A Reason to Kill (Reason #2) (26 page)

Ten minutes later, he ended that call and punched in the number for the Seattle Institute of Zoology. He wanted all his ducks in a row before he told Mia and one of those ducks was her job. If all went as planned, he could save the bears from assholes with guns, stop activist from foaming at the mouth all while giving Mia a reason to stay.

There was a lot riding on this, the least of which was his future happiness with a woman who would put up with a man like him. He chuckled when he thought back to a conversation he had with his cousin and the words of wisdom he’d imparted. “
There aren’t many women out there that can put up with men like us. You find one, whether you got time or not, don’t let her get away, Max. Trust me, I know,”
Jack had told him and he’d laughed it off.

However, his parting words, “
You find the right woman you won’t be able to cause them a moment of pain,”
had stuck in his gut, fed a desire to find the right one. Barring any hiccups, and Mia’s natural inclination to think things over for a million years, Max was sure he’d found the right woman. The moment her face pinched in terror for her bears, the instinct to find a solution to calm her fears took hold. Jack was right, Max thought. You find the right woman you’ll move heaven and earth to keep them happy, and die trying if you have to.

“Your turn,” I told Jess as I placed my laptop on the kitchen table.

“My turn what?”

“Log into your Facebook account, it’s time for you to look for Brian. I agreed to consider a relationship with Max and I’m doing that, now you have to look for your long lost love,” I reminded her.

I’d spent the afternoon on the phone with my employers trying to arrange a meeting to discuss my suspension. Surprisingly, they’d agreed to talk with me in person on Monday. That meant I had to leave Trails End by Saturday, less than two days from now to prepare. That also meant I’d be parting ways with Aunt Jess and saying goodbye to Max. Which also meant I only had two days to help her find Brian and to make a decision about my relationship with Max.

Because of my concerns about his feelings for Annie, I’d been skeptical about his feelings for me. I had to know once and for all how he felt and I planned to use the next day and a half to do just that. I realized this morning, after the night we’d spent together that I’d never wanted anything more than to explore what we had. I knew what I wanted, but I had to make sure that his heart didn’t belong to another before I put mine on a silver platter.

As for Jess, she got me into this so no way was I falling headfirst into possible heartache alone.

“Mia, I don’t think—”

“Type his name, Jess,” I insisted.

Jess looked at the screen, looked at me, then sighed and began to type the name Brian Snodgrass into the search bar.

“There are too many and I don’t know where he lives.”

“Type in his name and the name of the college, he attended,” I instructed. When she did this a half a dozen Brian Snodgrass’s pulled up and I watched her go stiff.

”God, there he is,” she whispered.

“Which one?”

Jess moved her finger across the pad and then clicked on one of the names. When his page pulled up showing all his personal information as well as posts, I told her “When you reconnect, tell him to check his privacy setting. The whole world can see his stuff.”

Brian Snodgrass, aka love of Jess’s life, was not only single, but ohmylanta was he hot.

He had a full head of salt and pepper hair, mostly dark, with bright blue eyes and a jaw that would put Robert Pattinson’s to shame. He hadn’t gone soft around the middle, looked active in cycling and ohmyfreakingod he lived in Seattle.

“Jess, he lives in Seattle,” I shouted.

“Holy shit,” she whispered.

“Jess, he’s single,” I shouted again.

“Holy shit,” she kept repeating.

“Jess, send him a friend request,” I squealed as I jumped up and down.

She was still in shock, just sitting there, so I shoved her hand aside and moved the cursor to click on the friend request. When it said sent, I sat down next to her and we both stared at the screen and waited.

We were still staring at the screen when Maxine walked up behind us twenty minutes later.

“What are we looking at?”

“Jess’s long lost love, we friend requested him,” I explained.

“How long since she’s talked to him?”

“Twenty-five years,” Jess mumbled.

“I’ll get the chips and beer. Have you stalked his page yet?” she asked as she opened the fridge.

“Yeah, he’s single,” I told her.

“When was the last time he posted?”

“Umm, looks like about two months ago. Shit, it might take him weeks to see your request,” I whined.

“Scratch the beer and chips then, Mia’s right, this could take a while,” Maxine replied.

Just then, her front door opened, slammed, and then we heard Max bellow “Mia?”

Something about his tone told me he was pissed and I had a bad feeling I knew why.

“Kitchen!” Maxine shouted back.

When he entered, he stopped in front of his mother, leaned in, and then stared her down. When she didn’t so much as flinch, his eyes shot to mine and tried the same tactic so I smiled like the innocent woman I am.

“Which one of you set the fire?” he finally asked.

“Pardon?” Maxine replied like the innocent woman she was not.

“Christ, it was you, wasn’t it?” Max growled.

“I’ve been here all day, haven’t I Jess?”

Both looked to Jess for confirmation and Jess nodded without taking her eyes from the computer as Maxine continued on with, “Shame about his boat, he must have pissed someone off don’t you think?”

“Is whatever this was about over?” he snapped ignoring her professed innocence.

Maxine looked at me and answered truthfully.

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Swear to God, I should put you in a home. Burnin’ boats, huntin’ killers, selling fuckin’ sex toys door-to-door to my men, and now you’re draggin’ my woman into your games?” Max growled.

“Curly’s dead and that shit-for-brains chief was tryin’ to pin it on your “woman” Maximilian, what did you expect me to do?”

Max opened his mouth to bellow I had no doubt, but Jess shouted, “Oh, my God, he accepted my friend request,” and we ignored him.

Both Maxine and I moved behind Jess and watch over her shoulder as a chat box popped up with a message that said, “Jess?”

She sat stock-still and stared at the screen, so I nudged her. She looked at me with anxious eyes so I nodded towards the screen and told her, “Say, hi.”

“We aren’t done talkin’ about this,” Max barked from behind us so Maxine and I shushed him.

With trembling fingers, Jess typed “Hi, Brian,” and Maxine and I sighed in unison, grabbed each other’s hand for support, and held on tight.

“Mom,” Max shouted.

“In a minute we’re makin’ a love connection,” Maxine shouted back at him as we waited for Brian’s next response.

You could see from the chat box that he was typing, and in what seemed like forever he finally posted.

“
Not a day has gone by in twenty-five years that you haven’t crossed my mind
.”

Jess’s hands flew up and covered her mouth, and then the tears fell. She inhaled deeply, let it out on a shaky breath and then her fingers started flying across the keys. Maxine and I smiled at each other and then turned around to find a scowling Max.

He raised an eyebrow and Maxine mumbled, “Fine, I won’t go after Stetson again,” but the hand behind her back had its fingers crossed. Max, knowing his mother, shook his head and then looked at me. When he opened his mouth to no doubt bellow at me, I blurted out, “Talked to SIOZ today and they’ve agreed to meet with me on Monday,” to break the tension.

“Meet?”

“Yeah, I have to fly out on Saturday morning. It was the only time I could secure a pilot to take me back to Fairbanks.”

Surprisingly, Max smiled. I expected him to argue about my leaving since I’d agreed to take the road less traveled. Instead, he pulled me in his arms and replied, “This calls for a celebration.”

“I’ll get my purse,” Maxine jumped in and Max turned his head and scowled at his mother. Clearly, his idea of a celebration didn’t include her tagging along, but she ignored his scowl and kept right on going.

“Jess you wanna come?” I asked as she sat glued to the computer. She nodded and held up a finger indicating she’d be right with us.

“Guess its Last Call instead of my house,” Max whispered as he nuzzled my neck.

“You’ll survive,” I giggled. When he bit my neck in retaliation, my knees went weak and he chuckled in response.

“Ready,” Maxine shouted so Max let me go with an ear nip and squeeze, then took my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen as Jess followed.

As we made our way to our vehicles, Maxine and I threw question after question at Jess. “What did he say,” “Are you gonna get together with him” “Did you tell him he was the love of your life?”

Seeing as we all couldn’t fit in Max’s truck, Maxine and Jess piled into my aunt's rental car, a two-seater BMW. Only Jess would drive from Fairbanks in a high-performance sports car instead of an SUV, she wouldn’t let anything like a little mountain get in the way of her fun.

“I’ll tell you both at the bar, but to answer one of your questions, yes, I’m gonna get together with him when we get back.”

Ten minutes later, we walked through the doors of Last Call and grabbed a large table in the back. I held my breath to see who would wait on us, though, to be honest; I kind of hoped it was Annie.

I wanted to see how they interacted if he watched her at all while we ate. I know my unease may be irrational, but I had a lot riding on the answer to this question. My mother would say to trust your instincts, but where men were concerned my instincts were crap. That being said, my gut told me he didn’t, he wasn’t the type of man to be unsure of anything, least of all his own feelings. So, while I watched Jess staring at the computer this afternoon, waiting for her second chance, I made a decision. I decided if I didn’t have an answer by the time I left, I’d take a leap of faith. Jess was right, I didn’t want to live with regret and question answered, or not, Max was worth the effort even if he changed his mind. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Barring the unthinkable (finding out he loves Annie), I was gonna move here and give it a go with Max.

When Ralph came to the table instead of Annie, I was a tad disappointed since it would have been a chance to ease my mind. He handed us menus, took our drink orders, and then left to fill them.

Several of Max’s men shouted their hello’s as we waited and then Suzy and Joanne walked into the bar. Seeing our party, they made a beeline for our table and pulled up chairs. Max hooked me around the neck and pulled me into his side and I was just about to ask Jess about Brian when a loud crash pulled our attention from the table. We looked up, saw Annie swaying as Ralph bent down to pick up our spilled drinks. I watched in confusion as she started laughing.

“Whoops, didn’t see you there Ralph,” she mumbled, then bent down and tried to help him, but he swatted her hand away.

“You’re drunk,” Ralph growled and I heard both Max and Maxine mumble “Christ.”

When Annie tried to stand, she lost her footing and went down on her ass in the middle of the broken glass. She burst into laughter as Ralph tried to help her up, her jeans soaking up the beverages as sat there. Annie kept on laughing as Ralph grabbed her by the arm that is until her gaze landed on Max. When she saw Max and me, her laughter died and then turned to tears. Max mumbled “Shit,” then rose from his chair and made his way over to her.

My heart started pounding as I watched him help her off the floor, and my stomach felt ill when she buried her head in his chest and wept.

He asked Ralph “Did she drive here?” and he nodded as Max held her up.

Annie wailed, “I should have told you I loved you sooner,” in great sobs in Max’s chest and I felt the color drain from my face.

Max closed his eyes at her words and held her tighter as she continued to cry. They stood there in a clutch, and Max’s face softened from anger to one I couldn’t recognize. Eyes glued to the scene in front of me, my heart rate increased as he whispered in her ear, ran his hand up and down her back, then turned his head towards our table looking for his mother. And not once did he look at me.