I also took in the fact that both Kami and Shauna were smirking, though Max’s mother was studying me through the glass, her face unreadable.
They’d heard.
Double wonderful. Darn it all to hell.
Max stalked passed me straight to the door which he yanked open.
“Now is not a good time,” he announced on an angry snarl, barring entry with his big body.
“Yeah, we heard,” Kami told him gleefully.
Yes, gleefully. She was such a bitch.
Then she forced her way in, scooting in between Max and the doorframe. “It’s cold, Max, and we need coffee.”
With Kami already inside and with no other choice but to throw her out physically which, in my state of mind, was a viable option, Max stepped aside for his mother to enter and Shauna gave him a sweet, satisfied smile, swinging that same smile to me as she came in too.
Shauna. In Max’s house.
Seeing her smile pinned on me while she stood inside Max’s door, I felt the pressure build and I stayed utterly still so as not to let it explode.
“You’re Nina,” Max’s Mom said and I started then looked to her.
Then I forced myself to walk stiffly toward her (yes, meeting Max’s Mom wearing nothing but Max’s thermal and a pair of panties after just having been heard having a fight).
I also tried to force my voice to be kind but I only managed neutral. “Yes, and you’re Max’s Mom.”
“Linda,” she said on a nod and lifted her hand.
I took it. Unlike her daughter, her fingers curled around mine in a warm grip before she let go.
“Lovely to meet you,” I murmured.
She watched me and I saw something flash in her dark brown eyes, a twinkle, then she doused it so quickly I was uncertain it was ever there.
She looked at Max and suggested, “Why don’t you two get dressed? I’ll make coffee.”
“Like I said, Mom, this isn’t a good time,” Max told her.
“Dressed, Max,” Linda ordered and then she walked toward the kitchen.
Still smirking, Shauna and Kami followed.
I decided to take this opportunity to escape which I did without looking at Max. I ran up the stairs and I didn’t care what it looked like.
I was in the closet, my cords in my hands, my mind skittering from awful thought (meeting Max’s Mom during a fight) to terrible thought (Shauna and Kami being there) to horrendous thought (Max and me being over) when Max came in.
My intention was to ignore him, an impossible task when he grabbed my cords, tossed them on the floor and then his fingers curled into my hips.
I tilted my head back to look at him and tried to yank my hips from his hands but failed at this when his arms locked around me. One hand sifted up into my hair and cupped the back of my head.
“Take your hands off me, Max,” I hissed quietly.
“Shut it, Duchess,” Max whispered back and then his mouth was on mine.
The kiss was hard, long and closed-mouthed, communicating something I didn’t get. I pressed against his hold and his shoulders while he kissed me but didn’t succeed in getting away or yanking my mouth from his.
He lifted his head and I stopped struggling in order to glare at him. His eyes moved over my face. Then his arm at my waist drifted down to become a hand on my behind then it slid up, taking the thermal with it.
Before I could protest what his hand was doing, he whispered, “You were right, honey.”
With my history with men, most specifically Niles who never listened to me, I found I was unable to process his words.
“Sorry?”
His fingers slid out of my hair and his hand went down, also under the shirt, and both of his hands were now travelling soothingly along my back.
“You were right, I was wrong.”
My mouth dropped open.
Did he just say that? Did Macho Mountain Man Max straight out admit he was wrong?
I felt the anger flood out of me as the hope pushed back in and my body relaxed in his arms.
“Sorry?” I whispered.
He bent his head and his lips touched my forehead where he muttered, “We’ll talk about it later.”
He kissed me sweet then suddenly the thermal was pulled up, my arms going up with it and it was over my head.
I stood in nothing but my undies watching Max walk away pulling the thermal I just had on over his head. Then he disappeared. And I continued to stand there, staring at where I last saw him.
He’d just admitted he was wrong. He’d pulled me in his arms, gave me a hard kiss as his Max-style apology and admitted he was wrong. And he’d done it last night too, admitted he was wrong, told me straight out he’d “fucked up”.
I continued to stare at where I last saw him, letting this penetrate and thinking that the most macho mountain man thing he’d ever done was have the guts to look me in the eye and admit he was wrong.
That was when I stood there, staring at where I last saw him but I did it smiling.
Then the murmuring of voices invaded and my mind flew to the fact that Max’s Mom was downstairs having heard us fighting and so, for some insane reason, were the dreaded Kami and Shauna.
I snatched one of Max’s shirts off the hanger without even looking at it, shrugged it on and grabbed my cords. Then I flew into the bedroom, pulled underwear from the drawer and, seeing the checked flannel of Max’s that I was wearing (it was checked in gold, brown and navy, perfect to go with my cords) I grabbed a cream camisole and hit the bathroom.
After I’d done my routine, dressed (including Max’s flannel, which was huge but also warm, old and soft from a million washings) and pulled my hair up in a ponytail at the back of my crown. With no other choice but to go makeup free, I rushed out of the bathroom and across the loft.
I slowed my progress on the stairs, deep breathing to calm myself and repeating in my head, don’t have a go at either Kami or Shauna in front of Max’s Mom.
I was in possession of my faculties and hopefully in control of my mouth when I hit the bottom and turned toward the kitchen.
Linda was in it, bustling around in what appeared to be Mom Mode. Both Kami and Shauna were on stools. They all looked at me when I approached. I couldn’t see Max until I got closer for he was standing in the recess, hips against the sink.
“Coffee’s poured, Duchess,” Max told me when I hit the mouth of the U of kitchen and I saw his head dip to a mug that was steaming on the counter beside him.
“Thanks,” I muttered, walked to the coffee and picked it up, feeling all eyes on me and that feeling, needless to say, was uncomfortable.
“I remember that shirt,” Shauna announced and my eyes went to her over the rim of my mug then I nearly choked on my sip when she went on, “it was a favorite of mine too.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Linda’s head jerk and right in front of me I saw both Shauna and Kami smile delightedly.
“It’s good with your coloring,” I heard Linda say, luckily before I could utter a word or any of the twenty-five of them in my head and I looked at her.
“Sorry?” I asked, noting vaguely she had a bowl out and flour, milk, eggs, maple syrup and measuring cups.
“Your coloring. That shirt. Looks good on you,” she told me and my mind focused, moving from Shauna’s catty comment to the look on Linda’s face.
She was making a point, a quiet one, but it was a point nonetheless.
Moments before I had the irrational desire to shrug off Max’s shirt, take it outside and burn it. At the present moment I remembered it was Max’s, it was old, warm and soft and it was mine to claim when I wanted, not Shauna’s, never again Shauna’s.
And that was the point Linda was making, not only to me, but to Shauna.
“Thanks,” I whispered, my meaning deeper than the whispered word.
“Hope you don’t mind, I’m making pancakes. Is that okay with you?” Linda asked and I blinked.
Why was she asking me?
“Um… yes?” I answered.
She nodded and turned back to the bowl.
“Mom makes great pancakes, babe,” Max told me, his finger going into my back belt loop and tugging me closer. “You’ll love ‘em.”
I looked up at him and said, “Okay.”
He grinned at me then he winked. It was the wink that got me. Max had never winked at me. I didn’t think he was the kind of man to wink. But, like all things Wonder Max, he did it great.
Using my belt loop, he positioned my still-coping-with-his-wink body close to his side by the sink.
“Max, I like that sugar bowl and creamer, saw it in town, almost picked them up for myself,” Linda noted.
“Nina bought ‘em,” Max told her over his mug then he took a sip.
“Good taste,” Linda mumbled, looked at me and said firmly, “Domestication.”
“Sorry?” I asked.
“Cupboards full. Creamer and sugar bowl. You’re domesticating Max.” That twinkle hit her eye again, I caught it again but she extinguished it before she finished, “This’ll be entertaining.”
Oh my God. She liked me!
I couldn’t help it, I smiled to myself and relaxed into Max’s side. When I did, his arm slid along my shoulders, his hand dangling casually over the left one.
“You wanna tell me why you’re here and not at work?” Max asked and I tipped my head back to look at him, following his gaze to see his eyes were on Kami.
“Day off, Curt’s funeral,” Kami replied.
“You gotta take a whole day off for Curt’s funeral?” Max asked.
“I’m grieving,” Kami returned.
“Jesus, Kami, I hope they don’t find out you’re full of shit like they did at your last job. Be hard to keep that Lexus when you don’t have a paycheck,” Max remarked.
“Don’t worry about me, got my Lexus and that’s it. Don’t have a barn full of stupid boys toys I wanna fill with even more boys toys,” Kami shot back, adding nastily, “maybe you’ll grow up in this century.”
Jealous, I thought but kept my mouth shut.
“Kami,” Linda said quietly, mixing batter.
“What?” Kami snapped but before Linda could say anything further, Max spoke again.
“Now you wanna tell me why you’re here at all?”
I looked up at him to see his eyes, cold and angry, resting on Shauna.
I’d never seen Max cold. I’d seen him angry but not cold and that cold was glacial. I took a sip of my coffee and looked at Shauna to see how she was handling it and noted she had her shields up and seemed perfectly at ease.
“Spending the day with Kami, we’re going to the funeral together,” Shauna answered.
I felt my eyes grow big and I also felt Max’s body turn to stone at my side. Further, again out of the corner of my eye, I saw Linda’s head twist around to look at Shauna.
“For obvious reasons, Shauna’s grieving too,” Kami put in.
“You have got to be fuckin’ shittin’ me,” Max growled.
“What?” Kami asked but Max ignored her and his eyes sliced to Shauna.
“You ain’t goin’ to that funeral, Shauna.”
“Why not?” Shauna enquired with what appeared to be genuine curiosity and I felt my lips part in astonishment, uncertain I’d ever seen anyone so inappropriately cavalier.
“I don’t know,” Max clipped sarcastically, “maybe because you were fuckin’ a married man and his wife, mother and father’ll be there?”
“I lost Curt too, just like Bitsy,” Shauna retorted.
“Yeah, but he loved her and was married to her for fifteen years. You were just convenient pussy,” Max shot back.
I gasped, so did Linda. Kami and Shauna both glared at Max.
“Max.” Now Linda said Max’s name quietly.
“No Mom, she’s not goin’ to that funeral.” Max’s eyes went to his sister. “And you’ve spoken about a dozen civil words to Bitsy in the last decade so you shouldn’t either.”
“I’m not six, Max, you can’t tell me what to do,” Kami returned.
“No, you’re not, you act it a lot of the time, but you’re not. What you are is old enough to know better,” Max shot back.
“We’re goin’,” Kami declared.
“Fuckin’ hell,” Max muttered.
“I was under the impression,” Linda entered the conversation and I looked at her to see she was regarding Kami, “after all that talk I heard in town about what happened with you two at Max and Brody’s table at The Rooster, that we were here so you both could talk with Max and Nina about your behavior that night.” Kami opened her mouth to speak but Linda went on. “Not,” she cut her off sharply and with obvious practice, “so you two could bring attitude into Max’s house.”
“I’m sorry, Linda,” Shauna said readily and looked at me. “You know Max and I have history, Nina,” she reminded me unnecessarily. “I guess we rub each other the wrong way. I just wanted to spend some time with Kami today since it’s gonna be a rough day for me but I probably shouldn’t have come.”
I stared at her, shocked at how good she was in front of Max’s Mom. Even I almost believed her.
“In case you feel like visiting again, Shauna, you can take it as read you aren’t welcome,” Max told her.
“Just because you two have broken up doesn’t mean you can be an asshole, Max,” Kami defended her friend.
“’Fraid it does, Kami,” Max returned.
I was now stunned. These shenanigans made my mother and me, even my father and me, seem tame. Though, my father, mother, Niles and me were still the worst, if you didn’t count me slapping my Dad during the Dad and me fiasco, of course.
“You know, Nina,” Linda said matter-of-factly as she poured batter into the melted butter in a skillet, “a mother gets to the point when her kids are kids that she looks forward to them being adults.” Her eyes came to mine as she set down the bowl. “I haven’t reached that part of motherhood yet.”
I didn’t want to say that Max wasn’t exactly acting like a kid, more like a pissed off mountain man whose bitch of a sister brought his ex-girlfriend to his house. So instead, I just smiled.
“Or at least I haven’t with Kami,” Max’s Mom went on, the twinkle came back to her eyes, it stayed there longer and my smile got wider.
“Mom!” Kami snapped and Linda turned to her, leaned forward and morphed into another woman altogether.
“What’d I say about this crap?” she hissed. “You two always fightin’ with you always startin’ it. Works my last flippin’ nerve. Max is here, what? Practically never. And instead of enjoyin’ the time you got, you get in his face. I’ve had it up to here, Kami.” She lifted a hand up to her neck and continued, “And I’ve had it up to here with talkin’ to you like you’re five when you’re thirty-five, dammit.”
“I see, as always, perfect fuckin’ Max,” Kami shot back.
“Yeah, darlin’, perfect fuckin’ Max.” Linda shot back. “Max comes over, fixes my sink and doesn’t whine at me for five hours. That’s pretty fuckin’ perfect.”
Kami flinched then her face shut down.
“Same old shit,” Kami grumbled.
“The same old shit is, Max has a new girlfriend and you bring his old one to his house, lyin’ to me about why and makin’ us look bad in front of Nina. That’s the same old shit, Kami, and I’m sick and tired of it.” Then Linda looked at me and mumbled, “Sorry Nina.”
“Um… that’s okay,” I told her.
“It isn’t,” Linda replied.
“Oh, so now it’s gonna be perfect fuckin’ Nina,” Kami bit out.
Linda turned back to her daughter but I moved in quickly with hopes of lightening the mood.
“I’m sorry, Linda, but I don’t know how to fix a sink.”
Linda looked at me, her eyes caught mine and she replied, “That’s okay, Nina. Talked to Barb. What you know how to fix is a whole lot more important than a sink.”
I stared at her, now unders
tanding why she liked me and Max’s arm curled tighter around my neck.
“What’s this?” Kami asked.
“None of your business,” Linda said, her eyes going to her daughter then to Shauna and then she said, “You two are adults so you gotta do what you think you gotta do but I’ll tell you, you show up at Curtis Dodd’s funeral it’ll make me think less of you.” Her gaze hardened on Shauna and she finished, “It’ll make me think less of you both.”
Shauna’s eyes moved quickly away but Kami glared at her mother.
“Maybe we should leave,” Kami suggested.
“Since you’re my ride up here, that’d make it difficult for me to get down the mountain,” Linda replied.
“I’ll take you down, Mom,” Max put in smoothly.
“Perfect fuckin’ Max,” Kami shot at him.
“What is it with you?” Max shot back. “Seriously, Kami, I wanna know. Why are you such a bitch all the time?”
“I don’t know, Max, maybe it’s ‘cause you were Dad’s favorite and you’re Mom’s favorite and I could handle that if my nose wasn’t rubbed into it all the time,” Kami returned.
Jealous and juvenile, I thought, staring at her in amazement at her words for her behavior was the norm, as far as I knew it.
“Honest to God?” Max asked.
“I’m sure it’s hard for you to believe, seein’ as you have no clue how it feels,” Kami returned.
“Christ, I feel like I’m fifteen again,” Max muttered, “since we had this conversation when I was fifteen and fourteen and fuckin’ twenty-five.”
“Whatever,” Kami muttered back.
“The other thing, Nina,” Linda said to me, flipping the pancakes, “is all kids think a parent has a favorite. They don’t. It isn’t possible. You love your children, maybe not the same but always the same amount.”
“Right,” Kami said to her mother’s back.
“Though,” Linda said to me, “you can tell them that and tell them that but they’ll never believe you.”
“I’m an only child,” I informed Linda or at least I was now.
“That’s too bad,” Linda replied, reaching in the cupboard for plates. “I got a sister and brother, love ‘em both to bits. Wish my kids had that.”
“If Max’ll take you down the mountain, we’ll skip on the pancakes.” Kami again spoke to her mother’s back, clearly not allowing a single word her mother said to penetrate her rabid desire to be the martyr.
The Gamble Page 47
