Mad About Max. Penny McCusker

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      She pushed back from the table and went to the fridge, returning with a half gallon of ice cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup. “And since you brought the main course, the least I can do is supply dessert.”

      Sara took a spoon and the chocolate syrup, scooting her chair closer to Janey’s so she could be in easier reach of the calorie comfort. “What would I do without you?”

      “I don’t know.” Janey took a big spoonful of ice cream, closing her eyes and moaning in sheer delight. “I can tell you one thing, though. Without you I’d still be a size eight. I’ve eaten so much ice cream in commiseration that none of my pants fit anymore. But you, you rat, haven’t gained an ounce.”

      “Embarrassment burns a lot of calories,” Sara said around a mouthful of ice cream. “I’m thinking of writing a diet book.”

      “I don’t think it’ll catch on.”

      “It’s not the most pleasant way to lose weight.”

      Janey shook her head. “It’s just that most women can’t stick to a diet for six days. You’ve been embarrassing yourself over Max ever since you came to Erskine.”

      “Six years.” Sara set her spoon in the carton and sat back in her chair. Hearing it like that made the egg roll and ice cream in her stomach simmer and stir unpleasantly. Not that it wasn’t the truth, but having the past half decade of her life boiled down to that one basic truth made her feel like throwing up.

      She’d met Max Devlin when she was nineteen, a bright-eyed, eager sophomore at Boston College. Max had been a senior, there on a track scholarship, and her student advisor; he’d always known somehow when she needed a sympathetic ear or a comforting shoulder, and he’d never failed to provide it—for the short time he could.

      Before midterms, Max received news that his grandfather had died suddenly. Sara had ached for him, but even if she could have found a way to help him through his grief, there’d been no opportunity. He’d lost his father to a riding accident before he’d graduated from high school, and his mother had remarried and moved to Europe. With his grandfather gone, there’d been no one to run the ranch, and Max had been faced with a choice—sell or stay home. He never came back to Boston.

      Time passed, Max married, and Sara convinced herself that what she’d felt for him was nothing but gratitude for the kindness he’d shown a shy, sheltered young woman out on her own in the world. They’d kept in touch, but the frequency had dropped significantly; Max didn’t have a lot of free time on his hands.

      Not that Sara did, either. After graduating from college with a degree in education, her father convinced her to take a job in his company, training men and women with master’s and doctorate degrees how to use software systems they fobbed off on their admins anyway.

      When Max’s marriage ended, leaving him with a two-year-old to look after and a ranch to run, Sara hadn’t hesitated. She’d arrived in Montana, a city girl so far out of her element she’d wondered how the ranchers punched cows without hurting their hands. She’d only planned to stay long enough to help Max get things under control, but every time she mentioned leaving, he got such a look of abandonment on his face she hadn’t had the heart to go through with it. In the end, it was her heart that had kept her there.

      Looking back now, she could barely remember the decisions she’d made in those first confusing weeks after she realized she was in love with Max. Not that she regretted taking a job teaching third grade; she’d always longed to teach children anyway. Her new job was so much more rewarding than what she’d been doing in Boston. And it had just made sense for her to move into the old, unused bunkhouse on Max’s ranch so she could be closer to Joey. And Max. Someday, she’d hoped, he would fall in love with her and make them a family.

      But it seemed that Julia had taken something with her, after all, when she’d walked out of Max’s life. His heart.

      “I’m sorry, Sara,” Janey said, “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

      Sara dismissed that nonsense with a wave of her hand. “My feelings aren’t hurt, Janey. I’m just beginning to wonder what I’ve been doing here all these years.”

      “Sounds like you’ve been talking to your mother again.”

      Sara looked up, surprised. “I talk to my mother every week.”

      “And she always campaigns for you to move back to Boston, so what’s different this time?”

      “Maybe she’s right. Maybe Max won’t ever see me as more than a friend.”

      Janey’s spoon clattered to the tabletop, her mouth and eyes going wide in overdone shock—which went ignored.

      “Besides, Joey’s always been my excuse for staying, and he’s been self-sufficient for a while now,” Sara said, admitting it aloud for the first time, although she’d been thinking it more and more often. “Max really doesn’t need me around anymore, and my contract is up for renewal this year….”

      “He’d be devastated if you went away.”

      “Would he?”

      “You’re a huge part of his life, Sara. He loves you.”

      “As a friend.” Sara threw herself out of her chair, pacing the generous confines of the kitchen. “I want more, Janey. I want it all. What if he never wants the same from me?”

      “Maybe he won’t, but you’ll never know unless you push him to make a choice.”

      Sara snorted softly. “You know Max. If I force him to choose, I’ll lose his friendship.”

      “Or gain his love. Look, Sara, in some ways your mom is right. You’ve spent six years—”

      “‘Wasted’ is how Mom put it. I’ve wasted six years.”

      “So it’s time to take the bull by the horns and tell Max how you feel.”

      “Like you’re doing with Jessie’s father?”

      “That’s different.” Janey slumped in her chair, scooping up a huge, half-melted glob of ice cream and letting it drip back into the carton. “I called him when I found out I was pregnant. He never called me back.”

      “He should still know he has a daughter.”

      “We’re talking about you.”

      “Not anymore,” Sara said, then gave a little bittersweet laugh. “We’re quite a pair, Janey. Two young, attractive women with nothing to do but sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. There has to be a bright side to this.”

      “There is—for Ben & Jerry’s.”

      “Seriously, Janey. It’s time we stopped moping around and did something about what’s wrong with our lives. There have to be a couple of men out there who want a home and family—”

      “Whoa!” Janey held her hands up, palms СКАЧАТЬ