Sam and Xavier drift into a conversation about wedding planning, which, to be honest, sounds super stressful but fun at the same time. I’m a little jealous, not that my brother is getting married, but that he’s getting to do cool things like tasting ten different kinds of cake at once. I’ve always had a healthy appetite, and that sounds like my personal Super Bowl. When I tried to convince Ollie to let me come, she said it was going to be hard enough to choose without me moaning over how good each one was.
As they continue talking about babies and weddings, my eyes wander around the diner. There’s a family a few tables away with a couple of rowdy kids that remind me of Sam and me when we were younger. Mr. Holland and his wife Cathy are seated at the bar just down from the Wallinghams, and then there’s the waitress—she’s staring at me with a look similar to the one my mom gets when she’s up to no good.
"Earth to Max, I asked you a question."
"Sorry, what?"
"Did you ask Perkins about a job?" My brother fiddles with his napkin.
I sip my drink slowly so I don’t burn myself again. "Yeah. He said he’s going to ask around, find some openings." I reachbehind my head, scratching my neck lightly. "But they probably won’t be local."
Xav sucks his teeth, and Sam blows out a whirring breath. "How are you planning to break that one to Momma O?" Xavier asks.
"I’m not sure yet. But this was always a possibility, right? If I got picked up, it probably would have meant moving." My thoughts drift back to my conversation with Howie. He mentioned Sadie rarely visits Mage, so I have to assume that’s because of work. I’d be different—my whole life is here.
Sam chuckles. "Max, there’s a big difference between a million-dollar hockey deal and whatever salary you’d make as an assistant coach in juniors."
I know what he’s implying—that I’d be giving up a lot here, and without an NHL salary maybe it’s not worth it. But I also know that he never considered leaving home. He always had a backup plan. Hell, he started tattooing before he was even done playing.
"I get that, I do. But you never know what opportunities might come up. It could be bigger than you think. And nothing says I have to do it. Maybe something else will come up here that will change my mind." It’s a vague response, but the only one I feel I can give in this moment—the moment when zero jobs have presented themselves.
Xav has a shit-eating grin on his face when I look across the table. "Opportunities like the girl you nearly knocked out on your way in here?"
Now I’m the one sucking my teeth and rearing back. "No." I look around the room to make sure there aren’t gossipy ears listening. "Howie said something’s up with her. That she never comes home and something is wrong. I vaguely know her from high school. It’s not like that..."
"Sure didn’t seem like he wasn’t interested, did it, Sam?" Xavier chuckles.
"Not with the way he was checking her out and so quick to help," my brother adds while he fist-bumps Xav across the table. "I guess we’ll see how helpful you get with figuring out her problems."
They erupt with laughter, and at the same time the server delivers our breakfast. I’m not saying I don’t think I could go there with Sadie—she’s beautiful and smart as hell. But I’m probably leaving, and it sounds like she’s got her own shit to deal with.
"Turn to the right." The tailor, a gentleman who can’t be younger than eighty, stretches his measuring tape up my inner thigh. "Okay, I have what I need."
Giving him a curt nod, I step down off a round platform in the center of the room and shuffle toward the changing area. The last twenty minutes of my life were spent being measured, poked, pinned—twice his shaky hands literally jammed a needle into my ankle. Yet, none of that was as bad as the shit that my brother and Xav have been giving me since breakfast.
It started with the conversation about what could keep me in town and spiraled from there. They don’t really understand the upheaval that my life has had in the past six months. I put on a brave face, only really showing my emotions for the first few weeks, and only in certain settings. I’m not exactly walking around sharing my lack of direction or concern over finding something outside of odd jobs and teaching private lessons to earn money.
"Why does he look like that?" My sister Bridget’s voice carries across the room. My whole family is meeting us here to walk over to the event at Black Kettle.
Sam outright laughs. "He literally ran into a girl today, knocked her bag off her shoulder, eggs went flying… It was a real shit show. But also adorable."
"Who’s running into girls?" My mother, the legendary Mable O’Reilly, best known for her meddling, barrels into the store.
Spinning on my heel to face them instead of the gold velvet curtain that separates the changing room, I give them all my best glare. "It was an accident. She ran into me." I run my hand through my hair. "It’s Howie’s cousin actually, remember Sadie, the one that tutored me."
My mom grins at me. "Oh yes, Sadie… the one that really was a tutor and not a fling. What a sweet girl. She was so focused, wasn’t she always doing puzzles or something?"
"It was crosswords, Mom. But today was nothing, over in two seconds, probably less."
Xavier exits his changing room.
"Yeah, maybe that’s all true. But what he’s not telling you, Momma O, is that the once nerdy girl grew up. She’s like the girl next door mixed with a business Barbie." Xav tosses his tux onto a cart next to the register. "Oh, and did we forget to mention that when she tutored him in high school, our boy was hot for the teacher?"
God, why did they always have to snoop through my journal when I was younger? They fucking knew everything, and they still lord it over my head.
Bridget claps her hands and bounces up and down. "Does this mean I get to watch you fall all over yourself trying to impress her like this one did?" She tosses a thumb in Sam’s direction, and I’m thankful that he’s the one getting barbed.
"No, you knuckleheads. Howie told me that his cousin had returned to town unexpectedly." I run a hand through my already messy hair. "I think she’s in trouble or something."