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“You’re like one of those movies where the kid in old timey gear cries and asks for more, please,” Max said.
“Well, I’m not now.” Though he would accept that his childhood had a modern Dickensian feel to it.
“Now you’re in construction,” Max mused. “Ever did a real crappy job?”
“Not one I didn’t fix.” He knew contractors got a bad rap, but he tried to be better. He was pretty much a one-man business, and that meant he had control over every part of the operation. Except the money. What the hell was he going to do without Van?
How could Van even be thinking of leaving them? Jake didn’t need him the way he and Elisa did. They all had roles to play, and Van was abandoning his.
“It’s here somewhere. Nate and your girl will figure it out, I’m sure.” Max leaned over. “Have you thought about hiring some protection until they can find this guy?”
“Max, I don’t have the money to pay Long-Haired Roger for our car,” he pointed out. “I’m in this tavern waiting for my girlfriend to pick me up because it’s too cold to walk back to the valley. I certainly can’t afford to hire a bodyguard.”
“That Taggart fellow has a lot of them,” Max mused. “Hold his bathroom hostage and get him to send you one.”
Sometimes Max’s advice wasn’t the best. “I’ll be careful. And hey, he can’t get me in a car anymore since I don’t have one.” The thought settled in his gut like a millstone. “You don’t think this person will come after Elisa to get to me, do you?”
The last thing he wanted to do was leave her, but could he put her in the line of fire when he didn’t even know why someone was coming after him? Didn’t he owe her his protection? For the first time he thought about pulling away.
For the first time he thought about the fact that he might not be good for her.
He had no money. He had no home to offer her beyond the ones he worked on, so she wouldn’t have a place of her own. Now he couldn’t even say he was mobile. He depended on her for transportation. He would need a loan for a new vehicle. Could he even get one?
This was what Van was talking about. Dallas would give them financial stability, but what would it take from them?
And on top of it all, someone was trying to kill him—had nearly killed him, and he’d brought her newfound dad along for the ride. He’d seen how shaken she’d been. On the outside she’d been entirely professional but when he’d reached for her hand, there had been a tremble there that betrayed the waves of emotion she had inside. She wasn’t cold or unfeeling. She felt far too much.
What if next time she was the one in the car with him? What if next time the killer succeeded?
Max leaned over, his expression going serious. “You keep it down. There are people listening, and that is not a line of thought you want getting back to your woman. They do not take kindly to it.”
“I’m thinking about her protection.”
Max whistled. “Well, think about your own, brother, because that woman knows how to use a gun, and if you do the whole ‘I’m dumping your ass to save it’ schtick, you’ll not only have her coming at you, but all the other women in Bliss, too. Even the little girls, and don’t count them out. My Paige can kick a shin, and Nell’s baby has a death stare I swear she learned at birth.”
“I’m serious, Max. She could get hurt.” She could get more than hurt if today was any indicator. He’d been driving those mountain passes for months now and had in other states before. She was new to them. If it had been her vehicle, she might have gone over the edge.
Max looked around as though trying to make sure no one was listening in. “And I’m serious, Hale. If I have taught you nothing else, I need you to learn this. What did I teach you was the first rule of Bliss?”
He remembered this one. “Don’t tell Rachel when you eat hot wings.”
Max frowned. “The real one.”
“Don’t piss off the women.” It seemed to be Max’s mantra. “But I’m not trying to piss anyone off. I’m trying to keep the woman I love alive. How do I live with myself if I’m the reason she dies?”
“You won’t have to if you keep talking like that.” Max frowned, his brow furrowing. “Okay, I’m going to get serious with you. How would you feel if Elisa had someone after her and she broke up with you to protect you, and before you say it’s different, I need you to think about it because this is where that baby’s death stare comes in. I’m not joking. It’s like a laser Nell can point at your soul.”
