Lance was Amanda’s somewhat-younger boyfriend who liked hockey as much as she and Amanda did. The three of them went to games together. She never imagined he’d be the cause of her and Amanda’s parting of the ways. “Huh?” Libby made a face.
Amanda shook her head like she couldn’t believe it either.
“Why would you fight about me? What did I do?”
“Nothing. That’s just it. Lance had been nitpicking all day, deliberately trying to rile me. After dinner, he turned things up a notch. He bashed my business and said without you…” Amanda’s voice faltered. “Dammit! This is hard.”
Libby leaned forward with curiosity. “Keep going.”
“He said…without you Slayte Designs was nothing. That’s probably true but he didn’t have to throw it in my face. He was being downright hateful. To hurt me more, he mentioned how pretty you are and that he wouldn’t mind hooking up with you.” Amanda’s voice splintered. “He walked out and I haven’t seen him since.”
Libby was beyond stunned. Amanda and Lance seemed suited to one another; always laughing, holding hands, finishing each other’s sentences. They were a comfortable couple that she enjoyed hanging out with. If she’d had a speck of suspicion that Lance was a bastard, she would’ve kept her distance. Flashbacks of him teasing her, playfully putting her in headlocks, and nudging her so hard she would teeter sideways, made her sneer. If he’d been flirting, she’d been too dense to notice. Libby was instantly pissed. “He had no right to knock your business and he certainly shouldn’t have said what he did about me. No wonder you came unglued.” She motioned for Amanda to sit down.
“He broke my heart, made me second-guess my business, and ruined a good friendship.” The tears Amanda tried to sniff back, spilled down her cheeks. “He had me fooled into thinking he was a decent guy. Turns out, he’s a no-good-two-timing-dog. He hit on Marcy in advertising, for crying out loud. She’s married and has two kids.” She sighed. “I sure can pick them, can’t I?”
Libby would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall when Lance tried to work it with Marcy. Marcy constantly bragged about her kickboxing skills. Hopefully she used them on Lance. “He fooled us all.” Libby toyed with the edge of the blanket. “I forgive you, Amanda.”
Amanda steepled her fingers across her mouth and nose as if trying to keep the floodgates closed. It didn’t work. That gateway opened with so much force that her tears came in gulping sobs. “Oh, Libby!” She pulled a handful of tissues from the tissue box sitting by the African violet, dabbed her eyes and tossed them into the metal trash can. A few more hiccupped sobs broke from her chest, bringing even more tears.
Amanda was as sturdy as they came. Watching her fall apart made Libby’s staunch, guarded disposition slip away and a few tears collected in the corners of her eyes.
Libby was about to wrap her in a hug, but as quickly as Amanda had fallen apart, she regained her composure. She grabbed Libby’s water pitcher. “I could really use a vodka-cranberry right now, but water will have to do. May I?”
“Be my guest.” Libby held up her used glass. “Sorry, this is the only one. They’re stingy with their glasses.”
Amanda sniffed, shared a wobbly grin, opened the lid to the one-liter jug and downed a healthy sip. Libby smiled. That small, uncharacteristic act said a lot. Very soon the teary-eyed blonde would go back to being the tough, gritty woman Libby had grown to admire.
“Why do guys have to be such bastards? Why can’t they just walk away?” Amanda said.
“Not all guys are like that.” Although at the moment Libby was pretty sure they were. Max wasn’t as pathetic as Lance when he broke things off, but he still qualified as a bastard—one that she wanted more than air.
Amanda helped herself to a few more tissues and blew her nose until all evidence of losing it was gone. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but it means the world to me. Is there any chance you would consider coming back to work?”
Libby grinned so big it felt like the corners of her mouth touched her ears. “I would love to, but first I need a favor.”
****
Max turned off the ignition and heaved a sigh of relief for making it back to Celina without wiping out a power pole or hitting another vehicle. Route 33 was a sheet of ice. He should’ve made a U-turn and headed back to Columbus. The state crews had scattered salt, but the temperature had dipped well below zero so nothing was melting. To make matters worse, halfway back to the cabin the falling snow turned to squalls reducing visibility to ten feet at best. What should’ve been an hour and a half drive turned into three.
To top things off, for the last hour he had to pee. Now that he was home, he had to pry his fingers from the steering wheel.
Rory had curled up in soft, furry-type afghan that was kept in the car just for him and waited patiently while Max had made a flying trip up to visit Libby in her hospital room. As soon as Max returned he jumped from the car, took care of his business and had kept his nose buried in Max’s thigh the entire trip back to the cabin. The fur ball whimpered every time Max let a cuss word fly, which was every minute or two. Now that the car was no longer moving, he lifted his head and looked around.
“Come on, boy.”
Max opened the door, held onto the handle, and tried to get his footing so he wouldn’t fall on his ass. He was almost to the porch when his feet kicked out from under him and he hurtled forward, breaking most of the fall with his forearms. “Shit!”
Rory’s tail wagged and he licked Max’s hand.
“I’m okay.” Max was thankful he’d let the pint-size mongrel follow instead of carrying him. If he had fallen on the pooch the poor thing would’ve been crushed by his weight.
Max didn’t take any chances; he scooted the remaining five feet to the porch and grabbed hold of the railing. After he got the front door open, he made a beeline to the bathroom. If the trip had taken five minutes more, his driveway would’ve been decorated with yellow snow.
Tugging off his wet clothes, he stepped into a scalding hot shower. He dropped his head back, letting the water pummel his tense muscles while his thoughts pummeled everything else. He cursed himself for the way he mishandled things with Libby. Words were his life so he should’ve been able to convey his thoughts without making a bigger mess. Somehow he managed to take something dear to Libby’s heart and make a shambles of it. But the issue of not being able to have kids wasn’t hers alone. He wanted kids too, in the worst way.
Max was angry with himself, but he was pissed at Libby too. When she suggested he was looking for perfection just like Shari was, he saw red. Thinking about it now, made him mad all over again. He hit the shower door so hard it was a wonder it didn’t shatter. Libby couldn’t have been more wrong. He wasn’t looking for perfect. Perfect didn’t exist. And if it did, it would suck.
Max traipsed naked to the loft and slipped into his favorite ragged thermal shirt and matching long underwear. He ran his hand over his face. How could Libby think he was so shallow? Didn’t she know him at all? He kicked the bed frame and let out a yowl when his foot connected with a bolt.
He needed a freaking cup of coffee before he hurt something, broke something, or engaged in some other type of destruction.
After filling the coffee pot reservoir with water, he lined the basket and put in five scoops of grounds instead of the usual three. He needed something strong to match his mood; it might as well be coffee.
Max braced himself against the counter. What happened to his grand plan to block out the world and write? If he’d stuck to that arrangement he wouldn’t be in such a foul mood. Then again, he wouldn’t have met the woman who drove him crazy and made his heart skip a beat.
The coffeepot stopped gurgling and Max couldn’t pour a cup fast enough. He took a few careful sips and sat the cup aside.
The whole point of going to Columbus was to fix things. “Dammit, woman, I told you I loved you. Doesn’t that count for something?” The f-bomb slid from his lips and Rory scolded him with a bark. Max let the word slide out again. He was head over heels in love with Libby and he should’ve called her bluff by staying at the hospital instead of driving all the way back to Celina. Eventually, she would’ve gotten it through her thick head how he really felt.
A blast of awareness hit him like a runaway freight train. Libby pissed him off on purpose so he would leave. It was her way of giving him space to dig deep. She wanted him to mull over the information that she couldn’t give him the family he so dearly wanted. And she didn’t want his love until it was unconditional. “She loves me, Rory.” Another light bulb went off over his head. “Son of a…” His eyes widened and his heart rate spiked. He raced upstairs, threw some clothes on over his thermal underwear, and grabbed his keys from the counter. Bad roads or not, he had to make a trip to town.
“This is payback, isn’t it?” Amanda moved back and forth in the driver’s seat trying to find a spot she could see through the windshield. The wipers weren’t keeping up with the half-ice, half-snow mixture that suddenly decided to stick to the glass.
“I guess it’s my turn to say I’m sorry. Had I taken the time to watch The Weather Channel before we sneaked out of the hospital we never would have left Columbus.” The alarm on the IV had beeped signaling that it was time to switch over to a new bag of saline. The shift nurse came in, set Libby free from the needle, and grumbled that the shift before hers didn’t get a new bag ready. She left the room to get one. When the coast was clear, Libby and Amanda made a mad dash for the elevator.
“Aww hell, Libby, don’t worry about it,” Amanda cackled. “This is the most fun I’ve had in weeks.” She used the back of her hand to swat Libby on the shoulder.
You need to get out more was on the tip of Libby’s tongue but she rolled it back. Amanda hadn’t said it, but she most likely had kept a low profile over the past two months too. It was a normal reaction after a crushing blow. Libby had done it. Max…was doing it. Libby swore without making a sound. Sometimes she needed a swift kick in the butt. Max had his heart broken by Shari, and she’d broken off a chunk of it too.
The need to get to Celina came at Libby fast. She fidgeted in the seat. Messed with the seat belt. Cursed under her breath. Of course, Mother Nature wasn’t about to make things easy. She was throwing everything she could at them to delay their arrival to the cabin—snow, ice, wind, and near zero visibility.
All right, all ready. I get it. Please just get us there safely.
Libby lowered the window and stuck her head out to gauge their whereabouts. She squinted to keep the icy pellets from hitting her eyes. “Slow down. We’re almost to the exit.”
“Slow down? If I go any slower, Thelma, it will be spring when we get there.”
“Veer right, Louise.” The reference to the movie, Thelma and Louise, made Libby chuckle. She and Amanda had killed two bottles of blackberry Merlot one Friday night while watching that movie. For a week or so afterward, they called each other Thelma and Louise. She was happy that Amanda remembered.
The back end of the Cadillac fishtailed. Luckily, Amanda knew to steer in the direction of the skid and the car straightened out.
“Aye yi yi.” Libby straight-armed the dashboard and mentally berated herself for putting their lives in danger.
“I know,” Amanda replied. “My whole body just puckered.”
Libby touched Amanda’s shoulder. “Pull into the nearest gas station. We’re going to get a cup of coffee and wait this thing out.”
Amanda shook her head. “If I’m going to get stuck in Timbuktu it’s going to involve a fireplace and your computer. I want to see your LibbyMax collection. Besides, I’m dying to meet the guy that finally made you go off the deep end.”
“I haven’t gone off the deep end.”
Amanda slanted Libby a grin. “Nothing says deep-end more than breaking out of a hospital.”
“Just pay attention to the road, Louise, before we find the deep-end of a ditch.” Libby’s cell phone rang and she practically flung her purse at Amanda trying to get to it.
****
Uh-oh, she was in big trouble! “Hi, Mom.”
“What are you doing? You’re scaring the heck out of me, Libby. This isn’t normal behavior,” her mother said. “Constantly throwing up. Leaving the hospital without being discharged. Heading to Celina in a snowstorm. Who does those kinds of things?”
Hearing her mom put it like that did make her sound like a loon. “I should’ve talked to you before I left. I’m sorry I didn’t, and I’m really sorry about all the other drama.” She ran her hand over her face. “Mom, love makes you do things you wouldn’t usually do.”
“Love?” There was a moment of dead airspace. “You’re in love?” A joyful nuance replaced her mother’s hysterics. “I didn’t even know you were dating anyone. Who are you in love with?”
Libby chewed on her bottom lip and recognized her mother rubbing off on her. “Remember Maxwell August? The guy who dropped by to see me a little while ago?”
“You know, I sensed something between you. I had no idea it was love. Oh my gosh, Libby, are you serious?”
“Completely serious. I’m head-over-heels-can’t-think-straight in love with this guy, Mom.”
Regina Griffin sounded like she was going to cry. “I’m so happy for you, daughter. This is so unexpected and wonderful! I can’t wait to tell Dad.”
Libby felt her mother’s excitement. “It really was unexpected. I went to the cabin to design clothes, not fall in love. But there he was. And now, I’m doing crazy stuff and well, I just love him so much. I’ll explain everything to you and Dad soon, I promise. By the way, I’m with Amanda. She’s my chauffeur.”
“You’re with Amanda?” It was more of a statement than a question.
“She showed up after Max left. We’ve mended our fences. She and I are going to be partners instead of employer-employee.”
Amanda made big eyes at this new information.
Libby shrugged and continued to smooth things over with her mom. There were going to be a lot of changes where her job and her heart were concerned. But she wasn’t going to detail them to anyone until she talked to Max.
“We just passed the sign for Mercer County,” Libby felt her pulse quicken, “which means we’re almost to the cabin.” Her phone beeped with another call. “I have to go, Mom. I love you and I’ll talk to you soon.”