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“Maybe I can find something you may have overlooked,” Hannah told her. “Next time I go home, I’ll be sure to keep a close eye on him.”
“Translation—you’re going to psychoanalyze the poor man.” Steph laughed.
“Like you said, we can’t have our mom dating just any man!” Hannah looked at Steph.
“We actually shouldn’t be interferingat all,” Steph advised. “Mom is a grown woman, and we can’t tell her what to do or who to date.”
“Yes, but we can make sure she’s not getting herself into a difficult, or worse yet, dangerous situation,” Hannah defended their actions before asking, “Do any of our other sisters know?” Her eyes widened. “Does Gran know?”
“I think Lorry suspects something, but you know Lorry, she’ll turn a blind eye until the truth slaps her in the face,” Steph answered. “But I don’t think any of our other sisters know. Nicky’s too caught up with her new family, romance, and bookstore.” She raised her eyebrows. “Ashley and Jess haven’t been home since Christmas.”
“It’s just you and me that know.” Hannah tilted her head thoughtfully. “I agree that we must keep this a secret for as long as possible.” She looked at Steph. “Or at least until Mom decides to tell us.”
“I’m sure she will when she’s ready,” Steph said. “I did tell her I wouldn’t say anything.”
“Except to me,” Hannah teased. “Speaking of relationships—” She caught Steph’s eye. “When will you tell me why you suddenly decided to fly the coop and run away to Palm Springs?” She held up her hands. “Not that I’m complaining. I love having you and the kids here. But I can’t remember a time when you and Max have been apart.”
Steph pursed her lips, contemplating what to tell Hannah. Out of all her sisters, Hannah would be the one that would understand as well as being more qualified to help.
“Please don’t tell me you need space from your perfect marriage!” Hannah looked pained. “You and Max have the life every one of us aspires to.”
“Well, none of you should do that!” Steph’s voice wobbled.
She sucked in a shaky breath as Hannah’s words hit a nerve that was a lot more sensitive, thanks to her pregnancy. Steph took in a deep breath, trying to gain control of her wayward emotion, but to her mortification, she couldn’t and burst into tears.
“Steph!” Hannah said, startled by her sister’s reaction. “What’s the matter?”
“Do you know how hard it is to live up to everyone’s expectations of what my life appears to be?” Steph wailed. “Mine and Max’s marriage isn’t perfect. In fact, I’m not even sure if we still have a marriage.”
She hated herself for no longer being able to keep all her emotions to herself. But it was too late to stop the flood even if she could. Even if she did try to back pedal and make up an excuse for her outburst, Hannah was far too shrewd to let the matter go.
“Steph, what is going on?” Hannah quickly recovered from the shock of Steph’s outburst and put her arm around her shoulders. “Please, talk to me.”
“What do you want me to say?” Steph sobbed.
“How about starting with what’s going on with you and Max,” Hannah encouraged.
“After he was injured in that fire two years ago, Max withdrew,” Steph admitted. “He started to push me away and to change.”
“He went through a lot,” Hannah said gently. “Nearly dying, especially in such a traumatic way, will change a person.”
“He refuses to talk about or to let anyone in,” Steph told her. “He has a lot of trouble sleeping, and when he does sleep, he has nightmares. I’ve asked him on a few occasions what his dreams were about, but he says he can’t remember them.” She wiped away her tears. “He refused to admit he has a problem. When we were in the Bahamas, he refused to take off his shirt even when we were doing water sports or sunbathing.”
“I know Max is sensitive about his scars.” Hannah gave Steph a supportive squeeze. “It does take people who’ve been disfigured time to accept what’s happened to them and come to terms with how it’s changed them.”
“But will he ever do that if he refuses to admit he has a problem and seeks help?” Steph voiced one of her fears.
“What aboutromanticissues?” Hannah asked as delicately as she could.
“We’ve hardly beenromanticat all since he got a clean bill of health,” Steph admitted. “It was only while we were in the Bahamas that ourromanticlife sort of sparked back to life.” She sighed resignedly. “While we were there, it was as if we had no problems at all. But as soon as we got home, we slipped right back into the pattern we’d been following since the fire.”
“Have you told him how you feel?” Hannah asked.
“Maxi is so busy with the Marine center that I hardly see him, and when he’s not busy, I’m busy with either the twins or the hotel,” Steph informed her.
“You two didn’t try to talk about all this while on vacation?” Hannah looked at Steph inquiringly.
“No!” Steph shook her head. “We were too busy having a good time and recapturing our romance.”
