by Erin Bevan
“Yeah. But, Max, before we go, I have to set the record straight. The other night…I’m not happy things happened the way they did. You should have been the one to tell me about you and Tawana. Not her.”
“I know, Alex. I’m sorry. I am.” He hung his head. “I…I don’t know what else to say.”
“How about, it’ll never happen again, Alex.”
He stood up straight. “It’ll never happen again, Alex.”
“Promise?”
“Scouts honor.” He held up two fingers.
“You weren’t even a scout.”
“It’s all I could think of.” He shrugged.
“Well, it’s a start I guess.”
“So…” he played with the end of the flower stems. “Are you still mad at me?” He stared at her through hooded eyes. Now, he had the same puppy expression Shelby mentioned Elroy having.
“No.” Alex shook her head. “I’m not mad anymore.”
“You’re not?” His eyes grew wide, almost as if he couldn’t believe his luck.
Maybe she should have let him grovel some more before she let him off the hook so easily.
“No. I’m not. Upset, but not mad. And you have Shelby to thank for that. She’s the one that helped me to realize it wouldn’t be fair to hold your past against you. You haven’t done that to me and I shouldn’t do it to you. I just hope we can put Tawana behind us.”
“Of course we can.” He stepped in and placed a hand to her waist, pulling her closer. “Thank you for being you. You’re always sweet, always seeing the best in people, and I promise she’s the past.”
“Yeah, well, she better be.”
He gave her side a playful pinch as he pulled her in, placing a soft, slow kiss on her lips. She closed her eyes enjoying his embrace and allowed his clean scent to wash over her. Her knees went a little weak and she appreciated the fact that she hadn’t made him grovel for too long. If she had, then she wouldn’t be allowed to enjoy this with him now. Only thing being angry was good for was the make-up sex.
“That was nice.”
“It’s always nice with you,” he whispered, leaning his forehead to hers, as he held the flowers out to the side, careful not to squish them.
“Are these for me?” She reached for the bouquet.
Stupid question. Of course they were for her.
“No. Actually they’re not.” He pulled them away from her grasp, the plastic wrap around them crinkling in his hand.
“Oh!” She held her head back searching his expression. “Then who are they for?
“They’re actually for Tawana.” A snicker erupted as his eyes danced.
“Not funny.” She scrunched her brow and reached for the flowers. A deep-seated desire to give him a nipple twist coursed through her, but she refrained.
“Too soon, maybe?” he asked.
“Ya think?” She turned and headed for the sink. “Let me put these in some water and then I’ll get my jacket.” Cutting the plastic wrap off the flowers, she placed them in a vase of water; not worrying about cutting the stems, then grabbed her jacket off the back of the barstool. “So, where are we going so early, anyway?”
“It’s a surprise.” He took her jacket and draped it over his arm.
As long as this surprise was more pleasant than the bombshell that had dropped Thursday night, she’d stop pressing.
“You don’t have a curfew tonight, do you?”
“I do have church tomorrow.” And a lot of repenting to do.
“And I promise to get you home in time to get plenty of rest. Come on, we better get going.” He grabbed her hand and took her keys from her, pulling her out of the apartment. He locked up behind them and pointed her toward the stairs.
“After you.”
Randall appeared at the top of the stairs holding a brown grocery sack in his hand.
“Hey neighbor,” Alex called out happily.
“Hi Alex.” Randall nodded. “Hi again,” Randall said rather stiffly to Max.
“Randall.” Max held out his hand. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Max Buchanan.”
Randall stared at Max’s hand not bothering to take it. “I know who you are. When’s the last time you washed your hands?”
“Excuse me?” Max pulled his hand back.
“Washed your hands? You know flu season is upon us, and it’s vitally important to wash one’s hands during this time of year.”
Max stared flummoxed at Alex. With Randall only moving in about two months ago, Max had yet to be properly introduced to her eccentric neighbor and Alex had forgotten to warn him about Randall’s idiosyncrasies.
“Okay, Randall.” Alex wrapped her arm around Max’s. “We’ve got to get going, so we will catch you later.”
“Sure.” Randall eyed Max again. “If you need anything, Alex, you let me know. And be sure to carry hand sanitizer. Here.” Her neighbor pulled out a travel size bottle from his grocery bag. “You can never be too careful.”
“Sure, Randall. Thanks.” Alex took the bottle and pushed Max toward the staircase.
Once her quirky guardian was locked inside his apartment, Max asked, “Is he always that peculiar?”
“Always.” Alex nodded. “Randall Strange is just that. Strange.”
“Well it’s a good thing you’ll be leaving your apartment soon. You can get away from him.”
“Oh, Randall isn’t that bad. It’s nice that he looks out for me.”
“Yeah, but now that’s my job. You’ll be my wife.” Max tightened his arm around hers.
Wife. Wow. She’d barely gotten used to the word fiancée.
“I’m going to call the movers tomorrow. If they need to schedule you sooner than right before the wedding, could you stay at your parents’ home for a couple of weeks?”
Living with her parents again? Lying for weeks. Alex cringed. And what if they fight again? What if Max gets cold feet? She would be homeless. Maybe homeless was drastic, but without her own space. “About that, Max. I really think it’s best if I keep my apartment until after the wedding.”
He released her arm and stared at her as if he was hurt. “What? Why?”
“I don’t want to lie to my parents any more than I have to. It doesn’t feel right.”
Max stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Okay, I understand. If it’ll ease your mind to keep the apartment, we can. We will worry about moving your stuff after the wedding, but the wedding night you’re staying at my place.” He wiggled his eyebrows and kissed her forehead. “Besides, the mayor’s wife can’t live under another roof,” he teased. “What will my voters think?”
“So, you really think you’re going to win, huh?”
“Don’t you?” he said, the gleam in his eyes playful.
Of course she did. Max won at everything he wanted to win at. “Yes. I do. So, where to?” she asked, as they headed to his car.
“I told you, it’s a surprise.” He clicked the lock on his car and rushed to hold the door open for her.
“Oh right!” She smacked her forehead. “I forgot I told myself I wouldn’t ask you again, but you know I don’t like surprises, Max.”
“You’re going to love this one. Hop in.” He gave a little head nod toward the car.
She searched his face for any tale-tell sign of where they might be headed. Nothing. He was as tight lipped as a pickle jar.
Not surprising. Anytime Max put his mind to something, he was set. He’d proven that more than once with his business, his campaign. She just prayed it stayed the same with their marriage.
Max pulled out of her apartment parking lot and headed south in the opposite direction of town.
“What’s this way?”
“I thought you said you weren’t going to ask anymore?”
“Oh yeah, right.” She huffed and crossed her arms.
After ten minutes of sitting silently in the car and listening to the radio, she deduced three pieces of information: they were heading out of town, Max wa
s still quiet on their adventure, and vultures were disgusting. She turned her nose up at the animal eating his breakfast on the side of the road and stared at Max. He was so much prettier than the ugly, gut-eating bird.
“Leaving town, I see.”
“You could say that.”
Bastard.
Couldn’t he give her something?
She tapped her foot on the floorboard as he signaled to turn into the driveway of the local airstrip. Commercial planes didn’t fly into this airport. Only personal planes.
He parked beside a white jet with three black stripes going down the bottom of it. “We’re here.”
“We’re where exactly?” Alex looked around. The only plane on the tarmac was this small aircraft. Classy as far as jets were concerned. At least, in her limited experience with jets this one appeared to be a classy one. And by limited, she meant no experience whatsoever.
“The beginning of our date. Come on.” He unbuckled his seat belt and ran around to her side of the car.
“Max, whose plane is this?”
“A friend’s.”
“A friend’s? Since when do you have friends with private jets?”
And how many other secrets are you hiding?
“Since recently. A man who had looked into investing with me, but it didn’t work out. Anyway, his wife’s been giving him a hard time about not using his jet enough, so we’re looking into a deal where I rent it from him as needed. This is a test run.”
“A test run? You’re going to fly a plane? Have you been taking pilot lessons I didn’t know about?” At this point she couldn’t say she’d be shocked if he had.
“No, not fly it. Fly in it, with you beside me. There is a crew that will fly us.” He pointed to the jet.
A crew. Since when did Max have access to a flight crew? Heck, since when did he have access to a plane? He took her hand and led her to the stairs. “Why do you need a plane?”
“I have to do a lot of traveling for the company. Hot Sauce King is growing, slower than I’d like, but growing nonetheless, and when I become mayor, I won’t have time to schedule trips by commercial flight anymore. I need something more accessible. More immediate. And besides, don’t you think it comes in handy on the days I want to take my wife on a date?” He winked.
Wife.
A shiver ran down her spine. It was the second time in an hour she’d heard it but, it still had a nice ring to it.
An older man wearing a pilot’s uniform, waited for them at the top of the steps. This was exactly what she imagined the First Lady or a Princess must feel like heading into their private jet. Excited and slightly irritated by the wind blowing their hair. She tucked a strand behind her ear, trying to fight off the forceful windstorm caused by the engines. To no avail, her hair flew right back in her eyes.
Screw it.
“Hello Mr. Buchanan, Miss Mills. Pleasure to fly you this morning.” The waiting man had salt and pepper hair, and wrinkles around his eyes that appeared to come from his genuine smile. His nameplate said Captain George House.
“Thank you, Captain House,” Max shook the man’s hand. “Are the cars waiting for us when we arrive?”
Cars? As in multiple?
“Yes, sir. I just spoke with the rental companies before you arrived.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“Good morning, sir. Ma’am.” Another gentleman shook Max’s hand. He appeared to be in his early forties, with less life and more paunch covering his features than the captain. “I’ll be your copilot today, Lee Murphy.”
“Morning, Mr. Murphy,” Max nodded. “Thank you all for taking the job on such short notice.”
“Yes, sir,” the Captain said. “We will be taking off as soon as we’re cleared. We hope you have an enjoyable flight.” The pilots both nodded then headed for the cockpit and shut the door behind them.
A woman with brown hair pulled back in a navy stewardess hat, wearing a matching navy dress and no-nonsense black shoes, shook Max’s hand, then hers. “I’ll be your flight attendant for the day, Carrie Baker. If you would please, make yourselves comfortable. Would you like me to take that?” Carrie held her hands out for Alex’s purse.
“Oh, yes, please.”
The woman took it with a smile. “Please. After you.” Carrie held out her hand toward the walkway of the jet.
While the shock and awe of the airplane idea wore off, Alex had to admit she could get used to this type of treatment.
“Service with a smile. I like that.”
“Get used to it.” Max whispered in her ear.
Alex stared in awe at the inside of the jet. Cozy, yet plenty spacious enough for the two of them. A couch lined one wall, with a television across from it on the other wall. Four seats sat near the rear of the plane with a dinette between each pair of chairs, and toward the very back, Alex could see what looked like a bedroom.
“There’s a bed on this plane?”
“Oh, is there? I hadn’t realized.” Max played nonchalant as he sat on the sofa.
Riiigghhhtt.
A bottle of sparkling white grape juice chilled in a container with two champagne flutes and a fruit tray along with two sandwiches. Alex laughed. “Grape juice? Really Max?”
“Considering you’re with child, I thought champagne might be out, but I wanted to toast our first official date.” Max poured them each a flute.
Mentioning the baby, Alex had a wave of guilt ride over her. She should tell Max about Barry, but would it crush him that she wanted to have a relationship with the baby’s father?
Still, she should tell him. She didn’t like the secrecy he’d kept from her about Tawana so she shouldn’t do the same to him.
“Speaking of the baby, Max, I found out…” Max handed her the glass. “Well…I found out…”
“What?” He stared at her stomach. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh yes, it’s fine. It’s just that—“
The vibrations on the floor had her turn her head. Carrie stared expectantly at her.
“The captain has just informed me we’ve been cleared, sir. Ma’am if you would please take a seat for takeoff.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” Alex sat beside Max.
“Once in the air, our flight time will be about two hours.” Carrie gave them a curt smile.
Two hours? They could be anywhere in two hours.
“Is there anything else I can do for you before we take off?” she asked.
“Thank you, Carrie. I don’t believe Alex or I will need you the rest of the flight. You’re more than welcome to stay up front with the crew.”
“Yes, sir.” Carrie nodded and disappeared behind the closed door with the pilots.
“So we’re going to a place we couldn’t have driven to?”
“We could have.” Max placed his glass down and turned to face her. He took her hand in his and traced her palm with his fingertips. “But we were going to need the cargo space.”
“Cargo space for…what?” she asked, her concentration torn between focusing on their conversation and the buzzing she experienced coursing through her veins from the slow sweeps of his fingers against her skin.
“Since we’re talking about the baby, this is the best time to tell you, we’re going baby shopping.”
“Baby shopping?” The glass slipped out of Alex’s hand, spilling juice on the sofa. “Oh crap, I’m sorry.” She reached for a napkin by the fruit tray to wipe it up. “You’re borrowing this plane and here I go and make a mess of it,” she said, blotting the stain.
“It’s fine. Barely noticeable.” Max stilled her hand and took the napkins, tossing them on the fruit tray. “Are you okay? That seemed to catch you by complete surprise. Good surprise I hope.”
“Oh, yes, it is. I just hadn’t thought about shopping yet.” She’d been trying to keep her head above water by taking it one day at a time until their wedding. Tawana, dresses and bouquets had cluttered her mind and taken up all the room away from rattles and teething t
oys.
“I know, but I wanted to get some done before life got too crazy for us both. Now, you were going to tell me something about the baby.” Max smiled. “What was it?”
The baby.
He seemed so happy about everything. She couldn’t tell him about Barry. Not now and ruin this moment of them getting back on track.
“Yeah, the baby. I umm…I found out that we should start thinking about names.”
Names. Really? Best you could come up with?
“Names? You think we should wait to find out the sex first?”
“I guess you’re right.” Alex played with the stem of her class.
“Names….wow!” Max sat back against the sofa and stared off into space, a small smile playing on his lips. “You think it’s a boy? I’ve always thought about having a son.” He glanced back at her, his eyes shimmering. “At least we know what his last name’s going to be.”
Oh, God, how was she going to break the news of Barry to him?
And now that Barry knew she was pregnant, there was no way to hide it from the real father either.
Damn, what a mess this was.
“Are you okay? You look pale,” Max said.
“I’m fine.” She nodded. “Just nauseous.” Being a lying two-bit homewrecker would do that to a person.
“Here.” He reached for the juice bottle and poured some more in her glass. “Drink up. Let’s have a toast. To our baby.”
Alex clicked her glass with his.
“To our baby.” She took a sip, as her secret ate away at her insides like that vulture she’d seen on the side of the road.
20
The hum of the plane had lulled Alex to sleep on Max’s shoulder. In most cases, a woman falling asleep on him would be insulting. With Alex, not so much. When he picked her up, she’d looked tired. Her eyes had been somewhat puffy, and her gaze didn’t burn with excitement quite the way he wanted.
But what had he expected? He’d kept the truth from her. And if he’d never would have slept with Tawana, then Alex wouldn’t be having another man’s child because she never would have been out that night with someone else. He just thanked his lucky stars above that she’d forgiven him so easily. He hugged her closer, kissing the top of her head and breathing in her amber scent, warm and delicate, as he embraced his chance with her. This chance at love and a family. This baby deserved a good home. If anyone knew that it was him. What he wouldn’t have given to have a family love him like Alex’s parents had loved her growing up. He loved his mother and missed her every day, but the struggle she had keeping food on the table, clothes on him, and providing him medicine when he was sick…no single mother should have to go through that.