Together We Heal (28 page)

“HOW ARE YOU
feeling?” I asked Max in an upbeat voice as we got in his car on Saturday morning. He’d tried to pretend he was sick, but it was a wasted effort. I told him that he was going even if I had to strap him to the roof with rope like a Christmas tree.

He was a little pale and I realized this was Max in freak-out mode. I was trying to be as supportive as I could, but I hadn’t had a lot of practice.

“Like I want to crawl back into bed,” he said, turning the key. The car started with no problem and I heard Max mutter a curse under his breath. He was probably hoping that the car wouldn’t start and then he’d have a good excuse.

“No matter what you do, this is happening, so let’s go and get it over with. I’ll be right beside you, I promise.” I took his hand and squeezed it before bringing it up and giving him a kiss on the back of his knuckles.

He opened his mouth and then I had an idea.

“I will do that thing that you asked about the other night,” I said and his mouth snapped shut just as he raised one eyebrow.

“Really?” I nodded.

“Really.”

He swallowed and shifted into Reverse.

“Then what the fuck are we waiting for?”

Sex was such a good reward system.

MAX’S PARENTS’ HOUSE
was in a nice neighborhood. The houses were a little shabby, but most had window boxes and fences and garages. He pulled up in front of a little yellow ranch house that could only be described as cozy.

“So this is it. It’s not much, but…” he shrugged one shoulder and looked over at the white van parked next to us with his father’s business logo on the side.

“Look at me,” I said and he tore his eyes away from the van. I wanted to do something to take that look away.

“It’s going to be okay, okay? Just remember what your reward will be tonight.” He gave me the tiniest of smiles and I figured that was as good as it was going to get right now.

“Deal?” He nodded.

“Deal.”

We both got out and I noticed there were little frilly curtains in the windows and a cat sitting looking out from one of them. When I was younger this would have been a dream house to grow up in.

“Let’s go,” Max said, holding out his hand for me.

“Oh, you want to go in guns blazing?” I asked. He took my hand and held it tight.

“Something like that. It’s more that I need something to hold onto.” I kissed his cheek and covertly squeezed his ass.

“Let’s go.”

HE DIDN’T BOTHER
to knock, just opened the door. Yup, I was right. The place was cozy. Thick carpeting, cute little framed pictures of barns and fences and chickens, a plaid couch and overstuffed chairs. The coffee table was a lobster trap with a piece of glass on top. Precious.

“Hello?” Max said, calling out. He was holding my hand so hard it almost hurt, but I let him.

“Max?” A woman came around the corner of the living room wall who could only be his mother. She was Max in girl form, only about twenty-five years older and without blue hair. She threw her arms around him and I saw tears on her cheeks. She held his face in both hands and the love shining out of her eyes made a lump form in my throat.

I would have killed to have my mother look at me like that even once, instead of seeing me as a piece of garbage. Max released my hand and hugged her back.

“Oh, I missed you so much.” The hug lasted a long time and then she finally noticed me.

“Who’s this?” she asked, wiping her eyes and straightening her shirt. It was pretty and flowy and she’d paired it with simple black pants. Small diamond studs winked in her ears and her face had just the barest trace of makeup. The skin around her eyes was a little crinkled, but it was probably more from smiling a lot than from age. She was seriously beautiful and totally intimidating. Now I was the one wishing we hadn’t come.

“Mom, this is Trish. She’s… um, she’s my girlfriend. Trish, this is my mom, Diane.” We hadn’t really talked about this in the car, but I’d hoped he would tell her that we were together.

Instead of doing what I thought she would—look me up and down and make a snide remark—she opened her arms and swept me into a hug.

“Oh, okay,” I said, not knowing what to do.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said in my ear as she patted my back a few times and then released me.

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you too.” I could feel my face getting red and I looked at Max to figure out what was going on. He looked just as shocked as I felt.

She let out a little sigh and looked at Max, her face breaking into a smile.

“Come on in, make yourselves at home. I’m just finishing up lunch if you’re hungry.” Max and I followed her into the small kitchen. It was just as adorable as the rest of the house, carrying on with the sort of farmhouse/rustic décor. There were report cards and pictures all over the fridge. Max’s face in various stages of growing up grinned back at me.

I made a beeline for them and Max groaned.

“Mom, why didn’t you take all those dorky pictures down?” She laughed as she opened the oven and pulled a casserole dish out and set it on the stove.

“Because the only one who thinks you look dorky is you.” I stared at the pictures. Some of them were from school, the standard posed ones with the weird background, but others were from school plays, sports teams, birthdays. It was like a visual timeline of his life.

My favorite, by far, was one of his school pictures where he grinned and had at least four front teeth missing. It was fucking adorable.

“Please stop looking at them,” Max begged and I turned around to find him with a completely red face.

“Now, stop,” his mother said. I didn’t know what to call her. Mrs. Greene? Diane?

“I like them. Especially this one,” I said, pointing to the toothless one. His mother came over to see which one I was pointing at.

“Ah, yes. That was when he lost four teeth in about a month. The tooth fairy was very busy,” she said.

“I bet,” I said.

“So, Trish, are you at school with Max?” I knew the grilling was part of the deal, but I’d hoped it could wait until I had some food in my mouth and could chew while I thought about the right answers. I had next to no filter, but I’d need to grow one so I didn’t say something inappropriate in front of Max’s mom. At least until she got to know me better and got used to it.

“Um, yeah.” I shot him a terrified look. He just came over and put his hand on my shoulder.

“What are you studying?” She started getting plates down and Max went to help her. Was I supposed to ask if I could help? Or was I a guest? I wished I had asked more questions when we were driving here.

“I’m not sure yet. I can’t make up my mind.” I was probably making a terrible impression, but I was so nervous. I couldn’t help it.

The table was set with four places.

“Where’s Dad?” Max asked, his voice tight.

“He just went to the store to get some ice cream. He should be back in a minute. Trish, can I get you something to drink?” I opened my mouth to answer, but Max interrupted.

“I got it.” He went to the fridge and pulled out a jug of iced tea. He filled a glass with some ice and then poured the tea on top before handing it to me. I felt dumb standing by the fridge, so I went to sit down, but I wasn’t sure where to go.

“Right here,” Max said, pulling a chair out for me.

“Thanks,” I said. This was probably the quietest he’d ever seen me, which should be an indication of just how nervous we both were.

“Okay,” his mom said as she bustled around, putting a large bowl with a tossed salad on the table, along with a basket of bread.

“What kind of dressing do you want?” Max said, pulling a few bottles out of the fridge.

“Whatever you’re having. I’m not picky.”

He was about to say something else when the front door opened and his father walked in.

“Oh, you’re here,” he said, bringing several white plastic grocery bags into the kitchen and handing them off to his wife.

“Hey, Dad. This is Trish. Trish, this is my dad, Richard.” Richard didn’t look much like Max. Where Max was thin and straight, his father was round and stocky, but their expressions were remarkably similar.

I stood up from my chair and went to shake his hand. That was what I was supposed to do, right? It seemed right.

Max’s dad sort of gaped a little at me and then put his hand out and shook mine.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, trying to give him my most winning and non-threatening smile. His eyes flicked between me and Max and then he cleared his throat.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Max,” he said. His voice was gruff and my heart was starting to sink like an old balloon.

“Yeah,” Max said. Now he was in the hot seat.

“Okay, we’re ready to eat!” Max’s mom broke the tension and we all sat down.

“This looks really good,” I said. Max’s mother smiled at me.

“Why thank you, Trish. Guests first.” She motioned to the casserole. I dished out what I hoped was a good portion that wouldn’t offend her, but that I could also eat. I added salad and a piece of bread.

Once everyone else filled their plates, the talking started again, but at least I could keep my mouth busy for a little while with chewing. The casserole was delicious. Full of chicken and rice with a creamy sauce.

“How’s work, Dad?” Max asked and I was surprised he was going to ask that.

“Good, good. Getting into the busy time. Installing a lot of air conditioners.” Max nodded and I kind of wanted to melt into the floor. The tension was hovering over us like a dark cloud.

“So, Trish, I’m afraid Max hasn’t told us much about you.” Great, now it was grilling time again.

“Um, well, I’m almost nineteen and I go to school and I have an older brother named Stryker,” I said. That was all pretty neutral stuff. I always had a hard time when people asked me about my family situation. That was definitely sure to cause tension.

“And your parents?” Max’s mother asked and I felt like I seized up. Max put his hand on my knee under the table.

“Mom, she doesn’t want to talk about it,” he said and I felt like a total bitch.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” That was a jab at Max for not telling them about me. Man, this was going south real fast.

“It’s not your fault. It’s just that I don’t really think of them as my parents. More of the people who gave me their DNA and that was about it.” I sounded bitter, but that couldn’t be helped.

“Ah, what does your brother do?” she asked, not giving up.

“He’s working as a TA at DU and he also has an internship with the lab on campus. Plus he’s a freelance mechanic. He helped me build Max’s car.” Shit. Shit, shit, shit! I almost smacked myself in the face for mentioning the car. Max’s eyes went wide.

“Max’s car?” His mom sounded surprised to say the least. He sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, Trish and my friends all pitched in and got it for me for my birthday,” he mumbled, looking down at his plate.

“A car?” his father said, thunderstruck.

“Yeah,” Max said. I wanted to tell him I was sorry, but there wasn’t a way I could do that without his parents seeing. Well, fuck. This was just about a lost cause at this point.