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I try to read but end up replaying the scene in the bedroom over and over again.
Did Max betray me? Was he telling his father I wanted to buy Tingel Island so wrong?
My head insists that yes, it was a horrible thing to do, that I can never trust him again. But my heart tells me maybe I overreacted.
Maybe I got scared that he said he was falling in love with me.
That maybe, I was falling in love with him too, and the idea of that was too much to handle.
Not having a phone is torture and I know that somewhere in the tiny island airport, I could buy another one, but I sit in the painful silence without even doom-scrolling to distract my thoughts.
I give up trying to read on the plane and pass the book on to the young mother for her to give it a try.
When we finally land, I drag myself home, checking the hope that Max might meet me. Why would he do that when I was so nasty to him? All the things I said—if I could apologize, that might be better. This disappointment might go away and I can continue with my life—without him.
Without Max in my life, what reason does he have to be in it?
It’s not a nice thought.
“Cady?” Tana is upstairs at the sound of the slam of the door, cats and Travis racing behind her. “What happened?”
“What’s going on with the Tingel deal?” I demand, losing my usual confident tone and sounding like I’m broken.
I am broken. Beyond repair.
Tana waves away my question. “What happened to you?”
I smile sadly. “The Tingel deal.”
Tana heads straight into the kitchen when I tell her I haven’t eaten since last night. The wedding seems like it happened weeks ago, to another person. The way Max made love to me…
Travis hands me my phone, and sets up my laptop at the counter because I make it clear I’m not saying another word until I find out what I’ve missed.
Tana reports on the activity of the last few days as she makes me soup. It’s as if she knows that while my stomach may be craving food, my heart wouldn’t be able to take anything too substantial.
I miss Max.
As I scroll through reports and read emails, my heart thumps to the beat—I miss Max. I miss Max.
Which shouldn’t be possible because I’ve only known him for a few days. How can I miss someone in that short of a time?
When Tana pushes the bowl over to me, I close my laptop. “What did he do?” she asks evenly.
“What makes you think it was something he did?”
“Because I know what you did. You ran, Cady. But before that, I’m sure you closed up tighter than that suitcase I’m sure you packed in a hurry. I can only imagine the state of your clothes.” She shakes her head in mock horror. “What did Maximus Steele do to you?”
“I had fun with him,” I say in a small voice.
“And that’s a crime?” Travis demands.
“It is when there hasn’t been much fun in your life,” Tana corrects. “Is it broken beyond repair?”
“Is what broken?”
“Your heart.”
I stare at Tana for long moments before turning my attention to my soup, taking a few quick spoonfuls and burning my tongue in the process. “I did it to myself,” I admit. “I was with him. I was… happy. And then I read his texts from his father—”
