The Gamble

Chapter Six Somethin’ Else

I was slightly jostled but I was comfortable, warm and mostly asleep so I didn’t let it bother me. I could also hear a tone which was familiar but I didn’t let that bother me either.

Then I heard a deep, gravelly voice quietly say, “Yeah?” but I didn’t let that bother me either.

I also listened when the voice went on, still quietly. “Yeah, she’s here but she’s sleepin’.” Pause. “Yeah, you want me to have her call you?” Pause while the sleep slid from me, it hit my consciousness that it was Max’s deep, gravelly voice, it was his bed and his body that were making me comfortable and warm and that the familiar tone was my mother’s ringtone.

Then my eyes flew open and I shot up to an elbow, my thigh still thrown over Max’s, my hand sliding up to his ribs when I pulled up.

Max’s clear gray eyes locked on me.

“She’s awake,” he spoke into my phone.

I started panting.

“Hang on,” he said to who I assumed was my mother then he held the phone to me. “You wanna talk to your Mom?”

I took my hand from his ribs and snatched my phone away. Then I sucked in breath and put it to my ear.

“Mom?”

There was silence on the line.

“Mom, you there?”

More nothing and then, “Neenee Bean, are you in bed with a man with an amazing voice?”

I closed my eyes tight then twisted, getting up on my bottom, my knees coming to my chest.

“Mom,” I said, opening my eyes.

“Holy cow, sweetie, holy… holy cow.”

“Mom, um…” I twisted and looked at the clock, seeing it was seven thirty-two and also seeing Max lying on his back; the covers down to his waist; one hand behind his head, the muscles in his bicep well-defined and naturally flexed; his chest exposed to the naked eye, nearly searing my retinas with its magnificence; and his eyes in his soft face on me. I took this all in, the searing sensation in my retinas burning a direct path southward and I twisted back saying, “It’s early. Can I call you later?”

“I take it you made a decision about Niles without me,” she noted the obvious.

“Yes.”

“And, considering the situation as it seems, it was the right one.”

I closed my eyes again then opened them and said, “Mom, really, can we talk later?”

“He know about Niles?” she asked, indicating that she didn’t feel like talking later which was kind of her way.

“Who?”

“What’s-his-name who answered the phone.”

“Yes, he knows.”

“You work fast sweetie,” she remarked then asked, “What’s his name?”

I played dumb since Max wasn’t moving in order to give me privacy. “Who?”

Mom didn’t like me playing dumb, then again she never did so she nearly screeched, “The man who answered the phone!”

I started to throw back the covers and find my own privacy since Mom was in the mood to talk. But Max was of a different mind and his arm hooked around my waist before I could even get the covers back. Then I felt him at my back and his other arm went around my waist.

My neck twisted so I could give him a glare over my shoulder.

His response: he dropped his head and kissed my shoulder.

I pulled in breath.

“Nina!” Mom called.

“I’m here,” I replied, twisting back around.

“What’s his name?”

“Max,” I answered and felt Max’s arms get tight and his face went into my neck.

I put my hand over the phone, twisted my neck, his head came up and I snapped, “Will you stop? I’m talking to my Mom!”

He grinned and dropped his chin to my shoulder. I growled and turned away.

“…there?” Mom called in my ear.

“I’m here.”

“What’s going on? Are you okay”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Have you broken it to Niles?”

I tested Max’s arm strength, unsurprisingly got nowhere considering their steely nature, settled in again and said, “I sent him an e-mail.”

Max’s arms convulsed as Mom had the same exact reaction as Max.

“You sent him an e-mail?” she asked incredulously.

“I know, Mom, but you know I’m better with words when I write them out.”

She didn’t answer at first then asked, “When?”

“Mom, can we talk about this later?”

“My daughter is in the wilderness with a strange man with an amazing voice having just changed the entire course of her life and you want to talk about it later?”

I sighed because it might be irritating but this was Mom’s way too then I answered her earlier question, “A couple of days ago.”

“What’d he say?”

“Who?”

“Niles!” she cried.

“I don’t know, nothing, unless he e-mailed back.”

“E-mailing,” she mumbled, “insane.”

“Mom –”

“He hasn’t called?”

“No.”

“That boy,” she mumbled again.

“I… it’s just the way he is.”

There was a pause then she said, “You know I liked him, Neenee, you know I did. But I think you made the right decision.”

“Mom –”

“I mean, you e-mailed or not, he should call you. It’s not like you said, ‘This isn’t working out,’ after a couple of dates. First, you fly halfway around the world for a ‘timeout’, whatever that is, which he allowed you to do, and in my humble opinion, that’s insane. Then you broke off an engagement!”

This sounded familiar too.

“Mom, I know.”

“He was any man at all, he’d be at your doorstep.”

“Okay, but, Mom –”

“Though, don’t think that would be good under the present circumstances.”

“Can I talk, Mom?”

Apparently I couldn’t for she kept going. “It’s just that,” her voice got soft, “I think, sweetie, this is good. It shows you the way. It shows you that you’ve decided on the right path. And I know you were so worried and I’m glad you’ve found the right path.”

I breathed in deep, let it out then said, “Thanks Mom.”

“Now, tell me about this new one,” she urged and I envisioned her snuggling her behind into her chair and lifting up her coffee cup, getting ready for a good old gossip.

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s right here.”

That got another squeeze from Max’s arms.

“Tell him to go.”

“He’s not the kind of man you tell what to do,” I shared and I heard Max chuckle.

“Then you go somewhere else.”

I sighed again and admitted, “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because he won’t let me.”

Another chuckle from Max.

Another pause from Mom then, softly, “He won’t let you?”

“He’s also not the kind of man who, he wants you around, he lets you go.”

“Oh my,” Mom breathed.

“Can I call you later?”

“He going to let you?” she asked but she sounded like she was laughing.

“Mom, please.”

“Okay, but call at a good time. I want all the dirt.”

“All right.”

“Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you too.”

“Neenee?” she called as I was about to take the phone from my ear.

“Yes?”

“You okay about the Niles thing?”

“Yes, Momma,” I said softly.

“You happy about this Max thing?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Another pause then, “We’ll talk later.”

“Thanks.”

“Bye, sweetie.”

“Bye, Mom.”

I took the phone from my ear, hit the button at the top to shut down the display, took in a deep breath then twisted around to Max and let him have it.

“I cannot believe you!” I hissed.

“Honey,” he muttered but he sounded amused.

Amused!

“Don’t ‘honey’ me,” I snapped and then tossed my phone around him toward the nightstand, it bounced off and fell to the floor. I didn’t care because I was focused on giving him my full attention. “What was that all about?”

“I wanted to hear what you had to say.”

“Does it matter that I wanted to have a private conversation with my mother?”

“You can have a private conversation with her later, after I go down and sort out Mindy’s apartment.”

“But I wanted to have it now,” I told him angrily.

“Yeah, but later it won’t be interesting. Now, it was interesting.”

“Why did you answer the phone at all?” I clipped.

“She’s called three times, Duchess, I didn’t want her to get worried.”

He had a point there and it was a thoughtful point but I wasn’t going to give it to him.

“You’re impossible!”

He grinned. “I think you’ve told me that before.”

“Maybe because it’s bloody true.”

“Jesus, you’re cute.”

“Don’t call me cute!”

Suddenly I was on my back, head on the pillow, Max’s heavy body pressing mine into the bed all down my side and part of my front.

I blinked up at him in surprise, his hand touched my face and his thumb came to my cheekbone as his eyes went there.

“It hurt?” he asked, clearly finished with our other conversation and deciding to move on.

“No,” I lied, it throbbed a bit, felt kind of tight, but it wasn’t too bad.

I put my hands to his chest and gave a light shove.

His thumb swept along my cheekbone and he ignored the shove entirely.

His eyes came to mine and he informed me, “It’s bruisin’, baby, bit swollen but it doesn’t look that bad.”

“Thank you for that information,” I replied snottily, “now get off.”

His hand moved away, his head bent and then his face disappeared in my neck.

“Stop bein’ pissed,” he muttered his order in my ear.

“Get off.”

“Nope,” he said and his head came up but it did it so his face was close. “You and me are both in my bed, no one’s asleep, no one’s delirious. I think we should take advantage of that.”

My eyes got wide as my body reacted strongly to his suggestion and it was a positive reaction.

“Mindy’s downstairs,” I whispered and he grinned, his face getting even closer.

“Not gonna fuck you, honey, just fool around,” he whispered back.

“Max –”

“Shut up and kiss me, Duchess.”

“Max!”

“All right, I’ll kiss you.”

Then he did and it was so good I forgot I was furious and my hands started sliding up the smooth skin and hard muscle of his chest when his head suddenly came up and his neck twisted.

“Fuck, what now?” he muttered, I tried to get a handle on the sudden disastrous change of circumstances but before I could do that he looked at me. “Someone’s comin’ up the lane.”

“Who?” I asked stupidly for Max couldn’t see the lane from his position on me and as far as I knew Max was not clairvoyant.

“I don’t know,” he answered, being nice and doing it without pointing out that my question was stupid.

He did a push up and knifed off the bed then he yanked the covers from me, grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

“Put on your robe, Duchess,” he said softly, it was an order but it was gentle one. “That nightie’s sweet but I think me and Mick are the only ones should get to see it. And Mick’s was a one time opportunity, yeah?”

He didn’t wait for me to answer mainly because he really wasn’t asking a question.

I stood unmoving as he walked to the dresser and grabbed a t-shirt then turned and moved to the stairs, pulling it over his head. Then he wound around in his descent on the spiral staircase, yanking the shirt down to his waist and I lost sight of him.

For some reason, I liked it that he wanted me to put on a robe. For some reason, I liked it so much my toes were still curled like his gentle order was one of his kisses. And I liked it that he voiced it as a suggestion even though we both knew it was an order. An order not because he was being domineering but because it meant something to him that I didn’t put myself on display. It was up to me in the end to do what I wanted but he’d made his wishes clear and I knew how he’d feel if I defied them. Still, he wasn’t a jerk about it, he’d simply made his wishes clear in what I was guessing was a Colorado Mountain Man kind of way.

Or maybe it was just Max’s way.

Not to mention the fact that he thought my nightie was sweet.

“What’s up?” I heard Max ask, I jerked out of my stupor and ran to the bathroom.

I did my routine, left the bathroom, heard voices but not words, grabbed my robe, shrugged it on and belted it as I walked down the stairs.

Mindy was up on a hand, peering over the back of the couch at Mick, another man and Max standing in the kitchen. She looked sleepy and adorable.

I glanced in the kitchen, caught Max’s eyes then went directly to Mindy.

“Morning, sweetheart,” I said to her.

“What’re Mick and Jeff doin’ here?” she asked, her voice sleepy.

“Why don’t you go upstairs and lie back down?”

“Is everything okay?” she asked back, her eyes still on the police.

“I don’t know they just got here. You want to go upstairs?”

She shook her head but mumbled, “They should leave him alone. They gotta know what a visit from the cops would do to him.” She looked at me and said, “He’s a strong guy and it was a long time ago but you never forget that shit, ever.”

I had no idea what she was talking about but I also had the feeling that I really didn’t want to know. But before I could make up my mind whether or not to ask, she threw back the covers and I grabbed her clothes from the armchair.

“I’ll go upstairs to change,” she said, pulling Max’s t-shirt that she wore to bed down her thighs while still seated and I knew she didn’t want them to see her.

I handed her the clothes and straightened, turning to the kitchen.

“Sorry, gentleman?” I called and when six eyes hit me I went on, “a lady needs some privacy. Can I have your backs?”

They all looked at the back of Mindy’s head, she turned and gave them a wave over her shoulder. Mick and Jeff waved back but Max was smiling at me.

Then Mick and Jeff turned their backs to the living room and Mindy got up and darted to the stairs, whispering, “Thanks, Nina.”

I watched her go and then I walked to the kitchen calling, “All clear.”

They turned back to me and when I hit the kitchen Max claimed me. There was no other way to put it. I was claimed. He did this by pulling me tight into his side with an arm around my shoulders.

“Nina, you remember Mick? This is Jeff,” Max introduced and I nodded to Mick and Jeff.

“Hi gents,” I greeted.

“Nina,” Mick said.

“Nice to meet ‘cha,” Jeff smiled.

Mick’s eyes went to my cheek then they went to Max.

“Matthews?” he asked.

“Backhanded her at The Dog,” Max answered.

“Fuckin’ dick,” Jeff muttered then looked at me. “Uh… sorry.”

“That’s okay as, last night, he proved your estimation of him to be true,” I said to Jeff and for some reason my remark received three man chuckles which made the spring coiling in my stomach relax. If their visit was bad for Max, I doubted they’d be chuckling.

“Heard there was a disturbance at The Dog last night,” Mick commented.

“Damon make a complaint?” Max asked and I tensed.

“Nope, word I hear, enough folks witnessed the hit to his manhood, I’m thinkin’ he’s not gonna be big on spreadin’ that word,” Mick replied and I relaxed.

“You fuck him up?” Jeff asked Max with an edge of enthusiasm then he again turned to me and muttered. “Uh… sorry again.”

I smiled my “I’m okay with the f-word” to Jeff but even as I did I was feeling uncertain if Max should brag about parking lot fisticuffs at The Dog to policemen and I opened my mouth to speak but Max got there before me.

“Got a few in, best part, Nina shoved him and he went back at least five feet,” Max replied.

There were more man chuckles at the idea of me shoving Damon and I wasn’t certain how to take this but decided to let it go and change the subject.

“Does anyone want coffee?” I asked and Max squeezed my shoulder.

“Love a cup,” Mick replied and Jeff nodded.

I started to move away and as I did so Max muttered, “Thanks, baby.”

I liked these two words and how he said them so much, without thinking, I glanced over my shoulder and gave him a small smile then went to the coffeepot.

“Mindy okay?” Jeff asked when I grabbed the pot and moved to the sink.

“Hangin’ in there,” Max answered.

“She shot of Matthews now?” Jeff continued with more than a hint of curiosity and I turned off the tap and moved to the coffeemaker, looking him over.

He was taller than Damon, lighter hair, leaner of build but fit and perhaps not as overtly good-looking he was also not unattractive in the slightest. In fact, since he was more obviously comfortable with who he was and how he looked instead of being in your face about it as Damon was, he was more attractive.

Hmm.

“I’m thinkin’, yeah,” Max said but when I looked at him he was also studying Jeff closely.

“Good news,” Jeff mumbled and I lifted the top to the coffeemaker and poured the water in.

“So, Bitsy’s home?” Max was obviously bringing the conversation full circle.

“Yeah,” Mick answered.

“And you’re here…” Max prompted and Mick lifted a hand to the back of his neck.

“Wouldn’t ask –” he started.

“You need me,” Max cut him off, his words mysterious.

Mick dropped his arm and I turned my attention to the cupboards, finding the gourmet coffee I bought in Denver in the second one I opened.

“Yeah, Max. I know –” Mick said.

Max interrupted again. “She doin’ okay?”

“Murdered, cheatin’ husband and life ahead of her in a wheelchair, all alone?” Mick asked then answered, “No.”

“I’ll go see her today,” Max said and he didn’t sound like he enjoyed saying those words because, I suspected, he knew he wasn’t going to enjoy his visit which was even more mysterious since, from what he said before about Bitsy, I thought he liked her.

I measured coffee into the filter and Mick mumbled, “Thanks, Max.”

“You got any leads?” Max asked.

“Looks hired,” Mick answered and I was surprised he shared this information.

“Hired?” Max sounded surprised too but probably not that Mick was sharing.

“Hit was execution style, no muss, no fuss, in and out, Dodd was dead before he hit the floor,” Mick shared. “Didn’t touch nothin’, didn’t take nothin’, left nothin’ behind.”

“Got leads on who hired him?” Max went on.

“Leads? No. List of possible suspects a mile long? Yes,” Mick replied.

I flipped on the coffee and pulled down mugs as Mindy hit the counter and slid on a stool.

“Hey Mick,” she greeted, her eyes skimmed over Jeff and then dipped to the counter. “Hey Jeff.”

“Mindy, darlin’,” Mick greeted back.

“Hey Mindy,” Jeff said in a gentle voice, in fact, his whole face had grown gentle and my eyes went to Max.

Max was watching Jeff then his eyes came to mine. I bugged them out and then jerked my head at Jeff and Mindy. Max shook his head and grinned.

“Coffee will be ready in a jiffy,” I announced, leaning a hip against the counter.

“Kind of you Nina,” Jeff said and I smiled brightly at him.

“Sure you boys could use some sustenance,” I surmised. “Mindy makes some mean bacon and eggs. You want some?”

Mindy’s head snapped up and my eyes slid to Max who was looking at the floor but I could see he was pressing his lips together.

“Haven’t had breakfast,” Jeff replied too casually.

“Well, that’s just awful,” I noted, making this news sound dire, my eyes going to his hands. “No wife to fill your belly before a hard day of the God’s honest work of tackling crime?”

Max’s head came up and he made a strangled noise which I hoped was him choking back laughter because he thought I was cute.

“Nope,” Jeff answered through his grin.

“Good-looking guy like you? That’s a miracle. Isn’t that a miracle, Mindy?” I called and looked at her. Her eyes were huge and her face was aflame.

“Uh… yeah,” she muttered.

“Come here, sweetheart, let’s make these local heroes some breakfast,” I urged, she reluctantly slid off her seat and headed into the kitchen.

“You boys sit down, we’ll have breakfast for you in no time,” I said to Mick and Jeff as they shuffled out, Mindy shuffled in and Max came to me.

Max made a show of reaching into the cupboard for sugar, hiding me from Jeff, Mick and Mindy but when his hand came down with the bag of sugar, his mouth went to my ear.

“Bullshit’s so thick in here, Duchess, we might need gumboots,” he whispered.

I tried to look innocent when I tipped my head back and asked, “Sorry?”

“Sorry my ass,” he muttered on a grin, closed the cupboard and moved around me to stand with his hips leaned against the sink and his arms crossed on his chest.

“So!” I called cheerfully to Mick and Jeff who were both now at the stools. “With a town full of suspects and a hired killer, how do you go about nailing down the culprit?” Then before Mick could speak I turned and prompted, “Jeff?”

“Um…” Jeff mumbled and Mick answered.

“Sorry, Nina, we don’t usually discuss the specifics of an ongoing investigation.”

“Oh, right,” I murmured, foiled, as Mindy passed in front of me from getting the bacon and eggs from the fridge then I suggested, “If it was me, I’d check bank records. A hired killer probably costs a lot of money.”

“Good idea, Nina,” Jeff said considerately since I was certain they’d already thought of that.

“Oh!” I cried, turning from pulling the bread out of the cupboard. “I know! See if anyone sold anything of value. You know, like their car.”

Mick was smiling broadly. “You wanna job?”

Before I could answer, Max put in, “I think they got a handle on it, honey.”

I gave Max a look, put some bread in the toaster and went to the fridge to get the milk, wondering what other topic of conversation I could put us on to make Jeff sound interesting.

“Why does everyone dislike this Curtis Dodd so much anyway?” I muttered as I closed the fridge and missed Jeff and Mick exchanging glances.

“Land developer,” Mick said to my back as I started pouring out coffee.

“Yes?” I asked when he said no more.

“Folks like town the way it is, Nina,” Jeff told me as I handed Max a cup, black, and I turned to take Mick’s to him.

“What does that mean?” I asked Jeff then smiled and enquired, “And how do you take your coffee?”

“Black, sugar, one spoon’ll do,” he replied.

“You see the housing developments on your way in, ‘bout twenty miles out?” Mick asked as I went back to the coffee.

“Kind of, it was snowing. It doesn’t snow much in England so I was a bit anxious and concentrating,” I explained as I made Jeff and Mindy’s coffee.

“Those’re Dodd’s. Even twenty miles out, they changed the landscape and the economy,” Mick said. “Then he put in a coupla strip malls close to the developments, more change to the landscape and the economy.”

“Houses are big, people in them loaded. They got money to spend, sometimes that’s good, sometime’s it isn’t so good,” Jeff put in.

I touched Mindy’s back and set her coffee by the range where she was studiously frying bacon like taking her attention from it would mean it would combust, igniting us all in a fiery inferno then I turned and walked Jeff’s coffee to him.

“Money in the town would be good,” I noted. “Wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, for shop owners, some more jobs. The rest live like they live. When there’s not much to compare it to they like that life just fine. When a bunch of fancy cars and folks with fancy clothes and fancy attitudes sweep through town, they find reason not to like their life so much,” Jeff said.

I nodded and went back to the coffeepot.

Well that possibly explained Sarah the restaurant hostess’s face closing down on me when she saw my “fancy clothes”.

“People here like a small town, some good tourist trade, neighborly folk,” Mick explained as I made my own coffee. “Town’s bigger now, not everyone knows everyone else, not everyone’s so neighborly anymore.”

“And crime’s up,” Jeff added. “Petty stuff, nothin’ big, but more people means more people misbehavin’. Last ten years, we’ve had to add three more officers to the payroll to keep up with it.”

I turned and leaned against the counter with my coffee, taking a sip then I said, “I can see your point.”

“Well, seein’ it then knowin’ that those developments you drove through, those are only coupla ones Dodd put in. He builds in four counties, changed them all. Within a twenty mile perimeter ‘round our town, he’s put in twelve developments, four strip malls and he was plannin’ to put in even more.”

“Don’t strip malls have to be, um… on a strip?” I asked.

“Dodd’s are in the middle of nowhere, though they’re close to the road. Not exactly what you expect when you’re drivin’ through the beautiful state of Colorado,” Mick answered.

“Again,” I remarked, “I can see your point.”

“And people here don’t only like bein’ in a small town, lot of them live here because they like it and they’re pretty damn proud of the beautiful state of Colorado,” Mick went on.

“If it’s that unpopular, how’d he get zoning permission?” I asked.

“Can’t say,” Mick answered.

“Bribes?” I guessed.

Mick nodded but said, “Can’t say.”

“Really?” I whispered, my eyes big and they were on Mick.

Mick kept nodding and Jeff grinned at him as he repeated, “Really can’t say.”

I smiled at Mick, the toast popped up and I went to the fridge to get the butter.

“Anyone want jelly?” I asked the room at large.

“Not for me,” Mick said.

“Nope,” Jeff answered.

“Crazy,” I muttered and Max chuckled.

I took out a plate, grabbed the toast, put in more bread and started buttering before I asked, “Mindy, darling, you working tonight?”

“Yeah,” she answered and I looked at Jeff.

“You know, Jeff,” I called and his eyes, which were resting on Mindy’s bottom, jolted to me. I ignored catching him checking Mindy out and asked, “It’s asking a lot, considering how much responsibility you carry in your day to day job –”

“Nina –” Max muttered low but I kept going.

“Because I know your job is super important –”

“Nina –” Max muttered again but I ignored him.

“But, if you could look in on Mindy tonight at The Dog, it would be appreciated.”

Mindy twirled around, fork in hand, and stared at me.

“No problem,” Jeff said quickly.

“I’m…” Mindy whispered and turned to Jeff, not meeting his eyes. “That’s all right Jeff. You don’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

“Don’t have to, but I’m gonna,” Jeff said back and Mindy’s face flamed.

I smiled.

Then I was jerked back with a steely arm around my waist and my back hit a wall of solid Max.

“Stop it,” Max whispered in my ear.

I twisted my neck to look at him and whispered back, “What?”

“Really, I’m good,” Mindy said to Jeff and I looked back into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Jeff replied firmly. “We’ll see you stay good.”

My smile came back.

The steely arm gave me a tight squeeze that pushed the breath out of my lungs.

I gave a quiet but happy wheeze when Mindy grinned shyly at Jeff, tucked her hair behind her ear and turned back to her skillet.

Max’s arm loosened but didn’t go away and I heard him call, “What’d I say, Mick?”

Mick’s eyes were moving between Max and me, Mindy and Jeff.

“Yeah, Max,” Mick grinned in Max and my direction. “You were right, Nina’s somethin’ else.”

“I still don’t know what that means,” I complained.

“Trust me,” Mick said, still grinning. “It’s definitely a compliment.”

“Well,” I muttered, “then I guess that’s all right.”

Then the toast popped up.

***

I was making the bed upstairs and I could hear Mindy in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast when Max came up after walking Mick and Jeff to their SUV.

I looked at him briefly but didn’t pause as I smoothed the covers and then my head bent to watch what I was doing as I rearranged a pillow that was slightly askew.

“Everything all… oof!”

I stopped speaking when I was hooked at the waist, pulled up, twirled round then I was falling back, Max coming with me. I hit the bed, his big body hit me, the breath evacuated my lungs but I didn’t have time to process this predicament because his mouth came down on mine and he kissed me.

He did it hard and he did it long.

My body was liquid under his, my fingers in his hair, my other hand under his t-shirt at his back and I was breathing heavily when his head came up.

“What was that?” I asked on a mini-gasp.

“It was either kiss you breathless or tan your ass. First is quieter with Mindy in the house.”

All the delights of post-Max-kiss with his hard body on mine in a bed and my hand experiencing for the first time the planes of his muscled back evaporated at his words, my brows went up and I asked, “Sorry?”

“Your intention was sweet, babe, and the way you went about it fuckin’ hilarious, but my girl down there was raped three weeks ago and her man publicly proved himself an ass last night.”

“Yes,” I snapped quietly so Mindy wouldn’t hear, “I was there.”

“Yeah, so, fixin’ her up with the first guy that strolls in maybe ain’t such a good idea.”

“The first guy who strolls in who has a badge, carries a gun and looks at her like he wants to build a fortress around her so no one can ever hurt her again.”

Max’s head jerked and he asked, “What?”

“In other words, Max, he’s sweet on her.”

“Gotta be blind not to see that, Nina, and, by the way, it’s the whole damn reason Mick brought him up here in the first place, seein’ as he coulda done his business alone or he coulda just called me and they both knew Mindy was here. But it still ain’t a good idea.”

“You’re wrong,” I snapped softly.

“No, I’m not.”

I was so angry and Max was being so annoying, I didn’t pause to consider my next words. I just said them and in saying them inadvertently I shared.

“Trust me, I know, you get messed up by a man, it’s important to learn right away that there are good ones out there or you might find yourself so far down a very lonely road that you’ll never be able to find your way back.” His face changed, he hadn’t been exactly angry, just wanting to make his point, but now his eyes were hyper-alert and intense but I also had a point to make, I felt it was important, so I kept talking. “I’m not saying he’s going to heal her wounds, watch her walk down the aisle to him in a month and they’re going to grow old together. I’m just saying he seems like a nice guy, there aren’t many of those around and she needs all the reminders she can get that even a rare breed can be found.”

“You get messed up by a man?” he asked and I grew confused at his question for I found this a change of subject and I was intent on the last one.

“What?”

“You get messed up by a man?” he repeated and my mistake dawned.

“I’m a woman,” I covered quickly. “That happens.”

“How’d you get messed up?” he was Max therefore he didn’t let it go.

“Usual stuff, now get off me, I should go help Mindy.”

“How’d you get messed up?”

“Max, get off.”

“Nina, answer me.”

I went silent, stared at him and I considered my approach to this current dilemma. Then I decided, what the heck? I’d tried everything else, why not just lay it on him?

Still, I tested the waters before diving in. “You’re not going to get up unless I answer, are you?”

“Nope,” he responded immediately.

I nodded and said, “All right then, Max, you name it, it happened.”

“What?”

I brought my hands up between us and counted them down. “My first boyfriend cheated on me with my arch nemesis, the homecoming queen no less, which was humiliating. My second boyfriend was just a jerk. Third and fourth, both cheated, the fourth with my best friend. The fifth stole from me, not much but not much is enough when it’s stealing. The sixth got drunk a lot and got mean when he did it and he didn’t care who he was mean around and, since a lot of the time he was around me, I got the bulk of it. The seventh beat me. The eighth asked me to marry him and two days from me telling him it’s over, he hasn’t called. I haven’t been raped, thank God, but that’s enough for a girl, don’t you think?”

“The seventh beat you?” Max asked quietly.

“Twice.”

“Beat you?”

My body tensed under his, which I realized belatedly was solid as a rock, as the tone of his words penetrated and, again, my mistake dawned.

I mentally made note that the sharing strategy might not be the right one either.

“Twice,” I whispered in the face of what appeared to be his building fury.

“What happened?” he demanded, his voice getting loud.

“Max,” I was still whispering.

“What, the fuck, happened?” Max was getting louder.

“Mom told Charlie, Charlie flew to The States and paid him a visit and I took a prolonged vacation in England while Mom moved my stuff out,” I answered quietly.

“Fucking hell,” Max murmured.

“Max –”

“Fucking hell!” Max shouted and then I stared in terrified horror as his torso twisted away from me, he reared an arm back and slammed his fist into the bed at my side.

“Max,” I breathed through frozen lungs, his hand instantly moved to cup my cheek and his face was hard but his voice was suddenly soft.

“Never hurt you, baby,” he whispered and tears hit my eyes.

“Don’t –”

“Never.”

“Is everything all right?” Mindy asked and my head twisted on the bed as Max looked up and we saw Mindy standing at the top of the stairs.

“Give us a minute, darlin’,” Max said to her.

“Is everything all right?” Mindy repeated.

“We’re fine, sweetheart,” I said softly. “Down in a minute.”

“Max?” she called, her eyes on him, her face pale.

“We’ll be down in a minute.”

She studied us a second, whispered, “Okay,” then turned and ran down the stairs.

“So that’s the reason for the shield,” Max said, my head twisted back and my eyes hit his.

“Max –”

His gaze unfocused and he muttered, “Fucking hell.”

“I made those choices, Max, I wasn’t exactly blameless,” I told him and his eyes refocused so much my breath caught at their intensity.

“Don’t you dare,” he ordered.

“Sorry?”

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare take on that blame. Cheats, thieves, abusers, it’s their problem. You take on that blame you got no choice but to build a shield.”

“Max –”

“This guy now, the one you’re shakin’ off, he drink?”

“No.”

“Say shit to you?”

“Max –”

“Does he?”

“No!”

“Lift his hand to you, without your brother around to have your back?”

“Of course not.”

“Just doesn’t fuckin’ care.”

I couldn’t deny that.

“Max, please, get off.”

“Lonely path,” he said and I didn’t reply but he wasn’t looking for one, he kept talking. “You hate it.”

“I –”

“Searchin’.”

“Max, please –”

His hand at my face slid into my hair and his face got close before he said, “I know this, those assholes are assholes because they did what they did and because they did it to a good woman. Learned some things in my life, Duchess, one of the most important, you find a good woman, you take care of her.”

“Please.”

“This happens between us, Duchess, I’d take care of you.”

“Don’t.”

“Die doin’ it,” he vowed.

My breath stuck in my throat as his words wrapped tight around my heart and I made a noise, half gasp, half moan.

“That’s what I’ve learned,” he finished.

“Please stop talking.”

“You don’t believe me?” he asked.

“Can we stop talking now?”

“You’re so far down that path, you think you can’t find your way back.”

“Max –”

“Baby, wake up and look around, that path brought you straight to my fuckin’ house.”

I could take no more. I closed my eyes and turned my head away. If I couldn’t escape him physically, I had to escape him mentally.

His thumb slid along my cheekbone under my bruise and his next words penetrated my mental evasion.

“Shoulda fucked him up worse.”

I gulped back tears and pressed my cheek into the bed.

“I knew a man laid his hands on you, I would have.”

I shook my head but kept it averted. Max fell quiet but his thumb slid back over my cheekbone then his fingers trailed through my hair then down my neck.

“See you’ve had enough,” he whispered and I nodded.

His weight left me but he wasn’t gone but a second when I was on my feet in front of him.

I opened my eyes and tilted my head back to look at him as both his hands settled at my neck.

“I gotta go into town,” he said. “It’ll give you time.”

I nodded again.

“I wanna know what’s happenin’ with Damon before Mindy gets near town. I need to leave her with you.”

“We’ll be all right,” I assured him and his forehead dropped to mine.

“Nina, I get Mindy sorted out, tonight, I want you to talk to me.”

“Max –”

“Think about it, honey.”

I bit my lip then said, “Okay.”

“All right.” His thumb swept my jaw then his hands brought me closer and his lips went to my forehead. “Be back as soon as I can,” he muttered there, kissed me sweet then let me go and walked away without looking back.

The minute I lost sight of Max, I ran to the bathroom, closed the door, put my back to it and lifted my hands in front of me. They were shaking.

I closed my eyes and tried to blank my mind.

I like him, Charlie said to me.

“Be quiet,” I whispered.

Nina? Charlie called.

“I said, be quiet.”

Sweetheart, see that light? he asked.

“Please,” I begged.

Neenee Bean, it isn’t a train, Charlie told me.

“Shut up.”

You’re almost there, he finished.

I closed my eyes, slid down the door, pulled my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, putting my cheek to knee.

A knock came at the door and I jumped.

“Nina?” Mindy called.

“Be right out!” I called back.

“You okay?”

“Great, just going to take a shower.”

There was a hesitation then, “All right.”

I waited for Mindy to come back, say something more, knock again, for Charlie to invade my mind.

When nothing happened, I took a shower.

***

Feeling the need to be prepared for what came next, I not only took a shower, I did my hair and makeup too. Then I dressed in jeans and a thin, violet, boat neck sweater that had a wide dip at the top of the back and a tie across my shoulders holding the sides together.

Dressed and ready to face my next ordeal, I wound my way down Max’s stairs and saw Mindy sitting at his computer. All buoyant, skip-dancing Mindy gone, what happened the night before had worn her innate cheerfulness clean away.

Last night she’d cried all the way to Max’s house then she’d pulled herself together when we walked in then she starting crying again when Max got me some ice for my eye.

“Go upstairs, honey,” Max had whispered while he held the ice to my eye. “Get ready for bed, lie down, keep the ice on as much as you can. I’ve got Mindy and I’ll be up soon.”

Considering the situation, I hadn’t argued about him “having Mindy” or, more importantly, meeting me in bed. Firstly, since Mindy was sleeping on the couch, there was nowhere else for either Max or I to bed down. Secondly, I knew Mindy needed Max just then and me arguing about sleeping arrangements would delay her getting him. Therefore, I did as I was told, lying in bed and listening to their murmuring until I fell asleep.

Now I knew, even with all that crying last night, watching her despondently clicking on Max’s computer, she was having a very prolonged “bad moment” and I had to do what I could to make it go away.

She tipped her head back to give me a small smile but that too looked dead. Then she turned back to the computer screen.

I walked up to her, hesitated because it seemed we’d known each other an age with all that had gone on but we didn’t know each other all that well then I went for it and gently pulled her hair over her shoulder.

“I have to check my e-mail, darling, then make a couple of calls. If you want to get a shower, after I’m done, I’ll give you a facial,” I offered, drawing her long, curly, soft hair through my palm again and down her back.

She twisted her neck to look at me. “A facial?”

“Yes, I do an at home facial every weekend. Brought all my stuff with me. It’s fantastic. Your skin will never feel so good.” I put my hand to her cheek and said, “Promise.”

“Are you okay?” she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion or fear or both.

“I’m fine,” I lied because I… was… not.

“Max sounded –”

“He’s fine.”

She shook her head and my hand dropped away.

“He sounded pissed,” she told me and she was right, except it was a significant understatement. “Never heard him like that, seen his face like that. Even when he was fighting Damon last night he was in control.”

I pressed my lips together, uncertain how to proceed. Then I decided on honesty.

“You know what happened to you a few weeks ago?”

Her eyes got wide then her mouth got tight then she swallowed before she nodded.

“One day, sweetheart, you’re going to have to tell a good man what happened to you and, on your behalf, he’s going to get like Max did earlier.”

I watched her shiver, actually watched her shiver, before she whispered, “You’ve been raped too?”

I shook my head quickly and said, “Beaten.”

“Oh Nina.” She was still whispering but now tears were in her eyes and I bent at the waist, got close and put my hand back to her face.

“We girls, we’re tough, darling. Soft on the outside but, deep down, we’re tough. Doesn’t feel like it now but none of this is going to beat you.”

She was trembling, also visibly, but she said, “Okay.”

“I promise.”

“Okay.”

“Go get a shower, sweetheart, use my stuff.” When she hesitated, I continued, “Showers work miracles.” I ran my knuckles along her cheek and smiled before I finished, “And facials are even better.”

She nodded and repeated, “Okay.”

I pulled away and she got up and walked to the stairs as I sat down at the computer.

“Neens?” she called, giving me a new nickname that I instantly liked.

I looked to see she was halfway up the stairs, standing in a curve and looking down at me.

“Yes, my lovely?” I answered.

“You told Max about… what happened to you?”

“Sorry, it was bad timing. It just happened.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “I’m glad you trusted him with that and I’m glad that’s why he was the way he was because he scared me but it doesn’t scare me now that he was that way for you.”

It was me who was now shivering.

I ignored this and said, “You need anything to wear, just dig in my suitcase.”

“We left all your shopping bags in my car,” she reminded me then muttered, “bummer,” then walked up the stairs.

I turned to the computer and as the shower went on I held my breath and checked my e-mail.

Nothing from Niles.

Drat.

I looked up the stairs, I could hear the noise of the shower but it was significantly muted and I suspected I heard it because I was listening. Max built a quality house.

I leaned forward and pulled my phone out of my back pocket. Then I called Niles. Then I held my breath while it rang.

Then I got voicemail.

“Niles?” I said into the phone after I heard the beep. “This is Nina. I called because I thought we could talk. We need to… finalize things.” God, I was such an idiot. “I’ll call back later.”

Then I touched the screen to end the call. Then I called my mother.

“Oh my God!” she said instead of hello. “I thought you’d never phone.”

“Hi Mom.”

“Get let out of Max Prison?” she asked, her tone amused as I shut down my e-mail and headed across the house to the coffee.

“I wasn’t in Max Prison.”

“He sounds interesting.” Her tone now sounded nosy.

I changed the subject and informed her, “I just called Niles.”

She was quiet a moment then asked, “And?”

“Voicemail, I left a message.”

“Did you check your e-mail?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

“That boy,” she muttered.

“It’s okay, we’ll have dinner or something when I get home, talk it through, finish it up like two adults.”

“Yes, it would be novel for you two to actually speak to each other in the same room while you break off an engagement. Not talk via e-mail and voicemail.”

“Mom.”

“Neenee, I’m just glad you’ve made your decision and you’re moving on. And… speaking of moving on –”

While we were talking, I’d hit the coffeepot and poured myself a cup. I put the milk back and closed the fridge cutting her off, “Mom –”

“Honey, spill.”

I grabbed my mug, leaned a hip against the counter, took a sip and stated, “I don’t want to talk about Max.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to think about Max.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know what to think about him.”

“Okay, you tell me all about Max and I’ll tell you what to think about him.”

“Mom.”

“Nina.”

“Mom,” I said more firmly.

“Nina.” She beat my firm by a mile. “Listen to me, let me explain something to you. You’re my daughter, I love you. I learned a long time ago that I had to let you make your own decisions, your own mistakes and then sit back and watch you learn from them. You’re like me, honey, you don’t learn from people telling you stuff, you learn from doing. But this is one place I want you to listen to me and learn. Don’t make my same mistake. Don’t close yourself off from something that might be good. Learn to take risks again, Neenee Bean.”

I looked out Max’s windows at the vista and I took another sip of coffee.

My mother didn’t open herself up to looking for another man after my father. When she’d found out about three weeks after she had me that he’d cheated on her and then he left her for the other woman then left the other woman and left the country, my mother had been devastated.

And bitter.

He’d been the love of her life, she’d adored him and his betrayal had destroyed her.

It wasn’t until six years ago that she met Steve. Steve, who for the first year she saw all the time but insisted he was her “friend”. Then she gave in and for the next two years she called him her “companion”. Now she called him her husband and she’d never been happier, not ever that I could remember.

“You don’t even know him,” I said softly into the phone, staring at the mountains.

“I know he has an amazing voice.”

Max had an amazing everything pretty much or at least as far as I could tell.

“Yes, well, he does have that.”

“And I know he’s got good enough manners to answer the dratted phone when your mother calls.”

“Mom –”

Her voice got gentle when she finished, “And I know he talks real quiet when he thinks you’re sleeping.”

My stomach melted and my eyes drifted closed.

“Mom,” I whispered.

“Honey, life has enough obstacles planned for you, stop putting up your own and just live it.”

I opened my eyes and blurted for no reason whatsoever, “He built his own house.”

“What?”

“With his own hands.”

“Really?”

“On land his father gave him, land his father always wanted to build on but he died before he could do it so Max did.”

“Wow,” she whispered.

“I know,” I whispered back.

“Are you there now?”

“Yes.”

“Is it nice?”

“Oh yes.”

“Where’s he?”

“Taking care of some business in town.”

“So the place you rented is just sitting there?”

“No, I rented his place. There was a mess up with the reservation, I arrived and he was home but I had a really bad flu and Max took care of me while I was sick and… well… then I just –”

She interrupted me and asked, “You found this on the internet?”

“Yes.”

“Give me the website,” she demanded.

“Sorry?”

“The website, Neenee Bean, I want to see photos.”

I tried to decide if I wanted my mother to see photos of Max’s A-Frame.

Then I decided I wanted my mother to see photos of Max’s A-Frame.

I gave her the website but warned, “The photos aren’t that good. The place is better.”

“Oh hogwash, the photos are always better.”

“Trust me, Mom,” I looked from the view through the house, “they don’t do it justice.” Then I cried, “Oh! And Jimmy Cotton lives in town and Max and I were out on his land, Cotton ran into us and took our picture.”

“You’re kidding!” she screeched, excited since she took me to my first Cotton exhibition at The Met and she loved his work nearly as much as me.

“I’m not!”

“You have to send me the picture. Send it to Steve’s e-mail.”

Mom didn’t do the internet or e-mail or at least she told everyone in a superior way that she didn’t do the internet or e-mail. That said, she was on Steve’s e-mail all the time if the many jokes and lessons on “sisterhood” and heartwarming stories she forwarded were any indication.

I tried to decide if I wanted my mother to see Cotton’s photo of Max and me.

Then I decided I wanted my mother to see Cotton’s photo of Max and me.

“I’ll e-mail it in awhile.”

“Wonderful.”

I heard the door upstairs open and I said, “Mindy’s out of the shower, I have to go.”

“Mindy?”

“Max’s best friend’s little sister. She’s having some… um… difficulties and Max is helping her out. I promised her a facial, I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, honey.”

“Love you, Mom.”

I heard the taps of fingers on a keyboard in the background over the phone and she said distractedly, “Love you too… erm, what’s the town you’re in called?”

“Gnaw Bone.”

A pause then, “Gnaw Bone?”

I laughed. “Why do you think I chose it? I had to stay in a place called Gnaw Bone.”

“I love it!” she cried.

She’d love it more if she saw the shops.

“Neens?” Mindy called. “Do you want to do the facial upstairs or down there?”

“Upstairs!” I called back then said to Mom, “Now I really have to go.”

“Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you, bye.”

I touched the screen to end the call and yelled to Mindy, “We’ll need a towel and washcloth!”

“Got it!” she yelled back.

“Do you want another cup of coffee?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind!”

“Okay!”

Then I put my phone on the counter, poured Mindy a cup of coffee and prayed that facials could induce skip-dancing in recently raped, brokenhearted, twenty-four year old girls and, I figured, I had my work cut out for me.

***

“What’s your Mom like?” Mindy asked, it was post-facial and she was sitting in the rocking chair that she pulled up next to the roll top while I fiddled with the card reader I’d brought. I was sending my mother the Cotton picture of Max and me as well as the photo of Max I surreptitiously took.

“She’s a nut,” I answered.

“Like you?”

Surprised, I turned my head to look at her and stated, “I’m not a nut.”

“You spent, like, a gazillion dollars on clothes and all sorts of shit yesterday and then ate more pizza than any girl I’ve ever met and then you laughed until you nearly fell off your bar stool about, I don’t know, a gazillion times and then you got right in Damon’s face and no one, except someone as big as Max, gets right in Damon’s face, not even Arlene and Arlene’s ornery,” she replied then, having stated her case, she summed up, “You’re a nut.”

“Well, I’m on vacation,” I replied haughtily, haughty and vacation being my only two defenses and seeing the attachment had loaded on Mom’s e-mail I hit send.

“You’re not on vacation, you’re a nut,” Mindy said and I could swear I heard a smile in her voice so I looked at her and saw there was a smile on her face.

Maybe it was the facial that did it but I was thinking it was more me being a nut. I didn’t care. Either way, I was relieved.

“Then I guess I’m a nut,” I said, scanning my inbox to see if Niles had written, he hadn’t, so I shut it down.

“Goodie!” Mindy cried while I was clicking the computer to turn it off, she jumped out of her chair and ran to the window. “Max’s home for lunch. Brill!”

My heart skipped and my belly fluttered at the thought of Max being home for lunch.

“Shit!” Mindy hissed suddenly and ran back toward me.

Then I watched in shock as she threw herself bodily on the floor on my side of the couch, she curled up so she was as small as her tall body could be and she reached out a hand to me as if she was in a foxhole, I was standing outside it and bullets were flying.

“Hurry, get down here, maybe she won’t see us!” she was still hissing.

My eyes went to the windows as I saw a fancy, shining, black Lexus SUV slide next to my rental car.

“Who?”

“Kami!” Mindy whispered loudly. “Hurry!”

My eyes went to Mindy. “Kami? Max’s sister?”

“Yes. She’s scary. Hurry, before she sees you.”

With sudden intense curiosity, I looked back to the window to see a woman getting out of the SUV. She closed the door, turned and then looked up at the house.

“But –”

“Neens, get down here!”

Too late.

Kami looked into the house, did a quick sweep and stopped, her face pointed in my direction and I was pretty certain she saw me.

“She saw me.”

“Damn!”

I stood. “Get up, lovely, she’s Max’s sister. How scary could she be?”

My point was not that Max wasn’t scary. He was, very scary but he was scary in a lot of different ways for a lot different reasons, scary in a way women couldn’t be. Though I didn’t share this with Mindy.

I was watching Max’s sister walk up the steps as her eyes stayed locked on me. She had Max’s hair, longer, the waves no less attractive. But she didn’t have his height and she was carrying at least fifty (maybe more) extra pounds than her frame found comfortable. She also looked like she was in a bad mood.

“She looks like she’s in a bad mood,” I muttered, trying not to let my lips move.

“Great,” Mindy muttered back.

I walked to the door as Kami walked through.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hey Kami,” Mindy said from behind me and Kami started when Mindy spoke then her eyes narrowed on a spot behind me and I figured that Mindy just righted herself.

“Mindy,” Kami said severely then her eyes, not clear gray but dark brown and not rimmed with fantastic lashes but makeup-less and nowhere near as spectacular as her brother’s, came to me. “You must be Nina.”

I smiled and stopped in front of her. “Word travels fast, I’m learning.”

“You are English, like they say,” Kami noted and she noted this like she would note, “You are a demon-from-hell, like they say.”

I felt my neck start to get tight. “Well, sort of –”

She cut me off, looking around. “Is Max here?”

“No, he’s in town,” Mindy offered, coming to stand by me.

I tried to get things on the right track and lifted my hand. “You’re Kami, Max’s sister.”

She stared at my hand then at me then she sighed in a harassed way, took my hand, hers remained limp as a dead fish and she replied, “Yeah,” she dropped my hand and looked at Mindy. “When’s Max gonna be back?”

“Dunno,” Mindy answered.

“Well,” she began and walked to the dining room table, opening her enormous, well-made, designer leather purse. “Tell him I stopped by and brought the papers for him.” Then she yanked out some papers and slapped them down on the table.

“Papers?” Mindy asked as Kami turned back to us.

“Papers,” Kami repeated. “Curt might be dead but that doesn’t mean work stopped and Trev’s still lookin’ for a foreman and they still want Max. They’re offerin’ full benefits, have added a week on his vacation and another five thousand dollars. He’d be a fool not to take it and quit travellin’ around like he’s twenty-two and got no sense.”

I wasn’t sure I liked Max’s sister and found myself lamenting the fact I hadn’t thrown myself on the floor beside the couch like Mindy.

“Kami, Max ain’t gonna work for Dodd,” Mindy said softly and I looked at Mindy in surprise.

“Yeah? Well then it’s good he’s dead, Max doesn’t have that excuse anymore,” Kami shot back.

Now I was sure I didn’t like Max’s sister.

“Brody says he gets paid loads more on the jobs he takes out of town,” Mindy told her.

“They sweetened the pot.”

“I’m thinkin’ they’ll need to make it even sweeter for him to work for Dodd, even seein’ as Dodd’s dead. It’s still workin’ for Dodd,” Mindy pointed out.

Kami directed her gaze to the floor all the while shaking her head, walking toward the door and muttering, “Why am I having this conversation?”

“Would you…” I tried politeness again, “like to stay for a cup of coffee? We were just thinking about pulling together lunch.”

Kami stopped at the door and looked at me. “Thanks but… no.” She appeared to be fighting back a curl in her lip as her eyes travelled the length of me. “I’ll pass on having coffee with another one of Max’s women. We’ll see how long you last then we’ll think about coffee.”

“Kami!” Mindy snapped, her back up, her courage slotting into place, her anger apparent.

“You should be warned, he’s a player,” Kami said to me, ignoring Mindy.

“He is not!” Mindy defended.

Kami’s eyes went to her and she was definitely having trouble with her lip curling now. “Like you’d know.”

“Know him better than you.”

“Hardly,” Kami said derisively.

To her tone, Mindy decided to deliver a twenty-four year old girl’s lethal blow and it was good. “Know you better than you think too and I know you’re just jealous because everyone likes him but everyone thinks you’re a bitch and he’s hot, you’re not and you couldn’t get laid if you tried.”

Kami leaned forward and snapped, “Mindy Smith, shut your mouth!”

“Make me!” Mindy snapped back.

“Ladies, please, this is –” I started.

“You can shut your mouth too, fancy pants,” Kami said to me.

My back straightened as well and I asked, “Did you just call me fancy pants?”

“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” Kami voice was ugly and it was clear she was raring for a fight.

“No,” I answered calmly, deciding cat fighting with Max’s sister in his house wasn’t on my agenda for the day, “except it’s weak.” She opened her mouth to speak but I spoke first and I did it with glacial politeness. “Please, don’t worry. We’ll make certain that Max gets those papers. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Then I turned and walked toward the kitchen and heard Mindy following me.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Kami called to my back.

“Careful on your drive down, those roads are tricky,” I called back and opened a cupboard that hid my face from her but not one I needed anything out of. Mindy got close, I twisted my neck and I bugged my eyes at her. Mindy giggled.

We heard the door close then I closed the cupboard and Mindy and I watched Kami stomp down the steps, get in her shiny SUV, execute a visibly annoyed three-point turn and then drive, too fast, out of the lane.

I turned to Mindy and asked, “Did that just happen?”

Mindy turned to me and replied, “I told you.”

I looked back out the windows and murmured, “How can she be related to Max?”

“Max’s Mom isn’t much better, then again she’s mellowed with age.”

This wasn’t good news.

“You’re good,” she said, the huge smile spreading on her face was also brightening her pretty blue eyes.

“Sorry?” I asked.

“You went all Ice Queen on her, gave her no opening, it was awesome,” Mindy complimented.

“Um…” I didn’t know what to say but was strangely pleased with the praise then I finished, “thanks.”

“Anyway,” Mindy said, clearly over it and on to better things, she turned to the fridge, opened it and asked its shelves, “What’s for lunch?”

“I thought I’d make toasted sandwiches with shaved chicken, Monterey Jack cheese and avocado,” I suggested, a suggestion that was met with silence.

I turned to see Mindy staring at me then she said, “Really?”

“Really,” I answered then asked, “Why?”

“’Cause that sounds freaking great.”

I smiled and said, “It is.” Then reached passed her into the fridge to get the cheese and chicken. “Fire up the stove, darling, let’s make lunch.”

“Cool!” she cried and skip-danced to the stove.

I looked from Mindy to the ceiling and silently said, Thank you.

Then I got out the cheese and chicken.

***

I was standing at the stove, stirring the chopped veggies in olive oil in the skillet when the lights of a vehicle flashed on the walls. I turned from the range and looked to the drive.

The Cherokee. Max was home.

I felt a pleasant shiver slide up my spine and looked to the waning light of a setting sun.

An hour ago, Becca had shown up with my shopping and the news that Max had given the green light for Mindy to go back down the mountain. We talked for awhile, me ascertaining two things. One, Becca was still angry at Damon for “being such a dick” and two, she was “next in line” to get a facial.

They left and I checked my e-mail. No e-mail from Niles so I sent him one asking if he was all right.

Then I sorted my shopping, clipping off the tags, putting things away then I grabbed the cream and sugar bowl I’d found in town. They were handmade, fantastic pottery by a local artisan, larger than normal creamers and sugar bowls, unusual squat shapes with equally unusual twisting handles and they were glazed cream at the top and inside, terra cotta at the bottom. Perfect. I bought them for Max’s kitchen. A gift, a stupid one but my small way of saying “thanks for taking care of me when I was sick”. He didn’t need a creamer and sugar bowl, probably would never use them, but they sure would look good in his kitchen.

Therefore I took them to his kitchen, cleaned them, dried them and filled them, leaving the small milk jug in the fridge and putting the sugar bowl by the coffeepot.

Then I sat at the dining room table and wrote a couple of postcards to friends that I’d also bought the day before.

Then I started dinner.

What I did not do, but should have done, was sort out my messed up head.

The casserole dish had the cubed salmon, king prawns and quartered hardboiled eggs in the bottom, the mashed potatoes (flavored with a hint of English mustard), sitting in a bowl with a dish towel over it, were ready to go on top. The ingredients for the cheesy, mustardy, creamy sauce were by the range, ready to go in when the veggies finished cooking.

I heard the door open and I pulled in a silent breath. Then I looked over my shoulder.

“Hey babe,” Max called, shrugging off his canvas jacket and heading my way.

“Hi,” I replied and turned back to the veggies, stirring unnecessarily.

I heard the whispering sound of his jacket being hooked on a chair, I felt him get close, my hair was swept off my shoulder then I felt his lips at my neck.

This time that shiver went from my neck back down spine.

“Smells good,” he murmured when his head came up.

“Fish pie.”

“Mm.”

God, he could “mm” great in that gravelly way of his.

“Sorry I been gone so long,” he went on.

I picked up the cream and poured it into the veggies while asking, “Mindy’s apartment sorted?”

“Couldn’t find Damon. Did find out that the landlord has storage units at the complex, I got his shit out, put it in a unit and the landlord changed the locks on Mindy’s place.”

I didn’t like the idea of Mindy staying by herself, even with changed locks, so I turned to him and noted, “That doesn’t sound exactly sorted.”

“Yeah, but Mindy’s stayin’ at Becca’s for awhile, least until we know Damon’s permanently out of the picture and after I stopped by Bitsy’s I went to the Station, talked to Mick and Jeff and they’ll be keepin’ an eye on things. Not to mention, Becca’s talked with the totality of her neighbors and told them to keep an eye out for Damon and raise the alarm the minute he’s spotted.”

“That sounds more sorted,” I muttered, he smiled and I turned back to the skillet, swirling the cream with the veg.

Then I felt his fingertips trailing across the skin of my exposed back, sweeping my hair along with it.

The shiver came back, this time with goose bumps. I turned back to him.

Before I could speak, his eyes went from my shoulders to mine and he whispered, “Like this sweater, honey.”

Shyness hit me, sudden and nearly paralyzing. “Um…” I forced out, “thanks.”

He grinned then moved away asking, “You wanna beer?”

I turned back to the food and told myself to get it together but I told Max, “I’m going to have wine.”

“I’ll get it.”

I stirred the cream one more time, saw it begin to bubble and then turned off the stove, moving the skillet off the burner and I added in the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. Stirring it, I went to the casserole dish.

“You got three bottles of wine, which one you want?” he asked, his head in the fridge.

“The Pinot Grigio.”

“Gotcha,” he said and I heard the noise of a bottle sliding off a refrigerator shelf.

“How’s Bitsy?” I asked, still stirring, waiting for all the cheese to melt.

“Pissed, scared, in shock,” he answered, I heard him moving around then I heard kitchen noises then I saw a wineglass hit the counter beside the dish and Max was at my side with a bottle and bottle opener.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“Will be, it’ll take awhile. She isn’t cooperating, won’t talk to the police.”

I looked at him, surprised. “She won’t?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“She’s pissed, scared, in shock,” he repeated and I guessed if my husband was murdered by a contract killer while I was on holiday in Arizona and he was in bed with the town ice queen, I might not feel cooperative either.

“Is that why they need you?”

He looked at me and pulled the cork out of the wine. “Yeah.”

“I don’t understand,” I told him, because I didn’t.

“We’re close,” he said then said no more and I decided not to ask about Max being close to Bitsy, the wife of the dead man who sounded like his arch enemy.

It was strange, very strange, but I was presently dealing with another strange and not unpleasant feeling of moving around Max’s kitchen with Max like we’d done it every night for the last ten years. I didn’t have it in me to interrogate him about his relationship with the unknown Bitsy.

Instead I enquired, “Is she going to talk to the police now?”

“I’m takin’ her in tomorrow.”

I nodded then poured the sauce over the salmon and prawns before informing him, “Your sister came by.”

“Yeah, I hear, Mindy called. Said you tag teamed her but you dealt the death blow.”

I went to the sink and dropped the skillet in it saying, “I wouldn’t describe it like that.”

“How would you describe it?”

“Well, firstly, it wasn’t that dramatic.”

“Kami is all about drama, so I’m guessin’ you’re downplayin’ the situation.” Max finished pouring my wine, seemingly relaxed about the Kami situation, and set the bottle on the counter as I moved to stand in the front of the casserole dish and pulled the towel off the potatoes. He slid the wine close to me and headed to the fridge asking, “She act as big a bitch as Mindy said?”

I pulled in breath and scooped potatoes on the top of the sauced-up fish, uncertain how to answer.

I decided on, “She wasn’t um… exactly pleasant.”

Max sighed and I heard the top come off a beer. “She gets in moods.”

He could say that again.

“She brought you papers,” I told him.

“You look at them?” he asked and my eyes shot to his face.

“Of course not.”

He grinned and, coming close to me, he leaned a hip on the counter. “Why not?”

My head shook once, it was quick and it was short, then I repeated, “Why not?”

“Yeah, why not? I would. Anyway, you’re a lawyer, might be good to have you look ‘em over,” he stated before he took a drink of his beer.

“Are you thinking of taking the job?” I asked, again surprised.

“No fuckin’ way,” he answered instantly.

“Then why do you need a lawyer to look at them?”

“Just wanna know which way they’re thinkin’ of screwin’ me.”

“Kami said they sweetened the pot.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they did. Don’t mean there ain’t fine print.”

I went back to scooping potatoes. “It doesn’t sound like these are nice people.”

“They aren’t.”

“Then why would your sister want you to work for them?”

“I’m around more often, means she’ll have help lookin’ after Mom.”

I finished putting the potatoes on top; Max noticed and took the bowl from me, turned and headed toward the sink.

“Is your Mom all right?”

“Yeah,” he said, rinsing the bowl and skillet. “Just alone and doesn’t like it.” He turned off the tap and headed back to me. “Today, took care of Mindy’s shit, talked to Bitsy, hit the Station and then went to visit Mom. That’s why I’m late. She wanted to talk and then she wanted me to look at her kitchen sink. Spent part of the afternoon listenin’ to her bitch, another part in the hardware store, another part on my back on the kitchen floor under her sink.”

I looked down to the potatoes, smushing them around and coating the creamy fish, thinking of him taking care of Mindy, Bitsy, his Mom and what that meant about him then mumbling, “It’s good you look after your Mom.”

“It’s good, but isn’t fun.”

I looked at him and said softly, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said softly back then his hand came up and his finger touched my earring. I’d put my new ones in when I put away my shopping, impatient to see the way they looked then I liked the way they looked so I left them in.

“You got ‘em.”

“Yeah.”

He grinned then walked around me.

I grabbed the dish and put it in the pre-heated oven, closed the door, tinkered with the timer and set it. He came back when I went to the other counter, picked up my wine and took a sip.

After I swallowed, Max took my glass, set it on the counter and grabbed my right hand.

His head was bent to look at our hands but he was talking.

I was watching his hands working at mine.

“Went to Karma to get you those earrings you liked, they told me you’d already been by. Jenna was there, local jewelry artist that makes this stuff.” I held my breath as I watched him slide something on my ring finger then he twirled it around and slid it off. “She said she had rings to match, doesn’t make many of them, usually only does it special so she doesn’t sell them in the shop. She ran home to get one and brought it by Mom’s.” He slid the ring on my middle finger and twirled it around then his fingers curved around my palm, his thumb touching the ring as he muttered, “Fits there.”

I looked down at a ring that was the same heavy, wide, stunning web design of my earrings with solid edges. It was gorgeous and it sat perfectly, from base nearly to knuckle, on my finger.

Then I continued to stare at it and all it indicated including the fact that Holden Maxwell paid attention (which I was learning) and thus he gave thoughtful, generous gifts.

I felt tears sting the backs of my eyes and I tipped my head back to look at him.

“Max,” I whispered.

His hand came to my cheek then it slid into my hair before he asked, “You like it?”

I nodded though I wouldn’t say I liked it. I’d say I more than liked it.

He looked into my eyes, his face grew soft but his mouth grinned before he prompted, “Then you gonna kiss me or what?”

I really should have replied “or what”.

But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

The ring was beautiful, it was special and his gesture was remarkable.

So instead of saying “or what”, I did something not smart, not sane, not rational and got up on my toes. Then I slid my fingers in his hair from the neck up. Then I grabbed onto his hard bicep with my other hand.

Max helped, leaning into me, bending his neck, gliding his fingers further into my hair to cup my head and putting his other hand to my waist.

Then I kissed him, touching my tongue to his lips which he opened for me then sliding it inside, tasting beer, tasting Max and thinking he was the most beautiful taste to ever touch my tongue.

He growled into my mouth, slanting his head, his arms coming around me and he took control of the kiss.

His was better, so much better, I felt the need to slide my other hand into his hair and hold his head to me so he’d get the hint I didn’t want him to stop.

Maybe never.

Maybe I never wanted him to stop.

We made out in the kitchen for awhile, I had no idea how long and didn’t care. I was simply loving the act of making out with Max in his kitchen partly because I loved kissing, mostly because Max was a really good kisser.

Then he finally lifted his head an inch and, unfortunately, stopped.

“I’m guessin’ you like it,” he muttered, a grin playing at his mouth.

“Yes,” I breathed, unable to grin and practically unable to remain standing. Luckily, he was still holding me.

“God, you’re cute.” He was still muttering.

I wasn’t able to form a reply.

Then we both heard the loud knock of knuckles banging insistently on glass. This sound made me jump but Max didn’t jump, instead his mouth got tight.

Max twisted his neck and his torso, taking me with him and we both saw Jimmy Cotton standing outside the door.

Then Jimmy Cotton opened the door, stuck his upper body in the house and demanded, “Quit neckin’ with Nina, Max, and get out here and help me.” Then he disappeared, leaving the door open.

Max twisted back, looked down at me and he didn’t look happy.

His words proved my guess true. “Swear to God, this doesn’t quit happenin’, I’m gonna kill someone.”

He sounded like he meant it.

“You can’t kill Jimmy Cotton. He’s an American Treasure,” I informed him.

“Right now,” Max returned, letting me go, “he’s a pain in my ass.”

I watched Max stalk to the door, flip on the outside light and exit, closing the door behind him and I didn’t know whether to laugh, scream or count my lucky stars.

I didn’t do any of those. I got out a cookie sheet and the tube of crescent roll dough, popped it open and started to unwind the dough.

I was forming the crescents when the door opened and Max walked in. His eyes hit me the instant he did. He had a funny look on his face and he was carrying what looked like a somewhat large frame wrapped in plain, brown paper wrapper.

I was forming crescents but I did it while I’d stopped breathing, my eyes on the wrapped package.

Without a word, Max set it on the floor, leaning it against the wall between the doors under the loft, turned and walked right back out.

My eyes stayed riveted to the frame as my hands automatically rolled crescents.

Then Max and Cotton walked in together, Max backing in, Cotton moving forward, both of them carrying what looked like a huge frame wrapped in the same paper.

My heart stopped beating.

“Get over here, girl,” Cotton ordered when they’d set it beside the smaller one. It was so big it engulfed the space.

Silently I grabbed a dishtowel, wiped my hands and then walked into the open space entry, my eyes still on the frames. I came to a stop right beside Max.

Cotton had moved forward, taking out a penknife, he pulled it open and carefully slid it into the paper at the edge on the larger frame. Then he moved the knife through.

He did this all the while muttering, “Meant to do this when your Dad was alive, kicked myself when he passed. Holden didn’t have a place on the land. He would have wanted this at his house, seein’ as he had to live in town.”

Then Cotton yanked the paper down and exposed a huge black and white panorama of the view from the bluff and I caught my breath at the sight. It was all there, the river, the banks on either side, the mountains rising up them, all of it framing the river trailing away, leading to an opening that exposed a vista of valley, river and far away white peaks.

Without thinking, I reached out my hand and found Max’s, my fingers sliding up and through the webbing of his, before I curled them, linking our hands.

Max’s finger’s curled back and his grip was tight.

When no one spoke for awhile and I realized Cotton was staring at us, I struggled but found my voice. “It’s… it’s,” I looked at Cotton, “there are no words.”

Cotton turned to look at the picture assessingly then he mumbled, “Yeah, kinda like that one myself.”

I couldn’t stop the laugh that fluttered from my throat. “You kinda like it?”

Cotton grinned at me. “Yeah, it’s pretty good.” Then he looked at Max. “It’ll look great here in the A-Frame.”

I felt Max’s body grow tight and his hand flexed in mine.

“What?” he asked.

“Givin’ to you, boy,” Cotton answered.

“I can’t –” Max started but Cotton waved his hand.

“You can, you will,” Cotton interrupted. “I’m old. Wanna know, when I die, my photos are in the places where they need to be. This one needs to be here.”

Oh my God.

“Cotton –” Max started again but Cotton had turned toward the other picture and he kept talking.

“This one’s for Nina.”

I started, this time my hand flexing in Max’s and whispered, “I’m sorry?”

Cotton didn’t answer. Instead he slid the knife in and along then ripped the paper down, bending to pull it away.

“V&A,” he said, turning back to me but I was staring at the picture.

I remembered it. It was a close up photo of the rock on the side of a mountain, again in black and white which was all Cotton did. The lines in the rock prolific and almost mesmerizing, sliding through in random undulations, one lone, yet utterly perfect wildflower growing out of the rock.

“Cotton,” I whispered.

“I like that one too,” Cotton declared, gazing at it critically.

“I can’t take that,” I said to him and he looked at me.

“Why not?” he asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

“I… it’s…” Why not? Was he mad? “Because it’s worth a fortune,” I explained.

“I know,” Cotton retorted. “Got about a dozen offers on it, all, like you said, a fortune. Didn’t like the feel of any of ‘em. Didn’t want it hangin’ wherever those folk would be.”

“But –” I began but Cotton cut me off.

“Like the feel of it hangin’ wherever you might be.”

At his words, which rocked me to my soul, I let Max go, my hands went to my cheeks and before I could stop myself I cried, “Oh bloody hell! I’m going to cry!”

Then I did. I burst right into tears.

Within an instant, I was in Max’s arms. I put mine around him and held on tight, shoving my face into his chest and crying like an idiot.

It was several moments later when I heard Cotton mutter, “Women.” Then sounding like he was on the move he asked, “What’s for dinner?”

I felt Max’s body get tight against my wet cheek.

I tipped my head back to look at him, the tears subsiding when I saw his neck was twisted and he was staring toward the kitchen and, regardless of the fact that Cotton just gave both of us priceless pieces of his art, Max’s expression appeared murderous.

I followed his eyes and saw Cotton pulling himself up on a stool.

“Get me a beer, Max, it’s been a long day,” Cotton called, leaning forward to look at the rolls then he spun on the stool and exclaimed, “Right on! Crescent rolls!”

“Cotton –” Max started but my arms gave him a squeeze, Max stopped speaking and looked down at me.

“He just gave us his photos,” I told him. “We can give him dinner.”

“Yeah, I haven’t had a home-cooked meal since Alana died or least not a good one.” Cotton drew in an audible breath through his nostrils and he declared, “And whatever’s cookin’ smells good.”

“Fish pie,” I told him and Cotton grinned.

“I like fish,” he said.

It was low, it was soft but I definitely heard Max growl.

I gave him another squeeze with my arms, let him go and, slower, he let me go too. Then, wiping the tears from my face, I went back to the rolls.

Max got Cotton a beer and I had poured frozen peas into a bowl and was setting them in the microwave when lights flashed on the wall.

“This is a fuckin’ joke,” Max clipped from his place, hips against the sink, beer in hand, unhappy expression on his face as he stared toward the drive.

“Max’s popular,” Cotton noted.

“I’m noticing that,” I replied, also looking out the windows.

I watched a figure come up the steps then I recognized Arlene walking across the porch toward the door. Her eyes were on us and she didn’t bother to knock, she just walked right in.

“Hey y’all,” she called, striding toward the kitchen like she lived there. “Hey Cotton.”

“Heya Arlene. What’s shakin’?” Cotton greeted.

“Don’t shift some of this weight, everything,” Arlene replied, she stopped at the mouth of the U in the kitchen and looked at me.

“That don’t look all that bad,” she observed.

“Um…” I muttered, “hi Arlene.”

“What’re you doin’ here?” was Max’s greeting.

“Damon whaled on her, had to check, see she’s all right,” Arlene explained to Max then turned to me. “Woulda thought it would be worse, thought he really walloped you one. Least it looked like that.”

Something unpleasant was emanating from Max and I took a step closer to him. His response was to slide an arm around my waist and yank me back so the side of my back was to the side of his front.

“What’s this about?” Cotton asked and Arlene turned to him, walking to the bar and putting her forearms on it.

“Last night Damon Matthews backhanded Nina at The Dog,” Arlene answered like she would say, “Last night, I made a TV dinner and watched the News.”

“What?” Cotton exclaimed on a near shout, his eyes moving to me and then narrowing on my cheek. “Is that was that is?”

“Yeah,” Arlene replied before I could speak then she turned to Max and ordered, “Get me a beer, will you Max?” Then without pause she turned back to Cotton and went on. “Damon came into The Dog, manhandled Mindy, Nina here didn’t like that, got in his face. He gave her a shove, she shoved him right back and he backhanded her.”

Cotton was staring at me throughout Arlene’s recitation and now he didn’t look happy. “You shoved Damon Matthews?”

I shifted against Max’s body and said, “He was being, um… rude.”

“Girl, that kid is rude, came outta his mother’s womb rude,” Cotton told me. “But he’s also solid as a rock and mean besides. What’re you thinkin’ gettin’ into his face?”

Max entered the conversation at this juncture, saying in a dangerous voice, “He shouldn’t have touched her.”

“No, agreed, he shouldn’t,” Cotton returned instantly. “But he’s Damon Matthews. Half the acts that boy perpetrates, he shouldn’t do.”

“Nina doesn’t know him and didn’t know that,” Max replied.

“She could take one look at him and know not to get in his face,” Cotton retorted.

“Bottom line, Cotton, he shouldn’t have fuckin’ touched her,” Max stated and the way he did, the room fell silent.

Arlene eventually broke the silence by sharing, “Max messed him up in the parking lot.”

Cotton looked at Max and asked, “How bad?”

Cotton asked Max but it was Arlene who answered. “Figure it ain’t a lesson he’ll forget anytime soon. Whole town’s talkin’ about it. It’s like Christmas and your birthday all rolled into one, what with Dodd dead and Max beatin’ the crap outta Damon.”

Cotton chuckled but I exclaimed, “Arlene!”

She looked at me and raised her eyebrows. “What? Not sayin’ anything anyone ain’t thinkin’.” Then she moved to the other stool, slid on it and eyed the crescent roll dough on the cookie sheet. “Fantastic!” she cried. “Crescent rolls! Got enough for one more?”

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Max muttered from behind me.

“Sure,” I said to Arlene and she grinned.

Cotton leaned toward Arlene and stage-whispered, “We’re crampin’ Max’s style.”

“Whatever,” Arlene stage-whispered back, turned to Max and called, “Max? Beer?” Then she turned back to Cotton and said, “What’s up with the pictures?”

Cotton answered but it was Max who had my attention.

“I’m thinkin’, Duchess,” Max murmured in my ear, “that I’ll give you the keys to your car but we’re both gettin’ in it, drivin’ down the damn mountain and checkin’ into the hotel.”

I bit my lip and twisted my head to look at him. Then I smiled. Then he let me go. Then I got Arlene a beer, slid the crescent rolls into the oven, took the bowl of peas out of the microwave and poured more in.

***

“I gotta carry you upstairs?” I heard Max ask and I struggled with it but I opened my eyes.

“Sorry?” I whispered when I semi-focused on him.

“Never seen anything like it, honey, when you’re out, you’re out,” Max said, took my hand and pulled me out of the chair.

I blinked and looked around.

The last thing I knew, dinner consumed, beers consumed, three glasses of wine consumed (all by me) to Max’s displeasure, we moved to the living room with our uninvited guests and a plate full of cookies. Max made a fire while Arlene and Cotton ate my cookies and entertained me.

I didn’t want to admit it but I thought Max put up with them and allowed them to stay because he knew that Arlene and Cotton were entertaining me. Arlene simply because she was entertaining. Cotton because he’d been a lot of places, done a lot of things, met a lot of people and he was almost as good a storyteller as he was a photographer. I hadn’t laughed that hard or that much since…

Well, since the night before, with Arlene and Mindy at The Dog.

But before that it had been years, before Charlie died or, more to the point, before he’d been so badly wounded.

Arlene and Cotton claimed the couch and I sat in the armchair. When Max was done with the fire, I was shocked when he sat in it with me, settling right down, forcing me to scrunch to the side.

I was right when I first saw the chair. It could fit two but it was cozy. Cozy, warm, snug and safe and with three (working on the fourth) glasses of wine in me, I curled up in it with Max. It was a little chair of heaven. He put his feet on the ottoman, crossed at the ankles. I bent my knees and put my feet in the chair, my thighs against his. His arm curled around my shoulders and, for comfort’s sake (I told myself), my arm curled around his belly. I rested my head on his shoulder and I listened, laughed and sipped wine while the fire burned in the grate and Max sat relaxed and close to me then, apparently, I fell asleep.

Which, even standing, I mostly was at that moment.

I finished looking around, noting Arlene and Cotton were gone, the only light was coming from the loft and my eyes hit Max.

“Asleep,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, baby,” Max said on a grin and tugged my hand, leading me up the stairs to the bedroom.

I did not argue with this. At that moment I needed Max’s bed and I didn’t care if he was in it.

In fact, if I was honest, that made the prospect even better.

I grabbed my nightgown from the suitcase, shuffled to the bathroom, changed, did my washing face, brushing teeth, moisturizing business, left my clothes in a pile on the floor and then shuffled out.

Max was in bed by the time I finished these onerous tasks.

His side of the bed was the side closest to the bathroom.

I hadn’t had enough energy to wash my face, brush my teeth and moisturize. I certainly didn’t have the energy to walk around the bed.

So I didn’t.

I walked right to Max’s side and he watched me do it. When I got close, he threw the covers back.

A wall of hard, muscled chest, cut abs and pajamas bottoms were all I saw.

The chair wasn’t heaven, the bed was.

I crawled over him and flopped to my side.

He tossed the covers over us, switched off the bedside lamp and turned into me.

Like it was the most natural thing in the world, his arms came around me, his knee went between my legs, my thigh moved to hook over his hip and my arm slid around his waist as I got closer to his warm, solid body.

“You have a good night, darlin’?” he asked quietly into the hair at the top of my head.

Seeing as I was really mostly asleep, I didn’t guard my words, I just said straight out, “Best night I’ve had since Charlie got hurt.”

His arms got tighter. I nestled closer.

“What was he like?” Max asked, still talking quietly.

“Charlie?” I asked back, still talking in my sleep.

“Yeah.”

“Best brother ever,” I whispered and snuggled closer.

“I’m gettin’ that,” Max muttered but I heard a smile in his voice.

“You remind me of him,” I said sleepily, not noticing Max’s body tense. “He said it like it was. Didn’t mince words but that didn’t mean he wasn’t kind. He was smart. He took care of his Mom, me, his fiancée. He was thoughtful. Something meant something to him, he took care of it. Someone meant something to him, he let them know it. Never had a doubt about that, knowing how much Charlie loved me,” I sighed then concluded, “He was a good man.”

“It’s good you had that,” Max whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Means maybe you’ll recognize it, eventually.”

“Mm,” I murmured, not processing words because I was just barely awake.

“Duchess?”

“Yes, darling?”

I didn’t notice his body getting tense again then his hand slid up my back and into my hair and he said, “Go to sleep, baby.”

I did as I was told.