by Grady, D. R.
After a raucous lunch, most everyone left. That provided KC time to unpack her and Ryan’s things. She decided to start with Ryan’s, since that might help him to acclimate better. Not that he was exhibiting any doubts about their move. She had sole dibs on that problem.
Frowning, KC entered the room Max chose for Ryan and found both of them already there. They were intent on putting Ryan’s bed together. Two male heads close together as they bent over the frame, Max with a sturdy screwdriver in hand.
Ryan watched the entire process intently while he handed Max screws. KC felt that emotional lump rise into her throat again, and swallowed, hoping she wasn’t becoming a goober.
Males didn’t like emotion, and since she lived with two of them now...
“Hi, Mom,” Ryan exclaimed and Max looked up. His blue eyes caught hers and she moistened her lips with her tongue before smiling at the pair.
“You two look busy.” Okay, that was a little obvious and definitely lame.
But Ryan nodded his little face solemn. “Max and me awe puttin’ my bed togethew,” he explained. As though the procedure was brain surgery risky.
She laughed. “I see. I thought maybe I’d unpack your things.” KC couldn’t resist ruffling his hair. She really longed to grab him and hold him tight, but thought that might embarrass him in front of Max. There were male standards apparently that they all knew and understood.
“That’s good, right, Ryan? You’ll probably need clothes,” Max said and with his free hand, ruffled Ryan’s hair too.
“I will need clothes,” he agreed and then turned wide eyes on her, “and my fiwe twuck and my caws, and…” and he launched into an extended toy list.
“I’ll unpack everything, honey,” KC promised and got busy transferring his things from the boxes into his dresser. Since she’d been doing this since he was a week old, placing his clothing in his dresser and the closet went fast.
Next, she unpacked his books and placed them in the proper order on his bookshelves. Ryan came over to investigate, but eventually wandered back to help Max place the box spring and mattress on the bed frame. Not that she figured Max particularly needed the help, but it seemed to please Ryan to assist.
She was amazed by how patient Max was with her son. “He’s had a lot of practice”, a voice reminded her and she realized that while this was true, now he would have a kid full time for an eight month minimum. He couldn’t give Ryan back after a few days.
Biting her lip as she emptied the toy boxes into Ryan’s bedroom toy chest, she thought about that. She had ample faith Max didn’t mind in the least. Turning, she watched the pair make Ryan’s bed, and decided that contrary to her negative thinking, they were going to have a blast. With a little smile, she wondered if she might have to kidnap her son to get him back when she returned.
She hoped Ryan wouldn’t have too much difficulty leaving Max. Sighing, she returned to the waiting boxes. Max had already thought of that, because he planned for her to move back in with them once she returned. And she could remain here until she found a new home. This was a comfort.
Not that it surprised her. Max tended to think of everything.
*****
Max watched KC linger over Ryan’s unpacking and he saw her stroke a shirt there, or fluff a stuffed animal here. Like she tried to memorize everything she touched. He saw her run a hand over Ryan’s pillow and give his pants an extra little pat. He suspected he saw tears in her eyes when she unpacked some picture frames and gazed at them, her finger tracing the images.
Eventually he and Ryan left the room for a romp outside. When they returned, with Ryan tired enough to take a nap, KC was in her own room.
After he watched Ryan fall asleep, Max hovered in her open doorway. She hung clothes in the closet and he noticed the slump of her shoulders in addition to the sheen in her eyes. She sniffed and rubbed a hand over her face and his heart dropped.
“KC?” he whispered and she stiffened before turning beseeching eyes on him.
“I’m going to miss him so much.” The ache in her voice clenched his heart. He opened his arms. She dropped the garment and walked into them. He felt her arms curl around his waist and wished she clung for another reason, but he would take what he could get.
“I know.”
“I’m going to miss you too,” she admitted and his heart swelled. That’s all he wanted. For her to miss him, just a little. Maybe he also wanted her to realize she didn’t have only lukewarm friendship feelings for him, either, but he’d take whatever he could get. And lap it up like Spuds lapped up all the petting and attention bestowed upon him.
“I’m going to miss you too, KC. I can’t even tell you how much.” He longed to tell her how he felt, but ruining what they shared would devastate him beyond repair.
“I need you guys to have a good time.”
He tugged her closer, needing to savor these moments with her in his arms. “We will,” he promised, sure in this one promise at least.
She nodded and her hair tickled his chin. Max swallowed, wanting so much more. Having her in his arms was ecstasy and agony. Soon she would be gone, across the ocean in a foreign land, so far away from him he didn’t even want to contemplate.
Lainy and Mitch hadn’t known each other when they endured their separation. They hadn’t even met in person until Mitch came home. But he and KC had been working together for a year, and he’d been in love with her for easily that long. And now he needed to be a man and let her leave for some God forsaken desert where she might die.
Max cut his perilous thoughts off. He would go insane if he kept this up, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. He had the care of Ryan and Spuds and he had KC now, right here in his home, and she’d be here for a little while.
A lot could happen in that short amount of time. Or not.
Chapter 8
KC woke the next morning feeling a bit disoriented. She glanced around the room, not comprehending where she was. The bed was hers, but the room... Oh, right, Max’s house.
After the confusion passed, she stretched and then tumbled out of bed. She had to wake Ryan and dress him for church. Biting her lip, KC realized she had no idea about Max’s morning schedule. Or any part of his schedule that didn’t pertain to work. If he was sleeping, she didn’t want to wake him. But sometimes Ryan was loud in the morning.
She cracked her door and crept into the hall, making for Ryan’s room. She slipped inside and stared down at her son’s face, relaxed in dreams that made him smile. She watched one of those precious phantom smiles cross his lips now. Love erupted and spread through her with the warmth of a heated blanket on an icy night. Spuds jerked a leg, yawned and rolled over. KC stared down at her precious family and knew an empty ache she didn’t know how to assuage.
She felt movement behind her and turned to see Max reel through the door. He wore a T-shirt and a pair of cotton pajama bottoms, but neither were terribly wrinkled so she assumed he hadn’t slept in them. Probably donned them because she was in the house. Not wanting to delve into Max Morrison’s nighttime attire, she smiled at him and blocked all sexy thoughts from her mind. Since they didn’t have any business being there in the first place, she reminded herself in a caustic internal voice.
He returned her smile and rubbed a hand over early morning bristles. The rasping sound pierced something in her lower abdomen. She halted that thought too. But he stood in a shaft of light, and KC noticed that with his tussled curls and that pre-shaved face with the sun beaming off him, Max was rather attractive.
“Morning,” he said with sexy early morning huskiness. KC stopped her eyebrow from rising at that thought. Where had the idea that Max was sexy come from? What was going on with her traitorous brain?
“Morning,” she returned, trying to figure out her strange thoughts. These random, destructive notions had to stop. This was Max.
“Thought I’d come in and watch the morning routine. I’m going to need to know this.”
For some reason, his
statement spoke to something internally too. KC stared at him for a moment before remembering she needed to reply.
“Good idea,” she said, but he waved a hand in front of her face and suddenly he was Max again. A familiar, comfortable Max, and the moment passed.
She poked him but he avoided her and she stuck her tongue out at him. He grinned at his brattiest and against that stubble, it was devastating. In that moment he flipped back to the unfamiliar, uncomfortable, sexy Max again. Groping to recover her equilibrium, KC struggled to understand what was happening, wondering if she had somehow stumbled into an alternate universe.
While she fought to figure out what was wrong with her, Max used her momentary lapse to poke her and she laughed, more because she appreciated his noticing and using her weakened defenses against her than because it was an appropriate response.
“Knock it off,” she mock hissed.
“You started it,” he returned and grinned at her again.
That smug male look was very familiar, but now she realized something else. Max didn’t have his glasses on.
“What happened to your glasses?” Her voice held suspicion.
“Huh?” he said and then reached up to his face. “Oh, I mainly need them for eye strain. I can see without them, except for driving.”
“Gotcha.” She cocked a head at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your glasses.”
“Well, you’ve never lived with me before, either,” he said enigmatically and then looked at Ryan. “Should we wake him?”
“Yeah, but remember, this could get ugly,” she warned and they set about waking up her son.
*****
They finally coaxed Ryan out of bed and mostly dressed him. Max didn’t even seem daunted by the experience. When she commented, he replied, “I’ve got millions of nieces and nephews,” and she could accept that, since millions was only slightly off.
“What’s for breakfast?” Ryan skipped down the stairs in front of them. KC bit her tongue when she found herself wanting to tell him to be careful.
“Good question,” Max said and turned to her. “What’s for breakfast?” This in his most beguiling expression. KC rolled her eyes.
“Let’s see what’s in the fridge before we decide, okay?”
“Okay!” Ryan jumped the last two steps. He raced into the kitchen the moment his little feet hit the floor.
Max winced. “Be careful opening the fridge, it’s full.”
Nodding, KC preceded him into the room and then gingerly opened the fridge. She saw lots of eggs and two gallons of milk, both of which had been opened. She recognized one of them as having been hers, chose that one, and a carton of eggs. There were two nearly full loaves of bread in the bread drawer so she selected the honey wheat loaf.
“Ryan, I have a job for you,” she called after he let Spuds out the door.
“Mom, shouldn’t I watch Spuds?” he asked, looking a bit worried about Spuds out in unfamiliar territory.
“I can do that.” Max took out an electric skillet. “I take it we’re having French toast?”
“Yes.” KC helped Ryan climb onto the stool she kept in the kitchen for him.
“What’s my job, Mommy?”
She removed the other carton of eggs and placed both on the counter. “See how both cartons have some eggs but neither is full?”
He nodded and wiggled a bit on the stool.
“Okay, your job is to make one of the cartons full of eggs. Can you do that?” She needed to keep an eye on him. Ryan was fascinated by breaking eggs.
“Yeah.” He bobbed his head. He started taking eggs out of one carton and placed them into the other, and his tongue crept to the corner of his mouth as he concentrated.
She turned to Max, who stood grinning at them. KC tried for a quelling look, but couldn’t manage it, so she raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got a job too. Besides watching the mutt.”
“I see.” Max leaned back against the counter top. He spread his hands out, not sounding worried. “Your wish is my command.”
“Um-hmmm.” KC didn’t believe that, although it did conjure up some rather naughty images, which didn’t have any place in her perception of Max. “I need a bowl, a whisk, cinnamon, vanilla, and you’ll need to select a meat. Ham, bacon, or sausage are your choices.”
“I can handle that.” He nodded and moved to several different cupboards. KC watched as he removed the items she needed so she would know where to find everything again. He pulled some sausage links from the fridge and he and Ryan made a game of rolling them on the griddle.
She mixed the ingredients, and then had them move the sausages so she could start placing the bread. Ryan enjoyed helping so she let him put each slice down. Max watched with a faint smile on his face and helped keep rogue sausages from rolling under the bread.
He also set the table, with help from Ryan, and before long she dished everything up before they sat down. Max gave thanks for their food before they dug in. He especially seemed to appreciate their meal.
“Don’t you cook breakfast?” she asked, feeling a bit bemused.
“Nope, I always just have cereal.” He reached over to help Ryan cut his slice of toast as though he had been doing so for years.
“Oh, well, I usually cook something for us, so...” KC trailed off.
“So, I’m gonna be pretty lucky for a little while,” he finished and flashed that killer smile again. KC blinked, hoping the action would counter some of the effect, but it didn’t. What was wrong with her? Sleep in a guy’s house for one night and she started having lustful, totally irrelevant, not to mention inappropriate, thoughts about him. Why?
Next thing he knew, she’d jump his bones. Like she had any experience doing that. When one became a mother as early as she, soon after she left medical school, while in the Navy, there hadn’t been much opportunity for dating. She had next to no experience. With a start, KC realized she hadn’t kissed a man since college, and that had been the summer between her sophomore and junior years.
She took a sip of coffee and tried to fathom where this conversation she was torturing herself with came from. Very soon she was going to a military base, to live with a bunch of other women. She did not have time, or any business, thinking thoughts like these. KC especially didn’t need to be thinking about Max in this way. Like he would welcome her attentions anyhow. He might be a nerd, but he was an amazing man with a large, wonderful family, more money than he needed, and a genius IQ. He could do a lot better than her. With her mixed up family, reversal of fortune on top of medical school bills, and a son. Puh-leeze.
Fortunately, the chaos of trying to prepare for church waylaid any other stray thoughts. Max helped, again so he would know the ropes and they climbed into the car on time.
The morning passed and Max’s mom invited them back to her house for lunch. Max leaned over and whispered into her ear that the invitation was common, so not to feel uncomfortable. The brush of his lips against her ear set those naughty thoughts coursing through her again and KC just nodded dumbly, afraid to speak.
She took Ryan’s hand and buckled him into his booster seat before she strapped herself in and Max started the car. They drove the short distance to his parent’s house, with Ryan’s excited questions keeping the conversation rolling in the small space.
When they arrived at Max’s parent’s house, Ryan shot out of the car nearly before she could unbuckle him. Swarms of nieces and nephews were already busy in the yard, and Ryan joined the herd. Her skirt hem caught on her high heel and she held onto Max with one hand and used the other to unhook it. He held onto her with surprising ease.
“I don’t think there’s a kid here he doesn’t know,” Max commented.
KC laughed. “Of course not. The bigger question is - are there any kids here you don’t know?”
“No. I’m happy to report I can tell you which parents go with each kid. I can even tell you their names,” he said with a fake sniff, but his grin totally ruined the haughty eff
ect.
“Good for you.” She patted his arm. Which he then offered her and she took because the ground looked a bit precarious for someone in high heeled sandals. “Thank you, kind sir.”
“You’re welcome. Sophy, not so high!” he called to a little girl who was climbing high up a tall tree.
“She’s going to fall,” KC said worriedly as they watched. Max nodded and she gasped when Sophy turned, looked down, and shrieked. Max covered the distance between them and the little girl in a matter of seconds.
“It’s okay, baby, I’m here,” he assured her and reached his arms up. She’d climbed so high, he still couldn’t reach her. KC kicked off her shoes before crossing to stand beside him.
“Can you pick me up?”
Max looked her up and down and rolled his eyes. Then, before she had time to assimilate what he was about to do, he grabbed her around the waist and held her above him, like she was kid-sized. She reached up and caught the little girl, who was shaking and crying.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, we’ve got you,” she crooned and when she had a good grasp on Sophy, tugged. The little girl tumbled into her arms with a shriek and KC folded the sobbing child against her chest while Max lowered them to the ground.
He put his arms around them and added his reassurances to KC’s. Then he bellowed “Melly!” to come for her daughter. Which was a moot point because at Sophy’s first shriek, one of the women and a man clustered in a small group had turned and sprinted across the lawn toward them.
KC saw the woman was Melly, Max’s sister and her husband, Rick. They took their daughter, who clung to them and both smiled thanks to her and Max. “I have a kid too,” KC said with a smile.
“Yeah, and I think we’ve rescued him a few times.” Melly grinned and then her daughter wrapped her arms around her parent’s necks and they held her close.
KC laughed. “I’m sure you have and that probably won’t be the only time. He’s definitely all boy.”
“Yes, and fortunately, we’ve got lots of experience with kids. Thanks for rescuing Sophy.” Melly hugged her daughter.
