Leave it to Max (Lori's Classic Love Stories Volume 1) (28 page)

“To Alaska?”

“That was my agent’s idea of a joke. I’m not
going to Alaska. But I’m thinking that maybe I should go somewhere,
alone, for a little while. Try one more time to find this Muse of
mine I seem to have lost.”

“Go.”

The speed of her answer made him blink.

“Do what you have to do. We’ll be right
here.”

He tilted his head, searching for annoyance,
anger, distrust. All he saw was love. And that tickle of an idea
he’d had while jogging through Bonaventure Cemetery began to itch
like a new case of poison ivy.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

“I am!” Max stood in the doorway. “We believe
in you, Dad.”

“Yeah.” Livy cupped his cheek, guided his
face back to hers. “We believe in you.”

Standing in the Savannah sun, with love
shining on him from both blue eyes and brown, Garrett started to
believe in himself, too.

“Come on, Mom.” Max ran ahead, the cape of
his vampire costume trailing in the night breeze.

The streets were filled with ghouls, ghosts
and goblins. Halloween had come to Savannah.

Though the nights were cool, they rarely got
cold; still, the passing of time whispered on the wind. Flowers
fading past prime, a few leaves tumbling down and loneliness
descending with the early-to-sleep sun.

“You think he’ll be there?” Rosie asked.

“Max thinks so. And I’ve learned that what
Max believes seems to happen. It’s downright creepy.”

“He believes with all his heart and soul,
sugar. There’s power in that.”

Livy hoped her mother was right. Garrett had
called, though not as often as she would have liked, but he’d
always sounded distracted, busy, and he wouldn’t tell her where he
was.

Oh, he always said the appropriate things,
that he loved her and he would see her soon, but “soon” seemed to
have a different meaning to Garrett than it did to her. As the days
stretched into weeks, and the weeks to a month, Livy had to admit
she was getting nervous. Because things had come full circle in
more ways than one.

In Savannah, the excitement over Max’s
parentage had died down quicker than Livy had thought it would.
Probably because lying wasn’t as big a crime as it used to be.

People whispered about her for a week and
then they were done. She’d gone to school and talked to Max’s
teacher and the principal. To her relief, the teasing for Max had
been nonexistent, mainly because his dead father had turned out to
be someone famous.

Klein checked in often, even asked if he
should hunt Garrett down. But if she believed in the man she still
loved with all her heart, she had to trust him, or they’d never get
past their past.

Kim had forgiven her. As Rosie said, she was
a good friend. But she’d also taken a leave and gone back home on a
secret emergency. All this cloak-and-dagger stuff was getting on
Livy’s nerves.

Rosie had been on her best behavior. Not an
arrest in weeks. She was even civil to the sisters when she saw
them, though Livy didn’t think that could last much longer.

“Mom, look!” Max stood on the sidewalk in
front of Garrett’s house. The place appeared dark, abandoned,
haunted. What was so great about that?

Then she saw where Max was pointing. The
dining room coffin now sat in the middle of the lawn. The lid crept
open, except no one appeared.

“Uh, Mom.” Max appeared uneasy. ‘‘Can
you...?” He waved his hand at the coffin.

Livy let out an exasperated sigh,
cloak-and-dagger, mystery-schmystery.
She stomped over to
the coffin and peered inside.

‘‘Boo!” Garrett said.

She merely raised her brow. He was dressed
like his son—white face, red lips, black cape. She couldn’t help
but laugh. They were so alike it was scary.

He climbed out of the coffin. “Did I scare
you?”

“Oh, yeah. Terrified me.”

He opened his cape, gathered her inside and
kissed her. At least the kiss was the same as it always had been,
but when he pulled back, his eyes shimmered with an emotion she’d
never seen there before and wasn’t able to place.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“Why don’t you tell me?” He reached into the
coffin and handed her several hundred pieces of paper.

“The book?”

“Most of it.”

“What’s it about?”

“A little boy with angel eyes.”

Livy had no idea what that meant, but Garrett
seemed thrilled. Though she was happy for him, disappointment
tickled deep down inside. “You did need to get away, be alone, move
along.”

He shook his head. “Read the dedication.”

Livy moved closer to the street where the
lights shone on passing tiny tigers, Pooh-bears and ballerinas.

For my Muse, Livy. And Max, my greatest work
of art. It’s not what people do that gives them worth, but who
loves them. Which makes me the richest man in the world.

Her eyes burned. He’d heard her at last and
seemed to believe it, too.

“It’s beautiful, Garrett. But I thought you
went searching for the Muse.”

“My mistake. She was right here all the time.
Love, Livy. It opened my heart, brought back all the magic. I
thought new places, fresh vistas, adventure gave me the words. But
the words were in me.”

“I could have told you that, Dad.”

Garrett opened the cape so Max could cuddle
inside too. They must look like the strangest family in Savannah,
and that was saying quite a bit.

Family.
That sounded very good.

“Since you went to a new place and found that
illusive book, I don’t understand how you came to this
conclusion.”

“Because I went to that new place and got
nothing, but when I came back here, I discovered what I needed had
been there all along.”

“You’ve been
here."

“For the past three weeks.”

Livy wondered if she should be mad, decided
it wasn’t worth it and kissed him again. What she’d seen in his
eyes had been confidence in himself.

“Ugh!” Max escaped the cape. “If you’re going
to do that, I’m going to the next house with Rosie.”

Livy glanced at her mother, who had tears in
her eyes. “I’ll take him a few places and we’ll be right back.”

“Thanks.” She snuggled deeper into the cape,
into Garrett “I could get used to this vampire getup. Dangerously
sexy.”

“You think so?”

“Always have.”

He hugged her tighter. “I’ve got a surprise
for you.”

Livy smiled to herself. “I’ve got a bigger
one for you.”

She hoped he was happy with the surprise. She
wanted everything to be perfect this time for them both.

He released her to pull legal-size documents
out of a hidden pocket in the cape. Were they moving to Alaska
after all?

And it would be “they,” because she wasn’t
going to let him get away twice. No matter how much Savannah felt
like home.

But a glance at the papers revealed he’d
bought the Alexander house.

“Is that okay with you?” He sounded anxious,
as she continued to stare at the deed. “I wanted us to have a
place, and I didn’t think it fair to kick your mother out of the
ancestral home.”

“As if.”

“Will you live with me here, raise our son,
be my wife?”

“Under one condition.”

“Anything.”

She raised a brow. “Anything? You haven’t
heard what it is yet.”

“Doesn’t matter. Anything is worth a lifetime
with you. Name your price.”

“A nursery.”

“You want more kids? Great. I’m game.”

“You’re gamer than you think.” She took his
hand, placed it on her still-flat stomach. “We’ll need that nursery
in less than eight months.”

His mouth dropped open. “How did that
happen?”

“The usual way. We seem to have a knack for
it.”

“But we...I... Uh.”

“That’s what I said. But sometimes life just
happens, no matter how we try to control things. At least I’ve
learned that much. What’s meant to be will always find a way. Like
us.”

“Why didn’t you tell me as soon as you found
out?”

“I wanted you to come back for love, not
duty.”

“But I was here all the time.”

“I didn’t know that!”

He picked her up and spun her around. “I love
you. I love Max.” He set her down carefully, then bent and put his
mouth to her stomach. “Love you, too.”

Livy mussed his hair. “For a guy who couldn’t
say the words, you’ve become awfully chatty.”

“Once you know love just is, it’s all over
the place.”

“Dad!”

Max ran up the walk. For a change he didn’t
trip. Come to think of it, he hadn’t since his cast had come off.
And Livy hadn’t found an open drawer or door for even longer than
that. Maybe all sorts of good things were in store for them.
Couldn’t hurt to believe.

“I got a whole bag of candy. You want to
count it with me?”

“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”
Garrett’s gaze hit on Rosie. “As soon as I take care of one thing.
Ma’am, may I have your daughter’s hand?”

“Garrett...” Livy began.

“No. I’m going to do this right from the
beginning. I might not be a gentleman by birth, but I can learn.
Ma’am?”

“You want my daughter’s hand? Does she want
yours?”

“Yes,” he said, with such complete confidence
that Livy smiled.

“Well, in lieu of a bride price I’m going to
ask a favor.”

“Anything.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Rosie looped
her arm through his. “Come on inside, and let me explain.”

Her mother and Garrett walked off, heads
together. Livy had known they would love each other. Later she’d
pry out of Garrett just what it was her mother wanted. Favors for
Rosie often meant trouble.

She gazed up at the stately gothic house that
would soon become her home. She’d miss her old place, but it would
always be right where she’d left it. Besides, home wasn’t where you
laid your head; it was where your loved ones did.

“Hey, Mom!” Max stood in the open doorway.
“Coming?”

“Sure, baby.”

And for once, Max didn’t correct her. Livy
passed her palm over her stomach, then headed for the door.

Maybe magic did happen every single day.

Dawn spread over Savannah like the wings of
sleepy red-tailed hawk. Misty morning dew touched the ancient city
streets. Night would not descend on the city for hours upon
hours.

Max should not be up so early. His mom would
have a hissy fit. But he wanted this day to last forever. Because
today his mom and his dad were getting married in a family-only
celebration.

He went to his dad’s office and finished the
story he’d written for their present.

And so the lonely vampire and the even
lonelier princess, who had a great little boy named Max, discovered
that by some weird twist in time they were a family. They lived
happily forever. No one had to worry about bad stuff, because being
lonely and unloved was the worst. But together there was no more
lonely, and in their family love just was.

Max considered what he’d written. He’d
figured out that there was no such thing as vampires, even though
there were a few princesses. But the happily-forever part was true
enough, and so was that bit about love. Might sound mushy, but his
mom would like it and that was what counted.

The phone rang, making him jump. Max wasn’t
sure if he should answer, but the new machine his mom had bought,
even though his dad had grumbled, clicked on and saved him the
trouble of wonderin’ for long.

“Garrett, I fail to see the humor in this
gift.”

Max recognized his dad’s agent, Andrew. The
guy often left messages on the machine, and he talked so funny and
fast Max loved to listen to them.

“Now, a coffin was funny. You have to admit
that—” Andrew’s sigh was almost completely drowned out by a loud
honk-honk.

Max started to laugh.

“But what in Hades am I supposed to do with a
goose?”

The End

If you enjoyed
Leave It To Max,
I
would be honored if you would tell others by writing a review on
the retailer’s website where you purchased this title.

Thank you!

Lori Handeland

Read on for an excerpt from

OUT OF HER LEAGUE

Lori’s Classic Love Stories – Volume 2

Lori’s Classic Love Stories – Volume 2

Chapter One

ATTENTION!

ALL MALES IN THE VAUGHN HOUSEHOLD

THE RULES FOR THE UPCOMING SUMMER SEASON ARE AS
FOLLOWS:

1. THERE WILL BE NO MORE HOT WHEELS IN THE BATHROOM
   SINK
   

2. TOOTHPASTE IS NOT TO BE USED AS FINGER PAINT
   

3. SUBMACHINE GUN NOISES ARE NOT ALLOWED BEFORE 7:00
   A.M.
   

4. BROTHERS ARE NOT ENEMIES AND SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS
   SUCH