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I reached over to give her arm a squeeze. “I’m so sorry, honey. No kid should have to go through all that.”
“Well, good thing I’m not a kid then.” Her voice was tight, and she still wasn’t looking up from her nails.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “But maybe it’d be fun to get to be a kid every once in a while. I could sneak you out more like this. Fairhope does all kinds of fun little festivals. There are a ton of cute boys your age,” I added.
Max finally looked up and smiled a little. “If we keep doing this, Uncle Stones is going to find out and he’ll fire you.”
“Then I’ll be out of your hair,” I said.
“Maybe I don’t exactly want you out of my hair.”
Tears stung at my eyes, and I couldn’t help reaching over to give her a one-armed side hug. Max laughed and swatted at me. “Stop being weird or I’ll take it back.”
“Stop being so sweet and I’ll stop being weird.”
“Fine. That yellow dress you wore last week made you look pale as a ghost.”
I laughed. “There’s the old Max.”
17
CHRISTIAN
The only sound was Max’s fork and knife scraping against her plate. I’d ordered us takeout from her favorite Thai place and we were both working on plates of pad thai. I knew I’d been even more distant than usual lately and was trying to make it up to her, even if the attempt was feeble.
“How is tutoring going?” I asked.
Max looked up from her plate, eyes twinkling. “You sure you don’t actually want to know what Lola was wearing today?”
I stabbed at my food. “I mean what I asked. How is tutoring going?”
Max watched me, then laughed. “Good, actually. Lola is pretty cool and she’s not a bad teacher. You should be nicer to her.”
“Lola is my employee, Max. Being ‘nice’ to employees serves no purpose.”
She folded her arms. “Really? You don’t think happy employees do better work? Because I bet they do.”
“Employees who respect their boss work well. Being too nice to employees only gets people in trouble. Just ask your Uncle Hector.”
Max focused on her attention back on her food. She didn’t like when I brought up either of my brothers. I was lost in my own thoughts until she reached for a fortune cookie at the center of the table. Her usually chipped and neglected nails were glossy black with detailed white skulls on each and a rainbow-colored skull on her thumbs.
I reached across the table, taking her wrist. “What is this?” I asked.
Max jerked her hand back, scowling and rubbing at her wrist. “Fingernails.”
“Who did this for you?”
“Who cares?”
My eye was twitching as I imagined all the possible scenarios. “Were you seen?”
“You’re going to have to be more specific, Uncle Stones.” Max was trying her best to sound disinterested and casual, but I could see how fast she was breathing now. She knew she’d done something wrong, and all I had to do was apply the right amount of pressure for her to crack.
I leaned forward and lowered my voice to a deadly whisper. “Tell me everything.”
Max gulped, and all her defenses crumbled. Her lip quivered and tears started to fill her eyes. “I don’t want you to get mad at her. It was my idea and I made her do it.”
“Did Lola take you out of the tower? Into town?”
“Just for a pedicure. And we put a hat and sunglasses on me. There’s no way anybody recognized me.”
I sat back in my chair. I was seeing red, but I admittedly felt bad making Max so upset. I spent a minute gathering my thoughts before I spoke again. “Do you know what could happen if you’re seen?”
“No,” Max said quietly. “Just that you said it would be bad for both of us.”
“There are people who want nothing more than to see me out of this company, Max. Some of them would simply love the excuse to claim I’m distracted and still loyal to my disgraced brother by taking you in. Others would use you to blackmail me. They might put two and two together and try to legally have you taken away from me. All I have is a handshake agreement with your dad’s girlfriend. There’s no guarantee a legal battle would be pretty or end favorably. Do you understand me?”
She nodded as a tear slid down her cheek. “I’m sorry, Uncle Christian.”
I took a deep breath and reached across the table to give her shoulder a squeeze. “Do I need to worry about this happening again?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Will you promise not to get mad at Lola?”
“No,” I said, clenching my jaw. “She was made well aware of the dangers in taking you into town. She and I are going to have a conversation first-thing tomorrow morning.”
* * *
I checked the time on my phone. Lola should’ve been here five minutes ago. I’d been letting her constant tardiness slide, but I decided I was going to address it with her when she came in, along with her misguided adventure with Max.
