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“Hi. Thank you both for dinner. It was delicious.” She met Max’s gaze. “I ate it all.”
“Good.” He turned back to the TV.
Mr. Wilde smiled at her. “You look better.”
“I don’t, but thank you for saying so. Mind if I watch, too?”
Mr. Wilde waved her into the room. “Not at all.”
Max didn’t say anything.
She took a seat on the other side of the couch, leaving a big gap between them. She wasn’t a huge hockey fan, but found herself getting into the game. Mostly becauseMax and his dad really enjoyed it and made a lot of comments and cheered when their team scored.
She tried not to think how nice it was to be here with them, or that if she’d been at her place, she’d be watching TV alone.
She spent a lot of time alone.
It made her sad and happy at the same time to be here. This is what her life might have been like had she and Max stayed together. This is what she’d lost.
She wiped away the tear that slipped down her cheek and sucked the rest back, not wanting to distract the men from their game with her inner turmoil.
Mostly, she shifted her focus and settled into enjoying the evening being with them, even if she was just taking up space and not really participating.
She’d spend the next however long she was here, doing this, being here, but not interfering in Max’s life anymore.
The game ended with Max’s team up two points. He looked so happy and excited.
Even Mike, who’d taken up a spot at the back of the room, looked pleased.
She stood and stretched her tense back. “That was a really good game. Thanks for letting me watch with you.”
The muscle on the side of Max’s face ticked. “Get some sleep.”
“Good-night.” She headed for the stairs, but caught Mr. Wilde’s whispered remark.
“Ignoring her isn’t going to fix things.”
Max’s reply was exactly what she expected. “Leave it alone.”
It hurt her heart to know that, even though circumstances had brought them back together, he didn’t want to change the status of their relationship from nonexistent to even friends.
She took the not-so-subtle hint, accepted that he’d been kind to nudge her into getting her act together, and now it was time for her to give him back the space he wanted.
She just wished it didn’t have to be this way.
Chapter Thirteen
Kenna was in the stall with the mama cow and her calf. The little one was still too weak to nurse from his mother, so Kenna was giving him his lunch in the form of a huge bottle with a nipple. And the little guy was drinking it up. “Chase said you’ll be back at your mother by tonight if you keep this up.”
She hoped the little one didn’t get attached to the bottle feeding.
The alarm on her phone went off. She needed to get into the office, where Mr. Wilde said the Wi-Fi was better for her video call with the school today. She was nervous about speaking. Patrice had emailed her the outline of what they had planned and a heartfelt message that the kids missed her, were worried about her, and couldn’t wait to see her.
She intended to keep the focus on Marcus.
“Hey, what are you doing in here?” Max asked from behind the stall gate.
The calf finished off the bottle just in time. “Feeding the baby.”
