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“I should have continued Ellie’s project. I’ve just been…” If I didn’t know any better, I’d say his eyes watered. “I just miss her so much.”
I leaned forward and placed my arm on his. “He’ll come around. You just have to give him some time.”
“Come…” He helped me with some of my bags. “Let me show you downstairs and you can get to work.”
I followed him down the stairs that already had so many memories. Max had made me laugh and moan with ecstasy in this basement. This was also the place where his world had been ripped out from under him.
“Do you have that baby picture I asked for?”
Hirsh nodded. “I must admit, going through all those old photos brought back so many memories. Wonderful memories.”
I had decided that instead of just adding to the room, I’d give it a complete makeover. My first job was taking down most of the shelving.
I placed sex toys in shadow boxes. I framed posters and DVD covers. Everything was put back in its place with the corresponding year.
I even added a couple of certificates I’d made, and with Hirsh’s help, I’d managed to get two of the adult entertainment awards trophies. But the most important item added to the room was the year 1991. The year Max was born. The lone item, the baby picture his father had given me. I knew without a doubt, this was the most important and wonderful accomplishment in the Levin family. Blood or not.
“Everly dear. I…” Hirsh had come down to check on me and was speechless. His mouth hung open in awe and it made it all worthwhile. I couldn’t wait to bring Max here. I couldn’t wait to see his face when he saw the remodel.
“You know, I told Max he needed to start doing things out of the kindness of his heart.”
I thought there was more to Max’s story. I knew helping me, while selfless, was a means to make good.
“He already is selfless. He gives so much money to Phoenix House.”
“That’s just signing a check. I wanted him to experience what it was like to truly h
elp someone. Very soon he’ll be coming into a lot of money and I didn’t want him to lose sight of what’s important.”
And what was important? Not me, since I hadn’t heard from him today.
I was giving him some space. He had been so quiet last night in the car when he’d dropped me off after the wrap party, but he said he’d call, and I’d believed him.
But he didn’t call.
Three days went by since I’d remodeled the accomplishment room, and I didn’t hear a word. Not a call. Not a text. Not even a handwritten note by carrier pigeon.
“Of course he didn’t call.” Sadie leaned over and rested her arm on mine in sympathy, but her voice was nowhere near sympathetic. “You’re too good for a man like him.”
A man like him? She didn’t know him. Not many people did. They knew what he wanted them to see. If I hadn’t spent the last three weeks getting to know him—the real Max Levin—then I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. Unfortunately, I had gotten to know him. He was selfless. Smart. Ambitious. Everything I could want in a man. But he was also lost. I couldn’t imagine what he was going through.
But that doesn’t give him an excuse not to call.
“He’s going through some stuff right now.”
I wasn’t going to spill his secrets. The skeletons that had fallen out of the closet were of epic proportions.
I glanced around the newly renovated living room, the warm gray of the walls worked perfectly with the couch, and the accent pillows and new artwork pulled everything together.
“Don’t make excuses for him.” Sadie was quick to hate on Max. I didn’t know why. I was guessing she had been burned in the past.
“I’m not. Look, I knew what I was getting into when I started this…relationship.” I don’t even know what we are—were. “He’s not the man you think he is.”
“You really like him?” Grace asked.
Liking him was beside the point. Right now, all I wanted to do was make sure he was okay. That he was coping with the truth. Not to mention, I needed him to get over to the house so he could see the new accomplishment room.
“He’ll call. It’s not like I’m pining away for him. I’m…doing stuff.”
