Max placed the last pill bottle in the box with undue care and attention. It was Jed’s tramadol, the bait that had led Jed to the passport in the first place. Max attempted to close the broken box. When it didn’t work, he scooped it up and threw it at the cupboard under the sink, taking a chunk out of the door.
“You know what? Fuck you, Jed. When did you get to decide I had to tell you every little thing about myself? The only thing I know for sure about you is that you’re in love with a ghost.”
It was a low blow, and it had the desired effect. As Max walked away, every drop of anger drained from Jed, and in its place nothing but a gaping hole where his heart used to be.
Max was right—a huge part of him still loved Paul, but he wasn’t in love with him. Without even trying, Max had taught him that. Jed had let Max into his heart in a way he’d never let anyone before, and standing alone in the cold, dark light of the kitchen, he had no idea who he’d fallen so deeply in love with.
JEDWRESTLEDTess to the corner of the gym and set her down, catching her tiny hands as she lashed out, furious with him for hauling her away from her game. “Hey, that’s enough. If you want to play ball, you have to be nice to your sister. If you hit her, or me again, I’ll take you home. Got it?”
Tess scowled, her annoyance clear, but Jed held his ground and counted to ten in his head. She’d been a handful all afternoon, and he knew why. Max hadn’t shown up at softball practice, leaving Jed to handle both girls on his own. Tess wasn’t used to sharing him, and though she hadn’t mentioned him at all, he knew she was unsettled by Max’s absence. Maxnevermissed practice.
Guilt gnawed in the pit of Jed’s stomach. This was his fault. After Max had left him hanging in the kitchen, he’d done what he did best—gotten in his truck and run away. Max was long gone by the time he’d calmed down enough to come back, Flo too, and they’d been staying at Kim’s now for over a week. The nights were the hardest. By day, he could sleep, or run, or lose himself in his work, but at night, he’d grown used to the warmth of Max stretched out beside him.
“Did you fight with Uncle Max too?”
“What’s that, bug?”
Tess relaxed her aggressive posture and slid onto his knee. “Mommy had a fight with him. That’s why he went to stay with Aunty Carla. Why was he cross? He never gets cross, not even when Daddy calls him names.”
Jed glanced behind him, searching for Belle. He found her with Dan, but she wasn’t playing and she looked as miserable as he felt. “I don’t know why your mom and Max were fighting, bug, but I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”
It was news to Jed that Max wasn’t staying at the Cooper house. He’d driven into town two nights ago to double-check Max was there, safe and sound. Carla lived in Portland, near the VA hospital Jed went out of his way to avoid. He wondered what Max was doing with himself in the city, but tempered the thought before it could take hold and distract him from the underlying reasons Max was there in the first place. He missed Max so much it hurt, but underneath it all, he was too angry to do anything about it. Whatever his reasons, one way or another, Max had deceived him.
Softball practice dragged on for another half hour. Jed struck a deal with Tess—a promise of a ride on his shoulders in exchange for her civil behavior—but Belle remained sullenly rebellious, and he was beat by the time Kim pulled up in the parking lot. An afternoon spent crouched on the ground negotiating with mutinous children was exhausting enough on its own, but put together with a sleepless twenty-four hours, and he was running on empty.
Taking a page out of Belle’s book, he strapped both girls into the car and walked away before Kim could engage him. He wasn’t as lucky with Dan.
“Dude, you look like hell.”
Jed stooped and picked up a stray pair of tiny sweatpants. “Who went home without their pants on?”
“Mason. Megan’s brother. He likes to take his clothes off while he’s watching the game. Don’t change the subject. What’s up?”
“Up? Nothing’s up.” Jed folded the sweatpants and handed them over. “The girls were both in a bad mood, that’s all.”
Dan added the sweatpants to the growing pile of abandoned clothes in the plastic box he was carrying. “Bullshit. Kim’s been crying down the phone to my mom, Max has disappeared off the face of the earth, and you look like you haven’t slept in a week. Something’s up.”
“Max is in Portland with Carla.”
“Doesn’t explain the rest of it.” Dan stopped by his car and threw the box of lost property in the trunk. He shut it with a bang. “Listen, I know I don’t have a gun, or some badass, motherfucking tank, but I’m still your friend. You can talk to me.”
Jed suppressed a sigh. Really?Danwas gonna turn shrink on him? “Talk about what?”
“Anything, dude.” Dan spread his hands. “Putting your bro in rehab can’t have been easy. How are you dealing with that?”
“You think Nick’s beer fetish is keeping me up at night?”
“No,” Dan countered. “I don’t have a fucking clue what’s keeping you up at night. Enlighten me.”
That wasn’t going to happen, and they both knew it. They’d been friends for too long for either of them to believe shit had changed.
A mutinous silence took hold, and in the end Dan broke it with a heavy sigh. He socked Jed’s arm. “Fine. Have it your way. Some of the guys are coming over to play poker tonight. You should come. My dad would love to see you.”
He walked away before Jed could refuse.
Later that evening, Jed swallowed his pride and jogged into town to the Valesco house. Despite his best efforts to dissuade him, Dan was a good friend, and he didn’t often get up in his face about stuff.
The surprised grin on Dan’s face when he answered the door was kinda nice too. Dan had his own place above the family’s auto garage, but Jed was pretty sure he spent every night eating his momma’s home cooking before he went home.