Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses(28)

“What should I call him?”

“Maybe Mr. Sinclair.” She stopped the car and turned off the engine. “Ready?”

When Richard answered the door, Max did a deep, dramatic bow and said, “Hello, Mr. Sinclair.” Richard clearly attempted to keep a straight face, and Abbey shook her head infinitesimally while tugging on the shoulder of Max’s shirt to make him stand up.

“That’s not him,” she whispered. “And you can just greet Mr. Sinclair like you greet everyone. This is Richard.”

“But that’s what they do in movies.”

Richard bowed. “Hello, Mr. Fuller,” he said. He took a step back to let them enter. Abbey smiled at his gesture. “I hope I’ve put all the furniture in the right rooms,” he said to Abbey. “I think I’ve got it, based on the size of it all. Just call me if you need to move anything. Don’t try to do it yourself. The boxes of decorations are all in the hallway still.”

“Thank you, Richard.”

Max took his shoes off and lined them up at the front door. He peered up at Abbey with an unsure look. The color was coming back into his face a little. He’d held down the crackers she’d given him earlier, and he’d even had some juice before they’d gotten there. She smiled and left her shoes beside his. “Before we go upstairs, do you want to see a giant piano?”

“Yes!”

Abbey took him into the ballroom. She figured she’d check for those hidden outlets while she was in there. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she said, clicking on the lights for each of the Christmas trees.

Max was standing in front of the piano, his gaze moving from one side of it to the other.

“It’s so shiny.”

“I know.”

Max moved over to the bench and sat down in front of the gleaming keys.

“Don’t touch them,” she whispered gently. “You might get your germs on them. We don’t know if you’re still contagious or not.”

“It’s all right,” Nick said from the doorway, and Abbey turned around. “Hello,” he said, walking toward them. “You must be Max,” he said, producing that generic smile. He stood at just enough distance to make Abbey worry that he thought Max might get him sick. She wished that she hadn’t had to bring him.

“This is Mr. Sinclair,” Abbey introduced him. “He’s very good at playing the piano.”

Nick smiled.

“Would you like to try to play?” Nick asked Max.

Max nodded.

“Go ahead then.”

Max scooted the bench closer, creating a hollow screech throughout the room, and Abbey cringed at the thought of what it might have done to the floors. She hoped he hadn’t scratched them. She looked over at Nick, but he didn’t seem fazed. He seemed to be thinking about something else. Max tinkled out a few notes, the sounds getting deeper as he made his way down the keys, and Nick focused on him again.

“Lovely,” Nick said, but his thoughts still seemed a little preoccupied. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Max.” He turned to Abbey. “Is there anything that you’ll need from me to help you get started?”

“I think Richard has everything under control.”

“Okay.” Without another word, he left the room.

Abbey stood there a moment as Max continued to play on the piano. Nick had always been somewhat reserved, and he wasn’t forthcoming with his daily goings-on, but today, he’d been less focused, his mind clearly somewhere else. Something about his features just now made her feel like he was worried about something—maybe it was the crease between his eyes that hadn’t been there before, the smile that wasn’t his real smile… Something wasn’t right. If she hadn’t had Max with her, she might have tried to find out what was wrong, but she didn’t want to get into anything that might not be appropriate for little ears. Plus, to judge by the way he left, it was clear that Nick was quite busy. She found the outlets and jotted their locations on her sketchpad.

“Want to see the upstairs?” Abbey asked Max.

He slid off the bench and ran across the room to her. When he tried to come to a stop, his feet were not on the large rug, but on the slick floors surrounding it, and he slid across them until he bumped into his mother.

“See?” she giggled. “I told you that you could slide on the floors in your socks.”

As they walked through the entryway, Max continued to get a running start so that he could slide toward her, his laughter rising into the air all the way up to the second floor. It was good to see him feeling better. When he got close to her again, she felt his forehead. It was still a little warm, but it wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been.