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“I want to be what’s next for you. Caden and I want to be what’s next.”
“And I’d love that, but I want to take it slow and have the chance to get to know him and vice versa.”
Max groaned. “Haven’t we lost enough time?” He turned on his side to face her, his hand on her shoulder. “All I want is a lifetime of nights like last night.”
“I want that, too, but I want us to do this right.”
“I thought we did it pretty damned right.”
Smiling, she said, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Why are you being the wiser parent?”
“One of us needs to be. Let’s proceed with caution so we don’t give him a reason to dislike me right out of the gate.”
“He won’t.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but this would be the first time you’d be trying to bring a romantic partner into his life, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you have no idea how he’s going to react. This is different, Max, and he’s going to see that. We have to give him space and time to come around to accepting me. And I want to get to know him, too.”
“Fine,” Max said, sounding as grumpy as he felt. “We’ll do it your way.”
“You’ll be glad we did.”
“Let me ask you this… If it was just you and me, would you stay forever?”
“Yeah, I would.”
“Well, that’s good to know.” He let strands of her hair slide through his fingers. “How soon can you come back?”
“Probably by the first of the year. Our tenants are moving out of my parents’ house. I’ll move into the garage apartment so they can lease out the rest.”
“You could just move in here.”
“Not yet.”
“Ugh, adult Lexi is making me mad.”
She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “I bet I can make you happy again in five minutes.”
He put his arm around her to bring her closer to him. “It won’t take that long.”
This weekend wasthe best thing that’d happened to Lexi since the last time she’d been with Max. She’d been so in love with him that the thought of being separated for even a day had been painful. At the time, she’d thought that applying to UC Berkeley was the biggest mistake of her life when the man she loved with all her heart would be back in Vermont, “seeing other people.”
When he’d suggested that, she’d wanted to die. The thought of him with anyone else was beyond unbearable to her. But he’d been so sweet and gentle suggesting they were too young to try to hold their relationship together while they were so far apart in college.
The memories of that excruciating time swirled through Lexi’s mind while she showered as Max took Daisy outside.
He’d been right, of course, but no one could tell her that then. She’d been inconsolable as she’d slogged through her first semester of college with a badly broken heart. She hadn’t partaken in any of the activities her suitemates had engaged in, preferring to spend time alone with her memories.
Without telling her parents, she’d applied to transfer to UVM for the following year and had been accepted. She was about to tell Max the good news when disaster struck in the form of a raging fever and rash that had sent her to the clinic on campus. Before that day was out, she was in the hospital with the diagnosis that would take over her life for the next decade.
Missing Max had suddenly become the least of her concerns. But even in the heat of battle against a relentless foe, he’d remained a larger-than-life character from her past, who’d held a very special place in her heart. She’d clung to the memories of him and them together to get her through hell. In all the time they’d spent apart, there’d been only one other man who’d captured her attention—the young oncologist who’d seen her through treatment.
Dr. Jacob Borden.
