At Your Most Beautiful by Harper Bliss (best free ereader .TXT) 📗

Beth asked, as though that was the only restaurant in all of the five boroughs Maya could possibly go to on a Saturday night.

“No.” Maya finally looked up from Ethan’s crib. She had considered using her daughter-in-law’s name to nab an exclusive Saturday night reservation to impress her date, but Tommy and Beth were regulars at Pino’s so that wasn’t a risk she’d wanted to take. Instead, she’d let Beverly pick the place. She’d lived in Manhattan her entire life. “Somewhere in Midtown I haven’t been before.”

Maya heard the front door open and Tommy rushed in. He said a quick hello to Maya and Beth, but made a beeline for Ethan’s crib before greeting his wife and mother more thoroughly.

“Try not to wake him,” Beth pleaded. “It took ages before he went down properly.”

Maya loved watching her son with his son. His body language seemed to transform in the steps he took from the door to Ethan’s crib, from man-about-town to devoted dad.

Tommy whispered something to Ethan that Maya couldn’t make out but made her heart melt regardless. Becoming a grandmother had been one of the most overwhelming experiences of her life. Maybe that was why she had stopped by Tommy and Beth’s. To remind herself of all she already had in her life. To take the edge off her nerves with a dose of familiarity. To be aware that it was just a date, and she shouldn’t feel too much pressure. And, perhaps, also to feel the love that she always felt at Tommy’s and Beth, the unconditional love she had for her family and theirs for her.

“Hi, Mom.” Tommy finally walked over. “I wasn’t expecting you.” He kissed Maya on the cheek before heading over to his wife and curling his arms around her waist and holding her.

“I hadn’t planned on coming over, but the lure of catching a glimpse of Ethan was too hard to resist.” Maya straightened her posture. “I have to run, though.”

“Your mom has a hot dinner date, but she won’t tell me with whom.” Beth winked at Maya. If only she knew.

“What? My mother?” Tommy grinned. “Even the notion.”

“Stop teasing.” Maya picked up her purse. “I’ll see you on Monday. Have a lovely evening.” She blew them both a kiss and headed to the front door.

“You were joking, right?” Maya heard Tommy ask Beth. “I would know if my mother was seeing anyone.”

With a smile on her lips, Maya exited her son’s apartment.

“When I first saw you on the app,” Beverly said, “I couldn’t believe it.” She pulled her lips into a grin. “When we matched, I thought I was the luckiest woman in all of New York.” She leaned over the table a fraction. “Now that I’m sitting here with you, I’m practically beside myself.” Ever since they’d gotten the awkward niceties out of the way, Beverly had become more and more of a straightforward sweet-talker. Maya didn’t mind one bit.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” she said. Beverly might not be a knockout, but she sure was good company. She talked a mile a minute, but her trains of thought were always well articulated and easy to follow. She had two grown children. An ex-wife. A career as an environmental lobbyist with the UN she seemed very passionate about. And she was only two years younger than Maya—an increasingly important fact since seeing Quinn again and Maya’s subsequent conversation with Angus.

“You must be inundated with dating possibilities.” Beverly’s eyes sparkled when she looked at Maya. “Why did you choose to go out with little old me?” When she referred to herself as ‘little old me’ it didn’t sound self-deprecating in the least.

“First of all, I’m not inundated. Let’s get that fiction out of the way.” Maya tilted her head slightly. She was ready to shift into a higher gear of flirting because why the hell not? “And I chose you because you appealed to me very much.”

“At the risk of repeating myself, I’m very glad you did.” Beverly pulled her lips into what could only be described as a seductive smile.

“You can repeat yourself all you want.” Unlike the previous—and only—date Maya had gone on with a woman, she felt something stir inside of her. She really liked Beverly. She wasn’t entirely sure yet whether she was physically attracted to her, but she was old and wise enough to know that she needn’t worry about that yet. Maya wasn’t looking for a coup de foudre. She was looking for something real and meaningful with a woman she could admire and have a rewarding conversation with.

“I will.” Beverly took a sip of wine before locking her gaze on Maya again. “Inquiring minds want to know.” Another smile. “Until you moved to the city, you’ve been passing for straight?”

“I wouldn’t call it passing.” Maya gave a nervous chuckle. “As far as I knew, I was straight.”

Beverly nodded as though she understood. “But something must have happened to make you take that final leap.”

“I don’t feel as though I’ve taken any leaps just yet. I moved from the suburbs to the city, that’s about it.”

“That is a big leap and, let me assure you, you’re not the first woman in her fifties to do so.”

“I’m not?” Maya wondered if a city like New York, where you could find anything imaginable under the sun, would have some sort of support group for middle-aged formerly straight women.

“Of course not.” Beverly grinned again. “You have no idea how many women our age are sick of men after spending decades in their company.” She shrugged casually. “Not every woman is as fortunate as me to grow up knowing they’re gay.”

“It can’t have been easy, though.”

Beverly shrugged again. “It wasn’t exactly hard either. My family didn’t make much of an issue out of it. Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t like nowadays when parents actually ask their kids if they’re gay and some kids don’t even have to come out of the closet anymore—which is how it should