CHAPTER THREE
I’ve learned how to get both Wyatt and Asher to scream like Daisy. You just have to take that curve before Fisher’s Lane at fifty instead of thirty. They both acted like they were going to die, but I passed my test!
~Text from Christy to Max~
Christy
Almost a year later
I pull into my parking spot at my apartment.
After putting the car in park, I lean back in the seat and take a moment to take stock of my life.
I have an apartment I share with Mary and Kinsley.
I have my license, and now I have my own car.
It’s nothing fancy, but Jane made sure the guys at the shop keep it in good shape.
They helped me get it from a local used lot, and it’s the first thing I’ve ever bought myself. For that reason alone, I love it.
I’ve got a couple of jobs. I work at the sandwich shop, and I help the family with childcare.
Mary and I take turns with both jobs, though she only works a couple of days at the sandwich shop.
She got herself another job at the bookstore a couple of nights a week.
Those nights I use to study. I’m taking the GED test next month.
I know, as an adult, I can get by in this world without my high school diploma or its equivalent, but to be honest, I want to prove my father wrong.
I know I’m smart enough to pass it and that it wasn’t wrong to want to keep learning.
Max has been helping me study. Max. The man who’s not only become one of my best friends, but…
okay, so I really like him. Or as Hanna puts it, I have a thing for him, whatever that means.
It’s just he’s thoughtful, kind, protective, and his smile…
well, his smile could melt panties off a nun.
That’s Nicky’s phrase. When he told me what it meant, I about died, but he wasn’t wrong.
I’m pretty sure Max doesn’t see me as anything but a friend.
Someone who had a weird, sheltered life, whom he’s helping to become independent.
He helped both Mary and me get our identification and everything we needed to work and open our own bank accounts.
Madison told me that Max has always been someone who wanted to save and help everyone.
I offered to pay him for helping me study, but he refused.
He does let me cook for him on the nights he comes to help.
Tonight, Max is supposed to come over to help, and Mary’s supposed to help me with cooking.
I think Mary is planning to hole up in her room most of the night.
Her favorite author just released a new book today, and she’s been waiting months for it.
Something about bikers who are also cops.
She’s got a fascination with lawmen. Not any of the ones we know, but all the television shows she watches now seem to be cop related.
I honestly don’t know what I pictured all those nights hoping to escape, but I know I couldn’t have imagined I would have a life like I do now.
I’ve got my own room in an apartment I share with friends.
I have a job, my own car, and friends… so many friends that I pinch myself daily.
I’d like to think Mama had a hand in all this.
She never escaped her nightmare, but I know in my heart that she not only helped me escape mine but also put this wonderful family of people in my life.
Okay, girl, you’ve sat with your thoughts enough. Get your butt moving.
I get out of the car and grab the couple of bags of groceries from the trunk before heading inside.
As I’m unlocking the door, my phone dings with an incoming text.
I place the groceries on the dining table and take my phone out of my pocket.
I step back to sit in the chair, but miss it, landing on the ground with a thud.
Well, it’s only the second time today I’ve fallen.
I didn’t spill anything on anyone other than myself, so I’m still calling today a win so far.
Before I get myself up off the floor, I unlock my phone to see who texted me.
This whole cell phone thing has been a learning experience this year.
Hanna even helped me get a Facebook and TikTok so I can follow authors and local places I like.
I open the messages and see that Mary texted me.
Mary: I won’t be home for dinner. Jane asked me to come by and help for a couple of hours. Guess the twins have a cold, and both Juan and Jon are sick.
Me: Do you need my help?
Mary: Nah, Jane just wants me to help her and Rory with dinner and bedtime. I got it. Besides, you have a date with Max tonight.
Me: You know it’s not a date. He’s just helping me study.
Mary: You and I both know you would love it to be a date.
Me: Well, yeah. But he just sees me as another person to help.
Mary: I don’t think so. I know neither of us has experience with dating or anything, but I see the way he looks at you. That’s not just a friend. Think about it. I have to finish up here and get over to Jane’s. See you tonight.
Christy: Yep!
I don’t think Mary is right. As much as I wish Max saw me that way, we’ve been hanging out a lot since we came off the mountain, and he hasn’t said anything to make me think we’re more than friends.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re great friends, and I consider him one of my closest friends.
But he’s the only man who’s ever really caught my eye.
Well, he and the guy who plays Kayce Dutton…
Luke something. He’s deliciously fine. What? You know I’m right.
I get myself up off the floor and start putting the groceries away.
I only trip over my feet twice. I take my shoes off because I swear I always trip more with them on.
Looking at the clock, I have at least an hour before I need to start on dinner.
Enough time to take a shower and get into some comfy clothes.
Gotta wash off the smell of the pickle juice I spilled on myself.
I take a long, hot shower. I still remember the first time I experienced a shower that wasn’t freezing.
We’d been off the mountain almost a week when Anna realized neither Mary nor I would leave the bathroom in a cloud of steam.
She quickly showed us the error of our ways and just how amazing a hot shower could be.
I don’t think I’ve taken one since that didn’t almost scald my skin.
It really is one of the best things in life.
I put on a pair of leggings and a sweater.
Kinsley and Hanna have taken Mary and me shopping several times, and I think our closets are almost full.
According to Hanna, “Women need options.” I think we’re planning to go shopping this weekend, not that we need anything, but it’s gonna be Hanna’s first weekend back home since she and Mario broke up.
I think we’re gonna have a sleepover here. Margaritas will definitely be involved.
Back to the task at hand. I got stuff to make a quick dinner—pan-fried pork chops, those little roasting potatoes, biscuits, and fresh green beans.
I always thought I hated green beans, but it turns out I just hate canned ones.
I also got stuff for a salad if we want.
Last night I made a citrus cake. I’m not much for baking, but anytime I can get oranges and lemons into something, I’m going to try it.
I eat an orange every day. Mary’s that way about bananas.
I’m not quite as much a fan of them as she is. They’re mush, and I hate mush.
I also hate with a passion any gravy with lumps in it.
It’s probably… no, it’s exactly why, at big family get-togethers, I always offer to help with the gravy.
It’s not that I doubt Ma, Anna, Romona, or anyone’s cooking abilities.
I just can’t take the chance of lumps. I get one, and it ruins a whole meal for me, like I can’t eat anymore.
Just ew. I felt the same way about the mash we made up the mountain.
I wouldn’t eat it unless Mama, Mary, or I made it.
Most of the time, there were lumps of the stuff not mixed in, and getting a mouthful of unmixed grain powder in one’s mouth is not the way to start a morning ever.
I put some music on and get to work on the green beans.
Today’s playlist is from Hanna. I’ve got playlists from Hanna, Asher, Jackson, Wyatt, Anna, Ry, and Kierstie.
They made them for both Mary and me when they discovered that we’d never really listened to music.
Hanna’s music is mostly current, ranging from rock to country and pop.
She’s a big fan of Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers.
I like them fine, but if I’m honest, I tend to listen to Asher and Wyatt’s playlists the most. I listen to Ry’s when I’m in the mood to dance because his music is mostly stuff like that.
Anna’s list has my favorite song to play when I’m pissed off. She said when she plays it, both Jackson and Wyatt steer clear of her for a while. I guess when three chicks sing about someone having to die, it puts some fear in men.
My phone dings just as I finish prepping everything for dinner. I manage to not fall as I sit down at the table where my phone is.
Max: Gonna be about a half hour late, I had a last-minute interview come in for the other attorney position.
Me: No problem, I can wait to start dinner. You’ve been trying to hire someone forever!
Max: Fingers crossed. Haley didn’t tell me who it was, just that I’d want to talk to this one. I think she finds too much enjoyment in driving me crazy.
Me: You’d be lost without her, and you know it. I’ll see you when you get here.
Max: See you.
Time for some reading while I wait. I’ve got three new books to dive into.
Max