“Too much sharing. I don’t want to know all the places you guys do it.”
Upon pulling into the driveway my door is opened before Kendall turns off the engine. Normally, this would startle me, but I already know who it is.
“You never texted me,” Max accuses, sticking his head through the open door.
“Hi, Max.” Kendall calls, retracting her keys. “Good to see you too!”
He looks up to her and grins. “Hey, Kendall, Jameson’s waiting for you inside.”
“Are we being used for one of their sexcapades?”
“Indeed. Want to go get ice cream?”
I turn to Kendall who’s checking her reflection in the rearview mirror with the biggest grin I’ve seen on her face since Jameson and Max left. “Have fun!” I sing, climbing out.
Max pulls me into a hug before I can get both of my legs fully out of the car, squeezing me tightly to his chest. “God, it’s good to see you.”
“But you obviously had fun. So much fun we didn’t hear from either of you.” I remind him as he frees me from his vice grip.
Max shakes his head and wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side. “We lost reception the first day after being out just over two hours.”
“I’m glad. I was worried you guys found like Megalodon or something.”
“The giant extinct shark that hunted blue whales?” he asks me curiously.
“Oh, Ace, you’ve finally found someone that speaks you’re language.” I turn to see Kendall hasn’t left. She laughs at the expression I give her, which from the way I feel likely resembles something along the lines of ‘shut up, Kendall.’
Max and I spend the evening together as he tells me about the trip and the ocean, reminiscing about the swells and the scent, the colors and the differences and similarities between here and Alaska.
I love listening to Max and watching him transition from deep and thoughtful to silly and animated as he recounts their run in with the Mexican border patrol, laughing as he discredits Jameson’s claim of speaking Spanish explaining he only knows produce translations.
We spend the next few days glued to one another, and it feels a lot like right before he left on his trip, except for the fact that there are even more brushes of our arms and hands, more glances and smiles, and although I’m about to go crazy trying to decipher what Max is feeling, I also feel reluctant for anything to change because as lame as it is, I’m willing to accept anything Max is willing to give me, and I don’t want to potentially lose any of it.
I’d like to think my breakup with Eric inspired Jenny, because the following week she announces that she’s leaving Paul and asks my parents if she and Lilly can move back home, which my parents are beyond ecstatic about. Caulder, Kyle, and my dad plan a moving day, and arrange for boxes and hauling, and somewhere in the midst of their planning Jameson, Max, and Landon all get involved as well. A small piece of my heart will forever be with each of them, as it feels like they’re a part of our family now.
We’ve experienced uncharacteristically large amounts of rain this summer, something we Southern Californians don’t handle particularly well. I’m sure people around the country would laugh if they knew how excess rain literally immobilizes our city. Thus when Sunday arrives and the clouds and weather forecast promise rain, it isn’t even falling before half the family has called to cancel. Once the storm warnings start running over the TV and our phones, the rest of the family cancels as well.
“I sure hope the boys are bringin’ their appetites tonight,” Mom says, returning to the den where Kendall, Dad, and I are watching a movie. “Jenny just called, she said she and Lilly are going to stay another night and will drive back in the morning.”
I glance at Kendall. This means it will just be our parents, Jameson, Max, and Susan for dinner. She looks over at me and smiles reassuringly. Things have been going well between her and Jameson, and I figure if she can be at ease with this situation, then I should be as well.
Shortly after the movie Kendall and I make our way into the kitchen where I’m tasked with chopping vegetables for the salad. Kendall’s assigned with setting the table. Claps of thunder echo outside and the rain graces us with its anticipated appearance.
As I finish dicing a tomato, the doorbell chimes charging me with a nervous energy that has me spending far too much time trying to decide if I should go and answer the door. Mom looks at me from where she hovers by the stove checking on her lasagna with an expectant look that quickly morphs into confusion. I dismiss it and the doorbell, focusing on chopping a cucumber instead.
My dad clears his throat and makes his way to the foyer. I have no idea why I feel so nervous tonight. I know I’m being ridiculous and making this into a much bigger deal than it really is. I take a deep breath, willing myself to calm down.
Distracted by my little mental freak out, I completely miss what the three have said as my dad’s laughter alerts me that they’re in the kitchen.
“I hope y’all are hungry since your poor mom was called in. That means it’s just the six of us tonight,” my mom says, catching me up to speed. I notice her take a couple of steps, stopping beside me.
“It smells amazing in here,” Jameson says, taking a deep breath through his nose as I pile the cucumber into the salad bowl and reach for an orange bell pepper.
“It does,” I hear Max agree. “These are for you, Muriel, for having us over for dinner again.” The urge to look at him gets stronger, knowing he’s mere feet from me as I focus on gutting the pepper.
Mom jabs me with her elbow, and I glance over to see her eyes focused on the bar with a wide smile spread across her perfectly made-up face. I glance over to see what has made her so elated and my gaze immediately gravitates to Max. Our eyes lock for a quiet second before I look to my dad and then to Jameson standing beside him. Then my stare falls to the large bouquet of light pink flowers setting on the counter in front of Max. I look back to Max. He’s still looking at me.
“You got pink peonies?” Kendall gasps, descending the stairs. “How did you know?” When did you leave?
“They’re for Mom,” I instantly reply.
“It surprises me too.” Mom practically swoons as she scoops up the chunks of pepper that I chopped and drops them into the salad bowl.
“I understand the words you guys are saying, but they’re not making any sense, it’s like code,” Jameson says, looking around to each of us.
“Oh, it’s just ironic,” Mom answers, moving to place a tray of bread in the oven, “David has been gettin’ me flowers every Friday since we began dating, and when the girls were little they used to go with him to pick ‘em out. I always knew which girl accompanied him based on the flowers I received, each one had their favorite. However, when Ace went, I never got the same ones.”
“Until she saw those,” my dad interjects, pointing a finger to the vase of peonies. I stare down at the carrots that I just finished chopping, feeling slightly mortified by this story.
“These are your favorite?” Max asks.
I glance up, noting everyone’s attention is trained on me, and stop when my eyes meet Max’s. I nod.
Thankfully the timer for the bread goes off, breaking the moment. As my mom goes to retrieve the bread, my dad starts talking about an issue he’s run into with Clementine and signals for the guys to follow him to the den.
“Was that incredibly awkward for everyone, or just me?” I whisper to Kendall as inconspicuously as possible as she comes around the island to stand by me while I drop the remaining vegetables into the salad bowl.