In a Heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) (39 page)

Home. She was home.

Where would he go when she left? To his empty house, where he barely saw his mum and his sister? He couldn’t stay here either; not that Lisa or Niki would object, but he couldn’t imagine staying here without Stella.

Without Stella he didn’t have a home.

Emotion overwhelmed him and he felt his whole body starting to tremble.

“You OK? Are you cold?” Stella asked.

“I’m fine. I just missed you.” He forced his body to stop shaking and tried to relax. She was here now; everything was fine.

Max wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how he didn’t want her to leave him, how they could make it work even after she went back to London. He simply couldn’t. Especially not with the huge lump in his throat. What if she said she didn’t feel the same way and he fucked up the last couple of weeks they had together? He’d waited for so long; he could wait for a few more days. He’d tell her, but not just yet.

Forcing the panic attack he’d just experienced to subside, Max closed his eyes and, soothed by Stella’s quiet breathing, fell asleep.

*

It was almost seven and Stella felt strangely nervous. Her aunt hadn’t given them any clue as to what her surprise was, but they all knew it must be something big, because Niki wasn’t a ‘keeping secrets’ kind of person.

“Hey, how’s dinner coming along?” Lisa asked, strolling into the kitchen. She hadn’t come with them to the supermarket, and she’d refused to come out of her studio to help with the cooking. Not that Max needed any help – as usual he made the whole meal himself. Stella was in charge of making the salad and tasting the sauce for the meatball tagliatelle every ten minutes. When it came to cooking, Max was obsessed with perfection.

“Good, I guess. I’m not doing much anyway,” said Stella, as she chopped some cherry tomatoes for the salad. Max turned away from the stove and walked towards Stella, bending down to kiss her.

“You’re doing plenty, babe. You’re entertaining the chef, and that’s a very important job. Do you know how long the waiting list for that position is?” Stella and Lisa laughed simultaneously.

“Yeah, really long,” Lisa said, sarcasm dripping from her words and making Stella laugh even harder. Those two loved to tease each other and Stella was happy to reap the amusing benefits.

“Lisa’s just jealous, ’cos she used to be the main chef entertainer,” Max said with a smirk. “But that smart mouth of hers always got her into trouble.”

“It’s not my fault that you’re so easy to tease. Or that you’re so immature that the only way you can answer back to my jokes is either with physical violence or by throwing food at me.” Lisa took a bottle of water from the fridge and flopped onto the seat next to Stella.

“Physical violence? When have I ever used ‘physical violence’?” He made air quotes with his fingers and leaned against the counter, an amused expression on his face.

“When you swung me over your shoulder and threw me on the sofa, yelling at me not to come back into the kitchen. Or when you pushed me in the pool, after I said you burned the ribs on the BBQ again.”

“Oh, yes – I remember.” Max smirked at the memory while Lisa frowned.

“Really, cuz? You couldn’t do any better than this?” Lisa said to Stella, inclining her head towards Max.

“Come on – leave him alone,” Stella grinned at Max, who blew her an air kiss. Lisa rolled her eyes and brought the bottle to her lips. “Before he throws you in the pool again,” Stella added. Max laughed and, covering the distance between them in two long strides, claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss.

“Oh God, there’s two of them now,” Lisa exclaimed, biting her lower lip to suppress her smile.

“Two of what?” someone said from the living room, and all three of them snapped their heads in the direction of the voice. The very familiar voice.

Stella jumped from her chair, almost knocking it down and ran towards the living room.

“Mum!” she shouted, before crushing Helen’s body in a bear hug. “What are you doing here?” She pulled away and looked at her mother’s face, still unable to believe she was actually here.

“Surprise,” Niki said, as she approached them, grinning. Stella had spoken to her mum two days ago and she hadn’t mentioned anything about coming to visit. “I convinced her to take some time off and come to visit. After all, she’s my best friend and she still hasn’t seen where I live.” She winked at Helen, who beamed with pure joy.

Stella didn’t know that the two women had managed so quickly to rebuild their relationship to what it had been before. Her mum hadn’t mentioned it and neither had her aunt, but maybe that was a part of their plan. It didn’t really matter – her mum was here and she was ecstatic. Stella hadn’t realised how much she’d missed her until that moment.

“I’m so glad you came,” said Stella and pulled her in for another hug.

“Me too, sweetheart. I missed you. All of you,” Helen said, looking at Lisa and Niki in turn. Lisa stepped forward to give her aunt a hug.

“Welcome, Aunt Helen. It’s so good to see you after all this time,” said Lisa, and Stella saw her eyes well up.

Max appeared from the kitchen and looked a bit uncomfortable. Was it Stella’s imagination, or was he nervous about meeting her mother? She grinned at him in an attempt to ease his discomfort.

“Mum, this is Max,” said Stella as he approached them. Helen’s eyes lit up as she sized him up with one quick look, and her lips spread into a smile.

“Hello, Mrs Quinn; nice to meet you,” he said politely, extending his hand.

“Please, call me Helen. Nice to meet you too, Max. I’ve heard so much about you.” She smiled at him and looked pointedly at her daughter.

Max blushed. He actually blushed. Stella had never imagined that was even possible. He looked so cool and cocky all the time, she never in a million years thought someone could make his cheeks flush. It was adorable. Her heart expanded with so much love for him that it pushed against her lungs and she found it hard to breathe.

Stella followed Niki and Helen upstairs to help her mum settle in. Without anybody realising, Niki had moved her desk and her computer into her own bedroom, and had prepared her office as a room for Helen. It had a sofa bed, a chest of drawers and a small wardrobe, so she’d be comfortable enough. The room was small and didn’t have en suite like the other bedrooms, but at least Helen would have her own space. Stella wondered if her aunt had gone through all this trouble because of her and her relationship with Max. If Max wasn’t sleeping in her bed every single night, she could have shared her room with her mother; there was more than enough space for both of them. Even though Niki worked long hours, she’d still managed to pay attention to what was going on around her. Maybe she’d felt how important it was to Stella to spend as much time with Max as possible, simply because they both knew her time with him was limited.

Pushing all those depressing thoughts out of her head, Stella left Niki and her mum to unpack and walked back to the kitchen, where Max and Lisa were arguing over whether ‘Lost’ or ‘Prison Break’ was the best show ever broadcast on TV. She decided to stay out of it, at least until food started flying around, and took plates and cutlery out to set the table.

Dinner was perfect. For the first time since Eric and her dad had died, Stella felt she had all the people she loved around her. Everybody else seemed in a good mood too. Even Max managed to relax around Helen, especially after everyone complimented him on the delicious meal he had, once again, prepared for them.

Niki shared the rest of the plan for Helen’s stay – she had taken time off work as well, leaving her assistant in charge of the spa. She wanted to show Helen as much of Italy as possible in the short time available – which meant they’d be travelling a lot and Stella wouldn’t be able to spend that much time with her mum. She was fine with that – in a very short time it would be just the two of them in London. Stella was glad that her mum would have the opportunity to rekindle her friendship with Niki. Helen desperately needed her best friend in her life again.

When they had finished eating, Niki and Helen went into the living room to finish their wine and chat. Stella stayed behind to help with the dishes, even though both Max and Lisa tried to make her go with her mother. She felt that giving Niki and Helen some sort of privacy was what they needed just then. She’d catch up with her mum later.

Soon the kitchen was tidy, the dishwasher was full and running, and Lisa had taken out three glasses for them. She poured orange juice in one and Prosecco in the other.

“What are you drinking, Max? Prosecco, beer, red wine?” she asked.

“Nothing for me. I think I’ll grab a beer with Beppe.” He looked at Stella uncertainly, waiting for her reaction.

“You wanna go out tonight?” Stella asked, surprised.

“I don’t
want
to, but I think I should. You haven’t seen your mum in weeks and maybe you two should have some alone time.” He bit his lower lip and looked down.

“Lis, can you give us a minute?” Lisa nodded and, taking her glass, went into the living room. “Max, don’t leave. I won’t be alone with Mum anyway; Niki and Lisa are here too. She’s probably tired and will go to bed early. I’ll have all the time in the world to be with my mum when I get back home; she’s not here for me.”

Max looked unconvinced and Stella felt there was something more.

“Are you nervous around Mum because we sleep together?” Max looked away and didn’t answer her question which made Stella smile. This twenty-two-year-old man, who had no problem starting fights over her and kissing her senseless without paying attention who was around, was embarrassed to sleep with her when her mum was in the same house. “Max, that’s ridiculous. I’ve told my mum we’re dating and she knows you spend the night here. Besides, she’s a very understanding, open person. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I want her to like me,” said Max, quietly, as if he wasn’t sure if he should say that. Stella’s heart skipped a beat.

“She already likes you, baby. She sees how happy you make me and that’s a good enough reason for her to like you. Please, don’t leave. She’d love it if you stay.”

“OK.”

Stella grinned happily and led Max into the living room before he changed his mind.

Chapter Thirty Two

Max sat on the huge, green beanbag and Stella followed him, sitting between his legs and leaning back against his chest. It was more than big enough for both of them and it felt cosy. For a moment he stiffened, unsure of where to put his hands. Turning her head to face him, Stella smiled encouragingly, and brought his arms around her. He exhaled the breath he was holding and seemed to relax a little.

Niki and Helen were chatting about their plans to visit Milan over the weekend, Lisa was sitting in the other beanbag, opposite them, and had her sketchpad on her knees, with her fingers swiftly moving over it. It all seemed so normal, so natural, as if time had turned back and their lives hadn’t changed dramatically over the past five years. Only – they had.

“What are you thinking about?” Max whispered in her ear.

“How good this feels.”

It wasn’t long before Helen started suppressing her yawns and decided to call it a night. She wished everyone ‘goodnight’ and climbed the stairs, with Niki in tow.

“It’s still early for us. You guys wanna watch a movie?” Stella asked.

“I haven’t slept all day, unlike you,” Lisa stood up, giving them a pointed look.

“Who said we
slept
all day?” Max teased. Lisa rolled her eyes and tore a page out of her sketchbook.

“Whatever. Here.” She extended her arm towards them, holding the page she’d just torn. “See how sickeningly cute you look.” Winking at them, Lisa climbed the stairs to her room.

Stella held the drawing in her hand, her mouth open. How could Lisa draw that in such a short time? It was perfect: the exact image of Max holding Stella on the beanbag. Lisa was a very talented painter, but Stella thought she was even more amazing with a simple pencil in her hand. Somehow she’d managed to catch the connection they shared with a few black strokes. Stella couldn’t stop looking at it.

“She’s incredible, isn’t she?” said Max, looking at the drawing over her head. “When I first saw her at the counselling meeting, she was sitting on a chair, her legs crossed and a sketch pad over her knees. She never stopped drawing, even when she talked, but she never showed us anything. It took me four weeks of listening to others before I gathered enough courage to speak myself. The day I spoke about my dad, Lisa came to me after the meeting and gave me a sheet just like this one.” Max stopped talking and even though Stella couldn’t see his face, she knew he was struggling with emotion. She felt his heart speed up and his hand trembling as he absently picked imaginary fluff off the beanbag next to her. “When I looked at it, it was as if I was hit by a high-speed train. The emotion behind that simple pencil drawing was exactly what I’d felt when I’d talked that day. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s got an amazing talent of capturing feelings on a piece of paper.”

That was exactly how Stella would describe their drawing – feelings on a piece of paper.

“Stella ...” Max whispered, his lips touching the skin under her ear. “I don’t want to watch a movie.” His breath was burning her skin and she was aware of every inch of him around her.