Chapter 13

Maya pasted on her bravest face and took a seat next to Rose as her Daddy and Adam headed for the line at the counter.

"I'm sorry. I can be kind of overwhelming when I get excited," Rose said as soon as they were alone. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, and I shouldn't have assumed you were Little. That was rude. It's just that I've known Deke a while. I don't figure he would be in a serious relationship with someone vanilla."

Maya smiled politely. "It's okay. You're right. I'm Little. And thank you for the gumballs. That was really thoughtful."

Rose grinned. "You're welcome. Deke said you came in one night after Stuff-It closed and made a tiger. I hope that was fun."

"Yes. She's so soft and cute."

"What did you name her?"

"Princess."

"I love it. Princess is a great name for a tigress."

Ellie suddenly bounded up to them and leaned her elbows on the table. "Sigh…" she said dramatically. "I wish I could just be a customer and sit and eat cupcakes with everyone."

Maya giggled, feeling more comfortable by the minute.

Rose laughed, too.

Ellie pushed to standing again. "I'm going to have a Littles night soon. I'm going to close the shop early and invite all my friends to come so I can enjoy some downtime stuffing my face with cupcakes without having to worry about working the cash register. Will you both come?"

Maya nodded. It sounded like fun, but she'd have to be really brave to do something like that. There were a lot of Littles living in this town, and Ellie knew all of them. If she was planning a Littles party, there was no telling how many people would come.

Ellie tapped her lips. "We should have the Daddies drop everyone off so we can really let loose and enjoy ourselves without worrying about the repercussions until they pick everyone up."

"That sounds like so much fun," Rose said. "I'll need to make sure I get off work early that night."

"I could try," Maya hedged. The thought of Deke dropping her off and picking her back up later made her chest tighten, but maybe a night of laughter and cupcakes with a bunch of Littles would help bring her out of her shell. She really needed to make an effort to be more social. If she insisted on spending all her time alone with her Daddy not leaving the house, he would grow bored.

"I'll have to talk to my Daddy first. I'm pretty shy, and we're so busy right now at the restaurant. I might not be able to get off," Maya warned, giving herself some wiggle room.

"Of course," Ellie said immediately and sighed. "There are so many wonderful stores here in this strip center that we're all being deluged with customers. That's not a bad thing, of course, but it is a challenge."

"Maybe we should have a party in a few weeks?" Rose asked. "By then, I hope to have a couple more employees. I'd love to find someone trustworthy who could give Deke and me a break and serve as a stand-in manager."

"Who's at the store today?" Maya blurted.

"I have some awesome employees who can work together for a few hours to handle just about anything. Two are there today, so I felt comfortable in coming to have a cupcake break," Rose shared. "I just need more."

"I'm going to wave a magic wand and make everything come together with perfect harmony!" Ellie declared and swept a hand through the air.

"Ellie? We need you."

The bakery owner popped to her feet and responded to that request immediately. Maya looked at Rose and smiled. "Ellie probably has a dozen people standing in line to work here. It feels like home."

"I think Ellie does that for all her clients. But… Littles most of all love being here with her and the rest of the staff," Rose said.

"Cupcakes," Deke announced, holding a tray with two cupcakes and two ice-cold glasses of milk.

"It was crazy up there at the counter. One lady wanted four dozen cupcakes to go. You could feel the tension in everyone waiting to order as we all held our breath hoping she wouldn't take the ones we wanted," Adam reported.

"Did they have any mint chocolate ones?" Rose asked, looking hopeful.

"Sorry, Rosebud. I got a double chocolate and a Malted Milk. I thought we'd try Maya's favorite to see if you liked it. We'll have to wait until Christmas to get more of Santa's Kiss with the mint chocolate."

Maya watched Rose nod, looking sad, as Adam settled into the chair next to her. "You should buy a couple dozen and freeze them next Christmas. I bet you could thaw one every once in a while for a treat."

"We tried that. The two dozen went really quickly," Rose said forlornly.

"I'm sorry. Maybe you'll like the Malted Milk as much as I do," Maya suggested as Deke unwrapped the paper liner from the cupcakes he'd purchased.

"I'm sure it will be delicious," Rose assured her.

The Littles chatted about stuffies and cupcakes. Rose and Adam did profess to liking the Malted Milk cupcakes that were featured. Maya could tell it didn't rate as highly for Rose as her favorite. Thank goodness mine is available more frequently than just during the holidays.

"Oh! I'm afraid I have to head back to Stuff-It!" Rose lamented.

"I understand. I have to work this evening at La Havana," Maya commented.

"Maybe we could have a play date sometime? When the mall and the restaurant are closed?" Rose suggested.

"I'd love that," Maya answered. She really had enjoyed spending time with Rose and Adam.

"Me, too," Rose said with a grin.

Deke shook Adam's hand and then directed his attention to Rose. "I'll be in to join you at Stuff-It as soon as I drop Maya off."

In a few minutes, the couple left. Maya picked up her plate to put it back on the tray. Deke removed it from her hand.

"My job, Little girl."

She sat watching him take care of everything. It was a very strange feeling to have someone that didn't want her to do anything. He wanted to take care of her. Maya could tell it made him happy.

When he returned from dropping off the tray and dishes, she asked the question that had lurked in her mind. "What am I going to do if there are roses waiting for me at the restaurant?"

"I had an idea. Let's go run it past Mateo."

"Okay."

They strolled down the sidewalk to La Havana, swinging their joined hands between them. Deke talked about the new stuffies coming out and how one purple hippopotamus had a huge following already.

"The promotional poster is so cute that everyone wants to have one. We've presold our entire stock we're guaranteed to get and Rose requested double that amount in her last order."

"That's amazing. I love that everyone wants one. It will be sad if there aren't enough," Maya said, anticipating the dejection that those who couldn't have one would feel.

"Hopefully the production will speed up and we'll have more coming every day. It's a balancing act because we don't know if public demand will evaporate and leave us with a bunch of unwanted hippopotamuses." He got a funny look on his face and tried again. "Hippopotami? What is the plural of a hippopotamus?"

Giggling as she tried both out, Maya skipped happily at his side. Deke made everything fun. She sobered as she got closer to the restaurant, preferring to keep her Little side under wraps.

"Maya," Mateo greeted her with a concerned look before turning to pick up one of the roses that had been delivered while they were gone.

"More!" she lamented. "Whoever that is needs to give up."

"I have an idea, Mateo. What do you think about having the roses delivered to a table outside? Then Maya doesn't ever have to see them. Just put a sign on it that welcomes someone to take one of the roses as a day brightener," Deke suggested.

"That's a great idea. Then you never have to see or touch them, Maya," Mateo said with a smile. "We can doll up the table with a white tablecloth and make the sign fancy with calligraphy. Nora will do it for us. She's amazing at all that fancy stuff."

"We'll tell Daisy to have the roses delivered there," Deke added. "Whoever it is will get tired of sending them soon. They might as well brighten people's day."

"Can we do that?" Maya asked, looking back and forth between the two men.

"Of course. I'll go talk to Daisy before I go to work." He leaned down to kiss Maya's lips and nodded his goodbye to Mateo.

"I like that man."

Maya turned at the sound of her mother's approving tone behind her. She could feel her face heating and knew that her cheeks were rosy. Pushing, "I'm glad, Mom," from her mouth, she scurried off to grab an apron and head into the kitchen.

"Ooh, blushing. Have you been spending time with that man of yours?" Guille asked as she grabbed a cutting board and a knife to chop onions for the pico de gallo.

Rolling her eyes, Maya simultaneously bemoaned and celebrated her family and friends. She knew they had her back, but if they'd only shut up.