Chapter 6 Kari
SIX
KARI
“You home?” I called out as I slipped off my sneakers. My feet were tired, my heart was heavy, and my brain was mush.
“I’m in my office.”
I dropped my bag and walked through the house.
Max’s two-story home was on a cul-de-sac.
It sat back off the drive a little and was really quiet, especially for a house in the city.
He had just enough furniture to make it seem homey, but not too much to seem stuffy.
He had a few framed pictures, a few pieces of sports memorabilia, and little odds and ends here and there. I always smiled when I walked in.
Titus raised his head from his spot on the leather sofa and then, apparently finding me uninteresting, he laid back down. I knew he wasn’t supposed to be up there, but I didn’t have the energy to deal with it.
I made my way through the house until I stood in the doorway of Max’s office.
He was standing, his hands on his desk, looking at a set of plans.
A lamp on his desk was lit, the bulb bent over to give him more light.
All the walls in the house were white, except in his office; they were a tobacco brown.
Max said it was that way when he bought it and he liked it.
A large, basic, rustic-looking wooden desk sat facing the doorway with a black leather chair behind it.
There was a poster-sized picture of his Grandpa’s ranch in Texas on one wall and an aerial picture of the first project he completed as a contractor on the other.
“New job?” I asked and leaned against the doorway.
He put his head down for a second before raising it back up. “I sure as shit hope so. We lost a big one today and I had to fire Dan over it. If we can get this job next week, it’ll get us back to where we need to be.”
“Sounds like your day went about as good as mine,” I muttered.
“What happened, sweetheart?” He moved gracefully around the desk and wrapped me up in his arms. I lay my head against his chest, both firm and comfortable all at the same time. He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my neck with one hand.
“We lost a guy today in the ER. He was young and his parents...” My voice trailed off as I remembered hearing their sobs.
I didn’t think that sound—one of pure devastation—would ever leave me.
It was so haunting, so tragic. I had seen a lot of things as a nurse, but losing the 20-something to a random exposed electric line was just heartbreaking.
He kissed my head again. “I could never do what you do.”
“I need a bath. A long, hot bath. Want to join me and we can talk?”
“You think I’m going to turn down seeing you naked?” He grabbed my hand and led me up the stairs to the master bathroom. He ran a bubble bath silently while I tossed my clothes in the hamper. I looked up while I unfastened my red bra and Max was watching me.
“My favorite,” he smiled.
“I wore it for you.”
“That’s as good as anything. Just knowing you thought of me when you put it on this morning makes me happy.”
“I always think of you.” I pushed my panties down my legs and tossed my lingerie into the hamper as well. I slipped into the warmth, letting the water relax my muscles and my mind. “This feels so good.”
“I’m glad.” Max pulled the chair I used to put on my makeup around to face me. “Everything else go okay today?”
“No,” I said, blowing out a breath. “The nurses are all up-in-arms about this new doctor. He just started at the hospital and can be an ass. And then this morning,” I said, scooting up the wall of the tub, “I went by my house before work. I searched everywhere for my silver bracelet with the dangling heart. Do you remember the one I’m talking about? It had a blue bead in the center.”
He furrowed his brow. He knew I never misplaced things and looked as confused as I felt. It had bothered me all day. “I think so. When did you have it last?”
“I know I wore it to dinner with you a few months ago and I put it back in my jewelry box. It’s just gone.”
Max grabbed his cell out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and put it back in his pocket. He sighed.
“Everything okay?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t.
“It’s Dan, the guy I fired today. He’s blown up my phone all evening.
He thinks we short-paid him for this week, so I told him to call Hilah.
He’s acting like I slighted him somehow, but I paid the guy for sick and vacation time that he had saved and I didn’t have to do that.
So why he thinks I withheld some of his pay is beyond me. He got more than he should have!”
I gathered some bubbles in my hand and blew them at him. “Like you’d do that anyway.”
He shrugged. “It’s frustrating, but I want to forget about it. I want to turn this phone off and just think about you. Want me to order something for dinner?”
“I actually have to go home. The pool guy was supposed to be by this afternoon and I need to make sure everything is done, gate shut, all that.”
Max’s eyes narrowed. “I know I’ve said this a million times, but I just don’t get why you won’t move in with me. You’re here all the time anyway. You’re paying a mortgage and we spend a week’s pay every month in gas driving back and forth.”
“I…”
“No, Kar,” he said, putting his head in his hands. He looked tired. “We’ve started to have this conversation a million times and you always deflect.” He looked up to me again and I could feel my wall lock into place. “Why don’t you want to live with me?”
He rested his elbows on his knees. His hair was a mess and I knew he’d been running his fingers through it, pulling on it in frustration. His eyes had circles under them, the lines on the corners more identifiable than normal.
“I don’t want to push you, baby. But right now, I just want to pick you up out of the bath, wrap you up in a towel and carry you to our bed and forget the world and all the bullshit going on. As frustrating as you are,” he smiled, “you’re what I look forward to at the end of the day.”
A knot formed in my throat hard and fast. I tried to swallow by it in hopes it would take the sting in my eyes with it, but it was futile. I looked to the door, to the ceiling, to anything but at him.
“Someday, I want you to tell me. Even if it’s just that you don’t want me like I want you…”
“It’s not that, Max. Please don’t think that.”
He shook his head, letting his shoulders dip before standing up. “Finish your bath. Just let me know before ya head out, okay?” He started to walk out of the room.
“Max! Wait!” I called after him, sitting up. “Don’t go. Let’s just...let’s order pizza and have it delivered and eat in bed. Okay?”
His face broke out into a huge grin. “You sure?”
I couldn’t help but smile back.