She pushed her plate aside. Her appetite had fled the minute she’d come into the family room to find Max and a nearly empty bottle of whiskey. “The coffee should be ready. Let me go check.”
Max stuffed a forkful of rice into his mouth. “Don’t need any.”
“But you’ll drink it if you know what’s good for you.”
Nikki rose from her seat. She knew she was better off getting the coffee than remaining in here with Max.
“She doesn’t look like she’s having a baby.”
Nikki froze. Although she knew Kevin had told his father about... their situation, she wasn’t sure what an intoxicated Max would say about it.
“Go on and get the coffee, Nikki,” Kevin said.
She didn’t take offense at the order but her legs wouldn’t move. She wanted to hear what came next certain that Max wouldn’t disappoint her.
He laughed loud and hard, but his tone had turned malicious. So were his words. “But if she’s set up house here, she must be. Told you you’re like your old man. Trapped before your time.”
Nikki cringed, realizing for the first time what kind of household Kevin had grown up in. Understanding now why he was so withdrawn, and comprehending why he felt the need to protect and turned on himself when he failed.
That Max’s drunken words echoed her own fears wasn’t lost on her either. Kevin stood. “Instead of the coffee, just bring me the car keys,” he said, never taking his gaze off his father.
Nikki jumped at the chance to get the older man out of the house. When she returned, she handed Kevin the keys and he steered his father toward the front door. “Wasn’t done with my meal,” he muttered.
“You were done a long time ago,” Kevin retorted.
When they reached the door, Max glanced over his shoulder. “He might think he’s high and mighty and better than me, but the apple don’t fall far from the tree. You both remember that.”
Kevin gave him an abrupt shove out and the door slammed closed behind them. The sound of the car engine reached her ears. Wrapping her arms around herself, Nikki shivered. No matter how far away Max got, his parting words continued to echo in the empty house and in Nikki’s ears.
Not because Nikki believed him, but because she was all too afraid that Kevin did.
* * *
Kevin deposited Max face down in his bed, fully dressed, then headed on home. Facing Nikki tonight would be harder than looking in the mirror each morning, and that was saying a lot. But putting it off wouldn’t change the fact that his father was a drunk and had made a despicable scene. He’d also uttered truths Kevin would have preferred remained unspoken. But what the hell. It was nothing Nikki didn’t already know.
And if by chance, she’d started believing in fairy tales, tonight had dispelled the myth. So perhaps he owed Max for that. He stepped into the darkened house, expecting to find himself alone, Nikki closed in her room. He didn’t figure she wanted to look at him any more than he’d be able to meet her violet eyes. Eyes he was sure would be filled with pity or disgust. He couldn’t tolerate either.
Though the house was quiet and the overhead lights were off, the soft glow of a lamp beckoned to him from the family room. Just like Nikki to be thoughtful and leave a light burning for him, he thought.
With a weary groan, Kevin stepped inside the room.
“Are you okay?” Nikki asked.
Her soft voice took him by surprise.
Kevin was used to Max. She wasn’t. He glanced her way. “Are you?”
She bit down on her lower lip. “I feel responsible. He went into the basement earlier and I forgot to mention it... what with dinner and the tension, not that there’s an excuse...”
“Stop right there.” He held a hand up to forestall any more explanations.
“I don’t blame you for being angry.”
He raised an eyebrow. “If I’m angry at anyone, it’s at myself for subjecting you to him.”
“Don’t you think he’s responsible for his own behavior, not you?”
Kevin couldn’t help but grin. “Using that logic, you ought to lighten up on yourself, too.”