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I shook my head. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“I remembered you needed meds. That’s not amazing. And we’re here.” He pointed ahead. “Just down this road.”
I rubbed at my eyes and forced myself to be present. I might not have called it a road. It looked more like a path. Trees surrounded us, but eventually, we came up to a house lit from within.
“My brother got it ready for us.” He shrugged. “He owes me like, a thousand favors.”
We pulled into a garage that closed behind us, and I took a deep breath. “Thanks for doing this.”
“Don’t thank me again. I’m thanked. I never do anything I don’t want to do, and seeing you through to the end of this mess is important to me. Come on. You’re going to sleep with me.” He got out of the car and flung open the door to the garage that led into the house. I followed him more slowly, taking in the surroundings as best I could, given the haze that was my brain.
It was a lovely wood cabin, or at least it looked like one from the outside. On the inside, I found a fully modern house with three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and a working fireplace. That much I gleaned from what he told me as he chatted around opening and closing closets to make sure it was all as it was supposed to be.
What I saw was a warm, inviting room that had pictures of Max with other people all around it. Max bent down, still telling me about the house, and lit a fire in the fireplace easily. He barely even looked at the maneuver as he did it. Soon, a blaze lit up the comfortable room. He crossed to the fridge and opened it. One picture in particular caught my attention. It was on display above the fireplace. In it, Max posed with people who had to be his relatives. They had a look about them that said they were family—the long face, the cheekbones, the smiles. They all looked like a combo of their mom and dad. All eight kids. Two girls. Six boys.
I remembered he’d told me about his family once, but it felt like a million years ago.
“Remind me their names?” I held up the photo, so he’d know what I was asking.
He smirked. “My mother must have put that photo there. I didn’t really decorate the place. She comes in here when I’m not in town and decorates it because, evidently, the fact that it’s bare makes her uncomfortable. In any case, that photo? We are actually standing in age order with my parents on either side of us.”
That much I had figured out—not the age order, but his parents on either side. “What are everyone’s names?”
“My parents are Hayley and James, the same name as my oldest brother. But people call my father Jim, and my brother is James, which is what they called my grandfather—James.” He winked at me and walked over with a glass of water in his hand, placing it in mine. “Did you follow that?”
I nodded. “Think so.”
“Good. Then, in order, we have James. My older sister, Susan. Me.” He grinned. “I was lucky number three. Two boys after me. David. Cameron. Then Trina. Vaughn. Jerome.” He pointed at the glass. “Drink that. They’re all married. They all have kids. We can go through all of them if you like.”
I swallowed the drink. “No. Please not yet. At some point, if I’m going to meet them, then yes, but not yet. I’m not sure I’ll remember them all.”
“Yeah, we’re going to get those pain meds decreased just as soon as it makes sense.”
I put the picture back where his mother had placed it and sat on the couch. I didn’t know what time it was, if I should have been hungry, sleeping, or running in a circle. I had no idea whatsoever what I should be doing. But the couch was comfortable, the fire inviting, and I thought maybe sitting in front of it was just what I should be doing right then.
He plopped down next to me and put his feet up on the coffee table between us and the fire. Since he’d done that, I did the same, although I’d never have presumed to do that if he hadn’t.
“You will probably meet all of them. I’ll hold them off as long as I can, at least until you’re feeling more yourself. But there is no way that I’m going to be here with a woman and they aren’t all going to want to see who that is with their own eyes. I don’t bring people here, ever.”
I sipped more of my water. “You’ll just have to explain I’m your friend who occasionally screws up your life.”
He laughed, a deep belly version of it, and I grinned. “Sure. I can promise you that Trina has already told them some things. She was living with me when Hayley’swent under.”
That’s when it occurred to me what I should have realized moments ago—Hayley was his mother’s name. The restaurant that had tanked had been named after his mother. I closed my eyes. This was going to be uncomfortable to say the least.
What did I owe his family for having caused him so much pain? It had probably affected all of them to see that happen, and the restaurant had been named after his mom, a gift for her in that way. Max would probably say nothing, but was that true?
“You’re thinking deep thoughts. Are you plotting something that is going to put both of us on the back of a motorcycle heading up a ski mountain, or is it past even what I can imagine?”
I put my head on his shoulder. “Nothing of the kind.”
“I’m not sure I believe you.” He kissed my hand again. “Do let me know ahead of time.”
I groaned. “I’m not up for anything like that.”
“But you’d admit the possibility if you were.”
I smiled. “Maybe.”
