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“I found the woman cowering in the corner of one of the rooms, unable to move in fear,” Max’s mind went back to that day, and he could still see the look of terror in her eyes. “I went to her and managed to get her to move. As we neared the front door, a beam collapsed, and I shielded her with my body, catching some of the flames that jumped from the beams.”
“That’s how that side of your body got burned,” Wallis realized.
Max nodded in confirmation. “A beam had also collapsed, blocking our exit through the front door. I had no option but to move it with my bare hands.” He held up his palms. The scars seemed to look brighter in the dark. “I managed to push the woman out as another beam collapsed.”
“Only this time, it collapsed on you!” Wallis knew that part of the story and shuddered as he remembered it being told them when they’d gone to the hospital. “You were lucky the firefighters got there just in time.”
“Trust me, that plays over and over in my mind.” Max swallowed and shut his eyes as the images of that beam collapsing on him flooded his mind. He opened his eyes and stared at the shimmering river. “I keep thinking, what if they were a minute later?”
“You are really lucky to be alive, my friend.” Wallis patted Max’s shoulder. “Maybe you and Steph should consider going to a marriage counselor, too.” He bit the side of his mouth thoughtfully. “Or at least get yourself some therapy, as you’re still haunted by what happened that day.”
“I feel better now that I’ve told you!” Max looked at Wallis.
“Yeah, but I’m not a therapist. I’m just your friend sitting here and listening,” Wallis pointed out. “You need someone that can help you face and get rid of your ghosts.”
“I don’t know.” Max shrugged. “I think you’re doing a great job helping me by just listening andnottrying to fix something that I don’t think can be fixed by anything but time.” He smiled. “Besides. I’m fine, and I feel I’ve managed to get over it since I started working at the Marine Center.”
“Max, it’s been two years, and I could see in your eyes that it still feels like it happened a day ago to you,” Wallis observed. “You forget, my friend, that we’ve been best buds from before we could walk. I know you and know you’re anything but fine and nowhere near over what happened.”
“Now you’re starting to sound like Steph and my father,” Max told him, and at the mention of her name, his heart squeezed painfully, and his features dropped. “But I think you’re right about Steph and I trying therapy.”
“As you told me, it could be a great help even if things get stormy and we hear things we don’t like or cut us to the bone.” Wallis looked at his wristwatch. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you stay the night? The guest bedroom is made up.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that,” Max accepted the offer. “It will be better than going home to an empty house.”
“Trust me, the first night is the worst and loneliest.” Wallis stood and collected the empty bottle. He turned and frowned. “Did you know who the woman was that you saved? I know that she wasn’t supposed to be in that house. But that’s all anyone knows, as her name was never mentioned.”
“I didn’t know her,” Max answered Wallis. “But I had met her about two months before the fire. She’d gotten a flat tire on the road out of Marco Island, and I stopped to help her.”
Max frowned when he saw the astonished look on Wallis’s face.
“Are you kidding me?” Wallis gaped at Max. “The woman who kept sending you chocolates, flowers, and notes to the fire station?” He gave his head a shake as if he thought he’d heard Max wrong.
“She was thankful that I helped her.” Max shrugged, unsure why Wallis was making a big deal out of it. “She only sent three boxes of chocolates, and the notes were attached to them. It was because she was grateful that I was instrumental in getting her to a job interview on time.”
“No, Max.” Wallis’s voice lowered. “It wasn’t only those notes she sent to the station.” He stared at Max. “Luckily, I’m not breaking any lawyer-client privilege as my father took over the case.”
“What are you talking about?” Cold fingers started to walk up Max’s spine at the way Wallis’s voice had lowered, and his eyes had narrowed. That was Wallis’s,I’m about to drop a bombshell on you,look.
“The woman you helped on the side of the road started stalking Steph!” Wallis’s words floored Max, and the cold fingers closed around his heart. “To the extent that my father had to threaten her with a restraining order. Just to make sure the woman heeded the warning, my father made sure the woman’s father, who is also a prominent Marco Island figure wanting to run as the next mayor, got the memo.” His eyebrows rose. “So, you can imagine all our surprise when you hired her to work at the Marine Center recently.”
“What?” Max choked. “Kendal was stalking Steph?”
CHAPTER 7
Ithadbeentwodays since Steph and the teens had been in Palm Beach with Hannah. The twins and Tammy were having a great time, but Steph couldn’t relax. Her mind was racked with guilt over not having told Max she was pregnant. Then, there was the constant worry that Steph had given him even more space to be with Kendal. On top of that, there was the crushing stress and anxiety over having not resolved the first huge blow-up she and Max had ever had. Steph hated the thought that she’d left him wondering if she was having an affair with Tom.
“He’s the one having an affair!” Steph muttered as she pulled on a summer dress in her room. She’d just had her morning shower and was about to head downstairs to join her family for breakfast. “Or is possibly having an affair.” She corrected herself. “You don’t know that for certain, Steph.” She slipped on her sandals. “Innocent until caught in the act.”
Steph pulled the bedroom door open and, thanks to her quick reflexes, managed to narrowly avoid being punched in the face as Hannah was about to knock on the door.
“Oh, shucks, sorry, Steph!” Hannah’s eyes rounded as she dropped her hand.
“Didn’t you hear me opening the door?” Steph stood staring at her sister.
“No. My mind was far away,” Hannah admitted.
Steph frowned as something flashed in her sister’s eyes. It was the same look of confusion and uncertainty that had been there the other day when they were discussing Hannah’s relationship with her fiancé.
