to remedy whatever had separated them all those years ago.

He placed the bread back onto the counter, closing the fridge door. “Hey, you’re the one who brought it up.”

“Let’s just go get food,” she grumbled, moving to the foyer to grab her keys.

“Whatcha wanna get? I’m down to go anywhere but downtown.” His whole body shuddered as he followed her, like he was remembering something horrifying. “Downtown LA is lawless.”

“Why don’t we just go to Dino’s?” The two of them had often snuck out to Dino’s Diner since their father hadn’t allowed Landon to eat out much. If we’re going to do something nostalgic, we may as well do it properly, right ?

“Hey! I almost forgot about that place. Is it even still around?”

Maya locked the front door and they jumped into her car, still outside the garage from when she’d picked Landon up from the airport .

When she typed it into her phone and the navigation popped up, she answered, “Allegedly.”

“Alrighty then.” Landon grinned. “Let’s get some food poisoning.”

It didn’t take long to get there, and the drive was familiar, though she had always been the passenger. The diner was run down, the tall sign out front hanging askew, lights flickering, and when Maya looked too hard at the window in front of where they’d parked, she noticed what looked like packaging tape across the cracks in the glass.

Nice .

Even the staff seemed surprised to have customers, and the only other people in the tiny restaurant were a few very old couples.

Landon led them to a booth, where water and menus were dropped onto their table. Maya made an effort to flip through it, but she knew she wanted the banana chocolate chip pancakes with eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns, just like old times.

“Not to sound like a snob, but especially now that I try to make my own food, this all looks disgusting.” He pulled his baseball cap low over his face, though there really was no chance anyone here besides maybe the staff would know who he was.

Maya rolled her eyes. “You do sound like a snob. One meal won’t kill you.”

Landon’s menu dropped to the table, and he stabbed at a picture with his pointer finger. “This just might. ”

She tried to suppress the laugh that bubbled out of her when she realized he was right. It was a plate of steak, but it almost looked green. Why would Dino’s even serve steak?

“It’s like something out of a Dr. Seuss book,” he muttered, still looking at it.

“Mm, green steak and ham. Your favorite.”

“Right…Think I’m gonna have to pass on my favorite today. Not sure I could stomach that. I have practice tomorrow, and I’d rather not throw up during.”

Maya shrugged. “Clearly, you’re no longer built for Dino’s.”

“A real tragedy.”

“Hi, are we ready to order?” a pretty waitress with curly hair asked, chipper, her eyes on Landon, whose smile was already widening at her.

He leaned toward her and whispered conspiratorially, “What do you recommend?”

“Depends on what you’re wanting.”

“Something that won’t make me sick?” Maya kicked him under the table, but the woman smiled knowingly.

“I’d stick to pancake meals, and probably steer clear of most of the meats.”

“Something told me I’d be meeting an angel today. Let’s do a fruit stack, just the pancakes, eggs, and hashbrowns.”

She nodded, writing in the little notepad before smiling at Maya, who gave her order quickly.

When the waitress hurried away, Landon set his chin in his palm. “You feeling any better?” he asked quietly .

Maya looked down at the table, fiddling with the ends of her hair. “I am,” she answered, surprised it was somewhat true. She wasn’t wholly better, and she still had days she wanted to smash every tennis racket she owned, but she also had good days. Productive days, where she felt like she actually had a future.

It’d been less than a week since she’d talked to Cooper over the phone, and she’d been poring over the materials he’d sent her from the Sabertooths’ philanthropy department since. Maya had planned to visit the courts yesterday, after the Serve It Up rate sheet had come in much cheaper than she’d expected, but Viola was coming off an illness, so they’d rescheduled to later in the week.

Things were slowly coming together.

Landon smiled, and Maya could see how genuine it was, like knowing she was happy could change his own mood. “I’m so glad. You said you’ve been busy? What’s been going on?”

“I…um…” She didn’t know why she was nervous to talk about it. Pushing through it, she continued, “I’m starting a charity. Nothing big. Something local. I want to coach kids in the area who don’t have access to the sport.”

“Oh, wow! That’s amazing. I figured you’d coach, but I didn’t even think of something to that scale. Pretty damn cool, Mai.”

His words nearly choked her up, and she looked out the window, which, luckily, was not being held together by tape. “Yeah, I’m excited about it. It’s been a lot of work, but I can’t wait until it’s set up and I can be back in the tennis world again.”

“I don’t think being injured means you’re out of that world.”

Maya shrugged again. “Feels that way sometimes.” All the time, really. Only when she was talking to people in the community, like her friends or those at the tennis facility, did she not feel that way.

“Are you still keeping up with the girls? Do you think going to see them play would make you feel less like that?”

Maya had thought about it, especially since Indian Wells was currently taking place in California, but she worried about going back right now. It’d been a little over a month since she’d moved to Los Angeles, and though she had been able to watch her friends play on television, she knew being there, watching in the stands, being near her coaches and Anya and Ryan and all the people she knew on tour would be too painful. She wasn’t ready yet, not for the pitying looks or the hurt that would inevitably follow when she felt the competition swirling through her veins with nowhere to go.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet.”

Landon nodded. “Fair enough. What work have you done for the charity so far?”

She told him all the calls she’d made. How she’d found a facility she was excited about and gotten equipment she needed. How she’d found a way to have kids bussed straight from certain schools. Maya didn’t mention how expensive she suspected it would be or how she still had no idea what she would do about the cost. She didn’t want his money, her brain still trying to find a way to make it work without taking Cooper up on his offer.

Like he could read her mind, he said, “Sounds expensive.”

“Oh, you know. Some money here and there.”

“Do you have the money to front those costs?”

“I—I’m figuring it out.”

He didn’t respond, but by the way his eyebrows drew together, she knew she hadn’t been convincing. “Cooper and Colton offered to help, separately, but I’m not sure I want to take money from anybody.”

“Then I won’t offer, even though I could if you needed.”

Maya sighed, grateful. “Thank you. I just want to be able to do something on my own, you know? You guys have made your mark on the world. It’s my turn, and if I take help from either of you, it won’t feel like I’m making my own way.”

“I get it. So don’t take money from me or Colton. Let’s pretend mixing money with family could go wrong, even though you know Colton and I wouldn’t care. Why not Cooper?”

Maya thought about her relationship with Cooper. How he’d always made an effort to ask her about her life when she’d come visit Colton. How right it’d felt when he’d been pressed against her in the bar. How close it had come to something more.

Their waitress set their food onto the table, and Maya shoved those thoughts down .

“I’m worried it could get messy,” she responded cryptically.

Plus, Maya knew if she took money from him, she’d spend the rest of her life working herself to the point of exhaustion to pay him back.

Landon’s smile told her he knew exactly what she meant. “Well, messy relationships are no secret to me, so I get it. But I think if you’re going to get this done, and you don’t want to take money from me or Colton, and you’ve done as much research as you have into foundations with no luck for finding donors, this might be your only option. I’m sure you can find ways to keep costs down.” He looked at her meaningfully. “Just don’t feel like you shouldn’t pursue your dream because things could get ‘messy.’”

Maya cocked her head at that statement, tucking it away for later when she was alone and could think a bit harder about it.

“Maybe. Anyway, tell me about you. I’m tired of talking about myself.”

“Not much to tell, really. Football’s been good. Dad’s been on my ass more now that Colton isn’t paying as much attention to him, but that’s nothing new. I’m getting very good at ignoring his calls.”

Maya knew this was the other side of being a Beaumont. Any time she felt sad that she’d only had one parent, she remembered that her brothers, who’d gotten all of their father’s attention, only mattered to him when it came to football. She knew if they’d had the opportunity to choose, they would’ve wished to be in her shoes instead. To have the freedom to do what they wanted, to not have to spend every minute of their free time on an inherited dream.

She didn’t miss talking to her father. When she’d been on tour, trying to keep the family together, calling once or twice a month, Maya had made an effort to include him. On the rare occasions he’d answered, he’d hardly said a word anyway.

“I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re not answering every single one like Colt used to. I’m glad you’re both finding ways to deal with him.”

Landon nodded as he began eating, and Maya followed his lead. They made small talk, mostly about his teammates, the parties he’d been to, and how much he was enjoying San Jose. Maya listened closely, pocketing every new piece of him he was sharing.

She’d missed being close to both her brothers. Which is why, when there was a lull in the conversation as they finished their meals, she said quietly, “I’m really sorry we grew apart after Mom died. That Colton and I stuck together through it and you sort of got pushed out because of your relationship with him. It’s one of my biggest regrets about that time.”

Her brother shrugged like it didn’t matter, but she knew it had to have affected him in some way. His fingers drumming on the table made it clear he was uncomfortable, but still, he said, “We were coping the best we could. Losing Mom was hard on you, and you and Colton had always been close. It made sense you guys leaned on each other. ”

Maya wouldn’t tell him the reason she and Colton had gotten so close during that time was because he’d watched her fall apart almost every night and held her together when she couldn’t do it alone anymore.

Even after Colton had left, she hadn’t wanted to lean on Landon. At that point, Landon had started cooking for her when he wasn’t too tired after practice. Maya hadn’t wanted to ask for more. She hadn’t wanted to ruin his life too.

Maya pulled at a few strands of her hair. “But you were hurting too. So, I’m sorry for not being there for you. I know you and Colton have your beef, and I’m not going to pretend I understand it. Or that I have any right to judge either of you, since your childhoods were vastly different from mine. So while I can’t change what happened after Mom, I do want to fix things now.”

“Maya, you were the youngest. You needed us . I failed you by not being there for you like Colton was. You have no reason to apologize.”

Maya’s hand stilled, her fork dropping the couple of inches onto her plate. “You knew about that?”

Landon’s eyes were sad, his smile pained. “Of course I did. I didn’t know what to do. Colton always seemed to know how to help, so I stepped back. I figured you didn’t need us both.” He pushed his plate away from him. “And after he left, when I didn’t hear you at night anymore and you seemed to go on with life, I figured you didn’t need me. ”

Maya didn’t realize she was crying until she felt a drop land on her hand. She wiped at her face, looking up at the ceiling, which was just a bunch of colored pipes. “I didn’t want to ask for help after Dad got mad at Colt. But I did—I do need you both. You’re my big brother, Landon. Me being close with Colton doesn’t make that any less true.”

Her brother’s eyes flicked away from her, and she saw more emotion in them than she could ever remember from him.

When he finally made eye contact again, he grinned like nothing had happened. “Guess it’s a damn good thing we’re less than an hour flight away then, right?”