Leave it to Max (Lori's Classic Love Stories Volume 1) (24 page)

Unable to stop the tide of memories, the wash
of feelings, she let go of everything she’d held back, even when he
was deep inside her. Her tears mixed with the raindrops that ran
down her cheeks as she realized she still loved him as much now as
she had then.

Maybe he'd changed, but she didn't think he'd
changed enough, and that meant he would leave.

Max might be a kid but he wasn’t dumb.
Something was going on with Garrett and his mom. He just couldn’t
figure out what.

Sometimes his mom seemed to not like Garrett
at all; then other times, right now, for instance, she seemed to
like him a whole lot.

He’d never seen anyone kiss that way, not
even on television. If he didn’t know better he’d think his mom and
Garrett had done a lot of kissing before.

A few people walked by and smiled, which made
Max smile, too. Garrett and his mom acted as if there was no one
else in the world but them, standing there kissin’ in the rain
under the light. If Max were a girl he might think it was
romantic.

Max rolled his eyes and made a gagging noise,
even though no one was watching. It was the principle. Kissing was
yucky!

Almost as if she’d heard him, his mom shoved
Garrett away and stared at him with wide eyes. She looked scared,
and Max didn’t like that, so he inched forward, ready to step
between the two of them and... Well, he wasn’t sure what. Detective
Klein would know. Max would have to figure it out as he went along,
just like Indiana Jones.

Then Garrett did something that made Max stop
in his tracks. He reached out and ran a thumb down her cheek, along
one of the raindrops that looked like a tear but couldn’t be
because his mom only cried when Max got hurt. Her face got all
funny, then Max wanted to cry himself and he didn’t know why.

“Hush,” Garret whispered, and Max’s mom’s
bottom lip wobbled.

“Hey!” he shouted, and both of them jumped
apart as if lightning had struck nearby.

All of a sudden everything was the same
again, and Max wondered if he’d really seen something weird, or if
he’d seen that kiss at all. His mom grabbed his hand and pulled him
toward the car, and nobody talked about anything but crabs and
rainstorms.

Max was thinkin’ all the way home. He’d been
hopin’ and prayin’ and even writin’ a story about Garrett bein’ his
dad. If Garrett fell in love with Max’s mom, the dream would come
true. Max was so scared he’d jinx it by wantin’ it so bad he could
barely keep still. Luckily, his mom thought he had ants in his
pants because he was all wet.

Even if Max hadn’t liked Garrett bunches,
he’d still consider asking him to be his dad, because he couldn’t
remember the last time his mom had smiled with her mouth so that
the happy reached all the way to her eyes. As much as he wanted
Garrett to be his dad, Max wanted his mom to be happy. And he’d
never, ever, known his mom kiss anyone except him, so Garrett must
be special.

“Mom?” he interrupted in the middle of a
chatty sentence about crab cakes. She talked a lot when she was
nervous. “Now that you’ve kissed Garrett, shouldn’t you get married
before the baby comes?”

Her face turned white, which made Max start
to babble. “Because Joey Caldwell’s sister kissed a boy and then
she had baby.”

He glanced at Garrett, who looked like he was
grinding his teeth the way Mom always did when she was really mad,
and Max figured he’d somehow stumbled hip-deep in dog do.

“I don’t think you should play at Joey’s
anymore,” his mom said.

“I don’t. He’s one of the mean kids.”

“Good. Just because I kissed Mr. Stark
doesn’t mean I’m having a baby. There’s a bit more to it than
that.”

Garrett snorted, which earned him a glare
that Max was glad he hadn’t gotten.

“We’ll talk about the particulars of babies
later. In private.”

Then she and Mr. Stark glanced at each other
and the look in their eyes made him frown.

Something was going on with his mom and
Garrett Stark. He just couldn’t figure out what.

* * *

Garrett waited downstairs while Livy gave Max
a bath and put the boy to bed. He’d found an extra pair of shorts
in his car—he always kept something for emergencies—but there’d
been no shirt. So he’d looped the towel Livy had tossed him around
his neck and waited for her to come back.

Quicker than he’d expected, her footsteps
descended. She stopped dead when she spotted him in front of the
fireplace, and her gaze skirted over, then away from, his chest.
Her obvious attraction stirred Garrett. At least they had sex, if
nothing else. He should accept that and be happy, but he couldn’t.
Not anymore.

“That was quick.”

She sat on the couch. “The excitement, the
chill, then the warm bath. He was asleep as soon as I poured him
into bed.”

Livy rubbed her arms as if she were just as
chilled. Her hair was still damp. She’d scooped it off her neck in
a ponytail, though several tendrils escaped to frame her face and
dust her neck. She wore a flannel nightshirt that reached past her
knees and fuzzy slippers he wanted to feel against his calves.

Garrett had it bad. Why did he keep fighting
it?

He sat next to her on the couch, and when she
would have scooted away, he tugged her close. “Lean on me, Livy. I
won’t mind.”

“I haven’t leaned on anyone for a long
time.”

“Just because you haven’t doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t.”

“What if I lean on you and you move away?
I’ll fall again.”

He let her go because she kept trying to get
free, even though his arms felt empty without her. “Is that what
you’re so afraid of? That you’ll need me and I'll be gone?”

She shrugged but didn’t answer.

“You don’t trust me, and I can’t blame you,
even though it pisses me off. You share Max, you share your body,
but you share none of yourself.”

“I’m no good at that.”

“You could be if you tried.”

“Maybe I should.” She pulled a piece of paper
out of the pocket of her nightshirt “Read this. Max gave it to me
before he fell asleep. It’s one of his fear series.”

Garrett glanced at the neat but childish
handwriting: ‘“What I Want More than Christmas.’” He raised his
gaze. “Catchy title.”

Livy motioned for him to continue
reading:

The boy named Max was scared of one thing
more than anything else. He was afraid he’d never have a dad
because he wasn’t good enough for one. He was a bad boy, though he
didn’t try to be. No matter what he did he broke things, and
sometimes even himself. He couldn’t say he was surprised when no
dad seemed to want him.

But one day a man came to Savannah and he
was so much like the perfect dad Max couldn’t believe his luck. And
all he wanted, even more than Christmas, was for Garrett Stark to
be his real daddy. So he believed it with all his heart and he
wished for it, too. He even prayed a bit. And what he wanted the
most happened.

Garrett’s eyes burned, so he blinked at the
paper a while as if he were still reading, until the burning went
away.

“What makes me the perfect dad?”

“Who could be more perfect than you, since
you are?”

“Probably anyone.”

“Why would you say that?” She threw up her
hands. “You’ve been nothing but wonderful with him since you got
here. You want me to talk to you—talk to
me,
Garrett.”

“I can’t write,” he blurted.

There. He’d actually said it to another human
being and not just an empty room. Amazingly, the world did not stop
turning.

“Since when?”

“Since before I came here.”

“So why did you come here?”

“I thought maybe
this
place, where it
all started for me, would help.”

“You came here for the book.”

“Even if I did, it didn’t do any good.”

“Ever have this problem before?”

“Not this bad. But then, I always—” He
stopped.

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you do when
you can’t write?”

He didn’t want to tell her. But he didn’t
want to lie, either. There had been enough of that already.

“I move on. New book, new town. If the town’s
wrong, the book won’t come. So I move. It’s always worked
before.”

“But not this time.”

“There’s something. I keep hearing a story,
but I can’t quite get it. My mind’s too full of Max. Too full of
you. And the longer I’m here, the less I care about the book. The
more I know of Max, the less I care about a career that was once
everything to me—and I’m scared.”

Livy stared at him as if she hadn’t seen him
before, as if she wasn’t sure she was seeing him correctly now.
“Why is that?”

“Because if I fail at the only thing I’ve
ever been able to do right how can I expect to be a decent father?
Something I have no example of, no experience at, no calling for
whatsoever.”

“Pretty much like every father or mother ever
made.”

True enough. What was she getting at?

“You love him.”

“More than I ever thought I could love
anyone. And if you think it’s better that he never know the truth,
I’ll agree, and I’ll leave if you think I should. I’ll never come
back. I’ll never bother either of you again.” He held her gaze,
fought not to bemoan all he’d said, all he’d volunteered to give
up.

“Why do you think he’s better off with no one
than with you?”

“You’ve only been telling me that since I got
here.”

“I was wrong.”

He shook his head. “Writing’s all I know. If
I can’t do that, I’m no one. Max is better off with someone.”

“You’re an idiot.” She took his hand and put
her lips to his palm the way she always used to. When she would
have released him, he clung, and she let him. “You’re Max’s father,
and that’s someone enough for me. We’ll tell him the truth as soon
as I get his gramma out of jail.” Her lips twisted. “Again.”

* * *

The following week was a good week, full of a
family life Livy had never expected to enjoy with the man she’d
never thought to see again. She didn’t want it to end.

Even though Max had literally chosen his
father to be his father, for Max to get what he wanted Livy would
have to live up to her lie. She was terrified Max was going to
despise her for it.

But one problem at a time.

At the end of that perfect week, Livy and Kim
once again awaited Judge McFie in court. He’d fined Rosie one
thousand dollars on the contempt charge, and today they would
finish the interrupted proceedings.

“Has Rosie told you where she hid the golden
goose?” Kim asked.

“She didn’t take it.”

“Right.” Kim’s eyes widened as she caught
sight of something behind Livy.

Livy craned her neck to see Rosie—or a woman
who resembled Rosie—entering court. Hair braided demurely, she wore
the court dress Livy had purchased years ago. The garment appeared
brand-new—never worn, because it hadn’t been. She’d even put on
panty hose—a torture device straight from the Inquisition,
according to Rosie—and pumps—shoes “invented by sadistic men.”

“What’s gotten into her?” Kim murmured.

“A sense of decorum?”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

Livy and Rosie’s relationship was better than
it had ever been. Amazing what a little truth and a two-week
separation could do for a family tie. Though they’d probably never
see eye-to-eye on everything, Livy could live with that. Once you
knew that someone loved you, you could live with a lot.

Rosie took her place at their table and gave
Livy a kiss. There’d also been a lot more touching and kissing than
Livy was used to from her mother, but she was adapting and had only
had her nose crushed by an unexpected embrace the first three
times.

“What gives, Mama?”

“Compromise. I hear that sometimes if you
give a little, you get a whole lot.”

The click of high heels and the twitter of
twin voices approached. This time the assistant district attorney
managed to keep the sisters on their own side of the room, though
their glares reached all the way across, and so did their
words.

“That getup isn’t going to work, Rosie,”
Violet called. “You can change your clothes, but you can’t change
the stripes on a zebra.”

“What zebra?” Viola asked. “When was there a
zebra?”

Rosie just raised her eyebrows at Livy and
folded her hands on the table.

Though Livy should have been glad Rosie had
taken her advice and dressed for the occasion, seeing her lively
mother like this made her think of retired nuns and cane-wielding
grannies. Livy didn’t like it. Rosie was more Rosie wearing a
banner on her chest and sandals on her feet.

“Thanks for trying, Mama. But next time, wear
what you want, okay?”

“Next time? Who said there was going to be a
next time?”

“If there isn’t, I’ll never have any fun in
my job.”

Rosie patted Livy’s cheek. “That’s the nicest
thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“What has gotten into the two of you?” Kim
demanded. “Has there been an invasion of the body snatchers that I
don’t know about?”

“No,” Livy answered. “I just realized how
much I love my mama.”

“About time,” Kim muttered.

Since Kim was right, Livy let it go.

“See?” Rosie squeezed Livy’s hand. “Give a
little, get a whole lot.”

Judge McFie entered and sat at his bench.

“I guess we’re about to find out just how
well that works,” Livy said.

“Got a goose?” he demanded before anyone
could say a word. He narrowed his eyes behind his thick glasses and
peered about the room. “Where’s Rosie?”

“Right here.” Rosie raised her hand and waved
at him.

“What are you up to?”

“She’s trying to pretend she’s normal, but we
all know better,” Violet answered.

“I object.” Livy stood.

“To what?” McFie continued to peer and
scowl.