“Um… you’re welcome?” I said on a question, she laughed softly and even her laughter did nothing to lessen the sadness in her features.

The laughter died away, her eyes went funny and she whispered, “Wish you’d come here ages ago.”

I studied her then asked quietly, “You okay?”

She pulled in a breath through her nose, seemed to shake off whatever had hold of her and she nodded. Then her eyes slid over my shoulder before they swiftly shot back to me.

Then for some reason, she whispered urgently, “Take care of Max.”

Her mood had shifted yet again and surprised at her tone, her words and the fervor behind them, I started to turn but heard Max’s deep voice asking, “Ready?”

I nodded to him and then looked back at Bitsy, leaned in, gave her a kiss on the cheek and then moved away. Max moved in, slid the door closed then pounded on the roof twice with his open palm.

When the counselor from the rape crisis center had arrived, Mom and Steve left (this was also in order that Mom could get ready for The Rooster). Shortly after that, Max and I said our good-byes to Mindy, Brody and Barb and we went out with Bitsy and Burt to the van.

Now it was time to go back to the A-Frame.

Max stood by me and watched Bitsy’s van pull away and she and I waved at each other when it did. Max didn’t move, just watched silently. Then without looking at me he walked to the Cherokee. I followed.

He didn’t open my door, just bleeped the locks and I climbed in, buckled up and Max had the SUV out of the drive before I got myself situated in my seat.

We were in town when I hazarded words.

“Everything okay?”

“We’ll talk when we get home,” was Max’s alarming answer.

I wanted to push it, in fact, my palms were itching and words were on the tip of my tongue, I wanted so badly to push it. Something was wrong and I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t even know if I wanted to know what it was. I just knew I had to know. With effort, I kept silent all the way to the house.

Snow had started gently falling by the time we turned into the road that would turn into the other road that led to his house.

Max parked and jumped down. I did too.

He hit the front door far faster than me mainly because he wasn’t wearing high-heeled boots but this could also be attributed to the fact that his legs were a lot longer than mine.

I followed through the open door Max didn’t close. I closed it and my eyes went to him as I shrugged off my coat. He was in the kitchen heading to the fridge. I hooked my coat on a dining room chair and heard the hiss of a cap coming off a beer. I turned to the kitchen and saw him with his head back, taking a drink.

I stopped at the edge of the counter and watched as he dropped his beer hand and leaned into his other hand on the counter.

I pulled up the courage to start. “Max –”

But Max spoke over me.

“I know the situation was extreme but is it too fuckin’ much to ask you not to sit in another man’s lap when I’m standin’ in the room? Scratch that. Is it too fuckin’ much to ask it even if I’m in another fuckin’ state?”

I felt my mouth drop open and my stomach pitch.

“Sorry?” I whispered.

“For what?” Max asked.

Unnerved, I didn’t know what to say, so I stammered, “I… but… but it was Brody.”

“Don’t give a fuck who it was.”

“But –”

“Don’t give a fuck why you did it either, Nina, just don’t do it again. Yeah?”

“He… Max, he pulled me in his lap,” I reminded him. “Under the circumstances, I could hardly pull away.”

“No circumstances are the right circumstances for you to have your ass in another man’s lap.”

I shook my head, those short, quick shakes again.

“Are we… are we really talking about this?” I asked in disbelief.

“Positions reversed, Nina, you were in a room and I had a woman in my lap, would you like that?”

My stomach pitched again at the thought he planted in my head and at the fact he kept calling me Nina.

“No, of course not,” I told him.

“Point made,” he replied curtly.

“Unless it was Mindy or something,” I added.

“I fed Mindy baby food. You’ve known Brody a coupla days. That’s hardly the same fuckin’ thing.”

“In a way, it is.”

“What it is, is, I’ve known you a week and you’re fuckin’ me. You’ve known Brody –”

I lost my incredulity at our conversation and my mild confusion and the fear that I felt whenever he was angry at me and that red film covered my eyes again.

“Don’t you finish that!” I warned.

“Again, point made,” Max shot back.

I leaned in and snapped, “You’re impossible!”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that.”

I glared at him and he held my glare. Neither of us spoke, neither of us moved. I wanted to throw something at him but nothing was in reach and if I had to reach for something I could swear at that moment my entire body would shatter.

Regrettably, I was unable to hold his clear, angry gray eyes so I turned my head, looked into the house and realized there was really nowhere to go to escape him. Except one place. So I went there.

I stomped across the room, my boots loud against the wood floors. Then I stomped up the stairs. Then I stomped to the armchair to see my bag was gone and I stopped, staring at the chair. Then I stomped to the closet, threw open the door and turned on the light inside. I saw my limited amount of clothes hanging next to Max’s, my sweaters tidily folded on the fitted shelves again next to Max’s and my shoes lined up on the tilted rods also next to Max’s. My suitcase was folded up and tucked into a corner. All of my clothes had been laundered and, those that needed it, ironed and so had Max’s.

Caroline was good at her job.

I turned out the light, slammed the door and stomped to the bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet and saw my toiletries tucked neatly away. Then I opened a drawer in the vanity and saw my makeup. So I stomped back to the door, saw my robe was on a hook at the back and I felt like shouting with glee when I saw it. Then I slammed the door and locked it.

Then I drew a bath and started the long, complicated procedure of giving myself a facial.

What I wanted to do was leave Max’s presence, his house and the state in which he currently resided.

Something else I wanted to do was walk downstairs and scream in his face.

Since I didn’t have a car and since I was so angry I couldn’t trust my own mouth and since my Mom and Steve worshipped the ground Max walked on and they’d planned a romantic dinner a deux at The Rooster thus I couldn’t call them to come and get me, I was stuck with the facial.

So I gave myself the longest facial in the history of me giving myself facials.

The water in the tub was cool but even after the facial, I had not cooled down when I climbed out and toweled off. I lotioned my body like I’d be graded for the endeavor and then I wrapped myself in my robe, grabbed my clothes and boots and walked out.

The house was lit downstairs and up with both lights illuminated on both nightstands but I could see and hear no Max.

I dumped my clothes and boots in the closet and went in search of my underwear which I found in one of the drawers (yes, by Max’s). I snatched out a pair and put them on, pulled on my last pair of pajama bottoms and a shelf-bra camisole. The bottoms were cotton with tiny, retro daisies in sherbet colors against a raspberry sherbet background with the camisole being lime sherbet. I shrugged my robe back on and confiscated a pair of Max’s socks, the best ones I could find deciding I’d steal them just to tick him off. I yanked them on while hopping around foot to foot.

Then I went across the room, slid open the doors to the TV, selected the most gruesome horror movie I could find even though I didn’t normally watch horror movies since they were horror and thus scared the dickens out of me, even the silly, bad ones which always made Charlie laugh his behind off when he used to force me to watch them with him and put it in the DVD player. Then I curled up on the bed, shoving most of the pillows behind me, tucking one to my front and I glued my eyes to the television set.

My stomach reminded me I hadn’t had lunch and I silently told it to shut the hell up.

The movie had scarcely started before a young woman was being chased through the woods, the blood of her hacked up boyfriend covering her barely clad body when I felt Max’s presence hit the loft.

Although a part of me I was not listening to was glad he was there (simply because the movie was scaring the dickens out of me), I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes fixed on the TV even as I felt the bed move when he sat on it and I heard one boot then the other hit the floor. The bed moved again and I stayed completely still and focused on the TV.

Max slid in behind me, his arm went around my middle and he pulled me into his hard body. With a forceful jerk I pulled myself forward and with an equally forceful jerk he hauled me right back.

I gave up and held myself completely still.

“Turn off the movie, Duchess.”

Oh, so now I was Duchess. Now, after he proved, like most – no all men (except Charlie and Steve) – that he was a world class jerk.

I didn’t move nor speak.

“Baby, turn it off.”

Now I was baby. Nice.

He sighed then he pressed closer to my back.

“It’s been a shit day.”

I stayed silent and watched the young, barely clad damsel come to a bloody end in the woods.

“Curtis knew someone wanted him dead.”