Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Without hesitating, she answered, “Spending time with Daddy.”
“I enjoyed your company, too, Precious Girl. Here, have another bite, and then you can tell me what your schedule is this week.”
Soon they had demolished most of the pancakes and discovered where their schedules overlapped. Deke worked most nights at Stuff-It and Maya usually worked during the day to get ready for the lunch and dinner rushes. They did discover they would have one day entirely off together like they’d had today and partial days several times a week. That would have to do for now.
Maya could ask to work in the evening a few days a week. She could chop vegetables, make salsa, and do other preparations the night before without sacrificing the quality of the food. She wouldn’t change anything now to upset the way she’d always supported her family’s restaurant until she made sure that this relationship was going to last.
“Let me clean the kitchen, and I’ll run a bath for you,” Deke instructed. “Would you like to color? There are some crayons and coloring books in your playroom on the bookshelf.”
“I can help you do the dishes,” she rushed to offer.
“Not going to happen. That’s your Daddy’s job. You can either color or work on a puzzle from your room.”
“I’ll color.”
“Good idea. I thought you’d like that. Go choose a book and grab the colors.”
Maya stood and rushed from the room. She heard him order, “Walk, Little girl,” and she slowed down. Once in the room, she found three different choices. Selecting the coloring book with fun animals, she picked up the crayons and noticed colored pencils underneath. Did she get to choose? Grabbing that package, too, Maya walked back to the kitchen as she flipped through the pages to find one she wanted to work on tonight.
“Daddy? There are colored pencils, too,” she told him as she set things on the table.
“You choose which ones you want to use,” he suggested. “If you feel very Little, you’ll probably prefer crayons.”
“Oh.” Maya looked at both and back at him. “Do you care which ones I choose?”
“Of course not. You’re my Little girl regardless of whether you’re Little Little or Middle Little.”
Suddenly colored pencils seemed like a lot of work. She’d have to work harder to fill in all the space, and it was harder to keep from seeing all the lines. Little Little was how she felt tonight. Maya opened the crayons and spread the colors on the table.
When Deke pulled out the chair next to her, she looked up in surprise. Was he finished?
“Can I help you?” Deke asked.
“You want to color with me?”
“I could work on the background if you would like,” he suggested.
“Make it green, Daddy,” she requested and pushed a light green crayon toward him.
“Perfect.”
The two of them worked in quiet for a while. Maya kept an eye on his coloring. To her relief, he seemed to be really good at it. She knew she wasn’t the most artistic person on the planet, but she always tried her best. He could have just blown it off and scribbled all over the page. He didn’t. Deke seemed to enjoy doing this with her. It made coloring feel less weird and more fun.
“I haven’t colored in a long time, Daddy,” she admitted. “I used to love doing this. When I was a small child, my parents would sit me at a table in the back where they could see me during the lunch and dinner rushes. I had to stay there out of the way and quiet, but I could choose from reading, coloring, or playing a game on my tablet.”
“What did you usually choose?”
“Coloring. Mom and Dad always put the finished picture up on the refrigerator at home,” she shared.
“I have a very boring refrigerator. We’ll start an art gallery as soon as we finish our picture. Tell me what else you like to do,” he requested.
“I like to read and watch TV. I love the big holiday dinners we have at my mom’s house when the restaurant is closed.”
“Do you like working with your family?”
“Yes. They care about me. It does get annoying sometimes, though.”
“I can understand that,” he told her before changing the subject. “It looks like you’re almost done.”
“I just have the flowers to do. Should I make them blue or pink?”
“How about some of each?”
“Oooh. Good idea.”
In a few minutes, she set her crayon down with a click. “I’m done.”
“I have this one patch left,” Deke said as he colored the last corner. “There! I’m done, too. Let’s hang it on my refrigerator. You choose a spot and I’ll grab a magnet.”
When he got up and turned away to open a drawer, Maya picked up his green crayon and added a small heart to the bottom corner. As he turned around, she put the crayon back in the box and added the other ones on the table to disguise her action.