by Maren Smith
Delighted, Max leaned in close and touched her lips with his warm mouth. “That’s progress then, and I’ll take it,” he whispered back throatily. “I fell in love with you the first time I laid eyes on you with that baseball bat in your hands and those green eyes spitting sparks at me. I wanted to take that bat away from you and kiss you senseless.”
“Aww, you say the sweetest things,” she mocked, her wobbly voice becoming stronger as she brushed away a stray tear with the back of her hand. “I’m surprised you didn’t say spank me senseless.”
He slipped one arm around the back of her chair and with his other hand, rubbed his thumb across the back of her silky fingers. “Oh no, that came later. You were so cute defending your property with that bat. It wasn’t until you messed with Max the elf that you put your little butt in danger.”
She laughed then, a full happy laugh that fascinated Max. He’d never heard her laugh like that before. When the laughter ceased abruptly and her face went white, he looked up to see what she was staring at.
“HELLO, MARLIE.”
Tristan!
Marlie stared up at the man she hadn’t seen since the morning she’d lost Aspen. He was as handsome as always with his dark good looks and semi-casual dress like Max. The beautiful young girl on his arm must be the new finance she’d heard about.
“I’m glad I ran into you. You changed your phone number and I was getting ready to resort to talking to your lawyer. The house has finally been sold and I wanted to get your share of the money to you,” he went on awkwardly, looking decidedly uncomfortable. His gaze strayed to Max and then back to her.
“Talk to my lawyer,” she replied coldly, her insides shaking.
“Yeah... okay.” He ran his fingers through his dark hair. “Look, Marlie, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about... about Aspen. I know this isn’t the place to talk about it, but... I just wanted you to know.”
Marlie closed her eyes and tried to breathe. She didn’t want to think about this, didn’t want to face Tristan, didn’t want to hear her baby’s name on his lips. Beside her, she could feel Max moving, feel his closeness and warmth, she clung to that.
“You’re right, this isn’t the place for this sort of discussion,” Max replied firmly as he stood up and handed Tristan a business card he had fished out of his wallet. “But it’s a discussion that needs to be had when Marlie feels up to it. Do you have a card? I’ll call you.”
“Who are you?” asked Tristan bluntly.
The men’s words swirled around her as Marlie listened, hiding in the dark behind the cover of her eyelids. She forced herself to breath slowly in and out, the rhythm itself giving her comfort. It was then she truly realized that Max was helping her heal, giving her a life back. But he deserved so much more than her.
“My name is Max Quenton.” The reply was short, succinct. It said all Tristan needed to know, and Marlie found the courage to open her eyes and see Max boldly staring her nemesis down until he flushed with anger.
“Here’s my card,” snapped Tristan, glancing down at Marlie and dropping it on the table. “Call me, Marlie, it’s important.” Then he ushered his girlfriend away as Max sat back down and put his arms around her.
“He’s gone, baby,” he murmured in her ear.
“I know, thank you,” she replied in a wobbly voice. She was surprised at herself actually, she hadn’t zoned completely out. And this was a major stress situation if there ever was one. She turned to Max with tears in her eyes. “You make me stronger, you know that? You’re amazing.”
Tenderly he ran his fingers through the fall of silver strands on the side of her face. “You are strong, Marlie, just look at what you’ve been through. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. You’re the one who’s amazing, to have come so far on your own, but you don’t have to go it alone anymore. I’m here. I’ll always be here. We’ll work through things together.”
“I’m not hungry anymore, can we just go?” she asked plaintively, her lip trembling.
“Oh no, we’re not leaving.” He gripped her chin firmly. “We came out to enjoy ourselves and have a wonderful meal, and we’re not going to let him spoil it. Chin up, little girl, and eat your ribs.” He looked around for a waiter. “That is, if we ever get to order them.”
Magically a waiter suddenly rushed over to the table and Marlie figured he’d been waiting for the right moment. Kudos to him.
Max kept his hand on Marlie’s thigh while they placed their orders. She shivered suddenly and he squeezed her lightly in reassurance.
Max was right, she decided. She shouldn’t let Tristan ruin their nice dinner date, but she couldn’t help but be aware that he must be somewhere in the restaurant and that bothered her. She gazed surreptitiously around, unable to help herself.
“He’s gone, honey,” murmured Max softly, turning her chin toward him. “They were on their way out when they stopped. So quit worrying and enjoy your meal.”
She heaved a sigh of relief and felt her body relax then. She hadn’t realized how tense she was until she let it go. “How did you know?”
One eyebrow shot up. “Let me see... tense body, shaky fingers, eyes checking all around you... it was a given.”
Marlie managed a tremulous smile. “I can see keeping secrets from a copper isn’t going to be easy.”
His other eyebrow shot up. “Keeping secrets equals bare bottom over my knee, just so you know.”
“I just recently found out that's not all bad,” she confided in a conspiratorial whisper. She picked up one of rolls on the table and took a big bite, the color starting to return to her cheeks.
“Is that so?”
She nodded, her eyes gleaming. “Definitely had its good points.”
“We may be onto a good thing then,” he added silkily. “It would certainly bear experimentation.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
They were just finishing their meal when Mrs. Allred called to say Andi wasn’t feeling well, so they headed straight home. When Max turned off the truck Marlie leaned over and kissed his cheek.
“Thank you for a lovely dinner,” she whispered in his ear.
His turned his head so his mouth met hers. “You’re welcome, beautiful. It might mean peanut butter and jelly for me for a few days but it was worth it.”
“I warned you,” teased Marlie, her eyes dancing.
“I can see you’re going to be expensive to maintain,” he mocked as he got out of the truck. As he lifted her down from the high truck seat his arms closed around her but she pushed him away.
“I’ll unlock the door myself, you go get Andi. I’ll catch up with you later.”
He dropped another kiss on her upturned lips. “Thanks, beautiful.”
MRS. ALLRED MET MAX at the door, Andi right behind her. She flew into his arms and when he picked up she felt warm.
“She’s running a low-grade fever,” Mrs. Allred offered kindly, her faded blue eyes loving and warm.
“Thanks for taking care of her,” he replied as he handed her some bills from his pocket. “It’s nice to have someone that I know loves children watching over her.”
“It was my pleasure. I hope she feels better.”
When they got home, Max gave Andi some Tylenol and tucked her into bed. However, she was whiney and didn’t want to stay in her bed, so he let her lay on the loveseat to watch T.V. until she fell asleep.
As he sat on the couch and watched the last of Paw Patrol that Andi wasn’t even seeing, he wondered what Marlie was doing downstairs. He’d been delighted to see her recover so well from the run in with Tristan. She hadn’t totally withdrawn like she did before and he considered it a huge breakthrough.
Of course there was no way he would leave Andi when she was sick, but that didn’t stop him from feeling lonely. When he heard the knock on the doorjamb by the stairs he looked up to see Marlie peeking around the corner and he quickly got up to meet her. “Hey, I was just thinking about you.”
“
How’s Andi feeling,” she asked in a low voice.
“She’s sleeping right now, I gave her some Tylenol. Probably a cold coming on I’m guessing. Come on in, you can watch the tree lights with me.” He led her to the big sofa and drew her into his lap as they sat down together. Nuzzling her neck, he groaned into her hair. “I miss you more and more when we’re apart.”
She snuggled back in his arms and pulled his head down where she could reach his mouth to kiss him. “Mmm... me too,” she whispered.
After several breathtaking minutes, he finally groaned and lay his head back on the sofa. “If only Andi wasn’t lying right there...”
Marlie took a deep breath and turned her head to stare at the Christmas tree. “You know, the tree used to be my favorite part of Christmas,” she confided softly. “I would sit and watch it for hours.”
“Leslie used to love the tree, too,” he replied.
“I’m sorry about Leslie.”
He hugged her tightly, his long arms wrapped around her and his fingers laced with hers. “Thank you,” he replied, his voice gravelly. “It was a very difficult time but I got through it.”
“Being a single father must be hard.”
“It has its moments, but it's worth it,” he said with a chuckle. “She’s a lot like her Mom. It bothers her that she can’t remember her.”
“I really like her.” Marlie looked up at him. “I hope she likes me, too.”
Max smiled down at her. “She loves you. She told me she wants a mom just like you. A not-so-subtle hint I’m guessing.”
Marlie blushed. “Kids are painfully honest at times.”
“Yeah.”
Marlie turned to stare at the tree again. “Tristan never wanted kids.”
Max held his breath for a few seconds, then asked, “Why was that?”
“Looking back now, I can see that all he wanted was someone to show off to his business buddies. Someone he thought would impress them enough to help him climb the corporate ladder. He was totally pissed when he found out I was pregnant. It ruined all his plans. He didn’t want a family, just a trophy wife.”
Max was aghast at these revelations. What could he say or ask that wouldn’t sound accusing to someone who already blamed themselves? Finally he settled on, “That’s too bad. Kids are the best part of life.”
Her fingers restlessly picked at the button on his shirt sleeve. “I knew before I married him that he didn’t want kids, but I thought it was just a temporary thing. I mean, who doesn’t want kids eventually? I just figured that once a baby was on the way, he would be happy about it. Boy, was I wrong.”
Max wondered why she had married him knowing that, but he didn’t want to judge. She went on without his input.
“We were married for two years before I got pregnant. It was my fault, I forgot to take my birth control a couple of times. I should have been more careful. He never failed to remind me of that mistake on a daily basis,” she added bitterly.
“These things happen sometimes,” he responded gruffly, glad he wasn’t within head splitting distance of Tristan at the moment. He was glad she was talking though. He hoped she’d get it all out at once.
She was silent for a moment and then she closed her eyes, her voice suddenly raspy. “I was seven months along when I lost her. Tristan and I had been arguing for days. He... he was threatening to leave me and I was angry and miserable. That morning I screamed at him to just leave then, and he said he wouldn’t be back after work.”
Max could feel her shaking in his arms and he held her close, trying to comfort her but he didn’t say anything. She didn’t seem to need his input, she just droned on like she couldn’t stop once she’d started.
“I followed him down the stairs trying to hold onto him, but he was shaking me off. I was crying... I missed a step and tripped. I reached for him but he... he... he just jerked away from me and watched as I fell down the last two steps and landed on my side on the floor in an effort to protect the baby.”
Max’s lips thinned. What kind of a man shrugged off his pregnant wife on the stairs? It was all he could do to keep silent.
“He tried to help me up, but I told him to leave, to just go. Finally, he just picked me up from behind and set me on the sofa in the living room. He said he was going to call an ambulance, but I wouldn’t let him. I thought I was fine except for being so angry. Nothing hurt. I didn’t think anything was wrong, it was just a stupid fall. It’s not like I’d bounced down the stairs or anything. He left then but a couple of hours later, I felt something wet and I started cramping. When I realized my water must have broke, I called 9-1-1. They couldn’t stop the birth, and when Aspen was born, she was already gone.”
She looked up at him with most pain filled eyes Max had ever witnessed. “It was my fault, Max. It was my fault she died because I didn’t let Tristan call 9-1-1 when it happened. And I blamed him too because he didn’t call anyway.”
Max was astounded. Something was wrong with this scenario, something didn’t fit. “But Marlie, Aspen was seven months along. They don’t lose premature babies at seven months these days, not with the modern medicines and techniques they have now.”
“The doctor said she had a heart defect and that she would never have survived outside the womb, even if she managed to make it through birth. It wasn’t something they could have detected until after she was born. They said her early birth had nothing to do with the fall, that my body was preparing to eject the fetus, but I didn’t believe them. She wasn’t just a fetus, she was a person. She was my baby girl, and I didn’t save her.” The tears trickled down her cheeks and dropped onto their laced fingers.
Max groaned and hugged her to his chest. “My God, Marlie, you’ve been blaming yourself for something that couldn’t be helped. And Savannah was right about one thing, Tristan is a special kind of asshole. He should have been there with you. He should have stayed, he should have taken you to the hospital.”
“I made him leave,” she replied dully. “I told him I never wanted to see him again. And I didn’t—until tonight. He didn’t waste any time in divorcing me. I no longer served his purpose so he didn’t want me anymore.”
“He never loved you to start with, or he wouldn’t have let you down so badly. His loss is my gain, honey.”
She sat up but seemed to withdraw from him and Max grew concerned. Her eyes were closed, was she going to fade away again? Had her confessions stressed her out too much? He was relieved when she opened her eyes and finally looked at him with a question in those magnificent green pools.
“Now that you know, do you still want me, Max? Even knowing what I did? Because if you don’t, I’ll understand. I wouldn’t want me either, and I don’t want you pretending you do until you can’t stand it anymore and then leave me. I’m not sure I can survive another heartbreak.”
For a moment Max was stunned and then he was royally pissed. He pushed her off his lap and stood up, then swept her up in his arms and strode with determined steps into his bedroom and kicked the door shut with his foot.
WHEN MAX KICKED THE door shut and strode to the bed with her in his arm, Marlie was confused. “Max, what are you doing? Wha—”
That was all she got out before she found herself with her pants yanked down and lying over Max’s hard thighs getting her butt blistered. From the first spank on her tender buttocks, she sobbed her heart out while he spanked and lectured, and all the kicking and flailing didn’t make a bit of difference.
“What happened was not your fault. Any man who calls himself a man would never leave his woman because she was mad and told him to. He was a damned idiot and you are going to accept that and stop blaming yourself. I know it will take time, but I’ll be right here with you.”
“Max, stop,” she squealed as quietly as possible. She was trying to be quiet, although she wasn’t sure how the child could sleep through the loud noise of flesh slapping flesh.
“I love you, Marlie Grayson. And I’ll always love you, I will never leave
you, no matter what.”
He emphasized his words with hefty smacks that turned her backside to molten fire. “I love you too,” she sobbed frantically. “Please stop, Max!”
Suddenly he pulled her up and sat her on his lap. “Are you going to marry me, Marlie?” He asked, his eyes blazing at her.
“Are you g-going to k-keep spanking me if I say no?” she managed to ask breathlessly.
“Of course not, only if you say yes, because that makes you mine. I take care of what’s mine, and you need a good, hard spanking and then a long, hard loving.”
The knock on the door startled them both. “Daddy? Are you in there? What are you doing to Marlie?”
Max stood her up, pulled up her pants and then went to the door to open it and let Andi in. He looked back at Marlie, the question still in his eyes. “Well? I asked you a question.”
All the love she felt inside for this good man gushed out of her in one heartfelt reply. “Yes, Max. God yes. I love you so much.”
He looked totally pleased with himself as he took Andi’s hand and led her over to Marlie. Then he sat on the bed beside Marlie and pulled her into his lap. “Well, pumpkin, Marlie and I have decided to get married. Are you okay with that?”
For a moment Andi looked blankly at them both and then her lavender eyes lit up. “Are you going to be my Mommy then?” she asked eagerly.
“Yes, if you want me,” Marlie assured her shyly. She was unprepared for Andi to launch herself into her arms and almost fell off the bed as Max caught them both. But then that was Max, he would never let her fall.
“I knew it! I knew Santa would bring me a Mommy. I told Marlie the elf to tell Santa I wanted a Mommy, and I was hoping it would be you.” She hugged Marlie, her small body trembling with the force of her emotions. “See, Marlie, Santa does listen to the elves. He really does.”
Marlie glanced over at Max, her eyes shining with love. “He didn’t do too bad this year, I’ll give him that,” she replied throatily.
“No, he didn’t,” replied Max. “In fact, he’s outdone himself.”