by Sonya Weiss
…
Max caught himself looking at the clock for the sixth or seventh time since Haley had left the booth to meet James for lunch and a game of Putt-Putt. The booth had a steady stream of tourists, as well as locals, streaming by—looking, buying, and placing custom orders. The nonstop activity was the only reason he kept wishing she were back here instead of on a date with James.
He was grateful when Craig strolled up to the booth and disrupted his thinking. The older man looked around the gym approvingly. “Good crowd.”
“It’s been steady.”
“Where’s Haley? I want to take her to lunch.”
“James came to grab her already. You missed them by about twenty minutes.”
“James Grand?” Craig frowned when Max nodded. “Huh. Wouldn’t have guessed that.” He fiddled with some of the designs. “I never get tired of doing this. Each piece I craft is full of memories. Take this one.” He picked up a snowman with a floppy lopsided hat.
“You made it because, when Haley was four, she insisted you create one that way.”
Craig lowered the wooden decoration. “Bored you with that story already, did I?”
“You never bore me with stories about Haley. It’s interesting to hear what she was like before she crossed over to the dark side.”
Craig laughed. “I believe she’s said the same thing about you.”
Max was intrigued. “You talk to Haley about me?”
“Sure, but nothing personal you’ve shared,” he quickly assured. He picked up a small wooden decoration. “What is this thing? It’s hideous. I didn’t make it.”
“Uh, that’s mine.” Max took it from him. He hadn’t meant to pack the miniature gargoyle he’d made for Haley. Max put it on a chair.
“Are you coming to the gingerbread house contest tonight?”
Hesitant, Max shrugged. “I don’t know.” The town contest called for teams of two people to work on a house together. First-place prize was a donation to the charity of the winning team’s choosing. “I’ve been so busy this year, I haven’t had time to line up a second person for a team.”
“I already agreed to work with Celeste, but…say…what about building one with Haley?”
“You’re losing your touch, Craig. That wasn’t even remotely subtle.”
“I know. I’ve been meaning to work on my delivery.” Craig smiled, not in the least chagrined.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to matchmake.”
“You know I don’t do that sort of thing.” He shrugged. “I’ve been worried about Haley since she returned. I don’t want her to hide out at the house, that’s all.”
The gym door opened, and Haley walked in, clearly upset. She wove through the crowd, greeting some of the people she knew. When she reached their booth, she took a deep breath. “To save you both the questions you’re dying to ask, the date was horrible. I didn’t even wait for the food to arrive before I left the Seafood Shack.”
“Haley—” Craig began.
“I’m fine, Dad. Where is the second batch of ornaments?” she asked.
Max tried to explain. “I didn’t have time to get the—”
“I’m here now. I’ll do it.” She walked around the booth to pick up a plastic container filled with wooden tree ornaments. With short, jerky movements, she took a pair of scissors and cut pieces of ribbon to thread through the loops at the top, then turned her back to them and made a weepy, sniffing sound.
“What happened?” Craig asked.
“James kept asking all these questions about the video, like he was trying to interview me. And it turns out, he was. He was recording me with his phone, hoping to get some dirt to sell to one of those sites that sensationalizes stories. You know…the ones that feed on the pain people experience and…” Haley turned toward them. “I left him at the restaurant and caught a ride back.”
“I’m sorry,” Max said, then cleared his throat. “The gingerbread contest is tonight. You can help me out. I need a team member.” He hoped that would take her mind off the situation. He hadn’t planned to invite her to work on it with him, but Craig had put the idea in his head. Plus, he hated seeing her upset.
Haley paused.
“Unless you’ve already signed up with someone?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“That’s settled, then. You’ll do it together.” Craig beamed at them. “C’mon, Haley, let me take you to grab a bite.”
“I’m not going to try to eat with my stomach in knots. Take Max instead. He hasn’t had a break yet.”
“That’s fine, honey.” He jerked his head toward the door. “We’ll be at the Seafood Shack if you need us.”
“You mean where I left James when I…” She put her hands on her hips. “Dad!”
“I’ll keep him out of jail,” Max said as he moved around the end of the booth to join Craig.
“Max?”
He turned.
“I know this is your handiwork.” Haley held up the gargoyle, wagging it back and forth. “It reminds me of our relationship: at times ugly but overall not bad in a quirky way. I like it, thanks.”
He grinned.
“You are one of a kind, Max. I just haven’t figured out what kind yet.”
“See you in a few.” He winked and walked away, strangely pleased that she’d liked the creation and had understood it was his way of poking fun at their relationship. At the exit, he looked back at her—he couldn’t help himself.
Haley crossed her eyes, made a face, and blew him a kiss.
Max laughed and strode to Craig’s truck.
On the way to Seafood Shack, Craig asked, “How’s your family situated for Thanksgiving?”
Max knew his friend was asking if he was going to be able to stomach sharing Thanksgiving with his brother. “My folks want us to sit down together like one big happy family. They still think I should let it go.”
Craig was silent for a moment. “I can’t agree with them. Being betrayed by someone you love is like getting punched in the nose. Those who know about the punch tell you to get over it. To forgive and move on.” He tapped the steering wheel. “But it keeps hurting no matter what anyone says, because it’s not their pain.”
“Yeah,” Max agreed. He’d long since quit loving Annalise, but what his brother had done still felt as fresh as if it had just happened.
“If your brother shows up and you’re not ready to deal with that, you’re welcome to come over to my house. Since you and Haley have been seeing each other lately—”
“I’ve been helping her with her list. Nothing more than that,” Max quickly corrected.
“Oh, don’t be so testy. You know I just meant spending time together. ” Craig frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Yep. Fine.”
“How’s her list deal going?”
Max sighed. “I don’t know how she dated some of those guys to begin with. Most of them have been the bottom of the barrel.”
“That’s because Haley sees the good in everyone.”
Max snorted.
“Almost everyone,” Craig amended. “I can’t figure out why she’s got a problem with you.”
“The problem is she’s secretly in love with me and knows I’d sooner lick a hundred frogs than reciprocate.”
Craig laughed so hard he wheezed.
Max frowned. “Whoa, there. What I said wasn’t that funny.”
“Maybe you hit the nail on the head and don’t even know it.”
“Haley in love with me? Nah, I was joking. She’d rather lick two hundred frogs than let that happen.”
“When it comes to the heart, son, we don’t let anything happen. It just does.” Craig parked a block down the street from the restaurant.
“I wouldn’t rent a tuxedo anytime soon,” Max said.
&
nbsp; “Don’t worry. I won’t. Haley would prefer a casual wedding anyway.” He swung out from the truck. “All right. I’m going to have a man-to-man talk with James.”
Max was on board with that. He’d hated the hurt and embarrassment he’d witnessed on Haley’s face when she’d returned from the botched date. No woman deserved to be treated that way. His own heart had squeezed painfully, and he’d had to fight not to give her a hug.
And the way she’d understood his intention with the gargoyle…maybe she wasn’t as bad as he’d always thought. She did have a lot of good qualities. Ones he liked—even admired.
The way things had always been between them was shifting and had been since they’d shared that kiss. Maybe they could even someday become friends. A friend he could picture himself hanging out with, kissing, and… Max stopped walking abruptly.
“Something wrong?” Craig asked as he stepped into the foyer and looked back at Max.
Max managed to pull himself together enough to walk into the restaurant as if he were okay. Which he wasn’t at all—not with thoughts of Haley wrapped around his brain like octopus tentacles.
Chapter Eleven
On her way to the shower to prepare for tonight’s gingerbread contest, Haley put the wooden gargoyle Max had made on top of her dresser. She’d been honest when she’d told him she liked it. What she hadn’t said was that she also liked imagining Max as he’d made it. She could picture him concentrating on sliding the wood carefully through the scroll saw. Blowing the sawdust off, then sanding all the rough edges.
She pictured his hands on the wood. Then pictured them around her as they’d kissed during the cookie-making session. Snatching up the gargoyle, she shoved it into the top drawer beneath her camisoles and shut it. Then she took a quick shower.
As she dressed in a pair of jeans and an oversize peach cable sweater, she told herself there were more important things for her to dwell on than Max. Like Suzie coming back to town the day before Thanksgiving. At least she’d completed most of the tasks her cousin had asked her to take care of. If only one of the guys on her list had worked out by now, because as sure as there were fluffy white clouds in the sky on a hot July day, Suzie was sure to ask whether she’d found her soul mate or not. And the answer would be not.
Out of all the men so far, Dean—bless his weird, mystic-oil, fortune-telling heart—had been the best of the five. And that was saying something.
She still held out hope things would improve with her next ex. Number six on the list was Will Claxton. She pulled up her social media and did a quick search for him. He was still living in town, still single. Working the same job at the landscaping company his grandfather owned. She texted Max the contact information.
He responded with a meme of a groom being dragged to the altar.
Haley laughed, sent him a selfie of her in an exaggerated duck-face pose, and pocketed her phone. She heated a cup of soup, and while it cooled, she packed the bag of mixed candies she’d selected. She hadn’t had time to make the dough for their house, but thankfully, precut and prebaked gingerbread templates were sold at the contest in various shapes and sizes. With enough icing camouflage, those would work with the house design she’d sketched out.
When she arrived at the community center, she spotted her dad’s truck by the front door, then saw Roxy and Piper unloading Roxy’s car.
“I didn’t think you were participating this year,” Haley said, walking up to greet them. “Not after last time.”
Roxy let out a deep laugh. Last year, she’d created a spookily realistic haunted gingerbread castle and had used crushed doggie treats to make up the dirt road. She hadn’t realized that there would be a taste test by the judges.
Piper held up a bag. “This year, to prevent losing on a technicality, I brought the decorations.”
“Are you teaming up with your dad?” Roxy asked as they entered the building.
“Ah…no. I’m with Max.”
“Interesting,” Roxy said.
“Not with Max like…you know.”
“So Celeste’s prediction is coming true,” Piper teased.
Roxy gestured to a table across the room where the man of the conversation waited. “I swear his smile widened when he saw you.”
“That’s a grimace,” Haley said. “Max and I aren’t smilers. At each other, I mean.”
“We’re not judging you,” Piper said.
“For anything that may or may not be going on between you and him,” Roxy added.
Haley groaned. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing, and you know it.”
Except the kiss she could swear she still felt, as if Max had just touched his lips to hers. That moment had changed something monumental. Something that was a known fact. The sun always rises. Max and Haley hate each other. It was a given.
Or it should be.
None of her thoughts toward him were in the right place anymore.
“Has he talked to you about his brother yet?” Piper asked.
“No.” Haley frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Men aren’t big talkers and Max even less so,” Roxy explained. “When a man opens up about something that hurt him, it means he trusts that person.”
Piper nodded. “It’s true.”
“Max and I don’t really talk. He’s helping me with the list, that’s all—oh, he’s waving at me. See you later.” She hurried toward the table with the goodies she’d brought.
Max ran a hand through his hair and laughed at something Celeste said. He looked handsome. Shockingly so. And it made her imagine…and want…
Coming up behind her, her father said, “Don’t plan on winning. Celeste and I have a design to top them all.”
Haley blinked away the Max cobwebs. “We’ll see.” She shooed him off.
“Did you come up with anything?” Max asked. “If not, I’ve got something.”
Haley took a folded sheet of paper from her back pocket at the same time Max took one from his.
“We should work on this one,” they said in unison.
“Let me see yours first.” Haley took his paper and sucked in a breath. “It’s Bowman’s at Christmas,” she said. “The windows are lit…and there’s the tree decorated like Mom had it…” Haley blinked as tears filled her eyes. She looked up at him. “You knew how much that last Christmas with her meant to me.”
She didn’t know what to think. By long-standing definition, Max was a pain in her tush. An irritant guaranteed to make time spent in his company as enjoyable as falling against a full-grown cactus. That was the lay of the land with him. Except…what he’d done was endearing…even beautiful.
Had she given it more thought, she probably wouldn’t have closed the space between them and hugged him like he was a long-lost friend.
But she didn’t, and so she did.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry.” His deep voice rumbled under the ear she had rested against the soft cotton of his shirt.
Haley drew away and wiped her eyes. “I’m at a loss for words.”
Max mimed taking a picture. “I must freeze this moment in time. Haley Bowman with nothing to say?”
She laughed. “Monster.”
He inclined his head. “You’re welcome.”
After Haley lay the design flat on the table, Max anchored the corners with the bags of candy. “We’ll call it Bowman’s and Gallagher’s.” He tapped on a little sign he’d drawn on a post by the design’s front door.
Haley drew circles on the table with her index finger and spoke her fears. “My kiss list so far has been a bust.”
“We’re not down for the count yet. Don’t give up.”
“You must want that partnership desperately, considering all the time and effort you’re putting into this,” Haley said.
“That, and there’s the upside of you makin
g some other man miserable instead of me.”
“You enjoy my company. You just don’t want to admit it.”
Their eyes met and held before Haley looked away and opened one of the bags she brought. She took out a gumdrop and popped it in her mouth, studying Max’s design to see the specifics. “I’ll go buy the gingerbread pieces before all the best ones are gone.”
Haley went to the tables at the rear of the room and selected the gingerbread that would work for them.
“I’m so glad to see you out and about, honey,” Haley’s former first-grade teacher, Mrs. Sherwood, said. “There’s no need to hide yourself away. I told my husband you don’t have a mean bone in your body—there’s no way you deliberately pushed the woman with your boyfriend.”
“No, I didn’t,” Haley said, keeping her smile frozen in place.
The woman seated next to Mrs. Sherwood leaned in to join the conversation. “I saw the video, and it looks bad. I heard that the ex-boyfriend had to take out a restraining order.”
“Where did you hear that?” Haley asked.
“It was all over CNG,” the woman said.
Celebrity News Gossip. “That’s a site that doesn’t bother to fact check. It’s an online tabloid.”
“Looked legit to me,” the woman said.
Haley took her change without responding and walked away. Will that stupid video forever haunt me?
Max looked up when she returned. “Are the sharks circling?”
“No more than usual.” She set the gingerbread on their table.
Max began to assemble the house. “Want me to give you a pep talk?”
“No thanks. I’ll survive. I just wish the video would go away.”
“Not likely. Two things are forever.” He steadied the walls by propping them up with cans of soup.
“I know…love and online infamy, right?”
“I was going to say taxes and videos, but close enough.” He used his fingertips to grout royal icing between the walls. On the table beside him, his cell phone rang. “Get that, will you? Wynne’s supposed to call, but if it’s the president of my fan club instead, tell her I’m busy.”