Page 78 of For All It's Worth
Chapter Thirty One
Charlie
Crackingmyeyelidsthenext morning, I was met with a general feeling of unease. Max had drifted from where he was usually curled up against my side. His back was to me and he was scrolling something on his phone.
“Morning,” I said.
“Morning, what time are we meeting your mom?”
I checked my phone for messages and sure enough, there was one from Mom with the time and place for brunch.
“We’ve got just over an hour,” I moved to reach for him but he slipped from the bed.
“I’ll go grab a shower then.”
As he circled the bed, I clasped his wrist. “Everything okay?” There seemed to be a wall building between us that I didn’t understand.
“Everything’s fine but we don’t want to be late. Your mom already has issues with us.” He pulled away and quickly entered the bathroom, the snick of the lock loud in the silence of the room.
Max didn’t take long to shower and he tried to lighten the mood with teasing as he pushed me towards the bathroom, but it was off somehow. Gone were the kisses and touches I was becoming accustomed to.
We entered the busy restaurant with plenty of time to spare, but not enough time to talk. I was just getting up the courage to speak to Max about the weirdness between us when Mom was shown to our table.
Max rose first and kissed her on the cheek in welcome. A pleased smile graced her face.
“Hello Mom, you look nice,” I said as I also rose to greet her with a hug.
The server approached and took our orders and we sat in silence for a moment.
Mom finally broke it. “I owe you both an apology for my behavior last night. I’m very happy that you are together as a couple and didn’t want to give you the impression that I wasn’t. However,” I suppressed an eye roll. “I was surprised and didn’t feel that Andy’s party was the place to tell the family such big news.”
While I knew Andy was okay with it since he and Will already knew, I wasn’t about to point that out to Mom, since that news would go down like a lead balloon. “Point taken Mom. I’ll apologize to Andy for making a scene at his party.” It was easier just to placate her. “So you’re happy Max and I are together?”
“Of course I am! I may have worried about the timing, but I’ve had some discussions with Evan. He thinks that Max is a very stabilizing influence on you, and I agree with that. I just was so worried about you before, but you look so happy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so content.”
“Being with Max is better than anything I’ve had before,” I said to her while looking directly at him. His eyes widened. “He’s helping me realize my dreams. Did I mention that he encouraged me to sell my photos in a store that sells work by local artists?”
“Really? Oh, darling, that’s amazing news! Thank you, Max, for being the push that he needed.”
Max blushed and stammered a few denials and fell silent.
Mom dominated the conversation between us for the rest of brunch, which was only broken when Max had to leave to get ready for work.
“Will you be okay getting home?” Max asked me. “I have to rush. Kristen needs me in earlier.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it will be.” His tone was off again, slightly curt in a way I didn’t get. Was it just that he didn’t want to discuss his business in front of Mom?
He leaned in and pecked my cheek, the barest brush of lips. He’d been sitting next to me the whole time but had kept a careful distance. I’d touched his thigh under the table and he’d flinched, so I’d withdrawn it.
“I’ll call you later,” I called to his retreating back which he acknowledged with a wave.
“Is everything okay with you two?” Mom asked delicately.
“Yeah, he just has a lot going on at work.” I shrugged, trying to brush off the hurt I felt at Max’s dismissal.
“So, do you have a key for Will’s place? I'm looking after the cat.”
