“What made you want to come home so fast?” my mother asks. She flips the last pancake and scoops it onto the plate with the others. When she looks at me, I turn my focus to the massive spread in front of me. I don’t want her knowing anything about Max and what happened.
“I figured it was time for a visit,” I lie even though there’s some truth to it. I really did want to see my parents.
She sits down at the table and scoops some eggs onto her plate. “How long are you staying?”
I fill up my plate with eggs, bacon, and two pancakes. “At least a couple of weeks. I had some vacation time built up at the yacht club that I needed to take.”
She grins. “Nice. You must like it a lot there.”
If she only knew how much I hated it now. The last thing I want to do is go back and have to serve Max and his new fiancé. Luckily, Kim strolls in, still in her pajamas, and waves. “Morning.”
My mom laughs at her. “It’s practically afternoon for us. We’ve been up since the crack of dawn.”
Sheepishly, Kim looks over at me and I nod. “It’s true. We have. After breakfast, you and I are going hiking. Hope you’re ready for that.” It’ll be nice to get some fresh air and time to think.
Kim’s stomach growls and she clutches it. “I’ll be ready as soon as I eat. I’m starving.” Mom and I laugh at her as she fills her plate completely.
“Don’t you ever eat?” my mom asks her teasingly.
Kim scoops a bite of eggs into her mouth and moans. “Yes, but the food back home isn’t as good as this.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s because she’s never awake when I cook,” I say to my mom.
My mom pats my hand and winks. “I taught you well.”
“Yes, you did,” I agree. Being around her makes me realize how much I really do miss spending time with her.
As soon as we finish breakfast, Kim and I clean the dishes so my mom can go outside and help my dad in the yard. I can see them through the kitchen sink window, laughing as they pull weeds out of one of the flower beds in the front yard.
“Think we’ll ever be that happy?” Kim wonders.
I thought there was a chance I could be, but I was totally wrong. “I hope so.”
She dries off the last dish and hands it to me. “All right, girlie, let me get dressed and we’ll get out of here. You need to get in a better mood.”
Can’t argue with her there. She disappears down the hall and it doesn’t take her long to get dressed. One of my old backpacks is in the hall closet so I pull it out and fill it up with waters and snacks. When we get outside, the weather is perfect. No clouds in sight. It’s the middle of September and the high for today is a breathtaking seventy-two degrees.
“Has Max tried to call you?”
I open the car door and get in, tossing my backpack into the backseat. My phone is in the bag, but I have yet to turn it on. I’m scared to see what messages I’ve missed, or if there are even any messages at all. It’ll gut me either way.
“I don’t know,” I confess. “I’ve been too afraid to turn my phone back on.”
Kim starts up the car and we head on our way to Acadia. “I understand. I’ve kept mine off too. I’m sure our boss has left me quite a few nasty messages for quitting.”
“You didn’t have to quit. I could’ve come up here by myself.”
She snorts. “Please. You’re my best friend. You need me right now. Besides, I really hated my job. You’re the only reason why I stayed. I knew if you became manager things would get better.” And now I’m not. I threw that opportunity away.
It doesn’t take long to get to Acadia, and today, we’re going to hike the Bubbles Trail. It’s a moderate hike that features a vast abundance of wildflowers. I need some serenity right now. Grabbing my bag out of the backseat, I slide my arms through it and tighten the straps, so it fits snugly across my back.
Kim pulls out her phone and sighs. “All right, I’m turning this thing on. The suspense is killing me.” As soon as she turns it on, there are a gazillion beeps. She scrolls through her messages and cringes her face. “Yikes. Yeah, there are some pretty harsh messages on here. Remind me never to use our boss as a reference for future jobs.” She continues scrolling, but then her eyes widen in shock.
“What is it?”
She bites her lip and looks at me. “I got a text from Max. Several in fact. He’s looking for you.”
My heart flutters for a quick second, but then reality steps in and I embrace the anger. I refuse to let him break my heart. Who am I kidding? It’s already broken. “Don’t reply,” I warn her.
She agrees with a nod and puts her phone in her pocket. “You don’t think he can track where you’re at, do you?”
Knowing Max, he can probably do anything. He knows the right people. “Dear God, I hope not. If he’s smart, he’ll leave me alone.”
Kim chuckles but there’s no humor in it. “Something tells me that’s not going to happen.”
8
Max
It took me five days to track London down. It should’ve been sooner but her best friend, Kim, is like a vault and wouldn’t tell me anything. In fact, she made me work for any minute detail, and each time she gave me a morsel, it
