LITMIR.BIZ

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the weekends he was gone.”

      “He was stealing money from the company.”

      “I guess.”

      “How much of Hailey’s education did you pay for by waitressing?”

      “By the end, I was paying for all of it.” She circled her hand in a vague gesture. “That’s when I wanted out. But Brody hired the best divorce attorney in Biloxi and contested everything. I was desperate enough to agree to anything to get away from him.”

      “I don’t understand why you let him do that to you.”

      “Because I was young and scared. When I met Brody, I’d been taking care of Hailey by myself for a year and slipping a little further behind every month. Our apartment was a dump. We clipped coupons and barely scraped by. Most days I didn’t see how I was going to make it to the next paycheck. Then Brody swept into my life. He seemed like a dream come true. Wealthy, handsome, charming, and he saw me as the perfect patsy. Stupid and gullible.” Rachel turned away from Max, unable to face her failure reflected in his eyes. “I guess some things haven’t changed. I came here today because he said that I needed to meet with the guy who slashed my tires and convince him that I wasn’t going to be able to come up with any more money. Only there wasn’t any guy threatening Brody.”

      “He lured you here to see me giving him the money. He wanted to hurt you.”

      He wanted to humiliate her. To demonstrate he’d always be smarter than her. “How did you know about him? About the money I owe him?”

      “Hailey. She was worried about you and came to me for help. Did you know she was paying your ex for her tuition?”

      “What?” This was a complete disaster. Now she had to have a long, painful talk with her sister. “Why would she do that?”

      “Brody convinced her the only way he would give you a divorce is if she paid him back for tuition.”

      “She did it because we were worried about you. Why can’t you just say thank you for the help?”

      Failure buzzed around her head like a swarm of black flies. She’d screwed up again. Self-loathing flared, setting fire to her irritation.

      “I didn’t ask for her help or yours.”

      “Maybe everything would have turned out better if you had.” Max’s gaze warned her to stay silent as she opened her mouth to disagree. “You brought this whole mess on yourself and on us because you had to do it all yourself. You couldn’t reach out for help. You couldn’t accept assistance when it was offered. Instead, you alienated Hailey and me and made it so your ex-husband could cheat both of us.”

      “You’ll get every penny back,” she retorted, her face hot while the rest of her body shivered with chill. “If it takes me until the day I die, I’ll pay you back every cent.”

      “I don’t care about the money. I only care about you.” He reached for her, but Rachel flinched back. It was instinctive reaction to Max’s earlier scolding, but his gray eyes became like a wintry sky, dense and ominous. “Only you won’t let me do that.”

      And to Rachel’s profound dismay, he turned on his heel and walked away from her. She wrapped one arm around her waist and ground the knuckles of her other hand against her lips to keep from calling him back. The set of his shoulders told her he was completely done with her.

      As he should be.

      He was right. This was all her fault. She’d made nothing but one mistake after another since the day her father died. She’d trusted the wrong people. She’d allowed fear to make her weak. And when she learned to be strong, she swung so far in the other direction that she’d put up walls that kept out even the people she loved.

      She didn’t blame Max for walking away. In fact, she was a little surprised he hadn’t run as far and fast as he could to get away from her. She owed him more than she could repay. Not just the money he’d given Brody, but for stepping in on her behalf as well as on Hailey’s.

      What a fool she was to have shut him out. She was an even bigger fool to let fear of rejection stand in the way of her chasing after him now.

      Max went straight to the parking garage. His footfalls ricocheted around the concrete structure, mimicking the echo in his empty chest. He’d called his new assistant and warned her he’d be gone the rest of the day. Taking off in the middle of the afternoon wasn’t like him, but what was the point in trying to work when there was no way he could concentrate?

      He eased his car up the exit ramp and rolled down the window to activate the garage’s electronic gate. Heavy, humid air, stinking of exhaust, washed over him as his tires reached the street. He longed for the clean scent of the beach. But even that wouldn’t soothe him for long. The fragrance would forever remind him of Rachel and their time together.

      How could two people be so right for each other and so wrong at the same time?

      The question made him think of his parents’ past troubles, and before he knew his intention, the car was heading to the suburbs. He called ahead to make sure someone was home and his mother met him at the door.

      “Your father is golfing,” she said, drawing him through the house with her arm linked through his. “He appreciates playing so much more now that he’s back to work part-time. I’ve never seen him so relaxed. He’ll be back in an hour or so if you can wait around that long.”

      “I didn’t come about business. I need to talk to you.”

      “Really?” Her surprise faded to concern as she scanned his face. “Is it something serious? You’re not ill, are you? You look awfully pale. Are you sleeping?”

      “Nothing like that.” Max patted her hand to reassure her. “It’s about Dad’s affair.” Max felt his mother’s whole body stiffen. He kicked himself for being so blunt. “If it’s too hard for you to talk about, I’ll understand.”

      “No.” The word swept out of her on a gust of air. “It’s okay. I should be able to talk about it after twenty years, right?”

      “It’s okay if you can’t.”

      She didn’t speak until they’d entered the kitchen and she’d pushed him onto a stool at the breakfast bar. In his childhood home, the kitchen had been separate from the rest of the house, a place where the housekeeper prepared meals and he and Sebastian snuck snacks. In this house, the kitchen opened onto a large great room with overstuffed couches and an enormous flat-screen television. A sunroom had been transformed into a semiformal dining area for eight and a breakfast nook held a table that seated four.

      Although the house possessed a formal dining room designed to entertain on a grand scale, the room was used infrequently. For holidays, birthdays and spontaneous dinners, the family gathered in this casual space.

      From the refrigerator, his mother brought out white cheddar cheese, pâté, and olives. From the pantry, two types of crackers. By the time she handed Max a glass of crisp chardonnay, an empty plate and a napkin, he was grinning.

      “What’s so funny?” she demanded, handing him a cracker spread with pâté.

      “I didn’t realize it was happy hour.”

      “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” She waved her hand at him and sipped her own wine. “I tried a new recipe for the pâté. I’d like your opinion, but only if you rave about my wonderful cooking. Now, what did you want to know about your father’s relationship with Marissa?”

      Nathan’s mother’s name slipped off her tongue with ease as if she’d spoken it a thousand times.

      “It really isn’t the affair I’m interested in. I wanted to know why you forgave Dad after what he’d done to you.” Max popped the cracker into his mouth and chewed. “Or maybe I should ask how you forgave him.”

      “I loved him.”

      “That’s

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