Chapter 3 #2
We pulled into the driveway of Max’s cousin’s house.
He’d just moved back to town and he and his wife had invited us over for dinner.
I was a bit nervous; it always made me anxious to meet Max’s family.
It was the natural progression of things for most relationships, a step to more, which was why I felt like I was walking the plank every time another Quinn or family friend was introduced.
“When was the last time you saw Pierce?” I asked Max. We climbed out of his truck in front of a quaint stucco house with a red tile roof. The breeze was warm and purplish bougainvillea leaves were scattered across the driveway and a stone pathway leading to the front door.
Max met me at the front of the truck and immediately grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb across my palm.
“I saw him a few days this past summer. But before then? Hell, I don’t remember.
He must’ve moved to Texas five, six years ago or somethin’?
I went out there once a while back...” He grinned to himself at some memory he didn’t share.
“He’s married, right?” I asked, chewing a fingernail on my free hand.
“Yeah. He met Isabella in Texas. She’s really sweet. You’ll love her.”
The door in front of us flew open and a man immediately grabbed ahold of Max. “Maxie! Damn, buddy! It’s good to see ya!” They shook hands and smiled at each other, exchanging greetings while I took it all in.
The man, who I presumed to be Pierce, reminded me a lot of Max. He had the same dark hair and tall frame, although not as built. His face was softer than Max’s and his eyes a sparkling blue instead of Max’s wild green.
“It’s good to see you, man,” Max said. He turned towards me. “Kari, this is my cousin, Pierce. Pierce, this is Kari.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Pierce said, wrapping me in a big hug. I looked at Max, causing him to laugh. The Quinn’s were apparently huggers all-around.
Max took my hand again and led me into the house behind Pierce.
It was a typical tract home with high ceilings and fresh white paint.
There were boxes lining the hallway to our left.
Family pictures hung on the walls and were sitting along nearly every flat surface.
A playpen was in the middle of the floor, loaded with pink toys.
“Pierce! Is that Max?” a woman’s voice shouted from another room.
“Yeah, babe.”
“Isa has been waiting for you. She made you tamales,” Pierce said, leading us to the kitchen.
“She didn’t have to do that,” Max grinned. I could tell he clearly loved that she had.
We entered an eat-in kitchen that was open to a small family room.
A short, dark haired woman was standing in the kitchen, holding a baby.
She was absolutely gorgeous with dark eyes and a smile that would light up a room.
She looked exotic, yet approachable, and I knew she turned heads wherever she went.
“Look, Jos! It’s Uncle Max!” Isa said to the baby on her hip.
“Isabella, you get more beautiful every time I see you.” Max kissed her on the cheek. “Hey, Joselyn! Remember me?” He patted the baby’s head much in the same way he did Titus and it made me and the baby coo.
“Come here.” He looked briefly to Isa before taking the baby, earning a squeal from the child. She immediately reached for his hat and removed it from his head.
“Hat,” she said clearly.
“Yes. Hat. And you shouldn’t take a man’s hat, Miss. It’s a good thing you’re pretty.”
“Pretty,” she repeated, making everyone laugh.
“Isa, I would like you to meet my Kari. Kari, this is Isabella.” He turned to me, his eyes soft.
My Kari.
I felt the air stutter in my chest at the sound of his words and the picture of him with Jos. It was almost too much to handle.
I smiled, tearing my eyes away from his. “It’s nice to meet you, Isabella.”
“Oh, please. Call me Isa. Everyone does,” she said, smiling and tossing a towel onto the countertop. “Can I get you something? Water? Wine?”
“I’m alright, thank you.”
“I made Max tamales. Are you hungry?”
“You know I’ll never turn down those,” Max grinned at her.
“Y’all go sit down and I’ll grab it out of the oven.”
Pierce and Max headed to the table, Joselyn grabbing at Max’s nose. He laughed, pulling her hand away while she used her other to grab his hat again.
I watched Isa work around the kitchen, feeling a little out of place.
She moved effortlessly around the room and looking like a million bucks while doing it.
She wore a pair of black pants with a purple sleeveless shirt, showcasing her toned arms. Her hair was glossy, almost out-sparkling the diamonds in both ears.
“Can I help?” I asked, not sure what to do. Besides spaghetti, kitchens weren’t really my friend.
“Absolutely,” she smiled.
Joselyn squealed from the table and Isa went to take her from Max. Instead, he swirled her around.
“Jos wants to stay with me, right? Tell her. Say, ‘Max’,” he instructed the baby.
“Mwax!”
“Yes, that’s right. Max.”
I watched Max and the baby. He looked so natural, so perfect holding her.
It broke my heart.
“There really isn’t much to do,” Isa said, coming back into the kitchen. “I already put plates and utensils on the table. Do you want to get us drinks?”
“Sure. What would you like?” I asked.
“I’ll have water. Pierce will have a beer.
There’s bottled water and Coronas in the fridge.
We have tons of stuff, so just get whatever you and Max want.
I sent Pierce to Costco yesterday and he came back with everything they had,” she laughed.
“There are red plastic cups in the pantry if Max is still crazy about those.”
I laughed, grabbing the drinks. “So the plastic cups have been around for a while then?”
She nodded, pushing a set of gold bangles up her arm. “As long as I’ve known him. Pierce is the same way, unless it’s a Corona out of a bottle. I don’t get it, but it’s an easy way to make him happy, right?”
“Exactly. If I get an extra point for having those stupid cups around—good for me.”
Isa laughed as she took a pan out of the oven. “Men are simple creatures, really.”
“Is that recipe simple? Because that smells so good,” I noted, taking in the spicy goodness floating through the air.
She smiled wide. “It’s my grandmother’s recipe. One of those old-fashioned ones that you can’t find anymore. I’m so glad I was able to get it written down before she passed away. Her cookbook is one of the first things I’d grab if my house caught on fire.”
“Do you like to cook?”
“I do. But I make Pierce take me out to dinner once a week. Just because we’re married doesn’t mean he is gonna get out of wooing me,” she raised her eyebrows. “Gotta keep them working for it, you know what I mean?”
I laughed nervously. “Well, Max and I aren’t serious like that. But I see what you’re saying.”
She pulled back the foil, steam billowing out of the pan. “How long have you two been together?”
“Oh, a year or so, I guess.”
Isa leaned against the stove and looked at me. “That man of yours is one helluva guy. You better snatch that one up, let me tell you.” She shrugged her shoulders. “If you want him, that is. Someone will scoop him up if you don’t watch it.”
Her words scraped me to the core because they were true and I knew it. I couldn’t fathom seeing Max with someone else. The mere thought made me want to go wild or ‘ape-shit crazy’ as Cane would say.
“You know what? Forgive me. It’s none of my business. I have had a hard time keeping my mouth shut. Pierce says I have no filter,” she laughed. “Let’s take this stuff to the table.” She handed me a tray and I placed the drinks on it and followed her.
“Ah, Isa. That smells so good,” Max said as we got close. His hair was all rumpled from being under his hat and I just wanted to run my fingers through it. “You didn’t have to go outta your way to do this, ya know.”
She sat the pan on a mat and swatted Max’s shoulder. “Of course I did! I’ll put Jos in her high chair.” She reached for the baby but Jos buried her face in Max’s shoulder.
“Mwax!” she said, her voice muffled.
Isa laughed. “She’ll get it all over you. Just be warned—she’s trouble at the table.”
“She’s fine. You won’t ruin my shirt, right, Jos?”
She lunged for the silverware as I took my seat across from him.
“Who all have ya seen so far?” Max asked as we got settled in and began spooning the food onto our plates.
“My parents and my brother. A couple of guys from college.” Pierce lifted his fork to his mouth. “Your mama brought by a casserole this afternoon. She looks good.”
“Yeah, she’s doin’ real good. Dad’s retired now, so they just go around on their golf cart and they’re all into taking cruises these days.”
Isa unscrewed her water bottle. “Your mama is just a sweet thing. And Brielle, too. She’s supposed to be by tonight, actually.” She glanced at the large wrought iron clock on the wall.
Brielle, Max’s younger sister, was the feminine, younger version of Max with long, shiny dark hair and wide eyes.
Max was very protective of her. I could tell he wanted me to get to know Bri, but she had an invisible wall built around her.
She very clearly did not want to get to know me.
I got the feeling she didn’t like me much and I wasn’t sure why, but we didn’t see each other often so it really didn’t matter.
“She doing okay?” Pierce asked, taking a drink of his beer.
“Yeah. She’s doing well. She’s been working for a dentist for a while now. She lollygagged around long enough and Dad finally had to tell her he was gonna stop paying her bills. That straightened her up pretty quick.”
“Is she still hanging around Samantha?” Pierce asked, smiling.
“Yeah,” Max laughed. “Those two are as inseparable now as they’ve always been.”
“Samantha? Is she the one that came to our wedding with Brielle?” Isa sat down her fork and patted her lips with a napkin.
“That girl rubs me wrong. I know, I shouldn’t rush to judge and I was really busy when they were there, so I didn’t really get to know her.
But there’s something about her that strikes me wrong. I just don’t know what it is.”
“Ah, Isa, she’s harmless,” Pierce laughed. “Settle down.”
She flashed him a look. “I’m not unsettled. I’m just saying. Do you know her, Kari?”
I nodded, thinking back to Brielle’s blonde, leggy friend.
“I do, but not well. I just see her at Max’s family events and things sometimes.
Brielle’s brought her to Max’s a couple of times when I’ve been there.
She’s alright. Kind of annoying,” I said, looking at Max out of the corner of my eye.
Jos reached over his shoulder and grabbed his hat off the back of the chair and tossed it into the middle of his plate.
“Ah, Jos,” Max pouted, sticking out his bottom lip. She grabbed ahold of it and squealed.
“I warned you,” Isa laughed. “I know trouble when I see it.”
The doorbell rang and Pierce excused himself to go answer it. Isa got up, too, to grab more napkins from the kitchen.
I sat quietly and watched Max play with Joselyn. He was such a natural, tossing her in the air, blowing raspberries on her cheek, making her shake with laughter. She was clearly smitten with him...and him with her.
“Look who’s here,” Pierce said a few moments later, leading Bri into the room. I looked up to see her making a beeline for Isa and her friend standing still behind her. Sam’s eyes were trained on Max.
She was wearing tight brown pants, making her legs look like they went on forever, and a cream-colored knit shirt. Her long blonde curls were perfectly cast across her shoulders, her blue heels making her eyes pop. I never would’ve thought that outfit would work, but it looked seamless on her.
She cast a small smile at Max, watching him as he turned to face her.
“Hey, Sam,” he said, bouncing Jos up and down on one knee. “How are ya?”
“Good, Maxie. How are you?” Her gaze stayed on him, acting like the rest of us didn’t exist.
“Good. Busy with work.”
Her grin grew wider. “Well, work is what you do. I’m not surprised there.”
The familiarity between the two irritated; it always did. I understood she was a family friend, but it annoyed me to no avail that she seemed to pop up everywhere. And the way she looked at Max and the ease in which he looked back at her, like she was special to him in some way, drove me insane.
I looked at Pierce and he was watching me with a smirk. He tossed me a wink, a dimple just like Max’s sinking into his cheek. “Isa, let’s eat!” he said loudly, standing up. He pulled a chair out across the table from Max. “Sam, why don’t you sit over here?”
He looked at me and grinned. I returned the smile, feeling like I finally had a friend in the Quinn family.
Once everyone had settled down at the table, Pierce cleared his throat. “So, Kari. Max tells me you’re a nurse. Beauty and brains, huh?”
“You’re a nurse? That’s fantastic,” Isa exclaimed. “Now I know who to call with questions instead of using those websites. They’ll make you think you’re dying of some super rare disease. Every. Time.”
“They really will,” I agreed.
Max turned to me, melting me in my chair with his sexy smile. “Nah, Pierce. She’s more than beauty and brains. Kari is the whole package.”