“Same. Kid’s at daycare and I’m out of work right now, so I have a lot of time.”
“Out of work?”
He sighs. “Yeah. Not a cop anymore, so I was working at the box factory over on the other side of town. But they shut down production, so now I’m looking for something new.”
“Box factory. Sounds… fun.”
“Oh, you have no clue. It was a blast. I loved folding the cardboard over and over again. I got damned good at it.”
I grin at him and he laughs. “Well, I’m sorry you’re out of work. That really stinks. Times are hard around here.”
He nods at me. “I’m fine though, to be honest. I have a police pension which pays enough. I have savings. I was mostly working so I could put Tabitha through college one day.”
“Hey, you never know. She could go to trade school.”
He grunts at that. “Not my girl. She’s smart, smarter than I am. Got that from her mother.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, but take that with a grain of salt. She’s only two. So you can’t really tell yet.”
I laugh a little. “You can tell.”
We move down into a little front yard. There’s a gravel driveway leading down through the trees, and I realize his driveway probably hits the same road the manor’s driveway hits, except further down. The cabin itself is in good shape. The shutters look new and there’s new paint on the door and the porch. The siding is clean and the landscaping is actually pretty nice.
“Cute,” I say. “I had no clue this was here.”
“Wasn’t cute when we moved here,” he says. “Had a lot of work to do, but it’s been good for me. Keeping me busy.”
“Between the factory, the kid, and the landscaping, how did you have time for yourself?”
He looks at me with a little smile. “Didn’t. Come on, let’s go in and get you settled.” He helps me up the front steps and in through the front door.
The cabin’s nice inside. We step into a living room with a couch, some chairs, and a decent television. It’s well furnished, light and airy, with black and white photographs of a city hanging on the walls.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“Philadelphia,” he says. “Where I’m from.”
“Really? My brother lives and works there.”
“It’s a good city,” he says, nodding. “Here you go.” He helps me down into one of the chairs.
“Thanks,” I say, leaning back with a sigh.
“Stay there. Don’t go hopping around. I’ll be right back.”
He disappears through a side hall and I lean back in the chair.
It’s strange, being in this place. I don’t know this man or this cabin at all, and it’s barely a half hour from my own house. But the manor is just such an imposing place, it’s hard to even think about the world outside its walls.
Max comes back a few minutes later with some bandages and clips. He rolls my pantleg up and takes off my sock. I suck in a sharp breath when he moves the ankle.
“Bad, huh?” I ask him.
“I’m not a doctor,” he says. “But I still don’t think you broke it.”
The ankle’s swollen and black and blue already, which can’t be a good sign. He wraps the bandage around the hurt ankle, his hands gentle and caring. He smiles up at me when he finishes and clips it into place.
“How’s that, not too tight?”
“Perfect,” I say. I move my ankle a little but the bandage keeps it in place. “That’s great, thanks.”
“No problem.” He rocks back onto his heels and looks at me. “So, Delia. Where the heck are you from?”
I laugh a little. “You wouldn’t believe me.”
“I get to drive you home, so you might as well try.”
“I live at Lofthouse Manor.”
His face goes flat. I knew he’d react that way. Most people in this town are weird about me being a Lofthouse. I think it’s because we own everything. Almost everyone living in Loftville is our tenant, whether business or private individual.
“You’re one of those, huh,” he says.
I keep smiling through it. “Yep, one of those.”
“Folks say a lot of things about the Lofthouse family. Is it true you all sacrifice babies out in the woods at night?”
“Only on full moons.”
We stare at each other until he laughs. I laugh with him and he stands up with a stretch. “Well, Delia Lofthouse, it’s nice to meet you.”
“You too, Max…”
“Fellows.” He looks at me for a second. “You want something to drink?”
“That would be great.”
“You’re lucky I came along,” he says as he walks back through that hall again. I can hear him get out a glass from a cupboard and fill it with water. “That big house is pretty far from here.”
“Half-hour walk, more or less,” I say.
“Not a bad hike.”
“I was thinking about going for another half hour then turning back.”
“Didn’t work out that way.”
“Nope.”
He gives me the water and I sip it. He sits down and watches me for a long moment. I let out a breath and smile at him.