Maya gave her a teary smile. “What are you going to do, withhold their cinnamon buns?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
Her friend’s face relaxed, just a bit. Not that her worry had eased; it still lurked behind the smile.
Maya shoved up the sleeves of the bright fuchsia sweater she was wearing. “I’m surprised you’re here. Isn’t the bakery still open?”
“This is more important. I left Nia to close up. I even told her she could knock off early. You know I hardly ever do that.”
“Did you get my message to Ethan?”
“Yes. He’s fine.”
“He is pretty fine, now that you mention it.” Finally, the normal Maya was coming back. Her smile actually widened to include both corners of her mouth.
“I’m trying not to notice, believe me. Are you thirsty? Do you need some water? A Coke?”
“You’re actually volunteering to get me a Coke? Never thought I’d see the day.”
Jessica had been trying to get her to quit drinking sodas for years now. The more she tried, the more Maya drank.
“Yup, I’m throwing all my principles aside for you.”
“It’s okay, I’m good. I might throw up if I drink something.” She settled back into the position Jessica had first found her, learning forward, elbows planted on her knee. Her legs jumped restlessly and she gripped her hands together. “Dad told the nurse he hasn’t felt like himself for days. But he kept telling me he was fine.”
“You know he doesn’t want you to worry.” Jessica rubbed her shoulder in sympathy. “Harris likes to do the worrying.”
Tears sprang back into Maya’s eyes. “If anything happens—if he—Jess, my dad is my everything. He’s the only one who’s always had my back. Without him—“ She hunched her shoulders away from Jessica’s touch. A wall seemed to have gone up between them, an invisible barrier Jessica could sense but not breach.
The hospital lighting slid across her cheekbones. Maya was so gorgeous, but Jessica knew that she went to great lengths to de-emphasize her looks in order to command respect from her fellow police officers. She kept her hair straight, slicked against her head, and wore minimal jewelry. It didn’t work, of course. She was still beautiful. They’d been friends for so long that her features were as familiar as a sister’s—but not right now. The dryly funny, loyal-friend side of Maya was nowhere to be seen.
With her highly tuned intuition, Jessica had a sudden flash of what life might be like for her friend. To always have to be on guard. Always watching her back, and that of her father. All the little slights she had to shrug off in order to do her job. Not to mention the big ones, like being scared to death for her father.
How exhausting.
How weary she must be. And scared.
She toyed with the frayed friendship bracelet on her wrist, the one that somehow had survived since they were twelve. Whatever Maya needed right now, she’d do it, she vowed silently.
But Maya surprised her by shaking off her tears. “What was the thing you came to the station about? We were going to talk about it later, remember? After I met with Ethan?”
“Oh, it’s not important.”
Certainly not compared to Harris Badger being in the hospital.
“You always do that, Jess. You put your own shit on the back burner for everyone else’s. Come on. It’ll distract me while we wait.”
Jessica drew in a breath. She felt silly dumping her problems on Maya when she was dealing with something much more serious. “I’m getting pressure from Mom to sell the bakery.”
“Someone wants to buy it?”
“A cruise line.” She made a face. “They probably just want the property. It’s such a good location.”
“So you’re not interested.”
“I don’t know. I can’t even think about it. You know me and—“
“Decisions.” Maya said the word along with her.
Jessica winced. “I hate them.”
“But just the big ones. I mean, you keep that bakery running like nobody’s business. You hire people, you sometimes manage to fire people—“
“Just once. He was stealing. Like literally stealing, not just eating too many muffins.”
“Yeah, but you did it.” The distraction was working. Maya was all fired up now. “I thought you were too softhearted to fire him, but you did. It’s not like you can’t make any decisions.”
“I know. I know. But this one’s too big. I need help. You’re so strong, Maya. What would you do?”
A shadow crossed Maya’s face, as if the weight of the moment was sinking down on her again. “Just because I seem strong doesn’t mean I always am.”
Again, Jessica sensed that flash of exhaustion. It tore at her heart.
“I know that. How can I help, Maya?”
Maya jumped to her feet and twisted her hands together. “Wave a magic wand and make my dad be okay? I’m joking,” she added quickly as she started to pace back and forth. “No magic or crystals or any of that. That’s your world, not mine.”
“My world?”
“You know, the Jessica head-in-the-clouds bubble. Like Glinda the Good Witch floating down from the sky.”
Jessica stared at her, at a loss for words. Did Maya really think she lived in a bubble? She’d never said that before. Maybe she was so rattled by her father’s condition that some truth had broken loose.
“Hey, it’s not a bad thing,” Maya said as she passed by in her pacing. “We all love you for it. It works for you, just not for me. I can’t afford to live in a bubble.”
As Jessica watched her friend pace, her stomach slowly dropped to the soles of her feet.
Did she live in a bubble?
Maybe so. Maya was out there slaying dragons as a police chief, breaking barriers, protecting the town, while Jessica stayed safe in her comfort zone bakery-castle. Frozen in the face of big decisions.
“Listen, there’s something you can do for me,” Maya said as she executed another tight turn on the invisible racetrack she was following. “Ethan James.”
“What about him?”
“Tell him to go home. I don’t have time to deal with a side case. Between my dad and my regular work, I have enough on my hands. S.G. can wait a little longer. Tell him to send me an invoice for his flight and other costs.”
Jessica hid her shock. Maya always held herself to such high standards. To drop this investigation—she must be scared to death for Harris.
“Are you sure? You were so excited about that case. I know that Ethan’s already been reading your notes.”
“I’m sure, Jess.” Maya’s voice cracked with exhaustion. “I hate to do it, but I have to be real.”
Jessica’s heart twisted at the expression on her friend’s face. She looked so disappointed in herself. “I’ll tell him. No problem.”
A young male doctor in blue scrubs emerged from the door that led to the exam rooms. Maya abandoned her pacing and hurried toward him. Jessica got up and followed after her.
“Your father is stable,” the doctor told Maya. Even though he kept talking, Maya burst into such a storm of tears that Jessica could barely hear him. He was relatively young, bronze-skinned, with a slight accent—perhaps from India. She’d never seen him before, but he radiated competence and enthusiasm. “We must Medevac him to Anchorage for the surgery as we don’t have a cardiac unit here. But he’s in good shape and his prognosis is excellent. It may not be necessary to perform the surgery open-heart. There’s a new technology that enables them to operate through his artery. It’s incredible, really, and far less invasive. Are you okay, Miss?”