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Truly Madly Deeply Boxed Set(186)

By:Carly Phillips


“I’d like to stay... if I’m welcome,” Max said, as if daring Kevin to object now.

“Kevin?” Nikki asked, deferring to him. Once again, he found himself at a loss. Unsure of how to handle this woman who seemed to have taken over his home—and his life.

One day at a time, he decided. He wasn’t capable of much more.

Hoping he didn’t regret his decision, Kevin turned to Max. “I’d like you to stay too.”


* * *

She’d made a huge mistake. Nikki didn’t know why she’d gotten involved, why she’d invited Max to stay for dinner. She’d caught glimpses of his belligerent, nastier side, but then she’d overheard him apologize and be sort of sweet to his son. And she’d turned into a marshmallow. The first dinner ever she’d prepared for Kevin—and she invited company.

Was there something subconscious involved there, she wondered wryly. So here she was, with Kevin on one side—and a now drunken Max on the other.

She toyed with the rice on her plate. Kevin had insisted on helping her in the kitchen while Max watched television in the family room. Time had gotten away from them and at least forty minutes had passed. She’d been so on edge about the entire evening, she’d forgotten Max’s earlier trip downstairs. Apparently Max hadn’t. And apparently there was more in the basement than just wine. Because Kevin’s father was rip-roaring drunk.

“Do you want to just drive him home?” Nikki asked, softly.

Kevin shook his head. “Let him eat and maybe he’ll sober up,” he said, disgust evident in his tone.

She sighed. She felt so responsible for the way the evening had turned out. If only she hadn’t invited him for dinner. If only... She shook her head. If only wouldn’t change a thing. She’d do her apologizing later, but she had to help Kevin through this meal first.

She pushed her plate aside. Her appetite had fled the minute she’d come into the family room to find Max and a nearly empty bottle of whiskey. “The coffee should be ready. Let me go check.”

Max stuffed a forkful of rice into his mouth. “Don’t need any.”

“But you’ll drink it if you know what’s good for you.”

Nikki rose from her seat. She knew she was better off getting the coffee than remaining in here with Max.

“She doesn’t look like she’s having a baby.”

Nikki froze. Although she knew Kevin had told his father about... their situation, she wasn’t sure what an intoxicated Max would say about it.

“Go on and get the coffee, Nikki,” Kevin said.

She didn’t take offense at the order but her legs wouldn’t move. She wanted to hear what came next certain that Max wouldn’t disappoint her.

He laughed loud and hard, but his tone had turned malicious. So were his words. “But if she’s set up house here, she must be. Told you you’re like your old man. Trapped before your time.”

Nikki cringed, realizing for the first time what kind of household Kevin had grown up in. Understanding now why he was so withdrawn, and comprehending why he felt the need to protect and turned on himself when he failed.

That Max’s drunken words echoed her own fears wasn’t lost on her either. Kevin stood. “Instead of the coffee, just bring me the car keys,” he said, never taking his gaze off his father.

Nikki jumped at the chance to get the older man out of the house. When she returned, she handed Kevin the keys and he steered his father toward the front door. “Wasn’t done with my meal,” he muttered.

“You were done a long time ago,” Kevin retorted.

When they reached the door, Max glanced over his shoulder. “He might think he’s high and mighty and better than me, but the apple don’t fall far from the tree. You both remember that.”

Kevin gave him an abrupt shove out and the door slammed closed behind them. The sound of the car engine reached her ears. Wrapping her arms around herself, Nikki shivered. No matter how far away Max got, his parting words continued to echo in the empty house and in Nikki’s ears.

Not because Nikki believed him, but because she was all too afraid that Kevin did.


* * *

Kevin deposited Max face down in his bed, fully dressed, then headed on home. Facing Nikki tonight would be harder than looking in the mirror each morning, and that was saying a lot. But putting it off wouldn’t change the fact that his father was a drunk and had made a despicable scene. He’d also uttered truths Kevin would have preferred remained unspoken. But what the hell. It was nothing Nikki didn’t already know.

And if by chance, she’d started believing in fairy tales, tonight had dispelled the myth. So perhaps he owed Max for that. He stepped into the darkened house, expecting to find himself alone, Nikki closed in her room. He didn’t figure she wanted to look at him any more than he’d be able to meet her violet eyes. Eyes he was sure would be filled with pity or disgust. He couldn’t tolerate either.