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“We don’t know anything other than he and his cousin were airlifted to Burlington after colliding on the slope.”
“Dear Lord. The poor guy must be beside himself.”
“He was.”
“You didn’t want to go with him?”
“I did, but he thought this wasn’t the right time. Caden, his son, has been a bit uncertain about me. Max hasn’t had a girlfriend since Caden was born.”
“Ah, I see, so he’s a little pushed out of joint at the idea of sharing his dad with someone.”
“I guess.”
“Your feelings are hurt because he didn’t want you to go with him.”
“Sort of, although all I care about is that his son and nephew are okay.”
“Which is very noble of you, but you also care about him and want to be part of his life.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then you must be patient. His son is his top priority always, but especially when he’s hurt. And you may have to accept that you’ll never come first with him. The child he’s been raising on his own for seven years will probably always be first. Can you live with that?”
“Yes, of course I can. It was just kind of jarring to go from being blissfully happy with him to being cast aside.”
“You weren’t cast aside. He’d never want you to feel that way. It’s hard to put into words what happens to a parent when their child is in any kind of danger. It’s a feeling I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”
“You don’t have enemies,” Lexi said, smiling for the first time since Max got the call from his mother.
“Still… You know what I mean. It’s a terrible, awful feeling unlike any other I’ve ever had. When you got sick, I was quite certain I wouldn’t survive it.”
“You were a trouper.”
“Eventually, but not at first. Have patience with him, Lex. He’s a wonderful guy who clearly cares for you a great deal. We all saw that when he was here. Give him some time to deal with the accident and whatever his son needs. He’ll be back for you. I’m sure of it.”
Lexi wished she was as certain of that as her mother was, but for now, all she could do was wait and hope that she’d hear from him soon.
And while she waited, she would pray for his son and nephew—and for Max and his family.
The next fewhours would go down as the most stressful of Max’s life. Nothing could compare to the hell of having to deal with people and mass transit when he was coming out of his skin with worry about Caden and Chase. He wondered for a second if he could give himself a heart attack or stroke or something equally unpleasant by stressing at this level. Before he boarded the flight, he’d tried to call the hospital directly, but a nurse had said there was no news yet as the doctors were still working on the boys.
It didn’t help that the flight from Houston to New York was one of the roughest he’d ever been on, with the flight attendants ordered to stay seated for most of the trip.
The woman sitting next to him wept quietly as the plane bumped through the sky. She had long brown hair and hazel eyes.
“This sucks, huh?” Max asked her.
“So bad. I hate flying on a perfect day.”
“The plane is designed for this, and we’re perfectly safe.”
“Intellectually, I know that. Tell it to my shaking hands.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Not soon enough for me.” She glanced over at him. “I couldn’t help but notice that you seem really stressed. Is it the turbulence?”
“No, my son and nephew were hurt in a skiing accident, and I’m on my way home to Vermont.”
