Today was Perry’s funeral and it was going to be a hard day to get through for all of them. All he wanted was to have Danny at his side. She always made everything a little easier. But he had to accept that it was his fault that she was hundreds of miles away. Christmas would come soon enough and there was no way he would be able to avoid bringing her home so he gave himself a deadline. If she still didn’t remember anything by December, he would tell her the truth instead of asking his family to lie for him.
He walked out of the bathroom and saw the darndest thing. A few feet down the corridor, Tyler tip-toed out of Jordan’s bedroom and quietly closed the door.
Tyler froze when he looked up and saw him. “It’s not what it looks like,” he said quickly.
“It looks like you just spent the night in my sister’s room and you’re sneaking out before my parents catch you.”
He pulled his lips in and nodded. “Mmm. Then I suppose…it is what it looks like. But I assure you, nothing happened.”
Max shrugged but said nothing because he actually liked watching him squirm.
“Please don’t tell your brothers.”
“Balls and shears, Tyler.” Max gave him a quick tap on the shoulder as he walked past. “Balls and shears.”
The melancholy that filled the house made it feel like it wasn’t the same house. Max wanted to get out of there but escaping it was impossible. It was everywhere, in everyone. Max walked down the front stairs, waved a greeting to Shane who was parked in the driveway, and hopped into the back seat of his mother’s Land Rover. She sat in front of him in the passenger seat and his dad was behind the wheel. No-one said anything, but Max could hear the mournful sniffles from the front seat. He reached over and gave his mother’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. She placed her hand over his and squeezed back.
A few minutes later, Tyler and Jordan walked out, both dressed in black and she shut the door behind her.
“Where’s Kevin?” Max asked when they reached the car.
“He’s not coming.” She turned and shouted the same thing to Shane.
“What do you mean he’s not coming? This is a mistake, Jo-jo, and you know it. He’s gonna—”
“Bink’s a big boy now,” she said softly, climbing in beside him. “He can make his own decisions.”
The space between them got smaller when Tyler climbed in, his broad body dominating most of the backseat as he shut the car door.
Max quietened even though he knew that Kevin would forever regret not saying goodbye to his best friend. He didn’t argue with Jordan because she had been with Kevin all day yesterday and she probably understood his reasoning.
The drive to the church was morbid. The eulogies and the prayers even more so. Momma B was edgy, constantly looking around the church, her eyes searching for the son who was still alive. Her brown skin had darkened substantially, looking tired and overused because it was the only thing holding her together. She looked older too, desolate, inconsolable and all she wanted to see was the face of her other boy, but Kevin had made his choice.
As they carried the coffin out of the church to the hearse, Max felt the memories sweep through his mind. Playing catch in the back yard. Hide and seek. All the birthday parties. And somehow Kevin not coming actually started to make sense. He wanted to save himself from this. Max could only feel pity for his little brother. If he was feeling so torn, then Kevin was absolutely shattered.
He felt the tears roll down his cheeks and wiped them away with one hand. Jordan took hold of his other hand and rested her head on his shoulder. She was crying, too, sobbing harder when Momma B’s grief-stricken wails echoed through the church. He put his arm around her and even though he found solace beside his sister, no one was a substitute for Danny right now. He wanted her there. He wanted to hold her, hear her voice telling him that it was going to be okay.
Lie or no lie, best friends were for life. Lie or no lie, best friends were irreplaceable.
* * *
Danny started grating cheese. Max would be home any minute now and she wanted to have a hot meal waiting for him. She had attempted a beef stew but it tasted like rubberized meat boiled in sea-water…with a hint of parsley. So they were going to have grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner again.
She dropped everything when she heard the front door open. She raced out of the kitchen and threw her arms around him. “Hey, there, Sugarpie.”
He released a deep sigh, as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders, and hugged her tight. “I missed you,” he whispered against her neck.
“I missed you, too.” Sensing his need for comfort, she pulled him closer. “It’s gonna be okay.”
His fingers pressed harder into her back as she spoke. “You make everything okay.”
When he finally pulled away a few minutes later, he smiled but the sadness showed in his eyes. He sniffed, looking strangely around the apartment. “What’s that smell?”
She toyed with her fingers and tried to hide her embarrassment. “Um…I tried to cook again.”
The smile reached his eyes now, seeming more genuine. “You know they say that if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Yeah, you shouldn’t listen to that advice. You should just…just stop. Quit while you’re ahead, that’s the advice you should take.”
She hit his shoulder and giggled. “Stop being mean! I just wanted you to have a nice, hot meal when you got home.”
He pulled her into his arms again and kissed the side of her head. “The only thing I want right now…is you.”
* * *
Danny was pissed. Max! Sentimental Max! Make-a-big-deal-about-everything Max, had forgotten her birthday.
Jumping into her car, she turned down a narrow street, heading straight for the beach. The beach was in walking distance but she was taking advantage of the fact that she could drive now. Well, kinda.
She rode the clutch a bit too much and the car jerked and screeched. She heard Max’s voice shouting in her head: Clutch in, Danny! Release it slowly.
It took a little getting used to, but learning to drive again was not as bad as she had originally anticipated and she loved having some sort of independence.
Only a few blocks and she would be there. She needed a little time to herself before he got home. The sound of the waves and feel of the sand was calling her, promising to set her mind at ease. She wasn’t angry so much as she was hurt. Max was still grieving so it was understandable that it slipped his mind yet still it hurt. It was not about big gestures or expensive gifts. That wasn’t what she wanted. All she wanted was acknowledgement, a small Happy Birthday, Danny.
It was the first birthday she remembered in the last ten years and she had wanted it to be special, like all her other memories with Max. Lauren had called. Amber had called. Even Charlie!
Max had snuck off early this morning and the first thing she felt when she woke up was disappointment. She had waited with her phone beside her and nothing. Lunch and a meeting with another client and still nothing, not even a text message. As the day progressed, she had become more disheartened.
All she needed was some time to rearrange her thoughts, to stop thinking about herself. Max needed her support during this hard time and a few minutes with sea and sand would help shift her focus. One part of her felt selfish while the other part kept reminding her that a simple birthday wish was not asking for too much.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm her emotions as she parked her car and climbed out. Salty air filled her nostrils and she was beginning to feel better already. Tossing off her shoes, she buried her feet in the soft sand, allowing it to collect between her toes.
She walked a little further and spotted a boulder. A vague memory came to mind—Jake lifting her up onto that rock when she was a little girl—and she was instantly drawn to it.
She took her time, enjoying the harmony of the waves crashing on the side of her, the feel of the wind whipping through her short hair. When she reached the rock, she lifted herself up a foot to sit on it and there beside her, she saw a small stone with a piece of paper underneath.
The placement of it was odd enough to pique her interest. She pulled it out from under the stone and read it.
How To Get a Girl Right Where You Want Her:
Step 1: Ignore her
Step 2: Wait for her to become edgy and irritated
Step 3: Ask her to turn around
Danny immediately spun around and her heart stopped. Max stood on the other side of the rock with beige pants that were rolled up to mid-calf and a pale yellow shirt, which he hadn’t bothered to tuck in. The late afternoon sun caressed the side of his face and lightened his brown eyes. Gorgeous. That was the only word that came to mind.
“Happy birthday, Danny.”
Those were the words she had been longing to hear from him all day and somehow hearing them made her feel like all her emotions were going to overflow.
She slowly climbed off the boulder and walked around it to meet him. “Step one and two were entirely unnecessary.”
“I had to get you here without spoiling the surprise.”
“How did you know I would come here?”
He smiled and looped his arms around her. “I told you, you haven’t changed. You always came to this very spot whenever you wanted to clear your head.”
“I’m still mad at you.”
He shrugged. “It won’t last long.”