Romance Impossible(46)

Time started to slip by, quicker and quicker, and before I knew it, we were comfortably in the pre-dinner lull. Just then, my phone started to ring.

"Lydia? What's going on?"

"Well," she said, "first of all, take a deep breath, everything's fine. I finally got through. He's got a little bit of a fever, I think, but nothing too serious. He ended up sleeping most of the day without even realizing it, and I managed to convince him that he absolutely is not allowed to come in to work. You're doing just fine without him. Am I right?"

"Of course," I said, feeling hours of tension melt out of my body. "You're sure he's okay?"

"He's coherent, he's not hallucinating, and he's keeping down fluids. I don't think there's anything to be seriously concerned about. He managed to take his temperature, and it's back down to normal, but he's still got the shakes and feels like he got run over with a truck. Knowing him, he'll wake up absolutely fine tomorrow."

I sucked in a breath through my teeth. It was pretty funny to imagine the great Maxwell Dylan down for the count thanks to a mere virus, but at the same time, I hated the thought of him being sick and alone, and no doubt worried about how the restaurant was faring without him.

Lydia had been delayed more than she expected getting into town, but surely someone could go make sure he was still alive.

"Can Beckett check on him before he comes in?"

I could almost hear Lydia's shrug. "Apparently when he called, Chef absolutely forbade him to come over. Said it was more important for him to get to work. I don't think his brother wanted to argue it."

Right on cue, Beckett came through the door. I gave him a thumbs-up to indicate everything was going okay on my end, then turned my attention back to Lydia.

"Well, okay. If you talk to him again, just let him know we're doing great, and we all hope that he feels better soon."

"Will do. Thanks for taking care of this, Jillian. It means a lot to him, having someone around he can trust."

Out of everything that went on between Max and me, "trust" wasn't really the first word that came to mind. But Lydia probably knew him as well as anyone did, so she must be on to something.

"Just doing my job," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.

Beckett was surveying the kitchen when I hung up.

"Like a Swiss watch," he said, nodding approvingly. "I knew Max was onto something with you."

I was getting more complements from people on Max's behalf than he'd ever given me to my face. Trying hard not to blush, I went back to my station.

"I do my best," I said, starting on the first ticket that came through. "Did he really tell you not to come over?"

Beckett rolled his eyes. "Threatened me with violence, actually. I'm sure I could take him, in his current state - but you have to pick your battles."

Didn't I know.

Still, as the night wore on, I couldn't stop thinking about him. Someone should stop by, just to make sure he was all right. I kept thinking of all the stories you hear about someone who felt "under the weather" and ended up dead the next morning, from some mutant form of pneumonia or a brain aneurism or...#p#分页标题#e#

He was fine. Of course he was fine. Suffering a little, but he was fine.

But would I ever forgive myself if no one checked up on him, and it turned out that he wasn't?

So Beckett was a lost cause. Understandable, but even with everything that had gone on between me and Max, we didn't have nearly the amount of baggage he must have with his siblings. If I showed up at his door, he'd almost certainly forgive me.

Right?

I let my mind run through the possible scenarios as I worked. He might be angry, he might be grateful, or he might be too out of it to care - whatever it was, I'd feel much better about the whole situation if I saw him with my own eyes.

There was just one tiny obstacle, but I knew how to solve that.

Or, at least I thought I did.

Though I didn't know the address of Max's place in Boston off the top of my head, I knew it was written all over some of the paperwork in his office. There was only one problem - when I tried the door, it was locked. I immediately felt stupid. Obviously, he wouldn't just leave his office open for anyone to wander into whenever he was gone.

Asking Beckett for his address directly was out of the question. He'd want to know why, he'd probably advise me not to go, and more than that, I had a feeling he was starting to clue into the...emotional developments between me and Max. I felt embarrassed just thinking about the way he'd look at me when I confessed I was worried about his brother.

Thankfully, there was another option. And all it involved was a little white lie.