But Rose can only shake her head, unable to comprehend. Can’t say I blame her. Perhaps it would have been better to call first.
“I see,” the waitress says. She puts her hand on Rose’s shoulder. “Hey, why don’t you go and talk to your friend? I’ll clean up this mess. The office is empty if you need, you know, privacy.”
The waitress gives us another odd, slightly protective look. I smile to try and ease her mind.
Rose just nods dumbly, still staring at Max with wide eyes.
It’s then that I notice her left hand.
A big ass fucking diamond ring on it.
Oh shit.
So that’s real.
I’m not sure if Max has noticed yet.
Then again, both of them are locked in some sort of standstill.
Okay, someone has to take charge, or this staring contest will continue for the rest of the night.
“Hi,” I say to Rose, approaching her. “My name is Ada. Max has told me a lot about you. How about we go to your office so we can get all caught-up? I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
Rose blinks at me, swallowing hard. But then she nods.
I reach out and put my hand at her elbow, turning her toward the back of the bar where it seems the employees would go, guiding her there. I glance at Max over my shoulder, jerking my head for him to follow.
We reach the office and step inside. It’s small, just a desk, two chairs, and a bunch of cleaning supplies and filing cabinets.
All three of us step inside and I close the door, leaving it open a crack so that Rose doesn’t think we’re about to rob her or something like that.
“Max,” Rose says, taking a step toward him. “How can this be?”
She reaches out to touch him, her fingers trailing down his arm, then up to his face, pressing her hand against his cheek.
I immediately avert my eyes, feeling like I shouldn’t be seeing this.
“I came back to life,” Max says. “Surprise.”
Her hand falls away and she turns, walking to the filing cabinets, leaning against them, shaking her head. She wraps her arms around her chest like she’s cold. “I don’t…I don’t get it. I don’t believe it. Are you a ghost? Is this a joke?”
“It’s not a joke,” I tell her, even though it might not be my place to speak up. “And he’s not a ghost.” Well, not really. “We came all this way to see you.”
She frowns at me. “I’m sorry, your name is Ada?”
“The one and only.”
“Your name sounds familiar.”
“You’ve met my sister,” I tell her. “Perry. She and her husband were in New Orleans. With Max. You know, when your mind got jellied by that voodoo cult. Before Max died. Oh, and he died because of them too. They’re the reason he went to New York and sacrificed himself. So you probably don’t like them very much. But don’t worry, I’m different.” I finish my rambling with a big smile.
She raises her brows at me, and then looks back at Max. “What…what happened? How is this possible? You did die, didn’t you?”
Hmmm. For some reason, I expected more of a “oh my god, you’re alive, I love you,” scene followed by some savage making out. Not that it wouldn’t kill me to see it. But Rose is really keeping her distance. She must be shell-shocked. Or maybe that ring on her finger is majorly complicating things.
Then again, Max is also holding back. I also expected some dramatic proclamations of love on his behalf.
“I did die,” he says carefully. “For three years. I was dead as anything. Then Ada was able to pull me out of the Veil.”
“You were in the Veil?” she asks.
He nods. “Didn’t quite make it to where I was supposed to go. Or, perhaps I did.”
She gasps. “Were you in Hell?”
He shrugs. “Wasn’t so bad.”
I roll my eyes. My god, his machoism knows no bounds.
“So then you’re…” she says to me, trailing off.
“A demon slayer. Yeah. Max says I’m pretty good.”
She looks back to him. “Are you training her?”
Okay, this is bordering on small talk now.
“So, Rose,” I speak up, and Max gives me a look to shut up, but of course I go on ignoring him. “I have to ask you, I noticed that engagement ring on your finger. How serious are you about him, really? Be honest.”
“Ada,” Max says sharply. If looks could kill. I just hope he can control his brain because I don’t want him to Darth Vader me right now.
“It’s fine,” Rose says, though clearly it’s not fine to Max. She gives him an uncomfortable look. “Remember David?”
From the tightness in Max’s jaw, yeah, he remembers whoever David is.
“I’m sorry,” she says to him softly. “When…when I’d heard you’d died, I…my world came to a stop, Max. I didn’t know what to do, who to turn to. David was there.”