“Mindy,” Max’s voice was a warning.
All right, maybe a somewhat scary older brother. Charlie had never been scary.
“I’ll stick with the week,” she answered.
“You make Damon stick with it too,” Max pushed.
“Oh… kay,” she replied impatiently and I looked at Max to see he was grinning which, when I looked back at Mindy, I noted she found annoying.
“I love that top on you,” I butted in. “You should keep it.”
Mindy’s annoyed face disappeared and her eyes hit me. “I couldn’t.”
“You can.”
“But –”
“I’ll replace it in town this afternoon. There looked like there were some great shops.”
“They’re awesome!” Mindy cried. “I can’t wait to show you.”
“Me either,” I replied, spooned up more of my breakfast and when I was shoving it into my mouth, Max’s arm hooked around my neck and he pulled me into his side.
“Make me some eggs and toast to go with that bacon, Mins,” Max ordered, she rolled her eyes but headed to the toaster, I tested his arm around my neck and found it didn’t budge. “Hand me my coffee, Duchess,” he ordered me, I caught Mindy’s eye, rolled mine back, she giggled then I reached forward, his arm still around my neck, grabbed his mug and handed it to him.
So, in the end, I finished my breakfast pressed to Max’s side, his arm around my neck, watching Mindy make eggs and toast while Max sipped cold coffee.
And I not only didn’t tell him we weren’t going to explore our situation, I let him kiss me again, told him about Charlie and made a date to spend the afternoon and have dinner with, essentially, his baby sister who’d been raped only weeks before.
Yes, I was officially in trouble.
* * * * *
I took a shower in Max’s downstairs bathroom, hauling all my stuff down there to do it. There, I got ready while Max took a shower upstairs and Mindy sat on the toilet seat chatting animatedly to me like a girl who’d never experienced anything but extreme happiness while living in a land of golden rainfalls, fairies that granted wishes and dancing leprechauns that showered treasure on you.
When I was done getting ready which, if Max’s impatient yet amused demeanor was anything to go by took way too long, we all climbed into the Cherokee and went to Mindy’s apartment where we packed up a lot of her stuff. In fact, as far as I could tell since she and this Damon person didn’t have much, outside of dishes and furniture, it seemed like most everything she owned.
On a trip to the Cherokee with a box, I caught Max who was heading back in.
“Isn’t this, um…” I asked quietly, in case Mindy could hear, “a lot of stuff for one week?”
Max put his finger to his lips, winked at me then took the box from me and headed back to the Jeep.
When we were done packing up, we drove across town and then Becca helped us carry it up the two flights of stairs to her third story condo.
After we had Mindy safely ensconced in her new lodgings, Max took us out for lunch at a little rustic but lovely café by the river. We had a booth by the window and Max sat by me. Mindy and Becca did most of the talking, so much I didn’t have time to think much less room to speak. Though I did manage to think it felt nice the way Max lounged beside me, his arm across the booth at my back, his bearing laid back but possessive. And I also managed to remind myself I shouldn’t be thinking that way, even though I couldn’t stop myself from doing it.
The sun was shining and the cold snap had completely disappeared. It had to be twenty, maybe even thirty degrees warmer that day and the snow was melting so fast the gutters in the streets had turned to streams. The sun glistening off the water and the snow made the clear day so much brighter it was cheerful, like the town had its own brand of magic.
Experiencing it, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Mindy had, indeed, lived an enchanted life prior, of course, to being raped.
When we walked out of the café, Mindy proclaimed, “All right, girl time! No boys allowed.”
“Like I’d wanna go shoppin’,” Max muttered, his arm sliding around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.
“Right, so, skedaddle,” Becca ordered.
Max grinned and said, “She’ll be right back.”