Page 116 of In Your Wake

“Thank you so much, Mitchell.”

I extend my bent arm to her. “Why don’t I walk you back to your room, then I’ll go look into that noise?”

She places her hand in the crook of my elbow. “That would be perfect. Such a fine gentleman.”

Back inside, we walk up to her room, exchanging pleasantries.

“Thank you both once again for hosting this party for Vennie and Asher. It was absolutely perfect.”

“Not a problem,” Maxine says. “It was our pleasure.”

“You two make a good team,” Mabel says.

She tells me once again about her late husband and her annual tradition of staying at the inn for their anniversary. Even though I’ve heard this story countless times, the idea of such a long-lasting love, and the pain of losing it, hits me in the chest every time.

Once I wish her a goodnight, I rush down the hall and meet Maxine, who’s already standing at the door with a toolbox at her feet. A low, but no less loud noise echoes from behind the door.

“I’ll take care of this,” Max says, unlocking the door. “The radiator acts up sometimes. I thought I’d fixed it.”

“Guess you didn’t,” I say with a smirk, totally messing with her, but she spins around, her eyes spitting fire.

“You don’t need to keep doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Jumping in. I’ll handle this, like I’ve handled everything.”

I follow her into the room. “Whoa, I was playing around.”

“I’m sick of everyone saying what I can and cannot do. Sick of being dismissed as this weak woman who can’t survive on her own. Or can’t take care of a simple radiator leak.”

I love this sudden spark of energy and determination, but I school my smirk because now’s not the time to poke the bear. “To be fair, there’s nothing simple about a radiator leak. I’m sure most people couldn’t take care of something like that.”

“Well, I can.” I now notice she’s gripping a wrench, and she points it at her chest. “And I have. I’ve done so much for this place. For years, I’ve kept it going. I’ve fixed toilets and pipes and painted and redone wallpaper before you even got here. I’ve managed to keep people employed for years. Since I was eighteen. I learned it all on my own. And I’ve done it all while helping your parents out when they needed you, but you weren’t around.”

“Max, calm down. No one’s saying you can’t do this. And I know you can handle this alone. I’m just saying that you don’t need to.”

She drops her chin and shrugs. “I appreciate it, but I’ve got this. Why don’t you go back downstairs and start cleaning up? I’ll be down once this is done.”

“You sure?”

She tilts her head, slamming her wrench-holding hand onto her hip. “Didn’t I just say I could handle it?”

I laugh softly. “You did.” I turn to leave, but then stop. “For what it’s worth, Max, I’ve never doubted you could fix this place up. I’m impressed with what you’ve done. Everything you’ve done. Not just for the inn.” I run a hand along the back of my neck with a sigh. “Only, I was worried that you didn’t see it.”

“See what?”

“All that you’ve accomplished. I wanted you to see that you could do this. When I got here, you didn’t seem too interested in sticking around or fixing it. As I recall, you even offered to sell it.”

“I never would have sold it.” Her shoulders slump, and she hugs herself tightly, her eyes darting away. Then, she sinks down onto the bed. “It’s just been hard.”

Seeing her in her beautiful peach dress holding a rusty old wrench is almost too much. I pull my phone out and snap a picture.

She jerks her head up. “Did you take a picture of me?”

“I’m sorry, but I had to.”

“Delete that. Right now.” She drops the wrench on the bed, then rushes toward me and tries to get the phone, but I tuck it behind my back.