Page 110 of Kiss Marry Kill
I rubbed his back. “It’ll be okay, Max. I promise.”
He didn’t speak for a moment, and then he whispered, “Why did I get my hopes up? I know better than to do that.”
“There’s nothing wrong with getting excited about something.”
“It’s twice as hard when it falls through though.”
“Nah. You gotta hope for things.”
He sighed. “Of course you’d say that.”
I led him into the kitchen and made him sit at the table. Then I pulled out the whole-grain bread he liked and toasted two slices. He sat staring into space, as if watching something on an invisible screen. Once the toast was the perfect golden-brown color, I buttered it and put it on a plate. Then I carried it over to the table and set it in front of him.
“Eat,” I said firmly.
He picked up a piece and took a bite. His cheek bulged as he chewed, and he looked up at me. “Sit with me.”
I took the chair beside him. “Maybe you’re overreacting. Maybe Dr. Johnson will accept your offer.”
He closed his eyes. “No. River offered a hundred thousand dollars more. Dr. Johnson would be a fool to turn that down.”
“Shit. A hundred thousand more?”
“Yes. River needed to make sure it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.” He took another big bite of the toast, chewing angrily.
“What are you going to do? You can’t keep working at his clinic. Not with this much animosity between you two.”
“No. I’ll have Girdy pack up everything. I can’t go in there. I might try to strangle River. Then you’d have to arrest me.”
“Why in hades would River do that to you?”
“I don’t know. You think he’d be happy to get me out of his clinic. Why put up roadblocks to keep me there?” Max took another bite, looking dejected.
“I can’t figure out what his motivation would be.”
He finished off one piece of toast and started on the next. I was amazed he was actually eating. Of course, neither of us had finished our lunch today.
“Why did you think I was mad at you?” I asked.
He swallowed hard as if the bread was sticking in his throat. I got up quickly and got him a glass of water and sat it in front of him. He took a swig of it, and once the bread seemed safely down, he met my gaze.
“You seemed upset with me at lunch.” He frowned.
“I was just surprised.” I hesitated. “You’d already put an offer down, and it was the first I was even hearing about the spot.”
“It just happened really fast. I was looking at one spot in a strip mall kind of place, and Mrs. Numi could tell it wasn’t at all what I wanted. Next thing I knew, she’d taken me over to see Dr. Johnson’s clinic.” He sighed. “It was everything I wanted. I guess I just went for it, assuming you’d be happy for me.”
Guilt nipped at me. “I was happy for you.”
“You didn’t seem it.” His tone wasn’t exactly accusing, but it was close.
He deserved to know where my head was at, but I wasn’t sure he was in the right frame of mind to have this conversation. “We can talk about all of that later. You have enough to think about right now without me adding to your stress.”
He wrinkled his brow. “Is it bad?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Then just tell me. Tell me what you were feeling.”
