Chapter 22
Eve and Nigel had decided to wait until Annie was further along in her recovery before Eve had the conversation with her about the need to begin moving on.
It wasn’t a delay tactic this time, it was just a way of protecting Annie while she was still unwell, in much the same way as they’d decided to protect Lily from the news of her mum’s accident during the early weeks of her pregnancy.
When Annie had insisted on going back to her favourite restaurant, Bocca Felice, for her birthday, just two weeks after the accident, Eve’s heart had sunk.
It was the family’s ‘special place’ according to Annie and it had been, once upon a time.
Now, going back to the place where Max had proposed, just felt like another attempt to play act that everything was fine.
She knew it was because Annie loved Max, but in truth her failure to accept him as he now was, and adapt to that, was misguided at best and cruel at worst. Despite his seemingly thick skin, there was still a risk that Max would always feel less-than, and it was time to celebrate the things that made him who he was now.
They all needed to learn to laugh at the dry one-liners he could deliver like a stand-up comedian, instead of cringing and think how the old Max would never have said most of those things.
Yes, his comments these days were sometimes near-the-knuckle and inappropriate, and often directed at the expense of a family member, but if they didn’t laugh they’d spend the rest of their lives crying and that wasn’t good for Max or for them.
His idea of a good night out also looked very different now.
There was an American-style diner in Port Tremellien that played loud country music and had virtual reality games, which no one could beat Max at.
Eve had taken him there, three days after telling Nigel about what had happened with Felix.
‘You’re doing it all wrong.’ Max had rolled his eyes, as she tried again to get a score on the board with the virtual reality axe throwing, but he’d been laughing as well.
He wasn’t frustrated or impatient, he just found her lack of skill amusing and they’d had more fun together than they’d had since before the assault.
‘Can we do that again?’ he asked at the end of the night and it had taken her by surprise.
It had been the first time he’d made a direct request to do something with her in as long as she could remember, and for a moment panic had gripped her that finally drawing a line under what they’d been to one another might hurt him.
‘Of course we can.’ She’d forced a smile and then decided she couldn’t just leave it there. She had to know how Max felt. ‘Do you love me?’
‘You’re all right.’ His tone had been so deadpan it had made her laugh.
‘Thanks. You know I love you, don’t you?’
‘Yeah, but I’m great.’ He’d shrugged and she’d laughed again.
‘You are.’ She hadn’t been sure how to word her next question, or even whether she should.
If it confused Max or upset him, everything could come out in a way they hadn’t planned for and Annie would discover the truth before she was well enough to hear it.
Eve had to get this straight in her head, though, and she had to know that Max was going to be okay with this. ‘Do you remember when we got engaged?’
‘Yeah.’ His expression had given nothing away.
‘We were going to get married. It should have happened three weeks after you got injured. That would have been almost two years ago now.’ She’d bitten her lip, knowing there’d be no going back when she asked the next question. ‘Do you wish we could still get married?’
‘No!’ He’d looked at her as if she’d suggested he might want to eat his dinner off the pavement, the lip curl giving away his feelings even if the words hadn’t made them abundantly clear.
‘I don’t ever want to get married. I just want to be able to play my games in peace and not have to sit on the sofa and talk to someone else when I don’t want to. And I want a dog. That’s it.’
‘Fair enough. That sounds like a good plan to me.’ She’d squeezed his hand then, relief flooding through her body.
It hadn’t even crossed his mind to ask her what she wanted and she’d been glad about that, because she wasn’t ready to admit to herself yet just how much she did want that – a married life, her own family, even the simple mundane bits that clearly sounded boring as hell to Max.
She had no way of knowing if any of that would happen for her, if she’d ever find someone who didn’t feel like second best after what she’d planned for with Max, but she knew now that it was at least possible.
She’d thought it might be Felix, but he’d backed off completely the last two weeks, only really keeping in touch with ‘How are you?’ texts, the way he might do with any colleague.
She might never find someone else, but knowing she had the freedom to open herself up to the possibility had been like a huge weight lifting.
Now there was just one last hurdle to cross, and it came in the shape of Annie.
‘Is there anything on the menu you can actually eat?’ Nigel looked on anxiously as he waited for his wife to order. Both he and Eve had tried to persuade her to celebrate her birthday some other way, but Annie had dug her heels in.
‘I’m going to ask for the soup as a main course. Hot and sour chicken soup sounds delicious.’
‘Better ask for a bib, you’ll probably dribble most of it down your top.’ Max made it sound like a statement of fact rather than a joke, but when Eve caught Nigel’s eye, she couldn’t suppress a smile. They’d both realised they had to lean into this, but Annie was nowhere near ready yet.
‘Max! That’s so rude, you know I can’t eat properly yet and it’s my birthday. You’re supposed to be nice to me.’
‘I wasn’t being rude. I was giving you some useful advice, based on the way you dribbled that milkshake down your top the other day.’
‘What are you going to order, Max?’ Nigel cut across the conversation before Annie could respond again, but she seemed to be radiating tension and Eve just hoped they’d be able to get through the meal without Annie bursting into tears. No one should feel like they want to cry on their birthday.
‘I’m getting the fillet steak and chips, but I’m going to ask for an extra portion of chips too.
I’m absolutely starving,’ Max announced and thankfully it proved to be the opener of a conversation about what he’d been up to that day, which provided a distraction from the tension in the air.
He’d gone up another couple of levels on the PlayStation game that was his current favourite, and been out for another surfing lesson with Waves 4 Everyone, which he’d decided was the cause of his increased appetite.
The tension had lifted slightly and by the time the main course arrived, Eve was almost enjoying herself.
She might have been able to embrace the evening fully if she didn’t feel like such a fraud for having slipped on her engagement ring two minutes before she left home.
If she hadn’t been wearing it, without the excuse of having come straight from work, Annie would want to know why and tonight definitely wasn’t the time to have that conversation.
Especially if they wanted to avoid tears on Annie’s birthday.
* * *
‘That was good.’ Max said, pushing his plate away from him when he finished the last of his chips, before letting out a loud burp that seem to reverberate around the restaurant.
‘Max, for God’s sake! That’s disgusting.’ Annie dropped her spoon into her bowl and Eve had to admit her own half-finished plate of food suddenly felt far less appetising.
‘Why? Jamie says it’s a sign of respect for the chef in a lot of countries.
And when we get our own place we’re going to do it at the end of every meal if we want to.
’ Max shrugged. He’d taken a real shine to Jamie, another resident at Oakwood Park, who had been a chef in a pub before sustaining a head injury in a motorbike accident that had left him unable to work.
The current plan was for Max and Jamie to move into one of the semi-independent living bungalows together.
‘Well, it’s not acceptable here, or any place where I am.’ Annie’s voice was low but steely. ‘That was not the way you were brought up and it’s a repulsive thing to do while other people are still eating their food right next to you. Everyone else in this whole restaurant is looking at us.’
‘Oh, chill out, you’re supposed to be resting your jaw, not flapping your lips.’ Max mined the sound of a beak opening and closing with his hand. ‘I never asked to come here anyway. No one cares if I burp at Oakwood Park, you need to take the pole out of your arse.’