Robyn didn’t agree or disagree. She did accept the food and coffee.
Maxwell walked over to the counter to get his own food and coffee. He brought them back to the table and sat down.
Robyn hadn’t touched her food. She pushed her plate away and placed her arms on top of the table. “We meant so much to each other at one point, and while we’re not friends, I didn’t think we were enemies. What the hell, Maxwell?? I would have never thought you would have purposefully tried to hurt me.”
“We hurt each other.”
She shook her head. “No. This was not the same. I never meant to hurt you.”
His voice was pained. “Does it matter what you intended? The bottom line is I needed to get over the past and thought this was the best way to do it!” Though Maxwell had accomplished his perfect plan, it didn’t leave him with the feelings of resolution he had hoped for. As a matter of fact, it had the opposite effect. Opening up old wounds, and the hurt in Robyn’s eyes, had him more than regretting this entire scheme. It was a colossal mistake.
“It matters, Maxwell.” Her voice broke. “I’m sitting across this table, and I’m so angry I can’t see straight. Yet . . .” She stopped what she was going to say. He didn’t need to know that as much as she wanted to kill him, she equally wanted to bask in his presence. Robyn switched gears. “How can you claim to have loved me at all and be able to do this?”
“Robyn . . . ”
“You built our dream home!”
Maxwell wouldn’t look at her. His words were barely audible. “I built it twice.”
“What?” She was confused. Then, she remembered what he said about the night they broke up. “I never knew about the other house.” Freud would have had a field day with this situation.
“No, you wouldn’t have. It was supposed to be a surprise.”
Robyn was quiet. “You do realize building this place doesn’t exactly scream that you wanted to get over our past. Do you hear yourself? You spent millions of dollars and invested time and energy into this place . . . just to hurt me? Or get me out of your system? There were easier ways to accomplish both of those things.”
Maxwell took a sip of coffee. “It’s been nine years. You shouldn’t read more into it than it is.” His voice hardened. “All of this was about me, not you.” He got up and went over to the sink. “My life and the choices I make have nothing to do with you.” Now, it was his turn to sound delusional.
The room was so quiet they could hear the tiny flecks of ice from outside pelt the windows. He decided this heart-to-heart was a mistake too and needed some time to himself. Maxwell wouldn’t face her. “You know where everything is. Do whatever you want to make yourself comfortable.”
He started to walk out of the kitchen as Robyn followed him with her eyes. He paused and said, “I’ll make the call to the plow service and let you know what they say.”
Maxwell left Robyn sitting alone in the kitchen.
Chapter 13
Robyn continued to sit at the table. She placed her chin in the palm of her hand. As angry as she was with Maxwell, he was someone she had loved deeply and obviously still cared for. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he’d never gotten over the pain of her decisions. She couldn’t say he still loved her, but he was stuck in the past.
He’d built her a house twice and was going to propose. There was a part of her that was glad he didn’t. She couldn’t honestly say she would have accepted it. Actually, Robyn knew the answer to that question. She wasn’t ready for that back then. Why was it women always had to choose between following their dreams and having a family? Why couldn’t she have it all? She wanted the man, and she wanted her career. And while it might have seemed as if she’d just picked up and walked away from him without a care in the world, it couldn’t have been further from the truth. If she were honest, next to her parents, her relationship with Maxwell had been one of the purest loves she’d ever experienced.
Robyn knew that Maxwell would have done anything for her except come with her. She rolled her head around her shoulders. “Why didn’t you come? We could have had everything. But now, we just want to smother each other with a pillow.”
Her stomach growled. A small smile appeared on her face as she picked up her fork. He remembered. It was the little things that got to her. No man had ever touched her soul the way Maxwell had. Her failed attempts at relationships were just as much her fault as anyone else’s, mainly because there was a part of her that she would always hold back. Honestly, it was that part she’d already given to Maxwell. It dawned on her that she hadn’t gotten over their relationship either.
That wasn’t a great epiphany but more an admission of the truth. Maybe she had made a mistake nine years ago in leaving. She had money and the career but still felt empty inside. That stupid saying that material things meant nothing without someone to share them with came to mind. Who was she kidding? That statement was more than
