Carrie nodded. “The last owners were in the financial sector. The husband was transferred to Hong Kong.”
“Mom!” a little voice yelled from the house.
She shot Lucy a wry smile. “That’s me. I’ve got to be going.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll leave too. No worries about the strange
lady in your backyard.”
“Lucy!” Max called, the concern in his voice clear.
“And that’s my cue anyway. Nice meeting you,” Lucy said.
“Same.” Carrie glanced at her, watching as she walked out of the yard, probably relieved.
Not that Lucy blamed her. She had a family in the house to protect.
Lucy rubbed her arms with her hands, feeling the chill in the air down to her bones. Or maybe it was the chill of memories. She wasn’t sure.
She met up with Max on the driveway of his parents’ house. “There you are! Jesus. You scared me, disappearing like that.”
“Sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just took a walk next door.”
He narrowed his gaze. “I would have gone with you if you’d asked.”
She smiled but wasn’t feeling any lightness at all. “I know. But you were busy with your parents, and I figured I’d get it over with, you know?”
He grasped her hands in his and held on with all his strength. “I do know. Which is why I wish you’d waited for me.”
“Everything okay with your mom?” she asked, sticking to his life, not hers.
“We made a start, thanks to you. I never would have come here if you hadn’t pushed.”
“I really am glad, Max. Life is short. You don’t know how much time you have left. Better to make peace with the past while you still can. And maybe have a future with them that’s better. For all of you.”
“Lucy, you know I’m here for you, right?”
“I know.” And she did. She just couldn’t feel anything since visiting her old house.
“No, princess. I’m here. No matter how tough things are, I’m not going anywhere, ever. Because I love you.” His amber eyes met hers.
Everything she’d ever needed and wanted she found in his handsome face, concerned expression, and honest, from-the-heart words. He’d told her he loved her before, when he’d explained his own life and bared his soul. He hadn’t pushed for her to say the words back and hadn’t repeated them again until now.
She loved him too. With every fiber of her being, and she sensed he knew it. But she couldn’t bring herself to say so out loud. First, because she just couldn’t find her emotions. They were locked inside her, frozen in ice, in the pain of loss and the fear of facing that emptiness again. And also because if she told him she loved him, she’d make it real. Put it out there in the universe and risk life laughing at her. At the futility of allowing herself to be happy, when it could all disappear again so easily.
“Max.” She squeezed his hands tightly, the best she could do to express her feelings at the moment.
“I know, princess. You’ll say it when you’re ready.”
Except she feared she never would be… and he’d get tired of waiting.
Chapter Ten
“So I have the walk-through with the inspector, a couple of meetings at the restaurant, and then I’ll come by and steal you away from work,” Max said, speaking to Lucy on his cell. “Sound good?”
“I’ll do my best to get out early,” she said, sounding distracted. He understood. They’d both been extremely busy lately, and this morning she’d had an early meeting at the office.
“Enjoy lunch with the girls. I’ll call you later.”