Chapter 27: The Long Way Home

The Dream House

Book One

I was halfway through cleaning my brushes when my phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

Normally, I would've ignored it.

Instead...

I answered.

"Hello?"

"Maya?"

I frowned.

"...Sinnad?"

"You saved my number?"

"You gave me a package."

"I suppose that's true."

I smiled.

"What can I do for you?"

A brief silence.

"I think I accidentally gave you something that belongs to Miss Carmen."

I looked toward my worktable.

The old pencil.

The leather-bound book.

The folded note.

"What did I steal?"

He laughed.

"You make it sound criminal."

"So?"

"There should've been an old library card tucked inside the book."

I opened the cover.

Sure enough...

A faded library card slid onto the table.

"Oh."

"There it is."

"I can bring it tomorrow."

"No rush."

Another pause.

Then...

"Actually..."

His voice changed slightly.

"If you're not busy..."

"I could pick it up."

I looked around my apartment.

Paint everywhere.

Hair wrapped in a scarf.

Oversized T-shirt.

Absolutely no makeup.

I looked like someone who'd spent eight straight hours wrestling with acrylic paint.

"I..."

I hesitated.

"...give me thirty minutes."

His laugh came through the phone.

"I'll make it forty."

Exactly forty-three minutes later...

A black pickup truck pulled up outside my building.

I looked through the blinds.

He was early.

Of course he was.

I grabbed the book.

The library card.

The pencil.

Then hurried downstairs.

When I stepped outside, Sinnad was leaning against the truck, hands in his pockets.

No barber shirt.

Just a dark green hoodie.

Blue jeans.

White sneakers.

For the first time...

He looked less like the owner of Imani Barbershop...

...and more like an ordinary man.

"Hey."

"Hey."

I handed him the book.

"I almost forgot the card."

"You weren't supposed to remember."

"I would've felt guilty."

"I figured."

He smiled.

"I also brought your pencil."

He gently pushed it back toward me.

"No."

"It belongs to your father."

"It belongs..."

He paused.

"...to whoever keeps using it."

I looked at him.

"I can't accept that."

"You already did."

Before I could argue, my stomach growled.

Loudly.

Very loudly.

I immediately closed my eyes.

"No."

He laughed.

"No?"

"Please pretend that didn't happen."

"I don't think I can."

"I skipped lunch."

"I noticed."

"You noticed?"

"You've apologized three times in two minutes."

"What does that have to do with food?"

"Hungry people apologize more."

I stared at him.

"Did you just make that up?"

"Maybe."

I couldn't help laughing.

"There."

He pointed.

"You laugh more when you forget you're trying not to."

That caught me off guard.

"I don't try not to laugh."

"You do."

"I don't."

"You smiled exactly twice in the barbershop."

"You counted?"

"I notice things."

I folded my arms.

"So do I."

"I know."

Another silence.

Comfortable this time.

Then he pointed across the street.

"Diner?"

I followed his finger.

A tiny family restaurant sat on the corner.

Nothing fancy.

The kind of place where the waitress probably knew everyone's name.

"I don't have much money."

"I wasn't asking you to pay."

"I don't like people paying for me."

"I know."

"...How?"

"You remind me of someone."

"Who?"

He looked down at the pencil in my hand.

"My father."

That answer stayed with me all the way across the street.

Inside the diner...

The smell of fresh coffee filled the room.

An elderly couple shared a slice of pie near the window.

A college student studied quietly in the corner.

The waitress greeted Sinnad by name.

"The usual?"

He nodded.

Then looked at me.

"What are you having?"

I shrugged.

"I've never been here."

"Then today..."

He closed the menu.

"...you trust me."

For some reason...

I did.

Across town...

Selena's phone buzzed.

Luna:
Guess what?

Selena smiled.

What now?

A picture appeared.

It was blurry.

Taken through a diner window.

Maya.

Laughing.

Across the table from Sinnad.

Nothing romantic.

Just...

Laughing.

Luna typed:

I wasn't spying...

Three dots.

...I accidentally saw them 😂

Selena stared at the picture for several seconds.

Then surprised herself.

She smiled.

Not because she was jealous.

Not because she was disappointed.

But because...

Maya looked genuinely happy.

She quietly whispered to herself,

"About time."

Then she locked her phone.

Looked out the office window.

And for reasons she couldn't explain...

She felt...

Peace.