The Gamble

Chapter Thirteen Breakfast

I woke when Max’s heat moved away from my back, the weight of his arm gliding from around me. He did this carefully, with that exquisite gentleness unreal in such a powerfully-built man.

I didn’t open my eyes. I felt like I’d had around fifteen minutes of sleep and like I needed fifteen days to catch up.

And anyway, when Max was being gentle like that I thought it would be better to shut off the other senses and experience nothing but the feel of it.

I was sliding back into dreamland when I heard the distinct murmur of voices. The owners of the cabin complex might have taken pride in their facilities but the cabins themselves were a fair shade less well made than Max’s A-Frame. With the way I could hear the conversation, I knew the walls were paper thin.

“Nina had a rough night,” Max’s gravelly voice explained.

“Oh dear,” Gladys replied and my eyes flew open.

“And you are?” Norm asked.

“Max, Nina’s boyfriend,” Max answered.

“Nina’s boyfriend who left her alone all day yesterday to do nothing but stare at the river like her world had ended and then left her alone last night to have dinner with two old coots like us?” Norm asked, sounding somewhat surprisingly belligerent, and his tone, not to mention what he gave away about me spending the day pining for Max, made me throw the covers back and jump out of bed, ignoring the shot of pain that emanated through my ribs as I did so.

“Norm!” Gladys cried on a gasp.

“Yep,” Max replied, sounding not affronted but amused. “That’d be me.”

On Max’s remark I had made it to the door and I threw it open, rushing out into the living room.

“Is it eight thirty already?” I asked on a smile I hoped didn’t look fatigued.

Max, wearing jeans, his long-sleeved t-shirt but in bare feet, turned to look at me and when he did, his lips pressed together and weirdly, his ear tilted to his shoulder at the same time he was giving short shakes of his head.

Both Norm and Gladys were staring at me, for some reason openly gobsmacked.

Then Norm moved, luckily not quickly for I could see his intent and I was able to cry out “Max!” in time for Max to turn back to Norm and then duck clear of Norm’s flying cane.

“Norm!” Gladys screeched.

I ran forward as Max retreated, his torso swaying back to dodge the swipes of the cane Norm was wielding like a rapier as he advanced on Max.

I got in front of Max and threw my arms out, shouting at Norm, “What are you doing?”

“Missy, your face!” Norm shouted back, swirling his cane in the air before he planted it on the floor, leaned into it, turned to Gladys and ordered, “Go get our cellular whozeewhatsit and call the police!”

Oh dear, even feeling the pain in my body, I’d still forgotten about my face.

“Max didn’t do this,” I told Norm and Norm turned narrowed eyes back to me.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, missy.”

“Damon did it,” I explained quickly and when Norm didn’t look any less disbelieving, I continued, “He’s kind of my mountain man stalker. See, when he was little, Max lived next to Brody who was his best friend and still is. A long time ago, Brody’s Mom and Dad got divorced. Then she got remarried then she had Mindy so Mindy is like Max’s little sister. Then, a few weeks ago, something bad happened to Mindy and she’s not doing too well with it so, since Brody now lives in Seattle, Max was looking out for her then I was looking out for her and, well, Damon is her ex-boyfriend but he was her boyfriend-boyfriend then. And he came to a bar and was mean to Mindy so I pushed him then he backhanded me which Max saw because he was coming to pick us up because he was our designated driver. Max got kind of mad about Damon pushing me and taught him a lesson in the parking lot of the bar which, unfortunately, seeing as it was the parking lot of a bar most of the town saw the whole thing. Damon didn’t like that so he spray painted my car and did other stuff to it too. And then, yesterday, he tracked me down and overpowered me when I was coming into my cabin after dinner. Luckily Max showed up a little while later and took me to the hospital.” I took in a deep breath and finished, “Nothing to worry about, though. Max is here now and I’m okay.”

Norm and Gladys both stared at me but Max’s arm hooked around my chest from behind and he pulled me back into his body. His body, by the way, which was shaking slightly so I knew, even though it wasn’t audible, he was laughing.

I ignored this when Norm noted, “Either that’s the best story ever made up or what you say is true.”

“I wish it was a story but, unfortunately, it’s true,” I confirmed.

“Though, Norm, good to know, I didn’t show last night, you and your cane would have Nina’s back,” Max added and I elbowed him in the ribs, his body twitched but that was mostly it.

“So, you’re her boyfriend, where were you yesterday when Nina was tied up in knots?” Norm asked cantankerously.

“Norm!” Gladys gasped again then looked at me. “Nina, I’m so sorry.”

Norm’s eyes stayed glued on Max. “Got two daughters, four granddaughters and one great granddaughter, son. I’ve had my fair share of experience with pretty boys like you so you best be answering my question.”

Gladys sighed. I pressed my lips together in order not to laugh at Norm calling Max a “pretty boy”.

Max, however, spoke. “We had a fallin’ out, Nina’s prone to gettin’ wild hairs and she took off. I found her a coupla hours too late. So, yeah, Norm, that’s on me.”

I stopped pressing my lips together, suddenly completely unamused, and I turned in his arm.

“What Damon did to me isn’t on you,” I declared.

“I wasn’t talkin’ about Damon, Duchess, I was talkin’ about you bein’ tied up in knots but, now that you mention it, he’s Damon. He spray painted your car. I knew he wasn’t done with you and yesterday, from the minute you left home to the minute I walked in this cabin, you were unprotected so, yeah, that’s on me too.”

“It is not.”

“Babe, it is.”

“It isn’t!”

Max’s hassled eyes went over my head and I knew he was looking at Norm when he stated, “She’s up five minutes and we’re fightin’. Our first date, she fought about how Germans invented beer.”

“I did not!” I cried.

Max’s eyes came to me. “Babe, you did.”

I turned again in his arm, looked at Gladys and announced, “He has the memory of an elephant which you would think is good for, say, anniversaries and birthdays and such, but day-to-day?” I shook my head and concluded, “It’s very, very bad.”

Max’s arm at my chest gave me a squeeze and my neck twisted so I could look at him when he spoke.

“You didn’t think that when I gave you that ring, incidentally a ring you haven’t taken off. You said it was thoughtful and the best gift anyone’s ever given you.”

My gaze swung back to Gladys and, harassed, I declared, “See? He remembers everything.”

I realized then that both Gladys and Norm were smiling at about the time I realized that Max and I were acting like lunatics.

“I don’t think she’s tied up in knots anymore, Gladie,” Norm observed.

“She is, dear, just not ones she wants to untie,” Gladys remarked.

“I should make breakfast,” I mumbled, mortified and to my further mortification when I tried to break free of Max’s hold it just got tighter and then I felt his lips kiss my neck.

“Why don’t we make it lunch?” Gladys suggested, her eyes sparkling, she’d caught the neck kiss but then again, it would be hard to miss.

“No, I can make breakfast,” I told her quickly.

“Lunch,” Norm said firmly, reaching a hand out to Gladys and making a move to the door.

“We can’t do lunch, Nina has to go to the Police Station to press charges against Damon,” Max shared.

“Brunch then, we’ll be back at ten,” Norm put in.

“Works for me,” Max stated.

“Max!” I hissed on another twist of my neck to look up at him.

“Ten,” Gladys affirmed. “See you then, dear.”

Then the door closed behind them. Max let me go to walk to it, he locked it and then he turned back to me.

When he did, I asked, “How bad is my face?”

“Worse than when he backhanded you, better than expected since he connected three times.”

Max said this while stalking toward me. Yes, stalking. Therefore, I didn’t hear his words because instinctively I was retreating.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he kept coming at me.

“Veer right, baby,” he directed and I looked over my right shoulder to see the door to the bedroom.

Then I looked back, noting my mistake immediately for he’d gained significantly and was right on top of me. His hands came to my hips and he veered us right.

“Max,” I whispered.

“I know you’re banged up, honey, so this mornin’ all you gotta do is lay back and I’ll eat you for breakfast before we have brunch.”

My stomach dipped and my hands fluttered to his chest.

“Max,” I repeated but it was breathy this time. “I’m really tired, I was thinking of getting in an hour of sleep before they come back.”

We were well into the bedroom and I knew this because my legs hit bed, I went down and Max came down on top of me on my healthy side. Then his hand slid into my hair at the side of my head and his mouth came to mine.

“You sleep while I go down on you, Duchess, it’s gonna piss me off.”

I felt a quiver between my legs that radiated outward and I felt my lips quiver too.

“I’ll try to stay awake,” I promised him.

His mouth left mine but not before I felt it smile. It slid down my jaw then to my neck.

At my ear, he ordered, “Shimmy out of your pants, baby.”

“Okay,” I whispered and pulled the drawstring of my pajamas as his tongue touched my earlobe then the back of my ear then it slid down and out to the strap of my camisole on my shoulder.

I shimmied out of my pajamas and undies and I barely tossed them aside before his hand was between my legs.

“Wet,” he muttered into my neck then his head came up as his fingers slid around, I saw his eyes had grown hungry and the sight made me wetter. He felt it and his mouth came to mine before he growled, “Fuck. I missed this, baby.”

It had only been two days. It felt like two hundred years.

“Me too.”

His finger slid inside and a moan slid out of my throat.

“Kiss me, Duchess,” he demanded and I gave him what he wanted as he finger fucked me, his thumb pressing at my sweet spot as his tongue invaded my mouth.

He broke the kiss and muttered against my lips, “You’re ready.” Max used his hands at my waist to yank me further up the bed. “Now I want you to open your legs for me, honey.”

I opened my legs for him then he slid down and rolled between them.

Then his mouth hit me and he had me for breakfast and, at least for me, it was unbelievably delicious.

***

“Duchess,” I heard Max call and I blinked then blinked again then dazedly looked around to see we were parked in front of the Gnaw Bone Police Station.

I lifted a hand to pull my hair out of my face then dropped it and turned to the door to see Max standing in it.

“Did I fall asleep?” I asked stupidly.

Max leaned his torso into the cab and undid my seatbelt, muttering, “Out like a light.”

“Mm,” I mumbled.

“This’ll be all over town next, Jeff gets Nina Zombie swearing out her statement against Damon,” Max was still muttering but also grinning as he straightened and then slid an arm along my back and helped me hop down from the Cherokee.

After Max had “breakfast” we had a shower and I got ready. Then we had brunch with Norm and Gladys and after, exchanged contact information and fond farewells. Then Max and I packed up the groceries, loaded the Jeep, checked out of the cabin and Max followed me as we went back to the rental car agency.

The rental car agency, I found out when Max explained as we were packing up, was the downfall of my heartbroken getaway considering, when Max got home, found my note and saw all my stuff gone, he wasn’t too happy and decided he was going to do something about it pretty much at once. Then again, he didn’t get home until well after lunch, it took him that long to cool down so I had a head start.

Deciding I had to get a taxi, Max called Arlene. Then Arlene called Bill, who was the person at Thrifty’s who sent the taxi, and told him to tell her who my taxi driver was. Then Arlene called Alan, my taxi driver. Alan told Arlene, who told Max that Alan took me to the rental car agency so Max called the agency. Since by then the rental car agency employees had changed shifts, Max made more calls and he found out that George knew the man who owned the rental car agency. George called him, that guy called his employee at home and his employee told him where I was staying, the crux of my downfall. He told George, George told Max, thus Max found me.

The joys of small town living.

When Max arrived at the cabin, he’d been pounding at the door because, as he put it, “Babe, seriously, you sleep like the dead,” and eventually thinking he wasn’t going to wake me with his pounding, he had to open the door with a credit card.

Yes, a credit card.

Those cabins were very pretty and they’d done a good job renovating but they definitely needed new locks. And, perhaps, better outdoor lighting.

After we packed up the Jeep, we turned in my rental. Then I climbed into the Cherokee and evidently fell fast asleep.

I had not been in favor of the turning in the rental car business. I thought it might be good for me to have a car so Max didn’t have to drive me around everywhere. Max thought, since he wasn’t working, there was pretty much no reason he couldn’t take me where I wanted to go and, incidentally, be with me while I was there. Therefore Max talked me into returning the car. Or, I should say, Max ordered me to do it and after we argued for ten minutes, I was too tired to keep arguing so I gave in.

Luckily, he did. It wouldn’t do for me to fall asleep at the wheel. Though, I was not going to share that with Max.

Max still had his arm around me and he shuffled me to the side then he slammed the door to the Jeep then he shuffled me back, stepped in until my back was at the Cherokee and Max was pressed up against my front.

I tipped my head back to look at him, still partly asleep.

“Lucky you turned in that car, babe, or it’d be another call to triple A to pull it out of the ditch, you fell asleep at the wheel.”

God, Max was so annoying.

“You know, I think you’re onto something,” I told him. “A good way to get rid of Nina Zombie is to be annoying. And, seeing as you’re that way a lot, it’s too bad you like Nina Zombie because in future her appearances will likely be very rare.”

He grinned. “You only think I’m annoying when I’m right.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Take, for instance, now.”

He burst out laughing but as he did this his hand hooked around the back of my neck, he pulled me up to my toes and his mouth came down on mine.

I’d never had someone kiss me while they laughed. It was an experience.

A good one.

I’d also never had anyone kiss me (or do other things to me for that matter) when I had a black eye and a bruised cheekbone not that I had them very often, just both the times my ex Brent hurt me. When I saw my face in the mirror that morning I found Max was right. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been but it was definitely worse than before. And not exactly attractive. Though that didn’t faze Max, not in the slightest.

After I’d melted into him, my forearms under his coat resting parallel along his spine, my hands flat on his muscled back, his lips released mine but he didn’t move away.

He dropped his forehead so it was resting on mine and I saw his eyes were serious when he said quietly, “When you were sick, saw your plane tickets, honey.”

“Yes?”

“You leave Saturday.”

I felt my body lock as I pulled in a soft breath to fight the sharp, twisting pain in my stomach.

He was right, so much had been going on I hadn’t even thought of that. Unless I was telling myself I had to leave, I hadn’t thought of actually leaving. In fact, in a weird way it felt strange thinking I had to leave. Not only did it feel like I’d been in Gnaw Bone a lifetime, England felt a million miles away.

And leaving meant leaving everything, everyone, the A-Frame, The Mark, The Dog, Mindy, Becca, Bitsy, Arlene, Cotton and, most of all, Max.

My flight left in, essentially, two days. And even though it felt like I’d been in Gnaw Bone a lifetime, I knew those two days would feel like two seconds.

And after that, what? The idea of a move and all that involved pressed down on me, especially since I had to do it without Max and I had no idea when I’d see him again.

What if, in my absence, he figured out I wasn’t so cute?

My arms tightened against his back and feeling the pressure of all this weighing down on me like an anvil, I whispered. “Max.”

“Any chance your work’ll give you another week?”

Another week? Could it be that easy?

My eyes drifted to the side and that twisting pain subsided.

Yes, it could be that easy.

Then my eyes drifted back, I smiled and pressed deeper into him when I said, “Yes. I’ve got loads of holiday. I’ll call my assistant, get her to shift some things around. Then I’ll call David, he’s a partner and my boss. He’ll be okay with it, he likes me.”

Max’s head went up slightly but his brows drew together sharply.

“He likes you?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

I was still smiling when I said, “A lot, seeing as I’m a good employee. His gay partner also likes me. No, his partner Nigel actually adores me but not because I’m a good employee, because I make fantastic martinis or at least that’s what Nigel says. They like me so much, they’ve asked me to be godmother to their new Russian orphan baby.”

Max’s brows had unknit and his body was pressing me deeper into the truck when he smiled back and asked, “Did you say yes?”

“Of course, she’s adorable and godmother duties include buying her ridiculously frilly dresses throughout childhood and then repeatedly explaining that men are idiots through her teen years and then she’s honor-bound to come visit me at the nursing home when I’m old and gray.”

One of his arms came from around me so he could cup my jaw in his hand and he was still smiling but his eyes were soft when he said, “Only you.”

“Sorry?”

“Only you,” he repeated.

“Only me what?”

“Only you would have some senior citizen swipin’ at me with his cane. You knew him a day, he knew I could break him in two and still, he thought I laid a hand on you and he came at me. And only you would have a Russian orphan goddaughter you buy frilly dresses.”

“It’s a godmother duty,” I reminded him.

His hand at my jaw tightened and he whispered, “It’s Nina.”

The way he said those two words made tears flood my eyes and my throat feel thick.

Okay so, again, Max had proved my fears moot. He wasn’t going to figure out I wasn’t cute because the fact of the matter was, he thought I was cute. And apparently there was no shaking that.

“Max,” I warned, my voice sounding as thick as my throat felt, “you’re being nice.”

“Yeah,” he agreed then tipped my face up, touched his lips to mine and when he was done he pulled back a bit, dropped his hand to curl around my neck and changed the subject. “How would you feel I was on that plane with you?”

I liked the lip touch and the heavy warmth of his hand at my neck and the fact that he was nice so much I was focused on those things and I wasn’t following.

“Sorry?”

“Could talk to Bitsy, Trev can keep things goin’ for awhile. I could go with you, see Charlie’s house, stay in England a couple of weeks.”

“Are you serious?” I breathed, my eyes wide.

He looked at my face a second then burst out laughing.

When he was done laughing but he was still smiling, he instructed, “Don’t bother answerin’ the question, babe.”

“Okay,” I whispered, too overcome with happiness that this meant another week with him in his A-Frame and two more with him in Charlie’s house.

I could show him pictures of Charlie!

“For once, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he broke into my thoughts, his smile now a grin, “except it’s good.”

“I’m thinking, if you come to England I can show you pictures of Charlie,” I shared happily and watched with no small amount of fascination as his face got soft but his eyes grew warm.

“I’d like that,” he muttered.

“Nina!” Niles’s voice snapped from my left.

My head twisted to the side and Max’s hand moved from my neck as I stared in shock at Niles in tan, large whale corduroys, a navy pea coat with a navy turtleneck showing out of the collar, standing on the wooded sidewalk facing Max and I, his tan, leather glove-covered hands on the wooden railing. He was wearing this get up even though the weather had again turned and it had to be at least sixty degrees Fahrenheit.

The minute I looked at him, his face paled and his eyes grew huge.

Then, his voice almost shrill, he asked, “What happened to your face?”

“What are you still doing here?” I asked back.

“What happened to your face?” he shouted then his eyes went straight to Max and he demanded to know, “Did you do that to her?”

“I’m gettin’ tired of that shit,” Max murmured as his body got tight in my arms.

“No!” I answered Niles sharply, giving Max a squeeze. “I have a mountain man gone bad stalker.”

“A what?” Niles asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” I told him, reluctantly dropping one arm from Max and turning to face Niles and when I did, Max turned too, his arm going around my shoulders and my other arm dropped to his waist, my thumb hooking in his side belt loop as I went on, “I asked, what are you still doing here?”

“I called you four times yesterday,” Niles told me, not answering my question.

“And?”

“You didn’t take any of my calls.”

“And?”

“I’d like to speak to you,” Niles clipped.

I pointed out the obvious, “Niles, honestly, I think we’ve said all there is to say.”

Niles’s face went hard and he informed me, “And I think the least you could do is allow me a moment to speak to you,” his eyes went to Max before he finished, “privately.”

Unfortunately at this point, seeing as Niles had interrupted a nice moment between Max and me, and he was being kind of a jerk, I was starting to see red.

“The least I could do?” I asked irately.

“Duchess,” Max muttered at my side.

“The least you could do,” Niles affirmed.

“You’ve had two years of me talking with you privately and you never listened,” I reminded him.

“But –” Niles started.

I was moving forward taking Max with me, heading to the two step opening at the railing by the Police Station just down from Niles. I wasn’t going to get into this with him, not now, not ever. It wasn’t worth it, he wasn’t worth it.

Therefore, as I headed that way, I told Niles, “I need to go press charges.”

“Against who?” Niles asked.

I stopped, glared at him and answered impatiently, “Who else? Against my mountain man gone bad stalker!”

“Nina! Max!” I heard shouted and looked to the left to see Linda bearing down on our party, she got a good look at me, came to a juddering halt and kept shouting, “Oh my God! What on earth happened to you?”

“Damon,” Max answered without hesitation and my head snapped back to look at him.

“Max!” I hissed.

“Everyone’s gonna know,” Max told me.

“They will now,” I mumbled.

“Damon!” Linda yelled very loudly, proving my mumbled point.

“I’m fine,” I told Linda.

“Nina, that word I’d like to have privately…” Niles butted in.

“Babe, seriously, get rid of him,” Max’s voice was getting a little scary.

“Niles, go home,” I said to Niles.

“You don’t look fine,” Linda said to me, ignoring Niles.

“I am,” I promised her. “Really, it just feels a little bit tight.”

“That Damon Matthews,” Linda spat. “You know, take one letter out of his name and it spells ‘damn’ as in ‘damn, that kid’s a worthless sonovabitch’.”

“Nina! Max! Hey!” I heard and looked to the right to see Becca approaching. Then she caught sight of me and skidded to a halt two feet from Niles. “Whoa! What happened to your face?”

“Fuck me,” Max muttered.

“Damon,” I told her, talking over Max cursing.

“That dick!” Becca screeched.

“Nina! For God’s sake!” Niles bellowed and I looked at him.

“Niles! Go! Away!” I shouted at him.

Becca’s torso reared back, her eyes got wide and they were on Niles.

“Dude,” she said low, “you’re Niles?”

Niles just scowled at her so she looked at me.

“Seriously, Neens, Max is way better,” Becca informed me. “Not only is he hotter, he’s taller, has great hair, that awesome rough voice and he dresses nearly as hot as he just plain is.”

Becca was not wrong about that. Any of it. Therefore I had no response.

“Who’s Niles?” Linda asked Becca, finally examining Niles.

“I’m Nina’s fiancé,” Niles answered Linda, now scowling more irately at Becca.

“Ex!” I shouted.

“Jesus, enough!” Max cut in on a sharp, impatient bark and looked at Niles. “Man, it’s over. Deal with it but deal with it somewhere else.” He looked at his mother. “Mom, we gotta go in so Nina can swear out a statement. I’ll call you later.” He looked at Becca. “Babe, Nina’ll call you, yeah?”

“Cool,” Becca said on a grin.

“Is it pasta bake tonight?” Linda asked.

“No,” Max answered instantly.

“When am I gonna get pasta bake?” Linda pushed.

“I don’t know, Mom,” Max replied and I could tell he was losing it.

“Saturday,” I told her quickly. “That’s my parent’s last day here. We’ll have a little party.”

“Duchess,” Max said to me, sounding exasperated, “when I’m in England, we gotta get your shit sorted so you can move here and people’ll get used to having you around so maybe they’ll back the fuck off so I can spend some fuckin’ time with you.”

“You’re moving here?” Niles asked on a loud, horrified whisper.

“Yes, Niles,” I answered him.

“But you said you’d never leave Charlie’s house.”

Now he was hearing what I said a million times over the last year.

“I’m not leaving Charlie’s house, Max and I are going to…” I stopped speaking as it hit me, I looked at Max and whispered, “We can’t do that anymore, can we?”

Max’s arm at my shoulders gave me a squeeze. “We’ll talk about it later.”

I ignored him, remembering what he’d told me the morning before about taking the job in town and how wonderful it was that he’d make that sacrifice for me, taking over Curt’s business, but how he couldn’t do it, seeing as it was Curt’s business and Curt was a jerk, so I announced, “And you can’t take that job.”

“Babe, we’ll talk about it later.”

“What job?” Linda asked.

“Fuck,” Max clipped.

“Nothing, nothing,” I said quickly to Linda. “We need to go in.”

“What job?” Linda repeated.

“Mom, later,” Max bit out.

Linda’s hands came up. “All right, all right. Yeesh. Later.” Then she looked around Niles to Becca and asked, “Do you wanna get a coffee? I’m meeting Barb and Mindy at the café.”

“Awesome,” Becca answered.

“Mindy?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Linda said to me then invited, “You guys finish, you can join us.”

I smiled at her and said, “That would be lovely.”

“Someone kill me,” Max muttered, I looked up at him to see he was looking up at the blue, cloudless sky.

“Darling,” I called, putting my free hand to his stomach, “we need to go into the Station and get this done so I can see Mins and get a coffee.”

Max’s head tilted down and his frustrated gray eyes locked on mine. “Babe, just gonna say, you’re lucky you’re so damned cute.”

That was when I curled my body into his, got up on my toes, pressed close and smiled at him before I said softly, “I know.”

And I did know. At that moment with Max looking irritated but still amazingly handsome and I was tucked firm in the curve of his arm, I knew.

I knew I was possibly the luckiest woman in the world.

And Max proved me correct when his eyes moved over my face, his expression cleared, his face warmed and his mouth came down on mine.

***

We were sitting in the little room that Mick questioned Kami in, Max at my side, his chair pushed slightly back but close to mine, his arm draped around the back of my chair, his legs stretched out in front of him, feet crossed at the ankles.

This seemed like a pose of masculine relaxation but it wasn’t.

I knew this when he clipped, “What’s takin’ so fuckin’ long?”

I looked up from returning the texts my friends had been sending.

Before texting I’d found that yesterday Niles had called four times, Mom three and I had five calls from three numbers I didn’t know. After interrogating Max I found that one call was from his home phone (so I programmed it in), three from his mobile (so I programmed that in too) and the last one was from Arlene (which I also programmed in). Mom had given Max my number, Max had given it to Arlene and her message was mostly about how next time we were at The Dog I couldn’t leave without saying good-bye and partly about her asking when I was making another fish casserole without any mention at all about my heartbroken getaway which, I suspected, she knew would be foiled.

“They are investigating a murder, darling,” I attempted to soothe the wakening beast.

His irritated eyes sliced from their impatient examination of the door to me and I decided just to let the beast wake and take my chances.

Thankfully at that point the door opened and Jeff walked in carrying papers and a pen.

“Fuck, sorry, I mean, um…” he looked at me and repeated, “sorry.”

“Max curses all the time, Jeff, you don’t have to apologize for saying the f-word,” I assured, smiling at him, he smiled back, headed to the chair opposite us, dumped his papers and sat down.

“Shit, Jeff, we been here twenty minutes,” Max put in, proving me right about the swearing.

“Yeah, I know, things are crazy.” He looked at Max then he looked at me. “Sorry to say, Nina, we can’t find Damon.”

This wasn’t exactly good news.

Max straightened in his chair and glared at Jeff. “Jesus, we’re talkin’ Mathews here. He ain’t the brightest bulb.”

Jeff nodded. “I know but he’s proving elusive. We been lookin’ for him since the spray paint incident, talkin’ to folks all over town. His boss says he hasn’t been to work since you and he had your thing and he wants him to come back real bad, mostly so he can fire his ass.”

That wasn’t good news for Damon but I couldn’t find it in me to care since maybe it would mean he’d be forced to move away from Gnaw Bone, his self-appointed stalker duties and Mindy.

Jeff kept talking. “And none of his friends admit to knowin’ where he is. His old landlord said he caught him last Friday tryin’ to put a bolt cutter to the lock on one of the storage units he’s got. The old guy aimed some buckshot at him, chased him off, didn’t know we were lookin’ for him. Other than that, we got nothin’. Mathews is in the wind.”

“He doesn’t even know how to spell ‘wind’, he can’t be in it,” Max bit out and I pressed my lips together to stop from laughing.

“We’ll find him,” Jeff promised. “But we’re low on resources, seein’ as we got every man we can spare here, at the county sheriff’s and even the frickin’ highway patrol tryin’ to track down Shauna and that Robert Winston guy.”

Both Max and I stiffened but it was me who spoke. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jeff answered, distracted and sorting through the papers he’d put on the table. “She’s vanished. Gone.” He looked up at me and said, “We got a warrant to search her house, nothin’ there, no furniture, no clothes, nada. Totally clean. Last person to see her was Kami and Mick said we can’t talk to Kami, ‘less we talk to you, so, by the way, Mick says I need to set that up while you’re here.”

“Of course,” I told him.

“Anyway,” he went on, all business, “right now I’ll take your statement, get Jane to type it out and then you can read it, make sure we got everything down right then you can sign it. Cool?”

I smiled again and said, “Cool.”

“Then you can call Kami and we’ll set something up,” he finished and I got an idea.

“Sure,” I replied then invited, “Maybe, while Jane is typing out my statement and we’re calling Kami, you can come and have a cup of coffee with us.”

“Babe,” Max said low, reading my intent.

“Thanks but we’re hammered. It’s all hands on deck,” Jeff answered.

“Yes, of course,” I agreed then pressed, “but everyone needs a break and the coffee at the café is better than Station coffee, I know, I’ve sampled them both. Anyway, it’ll be my treat.”

“Babe,” Max repeated, still low.

“Really appreciate that, Nina, but, like I say, we’re hammered,” Jeff said politely.

It was time to dangle my golden carrot so I did. “We’re meeting Linda and Barb and Mindy will be there.”

Max sighed. Jeff stopped looking hurried and distracted and focused fully on me.

Then he said firmly, “Tell her I said hi.”

I blinked and Max got tense at my side.

“Okay, let’s start at the beginnin’,” Jeff instructed, looking down at the papers and picking up the pen.

“Tell her you said hi?” Max asked, his voice even more of a gravelly rumble than usual and his tone made me look at him to see he was staring intently at Jeff.

I looked back at Jeff and his head was up, his eyes on Max.

“Yeah, hi,” Jeff answered.

“That’s it?” Max asked, beginning for some reason to sound angry.

“Max,” I whispered, putting a hand to his thigh.

“That’s it,” Jeff affirmed.

I felt Max go even more tense, I felt this both physically as well as his tenseness shimmering in the very air.

Definitely sounding angry now, Max asked, “Coupla days ago, you couldn’t keep your eyes off her ass, now all you got to say is hi?”

My hand gave his thigh a squeeze and I again whispered, “Max,” but this time I did it more urgently.

“Yeah, Max, now all I got to say is hi,” Jeff stated and I looked to him because now he sounded angry and when my eyes hit his face, I noted he looked it too.

“Gents –” I started but Max spoke over me.

“So you’re happy to check out her ass until you find out she’s dealin’ with some serious shit then you’re not interested anymore?” Max enquired, his eyes narrow.

“No,” Jeff bit off.

“Sounds like it to me,” Max told him.

“Yeah, then I guess you don’t know that I been by Barb and Darren’s every day since that scene at the river,” Jeff returned. “And Mindy’s made it clear she don’t wanna see me and I figured that out since each time I went she said she don’t wanna see me but she didn’t say it to me, she told her Mom to say it to me and Mindy didn’t fuckin’ see me.”

“So?” Max asked and Jeff’s brows drew together.

“So, she don’t wanna see me, that’s it. I can take a hint.”

“You like her?” Max asked straight out.

“Max!” I hissed but Jeff answered.

“Not your concern.”

“You like Mindy, it’s my concern,” Max countered.

“Better answer, it doesn’t matter,” Jeff retorted.

“Do you like her?” Max repeated.

“Max, please –” I began but Jeff didn’t answer and Max leaned forward, taking his arm from my chair.

“Jeff, man, I’m askin’ you a question.”

“She’s the prettiest girl in town,” Jeff clipped, obviously not wanting to share but doing it anyway probably knowing Max enough to know he wouldn’t let it go, a lesson I too had learned and I’d known him a lot less time than Jeff. “She’s also the sweetest by a long shot. So, yeah, I guess you could say I like her.”

My stomach melted and I stared at Jeff, seeing his anger at Max was covering a much deeper emotion. He didn’t like Mindy, he liked her. And I liked that.

“Come with us to get coffee,” Max ordered, obviously liking it too.

“I’m tellin’ you, Max, don’t have time,” Jeff replied.

“Then get it to go.”

“Max –” Jeff started but Max leaned further in and cut him off.

“A few days ago Nina told me, when a woman gets fucked over by a dickhead, or a bunch of dickheads, she needs to learn there are good guys out there. You’re a good guy and you like her. She’s got serious shit to deal with now. She needs all the help she can get, especially from good guys who like her.” A muscle jumped in Jeff’s jaw but he stayed silent so Max finished, “Nothin’ worth havin’, it ain’t worth fightin’ for even if the thing you gotta fight is the thing you want. She don’t wanna see you right now because she’s embarrassed, thinks you think less of her because of what you saw and, I’m guessin’, the guys she’s picked in the past, maybe she thinks she’s not worthy. You want her, man, your job is to convince her she’s wrong.”

I’d stopped breathing and was staring at Max’s profile as he spoke to Jeff.

Every word he said about Mindy slid through me like an invisible blade shrouded in velvet, cutting me to the quick but doing it a way that felt like he was surgically removing a malignant tumor that I’d been carrying around for years. A tumor that had been eating away at my insides. A tumor that, with his words, suddenly was gone.

You love him, Charlie said in my head.

Yes, I replied to Charlie, scared at this sudden knowledge but, along with that fear, far stronger, I also felt joy.

There was no response from Charlie.

Do you think I’m crazy? I asked my dead brother.

Sweetheart, Charlie answered, not anymore.

“I’ll come with,” Jeff said and I forced my mind off my brief conversation with Charlie and my eyes away from Max to Jeff as he finished. “Get it to go.”

Max didn’t reply, just nodded and sat back in his chair and I leaned sideways until my shoulder hit his chest. His arm went over my head to curl around me, my head dropped to his shoulder and I gave his thigh another squeeze of my hand.

Then Jeff brought the matter back to hand and, looking at me and lifting his pen to the paper, he stated, “All right, let’s get this done.”

***

Seeing as it was sunny and warm, the snow again melting, Max and I, with Jeff trailing, walked through the café out to the back seating area and Linda saw us immediately.

She indicated us to Barb, Becca and Mindy with a nod of her head, all of them twisted in their chairs to look at us. Barb and Mindy’s eyes got wide when they saw my face but neither of them said a word when Max and I hit the table. I suspected this was because Linda and/or Becca had already told them about Damon and I hoped they’d done it sensitively for Mindy’s sake.

“Hey again,” Becca said to us and I smiled at her and looked between Mindy and Barb.

“Hi Mindy, Barb,” I greeted.

“Hi guys,” Barb greeted back.

“Hey Neens,” Mindy started then her eyes slid sideways, she caught sight of Jeff, pink hit her cheeks and she bit her lip before saying, “Max.”

Then she dropped her chin to look at her lap, ignoring Jeff completely. I looked at Barb who was studying her daughter and also biting her lip.

“Mindy,” Jeff rounded her chair and looked down at her.

“Jeff,” she said quietly to her lap.

Jeff looked at me and requested, “Could you order me a to go Americano?”

“Sure,” I replied.

Jeff looked back at Mindy. “Can I have a word?”

There was silence for several moments before Max stated softly, “Mins, babe, Jeff’s talkin’ to you.”

Mindy glanced at Max then her head swung to Jeff then she looked down and told the table as she started to rise. “I think I gotta –”

Jeff cut her off by grabbing her hand, pulling her fully to her feet, her head jerked to look at him and he said, “Five minutes.”

“But –” Mindy began and didn’t finish.

Jeff pulled her chair from behind her and walked toward the river, his hand firm in Mindy’s dragging her behind him.

I watched as he took her to the stairs that led off the back seating porch and they walked down a cleared footpath until he stopped them out of earshot and close to the river.

“What’s that all about?” Barb asked, her eyes on the couple by the river, as Max pulled a chair from an empty table and flipped it around behind me.

I sat in it, throwing a smile over my shoulder at Max and answered, “Jeff just needs to get a few things straight with Mindy.”

Max sat beside me as Barb, her gaze still on Jeff and Mindy, her expression uncertain, went on. “He’s come around every day but I don’t… is that…” She looked at me. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

I looked from Barb to Mindy and Jeff and I watched them. Jeff was standing close and doing all the talking. Mindy had her head tipped back, holding her body stiff and she looked scared as a jackrabbit.

“Um…” I started to mumble my answer then watched Mindy’s head shake, Jeff got closer, Mindy prepared to retreat and Jeff’s hand came up to the side of her neck, halting her retreat and his face dipped close to hers. He was mostly in profile but I could see he was still doing the talking. Mindy stood frozen, staring up at him, then suddenly her eyes closed and her head bent. This placed Jeff’s lips close to her forehead but, instead of moving back, he leaned in and kept talking.

I knew what it felt like when a mountain man did that and I hoped Mindy felt it too.

Then I watched Mindy’s hand come up to curl around his wrist at her neck. At first I thought it was to pull away but then, as I watched, I saw it was to hold on and I knew she felt it, the same as me.

When she touched him, Jeff stopped talking, his hand at her neck slid into the back of her hair and he tipped her head down further in order to kiss the top of her head. When he pulled away and allowed Mindy to look at him again, she was no longer stiff, her face no longer scared. It was unsure but it was also soft and she’d leaned into him, just a bit but enough to tell the tale.

My stomach melted again and I turned to Barb and finished my answer.

“Yes.”

Barb’s eyes caught mine and her smile was tremulous but it was a smile all the same.

When I looked away, I caught Becca’s eyes and her smile wasn’t tremulous, it was wide and shining.

“Kami?” I heard Max say and looked at him to see he had his mobile to his ear and his eyes on the couple by the river. “We just got back from the Police Station, Jeff says they need to talk to you again.” He looked from the river to me, he gave me a Wonder Max wink and a small grin and kept talking. “Nina’s with me and she’ll be with you when you talk to Mick. It isn’t a big deal, nothin’ to worry about but they need you to drop in and talk about the last time you saw Shauna. Can you swing by for a break or do you have to do it after work?”

“Why do they have to talk to Kami?” Linda asked me.

“Right, yeah, I’ll tell Jeff. Later,” Max said into the phone and flipped it shut.

“Max is right, it isn’t a big deal,” I answered Linda. “They can’t find Shauna and Kami’s the last person to see her.”

“Damn tootin’ they can’t find her!” I heard from behind me and turned to see Arlene bearing down on us. “Get this!” she announced when she had everyone’s attention, her arm snaking out to snag a chair from a table with two people sitting at it and she did this without asking them if it was okay which made them look at her with a mix of shock and irritation even though they weren’t using it. Then she announced grandly, “Shauna Fontaine has disappeared and they got an APB out on her.” Her eyes rounded in the middle of making a circle of the table to gauge our reactions, they caught on me and she yelled, “Holy shit! What happened to your face?”

“Damon,” Max, Linda, Becca and Barb answered in unison and without hesitation.

“What?” Arlene asked.

“Last night, Damon got retribution,” Max told her and Arlene’s eyes narrowed.

“Where were you?” Arlene returned.

“Not with Nina,” Max’s answer wasn’t evasive, it was a firm indication of where he wasn’t and that the reason why he wasn’t with me was none of Arlene’s business.

“Right,” Arlene muttered then noted, “Must be why the call went out on him on the police band late last night.”

“Yeah, Arlene, that’d be why,” Max confirmed and his eyes came to mine, I gave him a placating grin, he shook his head and didn’t appear very placated but instead mildly irritated.

Suddenly Arlene’s neck twisted and she shouted across the porch, “Fran, get me a cappuccino, heavy on the sprinkles!”

“Gotcha!” Fran, a waitress standing at a table several feet away, shouted back and Arlene’s head swung back to us and her eyes took in the table.

Then they took in me and Max. “What’s your problem? You ain’t drinkin’?”

“We just arrived,” I told her.

“Watcha want?” she asked, I answered for myself and Jeff, Max placed his order with Arlene and Arlene twisted her neck and shouted again.

“Fran, Nina needs a skinny latte, Max wants an Americano, black, and Jeff needs a to go Americano, cream and one sugar. Got that?”

“Yeah, up in a minute,” Fran shouted back and then turned to the table that had twice been interrupted in placing their own orders.

Arlene plopped into her chair as Mindy and Jeff came back to the table, still, I noted with a warm feeling in my middle, holding hands.

“Yo Mins,” Arlene greeted, her eyes moving to the couple’s hands but fortunately, her mouth remaining shut.

“Hey Arlene,” Mindy replied.

“Jeff, what’s shakin’?” Arlene asked.

“Everything,” Jeff answered, releasing Mindy so she could sit down and his torso twisted, he glanced at a table beside ours, put his hand on the back of a chair, gave them a chin tilt and then at their nod he rounded the chair to our table.

We all pushed our chairs out a bit as our group got wider so we could fit everyone in and Jeff sat, his chair very close to Mindy’s.

“So, Shauna Fontaine is suspect numero uno,” Arlene said to Jeff and Jeff’s eyes cut to her.

“Pardon?” he asked, playing dumb.

“Boy, you got an APB out on her,” Arlene informed him of something he obviously already knew.

“Arlene, can’t discuss the specifics of the case,” Jeff told her and Arlene gave him a look but turned back to the table, declaring, “Well, I can.”

Jeff’s eyes went to Max and both men sighed simultaneously as Arlene launched in.

“Shauna Fontaine is gone, gone, gone. Her house’s been sold, her shit’s been moved out and no one has seen her since day before yesterday,” Arlene told the table.

“Her shit’s been moved out?” Linda asked, her eyes wide.

“Yep, cleaned out,” Arlene replied. “Cops went through it yesterday.”

“That’s not enough for an APB,” I noted, my eyes moving to Jeff.

“Yeah, though she cleaned all the shit outta her house, don’t mean she left the house clean. That dead PI guy was done on one a’ Curtis’s construction sites in the bedroom of a new, unfinished build. They were drywallin’. Cops found drywall residue inside Shauna’s house, leadin’ a trail from her backdoor to her bedroom.”

“Oh my God,” I breathed and Arlene looked gleefully at me.

“Shauna don’t work and it’s doubtful she drywalls as a hobby, so why’s she got drywall dust in her house?” Arlene asked without really expecting an answer and I knew this because there was no answer to give and because she kept speaking. “So, the woman’s got evidence in her house, motive and she and her boytoy disappear into thin air…” Arlene grinned and finished, “A… P… B.”

“Boytoy?” Barb asked.

“Well, more like mantoy,” Arlene answered. “Name’s Robert Winston and Winston’s gone too. Neighbors of his say he hasn’t been home in days, they haven’t even seen his car. Cops got a man parked out in front of his house and have since yesterday. No show. He’s self-employed, real estate, if you can believe that shit. If I remember, Shauna’s wrinkled, old goat of an ex-husband was also in property. Girl’s got a type.”

I looked at Max and he was glaring at Arlene so I again put my hand on his thigh, his eyes came to mine and I gave his thigh a squeeze. His hard face got a bit softer but that’s all my effort achieved before Arlene was talking again and Max looked back at her.

“Cops went to Winston’s office, they say he’s on vacation and has been for two weeks, his leave is extended and he’s not due back in awhile. ‘Cept, he was seen brawlin’ with poor, old Harry at The Rooster Saturday night, so everyone knows he isn’t exactly outta town.” Then Arlene leaned forward and shared on a very loud whisper, “And, get this. He’s got a wife! In Aspen. He’s supposed to be openin’ a branch of his business over here, which he’s kinda done but he’s also definitely on…” Arlene lifted her hands and made quotation marks with her fingers, “‘vacation’.” She dropped her hands and carried on talking. “The wife says she’s been in Aspen, closin’ up their house, gettin’ ready to move here. Cops in Aspen who questioned her said she was pretty pissed when she heard the name Shauna Fontaine. Apparently Shauna’s got a history with this Winston guy, one dates back years. The wife took his ass back after the last round of history and now Shauna’s back for round two.”

My gaze slid to Jeff to see he was staring at Arlene in disbelief or, I should say, somewhat angry disbelief as Arlene kept sharing her story.

“This’s where it gets really interesting. See, last time, when the wife took him back, she made him sign everything over in her name. She owns it all, the houses, the businesses, even the bank accounts are in her name, she’s got control of the whole enchilada.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered, now I was staring at Arlene.

“How do you know all this shit?” Jeff asked.

“Everyone’s talkin’,” Arlene answered.

“Not cops and this is confidential information,” Jeff returned. “You aren’t hearin’ this stuff on the grapevine or on your police band, Arlene.”

“I got my sources,” Arlene replied.

“They local?” Jeff returned.

“Not sayin’,” Arlene muttered.

“Arlene, are they local?” Jeff repeated.

“Nope,” Arlene answered quickly and Jeff stared at her.

Then he muttered, “Chantelle.” His eyes went intense and he asked, “Your niece works reception at Chantelle PD, doesn’t she?”

“Uh… she might,” Arlene replied, Max grunted (whether this was an amused or knowing grunt, I had no idea), Jeff looked annoyed and the rest of us glanced at each other as Arlene carried on, her eyes on Jeff.

“Anyway, Jeff, seems to me, unless this Winston fella finds himself a sugar mama, his wife gets pissed, which she is, she takes it all.”

It was then Mindy entered the conversation and suggested to Jeff, “Maybe a sugar mama who thought she was going to inherit some, or all, of a local big man’s construction empire because she told him she was pregnant with his child?”

My gaze snapped to Max who was watching Mindy then his eyes turned to me.

“That’s what I’m thinkin’,” Arlene responded to Mindy then looked to Jeff. “That what the boys at the Station are thinkin’, Jeff?”

At this point Fran hit our table carrying a tray filled with coffees and Jeff stood, fishing his wallet out of the back of his jeans.

“What the boys at the Station are gonna be thinkin’ in about ten minutes, Arlene,” Jeff said, flipping open his wallet and pulling out some bills, “is that the shit you shared at this table better stay at this table or someone’s niece is gonna be out of a job.” Jeff threw the money on the table and took his coffee from Fran before he concluded, eyes back on Arlene. “Yeah?”

I looked at Jeff’s angry eyes and set face and realized, when he was being macho mountain man police officer, he was even more attractive than normal, in fact, as Becca would put it, he was downright hot.

Then I looked at Mindy and saw her gazing up at him with an expression on her face that said she thought much the same thing.

Arlene visibly ground her teeth at having her gossip curtailed and then she muttered, “Yeah.”

“Right,” Jeff stated then his eyes went to Mindy and his set face changed entirely before he said softly, “See you tomorrow night.”

“Okay,” Mindy replied back, just as softly, the pink again tingeing her cheeks.

“Kami’s comin’ to the Station from work,” Max told Jeff, stopping to look at his watch before finishing, “in about half an hour, that good?”

“Yeah,” Jeff replied on a nod. “I’ll tell Mick.” Then Jeff looked at the table at large and said, “Later,” and he moved away.

I watched him go then twisted back and leaned clean across Max toward Mindy.

“Tomorrow night?” I asked and watched Mindy’s cheeks get even pinker.

“He asked me out,” Mindy whispered, leaning into me and my hand reached out and snatched hers.

“That’s great!” I whispered back but my whisper was excited and kind of loud.

Mindy looked at me a second then leaned in further and queried, “Do you really think so, Neens?”

I nodded effusively.

“Seriously?” she pushed.

I squeezed her hand. “Yes, sweetheart.”

Mindy bit her lip then released it and stated, “I don’t know.”

“Why not?” I enquired and she got closer, her eyes going to the side to take in the table and mine did too.

Everyone, except Max, who was forced to be a silent part of it due to the conversation happening pretty much in his lap, and Becca, who was watching us and grinning, was studiously avoiding our exchange.

I looked back to Mindy when she asked, “I think… don’t you think it’s, uh… too soon?”

I leaned further over Max and squeezed Mindy’s hand again before answering. “My lovely, you can decide to start living your life in a month, or two, or six, or next year and that’d be perfectly all right, it’s up to you.” She nodded and I continued, “But my question to you would be, why wait?” I watched her swallow and finished, “Life’s short, Mins, but you need time, you take it. Jeff will understand.”

“Uh… I don’t know if he will. He was kind of…” She paused, searching for a word, then found it and shared, “Determined when he asked me.”

I noted that the way she said this was far from an objection. My eyes slid to the side and up and I saw Max watching us, his lips pressed together and my eyes slid back to Mindy.

“I’ve noticed macho mountain men can be that way,” I told her.

She leaned closer to me, her eyes doing a quick glance to Max then she whispered very low, “Even though I felt funny… you know, talkin’ to him seein’ as, you know, he was there… but…” She hesitated and I could barely hear her when she finished, “It was kinda hot.”

“I bet it was,” I replied, she tipped her head to the side in question and I went on. “Been there, sweetheart, done that.”

Max started chuckling and Mindy and I both jerked back and looked at him.

“You want me to move?” he asked.

“Would you, darling?” I asked back.

Max hooked a hand around my neck, pulled my temple to his mouth, kissed it and got up which was obviously his answer.

I got up too, grabbed my latte mug and scooted Max’s chair back a bit before I sat in it. Mindy scooted hers back too. Becca got up suddenly, walked around the table and sat in Jeff’s vacated chair.

“What’s goin’ on?” she asked.

I looked from Becca to Mindy and both Becca and I leaned into Mindy as I demanded, “All right, sweetheart, tell us everything.”

Mindy gave me a tentative look then she gave me a hesitant smile, she swung it to Becca then she leaned in close, Becca leaned in close and Mindy told us everything. And what she told us about Jeff was definitely hot. But it was also, even more definitely, sweet.

After Mindy was done, Becca noted, “I’m thinkin’ Jeff isn’t a dick.”

I was thinking Becca was right.

“Neens?” Mindy called and I looked at her.

“My advice, my lovely?” She nodded and I said, “Be honest, take care of you first and if Jeff doesn’t take care of you along the way, then move on.” Mindy nodded again but I wasn’t done. “Though, I figure, he’ll take care of you along the way.”

“I figure that too,” Becca put in.

Mindy bit her lip then noted, “The timing sucks.”

My eyes slid to Max who was taking a drink of his coffee and listening to Arlene jabber then they slid back to Mindy and I replied, “Trust me, sweetheart, timing isn’t everything.”

Mindy looked at Max then at me then she grinned.

***

We were back at the A-Frame, my stuff was in the house, the groceries unpacked and I’d just slid into the oven my world famous nachos (this wasn’t strictly true, I hadn’t won a competition or anything, but I called them that anyway because they were really good) smothered in kidney beans and hamburger meat spiced with taco seasoning and a mixture of three cheeses (cheddar, Colby and Monterey Jack, the latter two they didn’t have in England) on which, after desired cheese melting, I would load salsa, sour cream and fresh jalapeños with tomatoes for Max which he told me he loved but I hated. We were now tidying up the prep dishes as the cheese melted into the corn chips in the oven.

This was after, at the café, Max and I ordered club sandwiches for a late lunch.

It was also after Kami came down to the Station on a prolonged break from work to tell Mick that after she and Shauna decided not to go to Curt’s funeral, she’d driven Shauna to Kami’s house. Shauna had come around to her place that morning rather than Kami picking her up. When they went back, Shauna got out of Kami’s car, said good-bye and she’d see her later like always, got into her car and left.

Kami also explained that she hadn’t been to Shauna’s house in weeks. She’d done this somewhat stiltedly which meant she was now embarrassed that she didn’t see it for the cover up it was. But, honestly, how would she know? No one would think their friend was a murderess.

Lastly, she explained she hadn’t heard from Shauna even after she’d left several messages and a number of texts (by then I figured about a thousand) but, in Kami’s words, “If that bitch fucking calls me, you’ll be the first to know.”

Then we left the Police Station and on the wooded sidewalk Kami let rip a five minute rant about Damon, what he did to my face and the incident outside The Dog two nights previously.

This, unfortunately, reminded Max that he’d found out about this incident for the first time during me giving my statement to Jeff and I knew he was less than happy then but he didn’t say anything in front of Jeff. Also unfortunately, after Kami burnt out her ire, she left me with a Max who’d been reminded he hadn’t been happy.

I watched her go, having seen the look in Max’s eyes and thinking for the first time since I met Kami that I desired her continued presence.

Max’s hand curled around the back of my neck then it used my neck to curl me to his front. I tipped my head back to look at him and braced.

“Forgot to tell you this, babe, with Jeff and all and considerin’ this shit’s a onetime deal what I’m gonna say won’t matter since this isn’t gonna happen to you again but…” his face got closer, “anyone, a guy, a woman, a fuckin’ Martian traps you against a car and gets in your face and the first person you tell ain’t me and you wait more than two seconds to tell me, it’s not gonna make me happy.”

I started to defend myself, saying, “Max –”

He cut me off. “No response required.”

I really wanted to make a response and further I wanted to make a response about him telling me I couldn’t make a response. However, he was, as usual, annoyingly right. I should have told him. So I pressed my lips together and I pressed them together tightly. Max watched me for several long seconds then his eyes dropped to my mouth.

Then he asked, “You gonna explode?”

I unpressed my lips and answered, “Maybe.”

It was at that moment Max burst out laughing and at the same time my mother called. I decided a good evasive maneuver was to answer my mobile which I did only to have her shout on the phone at me for ten minutes about my disappearing act, ending her tirade telling me she and Steve were at Drake’s and would Max and I “grace us with your presence” (her words) for a drink.

Since we were within walking distance, Max and I met Mom and Steve at Drake’s. Then I calmed Mom and Steve down when they saw my face. And, shortly after, Mom and I had a heated discussion about the fact that Max and I weren’t going to some fancy seafood restaurant a town over with her and Steve that night.

“I don’t have anything to wear,” I’d finally snapped.

“Nina!” she’d snapped back in horrified maternal affront (Mom style). “I taught you how to pack better, surely. You always bring something nice. I don’t care if you’re staying in a shack in the Adirondacks. You come prepared for a nice night out!”

“I already used my fancy outfit when Max and I went to The Rooster,” I informed her.

Mom had a ready answer which, by the way, was also an oft-used answer to nearly all Mom’s problems. “Then we’ll go shopping.”

“I’m tired Mom, I got beat up last night,” I reminded her. “I want a cozy night in.”

She waved her hand around and stated, “Good seafood will take your mind off all that. You love seafood.”

“Mom, we’re in Colorado. You eat steaks here and buffalo burgers and, I don’t know, elk or something. You don’t go to a seafood restaurant.”

“I do,” Mom retorted.

I looked at Steve. Steve shrugged.

Mom caught my look at Steve and gave in but the way she did made that Max Unhappy Shimmer fill the air. “Okay, you’re tired then I’ll make you two dinner at Max’s house.”

I opened my mouth but luckily Steve, likely noting the shimmer, intervened.

“Nellie, let Nina and Max have a quiet night.”

“I can do quiet,” Mom replied.

Steve stared at her, brows raised and even Mom knew she had no hope of making the case for being able to do quiet.

Then Mom looked at me and her face fell before she whispered, “I never see you.”

I sighed, leaned into her and took her hand. “Yes, but soon I’ll be a short plane ride and a two hour car ride away, not a continent and an ocean away.”

Mom’s face grew gentle, her eyes moved to Max, naked gratitude filled them and she looked back to me.

“Right, tonight you and Max get a cozy night, tomorrow I get you.” She looked back at Max and asked, “Deal?”

“Deal,” Max replied in his gravelly voice.

I started to release her hand but she held on tight and gave my hand a rough shake. “And Nina, sweetie, you ever run away from Max again and get yourself beat up, you’ll answer to me. Is that understood?”

Apparently I hadn’t calmed Mom down about my face so in order to do that, I used my other hand to cup her cheek, leaned even closer and I promised on a whisper, “Understood.”

She smiled at me, released my hand, I dropped my other one, we finished our drinks without any further drama and Max took me up the mountain.

Which brought me to now, tidying up the prep dishes with Max, in his kitchen, a new drama, at least for me.

This was because, firstly, Max was helping me tidy up. Niles could, if pressed (repeatedly), fill a dishwasher but mostly he ignored the dishes until his cleaning lady did them once a week. If I cooked for Niles, I did the clean up because Niles’s efforts were halfhearted at best and, if I let him try, it annoyed me so to avoid being annoyed, I just cleaned up.

Max was a natural.

Okay, so he didn’t wipe down the counters, he was more a rinse and load man, but he also was capable of putting away food which was a clear plus.

This drama was, secondly, because it dawned on me that this was my future, making dinner and tidying up with Max.

Why something this simple seemed overwhelming in a weirdly spectacular way I had no idea, but it did.

It was so spectacular, I was standing, the sponge in my hand after wiping down the counter and staring unseeing at Max, deep in my thoughts when he called, “Babe?”

My body jolted and I focused on him.

“What?”

“You all right?”

Yes I was all right. I was so all right, I had the desire to fling the sponge aside and throw myself at him bodily and show him how all right I was.

I didn’t do this. I just moved to him then around him to get to the sink and rinsed the sponge, saying, “Yes, just tired.”

Max moved in behind me, curling an arm around my middle and using his other hand to shift the hair off my shoulder. Then I felt his lips at my neck and his hand slid up to my ribs.

“You haven’t been favorin’ this, Duchess, that mean it feels okay?”

His hand, I realized, was over the boot bruise, a location, I also realized, he’d clearly memorized for he’d honed in on it with pinpoint accuracy.

My stomach melted yet again and I nodded, admitting, “A twinge here and there, if I move too fast, but mostly yes, I’m okay.”

“Good,” he muttered against my skin and then moved away.

I sighed happily and squeezed out the sponge, putting it on the edge of the sink.

Max got out plates, I got out the nachos. I loaded up our plates and gunked the chips up with all the extras while Max got us both a beer.

Then we took them into the living room where Max had started a fire. Even though it was snug, we squeezed into the chair together. I put my beer on the table and Max wedged his between his thighs, his stocking feet resting on the ottoman, ankles crossed. I curled facing him with my feet in the seat of the chair, my calves pressed tight against his lounging hip and we ate with plates in hand close to our faces.

“Do you think Shauna and Robert killed Curtis and the PI?” I asked after swallowing a big, delectable bite of loaded corn chip.

“No,” Max answered and I stared at him.

“You don’t?”

He shook his head and shoved nachos in his mouth.

“Evidence is indicating it’s her,” I pointed out.

Max swallowed then unwedged his beer and took a pull.

Wedging it back, his eyes came to me. “Believed it the other day, what you said. Now, the drywall dust? That I don’t believe. Someone’s framin’ her.”

“Really?”

He lifted a chip heavy with meat, cheese and fixings and replied, “Really.” Then he stuffed it in his mouth and after chewing but before swallowing, he noted, “Your nachos are better than your fish pie.”

“You think?”

“Absolutely,” he swallowed and finished, “fuckin’ great.”

I smiled, pleased beyond reason that he liked my nachos. It felt like he’d told me he thought I could rule the world while carrying on a successful career as a supermodel.

“Thanks,” I muttered, suddenly feeling timid though still pleased and I looked at my plate and scooped up a chip.

“Duchess,” he called and my eyes went from my chip to him to see he was grinning at me. “Honey, you gotta know you can cook.”

“Um…” I mumbled and he shook his head.

Then he turned his attention back to his plate, murmured, “Cute,” and scooped up his own chip.

I decided, since he was being nice and I still wasn’t used to that, to change the subject.

“So, why does the drywall put you off the idea of Shauna doing the deed?” I asked and put my chip in my mouth.

“Woman isn’t stupid,” Max muttered after swallowing and while digging out another chip.

“You found out she was fooling around with Curt while she was with you,” I reminded him.

“She wanted me to, thought it’d make me jealous,” Max told me.

“Oh,” I whispered and picked up another chip.

“Shauna wouldn’t be sloppy. That’s sloppy. Clearin’ out her house and not cleanin’ away evidence?” Max shook his head, grabbed his beer and muttered, “Sloppy.” He took a drink, I twisted to get my beer and twisted back.

“So who did it?” I asked.

“Who knows? Someone who hated Curt, someone who hated Shauna and town’s full of them.”

This was true and one could almost feel sorry for the both of them.

But only almost.

I sipped beer then queried, “And Kami?”

Max looked at me. “Kami, I figure, got fucked. For whatever reason, Shauna was ready to move on, maybe with this Robert guy and, seein’ as he stands to lose everything he hitches his star to hers, Shauna wouldn’t care who she ripped off to keep livin’ the good life without workin’ for it, ‘cept on her back.”

“Even Kami?”

“She’d take advantage of Harry, who isn’t my most favorite person right now but he’s always been a good guy, she’d take advantage of Kami.”

“But Kami’s her friend, has been for years.”

“If you think about it so have I and so have Bitsy and Harry, she fucked us all without blinkin’.”

“Did you ever give her money?” I blurted and only his eyes sliced to me, his head still faced his plate and I whispered, “Sorry, dumb question.”

“I ain’t stupid either, Duchess.”

“I know that,” I said quickly.

“I know you do.” He scooped another chip, shoved it in his mouth, chewed, swallowed and continued, “Though, we went out, she never reached for her wallet.”

I bit my lip and twisted to put back my beer.

When I righted myself and studiously turned my attention back to my plate, at the same time vowing the next time we went out to dinner that I’d at least reach for wallet, Max spoke.

“Different, babe, totally.”

My eyes went to him. “Sorry?”

What he said next told me he’d read my face again.

“I was just fuckin’ her, you’re my woman, totally different.”

“I wasn’t your woman when we had buffalo burgers… or steaks at The Rooster for that matter.”

“Yeah you were, for both. Especially The Rooster, babe. We fought about you movin’ out here on the way there.”

Okay, I had to give him that one.

“But I’d practically just met you when we had buffalo burgers,” I pointed out.

“Yeah? So?”

“I wasn’t your woman.”

“Babe, you were.”

“How’s that?”

“You just were.”

I stared at him and he returned my stare. Then he calmly turned back to his plate and dug out another chip.

After he chewed and swallowed, I asked, “So, you’d let a woman pay for dinner?”

“Nope,” he stated firmly. “But don’t mind she goes for her wallet. She won’t use it but I don’t mind it.”

“So I should have gone for my wallet?” I pushed and his eyes cut back to mine.

“Did you not get my earlier point?”

“Max –”

He turned slightly toward me and dropped his plate to hold it at his thigh.

“All right, we should talk about this anyway and you’re obviously twistin’ this in that head of yours so we’ll get this straight. This works out, babe, I’m not gonna give a shit if a woman goes for her wallet because there won’t be another one I take out, ‘cept you. And you never go for your wallet. How we work out the money shit, we work it out private, at home. We go out, I pay, always. That work for you or do we have to talk about it for half an hour?”

“That isn’t the point, the point is –”

“The point is, you’re worried you’ve been rude when I’m sayin’, Duchess, it woulda pissed me off you went for your wallet. Shauna, I didn’t give a fuck because she didn’t matter. You matter.”

This was a really good answer, so good I wasn’t breathing properly so I kind of wheezed, “Okay.”

“You get my point?”

I was still wheezing when I said, “Yes.”

Max watched me wheeze awhile then when I controlled it and turned my attention back to my nachos, he queried, “How is it you can be irritating and adorable at the same fuckin’ time?”

“Just me, I guess,” I quietly told my nachos.

“Yeah,” he muttered and I looked at him to see he’d brought his plate up and was digging back in but he was doing it grinning.

“Max?” I called and he looked at me, chip held suspended.

“Right here,” he replied and put the chip in his mouth.

“About that job –”

He didn’t swallow before he said, “Yeah, about that.” He finished chewing, swallowed and turned to me again to state, “It’s happenin’.”

“Max –”

“Quiet, Nina and listen to me, yeah?”

I had his attention, his full, somber attention, and I nodded.

“George and Trevor have explained to Bitsy that Curt has contracts he can’t renege on or Bitsy’s gonna be fucked. I’ll see them carried through. Then Bitsy wants the business downsized. She wasn’t a big fan of Curt’s work either. I got some ideas that’ll keep some boys employed and we got contracts that’ll stretch out a good long while. The guys who want to move on’ll have time to make arrangements. I ain’t gonna live Curt’s dream. I’m gonna make it so Bitsy’s taken care of and then it becomes somethin’ that I can do to keep a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs and I can sleep at night. That work for you?”

I was staring at him being reminded, acutely, that that thing eating me up inside was very, very gone when I whispered, “Charlie.”

His brows drew together and he asked, “What?”

I swallowed, drew in a soft breath, smiled then turned my attention to my plate again, saying softly, “Charlie. You remind me of him.” I grabbed a loaded chip and looked back at Max. “He was able to make big problems little ones too. He was really good at it.” I shoved the chip in my mouth, chewed, swallowed and concluded, “Like you.”

I was preparing another chip with some beef, beans and cheese that had slopped onto the plate when I heard Max command, “Come here.”

My head came up and I asked, “Sorry?”

Then I saw the expression on his face and I started wheezing again.

“Babe, come here.”

“I am here,” I breathed.

“Closer,” he ordered.

I moved my plate to the side and leaned in closer. Max did the same thing, hooked a hand behind my neck and pulled me even closer. Then he kissed me hard, closed-mouthed and short.

When his mouth released mine, his hand didn’t move.

“You know, you can be nice too,” he told me quietly.

I didn’t answer.

“I like it, babe.”

“Good,” I whispered, he grinned, let me go and went back to his nachos.

“How tired are you?” he asked after swallowing another loaded chip.

“I woke up tired but it’s okay, it’s nothing fifteen days of sleep won’t cure.”

Max chuckled then, still grinning, suggested, “Another movie night.”

I really liked that idea so I agreed, “Sounds good.”

“I get to pick the movie this time.”

“Okay,” I said, twisting to get my beer.

“Babe?” he called as I twisted back.

“Yes?”

“Still scared?”

I saw his eyes were dancing and I knew he knew the answer to his question.

“A little,” I kind of fibbed. I was but also I wasn’t.

Max scooped up his last chip, muttering, “Another week, you’ll be good.”

“Arrogant,” I muttered back then took a sip of my beer.

When I dropped my hand, I looked at Max to see him chewing but doing it while smiling.

***

“Jesus, Duchess, you movin’ in there?” Max’s impatient voice sounded through the closed bathroom door and I stared at my black-eyed reflection in the mirror, trying not to hyperventilate.

I’d had an idea after nachos and during dinner clean up and now, putting it into action, I was thinking it wasn’t such a good idea.

“Nina!” Max called.

“I’ll be right out!” I called back and took in a deep breath.

So I was getting less and less scared about a lot of things Max and me.

Which meant, to have a healthy relationship (or, healthier), I needed to be able to do this kind of thing.

I let out the breath, squared my shoulders, went to the back of the door, put on my robe, tied it tight at my waist and pulled open the door.

Max was lying on his back on the bed, shoulders to the headboard, a new beer in one hand, his other hand behind his head, the pillows bunched up behind his back, my beer on his nightstand.

I stopped a foot outside the bathroom door, his eyes travelled the length of me and came back to my face.

I was in my robe with bare feet and legs, he was still fully dressed, therefore, he asked, “You gonna watch a movie or you goin’ to sleep?”

I moved to my right, stepped back and leaned against the wall.

Okay, maybe I couldn’t do this.

Max studied me then turned to his side, taking his hand from behind his head to hold his torso up on an elbow and he called, “Honey, come here.”

My feet moved me automatically toward the bed but they did this slowly. Max watched the whole time and I stopped by the side of the bed, stood stock-still and stared down at him. He leaned to put his beer on the nightstand, moved back and looked up at me.

“Jesus, Duchess, what happened in the bathroom?”

I pulled in a deep breath then before all courage fled, I yanked at the belt of my robe, shrugged it off my shoulders so it pooled around my feet on the floor and stood in front of him wearing nothing but a pair of Brazilian cut, white lace panties and my gold-sequined camisole.

Max’s eyes moved to my body.

Then his body moved and before I could blink I was flying through the air. I landed on my back in the bed and Max rolled over me.

Holding his torso away, he ran his hand down my side, the calluses on his fingers snagging at the sequins, his eyes glued to my body. Then his head came up, he looked at me and his beautiful eyes were unmistakably hungry.

“Baby,” his voice was thick, “you got this on, you better not be tired.”

My hand came up to curl around his neck under his ear, my fingers sliding into his amazing hair.

Then I whispered, “I think I got my second wind.”

His hand was at the edge of the camisole and it dipped under then slid up my skin and Max’s eyes held mine as I shivered at his touch.

I put pressure at his neck as my other arm pushed under his body to curl around his waist and I demanded softly, “Kiss me, Max.”

Max, unlike me, didn’t have to be told twice.

***

After, we watched the movie, me pulling on my nightie, undies and robe, Max yanking on a pair of pajama bottoms.

I lay cradled against his body, my head pillowed by his hard bicep, his forearm curled across my chest and his other arm draped around my waist as I watched a lot of things blow up, a lot of gunfire and a lot of car chases.

Then, I lost my second wind (this could be due to the three orgasms I’d had, yes three, Max really liked the camisole and took his time, expending a lot of effort, proving that) and felt my body start to settle further into Max and closer to sleep.

“Am I losin’ you, baby?” Max whispered into my ear from behind and I nodded, so he offered, “I’ll turn off the movie.”

“No, sweetheart, you finish it, I can sleep through it.”

Then I turned to face him, my back to the TV, and cuddled closer, pressing my cheek to his chest, twining my legs with his and my arm around his waist.

Max’s arm tightened around me, his other hand sifting through my hair.

This felt good and dreamland beckoned.

“Nina, honey?” Max called.

“Mm?”

“You happy?”

I turned my face and kissed his pectoral then I turned it back and pressed my cheek into his chest.

Something exploded on the TV but Max muttered, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Mm,” I agreed.

I felt Max move slightly then I felt his lips at the hair on top of my head, he kissed me there then he moved back.

“’Night darlin’.”

I was close to the edge, sleep’s silken web weaving around me, therefore I didn’t guard my words or even think about them when I mumbled, “’Night Max” I gave a small sigh and snuggled closer before whispering, “Love you.”

Then I fell instantly into such a deep sleep, I didn’t feel Max’s powerful arms convulse around me.