“Absolutely not!” she snapped at her sister. “Why in the world would you and Eric think that I would want to interact with his redneck brother?”
“Now, Matthew isn’t all that bad. After all, you did help him—”
“And he so didn’t appreciate it! He was worried about me knowing how much he’s worth financially. Besides, that was months ago that I helped him out.” She paced in front of her sister, flailing her arms. “As if I care how much money he has! He’s rude, and he’s prejudiced, and he called us trash!”
“But you saved his neck financially,” Nadine reminded her. “And you are attracted to him. I know it.”
“You’re crazy!” Max flopped on the sofa without making eye contact. “Sure, he’s good looking, but his personality leaves much to be desired. I could never be comfortable around him!”
“Look, you said you can deal with men when you’re angry. That should be easy enough around Matthew. You said you don’t like him, so why not let him help you.”
“You’re crazy as a bedbug! This will never work. We’ll kill each other. We’ll cuss each other out without a second thought. I don’t want that negative behavior exhibited around my nieces.”
“Then control yourself because I’m inviting him to dinner on Sunday,” Nadine replied firmly.
“What? I won’t be here,” Max said and stood up.
“Maxine Elizabeth James, you will be here. What are you afraid of?” Nadine asked, walking over to her. Even though she was much shorter than Max and she was the baby, she knew how to intimidate her sister.
“I’m not afraid of that closet Klansman, that’s for sure,” Maxine said, though her voice shook a bit.
“Good. Then you won’t have any problems with him being here.” Nadine replied. “Your appointment is Saturday with the therapist, and then Matthew will be here on Sunday. It’ll all work out. You can tell your doctor about Matthew. You said that she was on your back to move to the next step of that exposure therapy treatment. You’ve been so resistant to dating that this should be a good first step. No pressure.”
“God, Nadine, this is crazy,” Max said, pacing back and forth again. “It won’t work. We despise each other!”
Max bumped against a basket of the baby’s clean laundry that was sitting on the arm of the sofa and Nadine quickly grabbed it before the clothes spilled onto the floor.
“Go to the doctor, tell her about the dinner, and see what she says,” Nadine suggested calmly while starting to fold the clothes from the basket. “This will be good for you. Since you don’t like him, you have nothing to worry about, right?”
Max looked at her and shook her head. Matthew Ferguson was the last person she wanted to have to interact with, but maybe since she despised him so much, her anger might calm any nervousness that she would feel in his presence.
“All right, Nadine. However if he starts with any of that racist crap—”
“I’m sure you’ll put him in his place.”
“You got that right,” Max said as she walked into her bedroom, slamming the door for effect. What had Nadine been thinking? She didn’t want to do this, but could see no way out. Well, she wasn’t going to let that redneck brother of Eric’s intimidate her in her own home. She’d give him a piece of her mind as soon as he got out of line and said the wrong thing.
Her stomach quivered again as she thought of him. He was a handsome devil; she had to admit that much. If only he weren’t such a redneck. If only he liked her. She pushed the thought out of her mind. What did she care about what he thought? He was nothing to her, and she was nothing to him. Satisfied with her conclusion, she lay back on her bed and closed her eyes.
CHAPTER 2
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. – John 8:32
Max watched Nadine give Erika her bottle in her high chair. She couldn’t believe that the babies were almost a year old. She smiled at the girls as they grinned at her showing their teeth. She lifted Derika out of her high chair and put her down. She immediately toddled over to the trashcan that was overrun with trash and Max quickly grabbed her before she could get to it and turn it over. It was hard to keep them from getting into everything. They were generally good babies, and she was amazed that Nadine could handle them so well. She helped her sister clean up after the mess they made from lunch.
“I’m going to Tamika’s next door,” she told Nadine after she watched her put them down for a nap. “She wants to join the gym, and I promised to take her the information. Will you be all right? I’ll probably be gone for about an hour.”
“Sure,” her sister said. “I’m going to lie down myself while they nap. Eric should be home in a couple of hours.”
Max walked out of the house and walked next door to Tamika’s. She saw her friend’s car wasn’t there, but knocked anyway. When she didn’t get an answer she decided to leave the information she’d asked for in her mailbox.
Max returned home and found the living room empty. Not wanting to wake Nadine or the girls, she tip toed down the hall to her room and shut the door.
Max glanced out of her bedroom window a few minutes later and saw Eric getting out of the car with his suitcase and travel bag. He’d had an opportunity to do some apprentice work in Charleston and jumped on the opportunity because the pay was good. She listened as he opened the front door with his key and then heard his heavy steps as he came down the hallway. She was about to step out of the room to greet her brother-in-law before he walked to the other side of the house where he and Nadine shared a bedroom when she heard her sister’s voice. Max cracked her bedroom door and peered down the hall, though she was not sure why.
Eric stopped and put his bags down where Nadine met him. “Eric! I’m glad you’re home. Why didn’t you call me and tell me you were on your way?” Nadine threw her arms around him and kissed him. “I missed you.”
Eric returned her kisses as a groan came from his throat. “I missed you too, even though I’ve only been gone a week.”
Max watched fascinated as her sister’s hands roamed over her husband’s body, and she stifled a gasp as Nadine began undoing his belt. She felt her face grow warm as she watched them kiss. She leaned against the doorframe for support because her knees felt as if they were going to give way.
“Where’s Max?” Eric asked placing his hands over hers on his pants’ zipper.
“She’ll be gone for about an hour over to Tameka’s. We have time. I just put the girls down for their nap,” she said, kissing him fervently.
Max’s curiosity wouldn’t allow her to turn away from the scene before her. Her sister was most definitely the aggressor. She was shocked as she watched her sister eagerly push Eric’s shirt up and kiss his chest.
“Are you sure Max won’t interrupt us?” Eric protested weakly. By now she had pulled his shirt over his head and undone his pants. His arousal was obvious. Max felt heat climb up her neck. She knew that she shouldn’t be watching this. She had never seen anyone actually have sex before.
“I’m sure. I can’t wait any longer.” Nadine moaned. “If we do it here the babies won’t hear us.”
Max noted that her sister sounded breathless and a bit strange. Her hand was in Eric’s pants, but then he pushed her against the wall.
Max watched as Eric reached under Nadine’s skirt and pulled off her underwear. Nadine took them and stuffed them in Eric’s mouth while Max covered her mouth in shock.
“Just a little sample,” her sister said, laughing.
“I want the real thing,” he countered, spitting out the underwear. He fell to his knees and put her leg over his shoulder.
Max felt herself grow hotter as she watched the two of them. Her sister’s face was one of pure ecstasy, and Max was totally floored. A part of her told her to stop watching them, but a part of her wanted to see it all. She had never seen a porn movie, and all she knew was what she had experienced as a child. Max knew that her horrible experience was nothing like what she was watching.
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Nadine had her hand in Eric’s hair as she was moaning while he was giving her his full attention with his mouth. Nadine began to buck on Eric’s face while her whole body suddenly appeared to go spastic. Max was completely entranced. Eric then quickly stood up, and Max watched him holding himself with his hand. She instantly felt guilty about seeing a part of her brother-in-law that should only be viewed by her sister, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to know what it was like to see two people who were in love. She figured that a lot of her questions would be answered.
Max watched as he pushed himself into Nadine as she stood against the wall. “Oh God, baby,” Eric moaned. “It’s so good to be home, and I’m not just talking about this house.”
Nadine wrapped her legs around him, and he was holding her up banging her into the wall while Max continued to watch, mesmerized. Eric’s muscles bulged under the strain of holding up Nadine, but he didn’t seem to mind. His movements were frenzied, and Nadine was encouraging him to fuck her harder. Suddenly, Eric gave her one final shove into the wall, calling Nadine’s name loudly and causing his wife to let out a piercing scream. Immediately one of the girls started crying.
“Damn!” Eric groaned as he allowed Nadine to slide back down and stand on her feet.
Max silently closed the door and sat on the bed. What had she just done? She was filled with guilt, but she was also filled with wonder. She had questions, but to whom could she admit to what she had just done? Nadine would be furious, and she and Eric would probably threaten to move out. She didn’t want that. She thought about her own experience and how painful and humiliating it had been. Nadine seemed totally pleased with what Eric had been doing to her. What was the difference? Love?
She was sure that love had something to do with it, but then again there had to be more. After all, Nadine had practically attacked Eric when he came in the door. The man had only been gone a few days. Max felt that Nadine’s actions only confirmed what she already knew. Her own libido was dead and buried, killed by her attacker. There wasn’t any hope that she could have a meaningful relationship of her own.
She listened as the two of them moved down the hall toward their bedroom. Max quickly tip-toed down the hall and out of the front door. She came back, slammed the door, and walked down the hall into her bedroom.
A few minutes later came a knock on the door, and she opened it to see Eric smiling at her.
“Hey, Max. Just wanted to let you know that I was back,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Max looked at his mouth, thinking about what it had been doing to her sister.
“How was the weather in Charleston?” she asked, looking away from his eyes.
“It was great, but it’s good to be back home.”
I bet, Max thought, though she only nodded in agreement.
“Did Nadine talk to you about Matthew coming over for dinner next Sunday?” he asked. “I know Matthew put it off because I had to go out of town, but I’m back now.”
“Yeah. I don’t know how that will turn out, but I did agree to it,” she said, glad that he’d changed the subject. She still couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.
“Are you all right, Max?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Where’s Nadine?” she asked, sitting on the bed.
“She’s lying down. She said she’s tired, and now that the girls are quiet she’s going to get some rest.”
I bet she’s tired. She looked up at him and noted his puzzled expression. She wondered if there was a way to question Eric without him knowing what she’d done.
“Eric, look, can you sit down? I want to ask you something.” Max looked down at her hands.
Eric looked at her warily. “Sure, Max.”
Max patted a spot on the bed beside her, and he sat down, giving her his full attention.
“You love my sister, right?”
“With all my heart.”
“How do you know that you are really pleasing her and not hurting her?” Max asked, not looking up at him. “How do you know that she likes it?”
Eric stared at her a moment. “Are you speaking sexually?”
“Yes.” She nervously rubbed her hands on her thighs. Eric didn’t say anything for a moment, and she knew that he was watching her. She got up and quickly went to the window and looked out, not wanting him to see the guilt she felt.
“You were watching us weren’t you, Max?” His voice didn’t sound accusatory, and she dared to look at him and then back at her hands.
“You were watching us?” Eric asked again, his voice soft.
Max felt her face grow hot and could not look at him. “I…I…” She couldn’t finish. Her throat felt like she had swallowed cotton. Humiliated at being found out, she felt tears begin to flow from her eyes.
Eric took her hand and pulled her down beside him on the bed. “I had a feeling that someone was watching, but I wasn’t sure until you just asked me that question. Nadine told me that you weren’t home so I thought I was imagining things. I would never ever hurt your sister. I love her with all my heart. If I was doing something that she didn’t like, she would tell me, and I would stop. That’s what people who are in love do. There’s got to be trust and respect.”
“I’m sorry, Eric. I didn’t plan on watching. I couldn’t stop once I saw you. I know once you tell Nadine, she’ll want to move out. I’m so sorry.” She began to cry uncontrollably, and Eric put his arm around her, not knowing what else to do.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Nadine came in. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at Max crying on the bed with Eric’s arm around her. Eric looked at her helplessly.
“Are you all right?”
“There’s something Max needs to tell you.” Eric stood up. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”
He walked over to Nadine and kissed her and smiled and walked out the door, shutting it quietly.
Nadine looked at Max, who was still crying but wouldn’t look at her.
“What is it?” Nadine asked, sitting in the spot Eric had vacated.
Between tears Max slowly told Nadine what she had done. Nadine looked at her in shock. Max expected her to be angry, but somehow she only looked at her with compassion and pity. Nadine put her arm around her.
“Max, we can’t have you spying on us,” she said firmly.
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” she said. “I know you are moving out now, and I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me.”
“We’re not moving out. But this can’t happen again. You’ve got to promise me that. I can understand your curiosity in a way, I guess. However, what happens between me and Eric is our business. I blame myself because we were in the hallway and not in the bedroom, but we thought you were at Tamika’s.”
“It won’t happen again,” Max promised, wiping her eyes with the hem of her shirt.
Nadine pulled her into her arms. “Max, everything happens for a reason. It’s embarrassing to realize that you were watching us, but on the other hand maybe seeing us gave you a glimpse of what a healthy relationship between a man and a woman is supposed to be like. Maybe one day you can have the same thing.”
Max wasn’t sure about that, but she felt that she could only hope that what her sister said was true.
Matthew walked into his condo, sighed, and threw his keys on the table. He had been out of town for the last week and was glad to be home.
He had to admit to himself that it was little depressing to come home to an empty house, no one to greet him. Then again, he wondered how Eric could be so happy rushing home to a wife and crying babies and reminded himself that he was single and free and had no reason to be unhappy.
Here he was twenty-seven years old, and he felt that his eighteen-year-old brother seemed to have his life more together than he did. He pushed the thought from his mind, deciding that he was feeling like this because he was tired from the trip.
He listened to his messages on his answering machine in the bedroom as he sat on the be
d. He noted that Kirsten, one of his on-again-off-again girls, had left a message. He liked her well enough. Kristin was a small blonde with an ample chest. She was cute and perky, just the type he liked. What did he have to feel lonely about? There were a number of women who would come over at a snap of his finger. What Eric had was a wife and two babies, and he had the freedom his brother could only dream about.
He planned on taking Kristen out on Saturday. At least then the weekend wouldn’t be an entire waste. No telling what he would confront by going over to Eric’s and befriending Max on Sunday. He couldn’t cancel again. However, he had been gone a week and felt that he needed to get laid to take the edge off. Then he’d be totally relaxed when he came face-to-face with Maxine James.
Well, it was only Monday and Saturday was a long way away. He wondered if Kristen were busy tonight. No, he wouldn’t call her. She’d think that this was something serious if he called her too many times. He had to be careful. No, he’d call Cathy. Cathy was a petite brunette he dated from time to time. He picked up the phone, quickly found her number in the address book, and called her.
“Hello?”
“Hey Cathy. This is Matt. What are you up to?” Matthew asked in his sexiest voice.
“Matt? Where have you been? I came by the agency, and they told me you were out of town,” Cathy said, obviously pouting.
“I was in Columbia. I’m thinking about expanding my business. Look, are you busy tonight? We can catch some dinner, you know, hang out.”
He smiled when Cathy agreed, quickly set the time of their date, and hung up. What did he have to be down about? He was living the life that his brother could only envy. He began to whistle. He would have a passionate night with Cathy and then go back to work tomorrow. What was he thinking about envying Eric? He had the perfect life: multiple women, plenty of sex, happiness galore. What more could he possibly want? Marriage was overrated in his book. Give him the single life for now. Marriage would come soon enough when he found the right girl.
Broken: The sequel to THE PREACHER'S SON Page 3
