“Power’s out,” Max said by way of greeting.
Jed shook himself into motion and made his way carefully across the yard to sit on the spare upturned milk crate. “Gas out too?”
Max carved the lid from a can of tomatoes and emptied it into the pot he had over the flames. “Nah. I didn’t feel like poking around in the dark.”
Oh. Jed was so used to operating at night that he sometimes forgot to turn the lightson. He eyed the homemade stove with interest. It was crude and simple, but experience had taught him that was often the best way. “What are you cooking?”
“The beans for the burritos tomorrow. We can have some tonight if you’re hungry?”
Jed shrugged. He wasn’t hungry, but the spicy smell of the beans was intriguing. He watched the flames dance until Max deemed supper ready.
Max tipped most of the bean stew into a large dish, some into a bowl and chucked a bucket load of hot sauce into what remained in the pot.
Jed chuckled, amused. “You cook like a cowboy.”
“Like a tribal mama, actually.” Max handed Jed the undoctored bowl. His gaze flickered in the light of the fire, but it wasn’t the vacant haze of seizure. It was something else.
Jed felt his curiosity spike. Max had an open face and honest eyes, but his background remained somewhat of a mystery. Observing and profiling was second nature to Jed, a huge part of his job that had saved his life more than once. His life had changed, of that there was no doubt, but his instincts remained. However much he liked Max—and however distracting the chemistry between them was becoming—something didn’t fit. Max’s roots were African and his accent softly British, but where the hell did his staunchly Irish surname come from?
Jed took an experimental mouthful of food, still idly ruminating, but as was often the case with Max’s cooking, Jed didn’t realize hewashungry until he tasted it. He took another bite. Max’s smile widened. He made no comment, but seeing his eyes brighten brought the treacherous warmth back to Jed’s veins, warmth that banished the unanswered questions buzzing in his head and put him at ease.
They ate in companionable silence. When Jed was done, the heat from the fire combined with Flo’s head on his knee left him feeling decidedly sleepy again. Max sat beside him, for once quiet and still, and it took the rumble of an engine to rouse them both sometime later.
Startled, Jed craned his neck toward the approaching headlights. Aside from boat clients and Kim, Max didn’t get many visitors, and in the time Jed had been at the cabin, no one had come after dark. Jed glanced at Flo. The collie’s reaction was muted: an ear twitch and a tail flick. Whoever it was, she knew them well enough not to bother getting up.
“Relax.” Max held out his arm. “It’s Dan. I picked up some parts for the garage when I was in the city.”
Perturbed that he’d been read so easily, Jed forgot himself and gripped Max’s arm to haul himself upright. Max flashed him a quick grin and jogged over to the car.
Jed followed at a slower pace. He’d seen Dan twice since the night at the bar. Both times, Dan had tried to convince him to help run Tess and Belle’s softball team, and both times Jed had refused. He wasn’t in the mood to see disappointment in his eyes again.
Max greeted Dan with an easy handshake that turned into one of Dan’s trademark man hugs before they headed for the boat shed. Jed reached the car as Carla Valesco slammed the passenger door.
“Twice in one day, huh? I am a lucky girl.”
Jed rolled his eyes. Carla and Max were friends, but for some reason it hadn’t occurred to Jed that he’d see her anywhere but the hospital. “If you say so.”
Carla tilted her head to one side, appraising him. “You’re walking really well. I can hardly see that limp.”
“You’ve only just noticed?”
“It’s hard to judge in a session. You’re trying too hard. You didn’t know I was watching this time.”
“Great.”
“Aw, don’t be like that. I know I don’t tell you enough, but you’re doing really well. Gawking at you makes me feel good.”
The door of the boat shed opened and Max emerged. In the fading light of the fire, he met Jed’s eyes and smiled.
“Gawk away,” Jed said absently. “Just keep your hands to yourself.”
Chapter Nine
THEMORNINGafter the girls’ sleepover, Max glanced at the clock, rolled over, and stretched. It was dawn, and he’d woken to the sound of Jed’s truck driving away. He frowned, puzzled. Jed was an early riser—when he went to bed, at least—but he didn’t usually leave for PT until much later.
Max was an early riser too, but he’d grown used to meeting Jed in the kitchen at sunrise each morning, and the knowledge that it wasn’t going to happen kept him in bed a few minutes longer than usual.
He thought back over the past month or so. Living with Jed was… different, but haggling over who cooked breakfast was fun. Most days Max won and cooked. Some days Jed ate, some days he didn’t. Jed was strange like that. Most mornings it was obvious he hadn’t slept.