Chapter 6 #2
Max took a deep breath, wrestling with how much she should tell Lynn.
But this was Lynn—her best friend. Lynn, who in the time Max had known her had only ever acted from the most well-intentioned places.
Lynn, who always wanted to be helpful. So why was she having such a hard time opening up to her?
“Yes and no,” she answered, trying to figure out a way to succinctly explain that the issue at hand was under control…sort of. “It’s not like imminent danger or anything. There’s just an annoying problem I need to figure out what to do with.”
Lynn gave her a skeptical look, clearly not buying her reasoning.
“It’s nothing major,” Max continued, keeping her tone light. “I found out a few years ago that my grandparents left me some land. There’s a trust that manages it, but it’s set to dissolve soon and now I need to figure out what my options are and what the plan is.”
Max didn’t want to get into the weeds of this. Not today, not when they were having such a relaxing day—a rarity for her. The thought of talking about how her grandparents, whom she barely had any memory of, dropped this problem in her lap without warning was enough to sour her mood instantly.
Lynn gave her a long, assessing look, one that held her care and worry. “You don’t owe anyone money, correct?”
“No money is presently owed. Like I said, there’s a trust that manages everything, but depending on what I decide to do with the land, it has the high potential to become a money pit or a money maker,” she added, trying to lighten the conversation.
Lynn picked up the small metal tweezers, her gaze returning to her miniature bakery scene coming together. “I know you’re someone who likes to keep everything close to you, but remember you have people you can lean on when things get big and scary.”
Max smiled softly, touched by Lynn’s care for her. She picked up her own brush and returned to her painting. “If they ever get too big or scary, you’ll be the first to know. I promise.”
They worked in a quiet rhythm. The old Earth, Wind now that they were out there, now that someone else knew, she couldn’t settle.
Couldn’t sit still with the weight of it.
She popped to her feet, moving towards the little stand in the parlor that housed the record player.
Lynn’s home was filled with all kinds of cool things.
From photos of Lynn and her late husband, Dan, all over the world to trinkets and treasures collected through a lifetime of experience.
Each with a story of how it came to be there.
Max approached the long, low cabinet along the far wall that housed Lynn’s extremely specific audio setup.
She set the needle in place, the accompanying scratchy sound tickling her brain in the absolute best way, when her phone buzzed in her pocket with a new text.
Jack 1:28 PM
Sup nerd. Drew and I decided to do a bonfire night tonight. Dani’s coming. You and Lynn should come too. We’re getting started around seven. If you do show up, it’s bring-your-own-snacks. Love you.
She smiled at Jack’s message and how he had started signing them with a love you.
The sentiment spread through her. She wasn’t someone who vocalized those types of things.
Heavy emotional stuff like that had never been her forte.
Instead, Max chose to show the feeling quietly through actions.
Jack, however, was a total bleeding heart.
But that’s what Max liked so much about him. He challenged her in the best ways.
Max reentered the dining room. “The boys are having some people over for a bonfire tonight. Want to come?” she asked, setting her phone down and sliding back into her seat.
Lynn didn’t look up as she responded, her focus on the tiny loaves of bread she was placing one by one into a miniature display case, never breaking her movements. “I’m going to pass tonight, but I’ll send you with some cookies.”
“Oh fuck yes. The lavender shortbread ones?” she asked excitedly.
It hadn’t taken long into their friendship to learn that Lynn loved to bake. Which, as Lynn’s upstairs tenant (and now friend), worked out great for Max because there suspiciously always seemed to be an excess of whatever concoction Lynn happened to be whipping up every Sunday.
She reached for her phone again, fingers typing out a response to Jack.
Max 1:35 PM
I’m in. Lynn’s a no, but she’s sending me with cookies. Can I bring a friend?
She fired off the text, the impulsive question still hanging open and a very specific blonde she couldn’t help but be intrigued by on the top of her mind. A moment later, Jack responded with a simple sure. Max grinned, bringing up her text thread with Annie.
Max 1:36 PM
I know this is kind of a last-minute shot in the dark, but do you have plans tonight? If not, a friend of mine is having a bonfire at his house if you want something to do.
“What’s got you smiling like that? Or should I ask who?” Lynn asked, glancing at Max from across the table.
Max couldn’t help the excitement that slipped into her words. “Well, since you didn’t want to come with me tonight, I asked Annie.”
Lynn’s eyes shot up to meet hers, a small flash of panic registering before disappearing completely, which was…weird? Max didn’t know how else to categorize it. “Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, inviting Annie. Does she, uh, know anyone who will be there?”
Okay, yeah, Lynn was being weird. “No, but she seems like a well-adjusted enough person who can handle hanging out with some people she doesn’t know for a few hours,” Max joked.
Lynn smiled, or was it a grimace, before returning to her work. Max was about to say more when her phone lit up on the table with a new text message.
Annie 1:38 PM
I live with my parents—of course I’m free tonight. Bonfire sounds like fun, but I do have one embarrassing ask. Would you be able to pick me up? My dumb-ass brother never went to get my car from the winery today.
Excitement flared in her chest reading Annie’s message, a grin firmly in place as she responded.
Max 1:39 PM
What’s this? A damsel in distress? Who am I to refuse such a request? I’ll pick you up at six with one condition: you must bring your own snack.
Annie 1:40 PM
Done. See you later.
* * *
At two minutes to six, Max maneuvered her car into the driveway of the large blue colonial-style home at the end of Jacob’s Lane.
Annie waved from her perch on the front steps, looking absolutely adorable in a camel-colored knee-length pea coat, dark jeans, and a gray hoodie.
She approached the car and Max shifted around the pile of unopened mail she had dumped in the passenger seat making room for Annie to sit down.
“Hi. Thanks for being willing to pick me up. Sorry about that,” Annie said, sliding into the front seat with a flurry of crisp December air and brassy blond hair flitting around her face.
“I also wasn’t sure what the vibe of tonight was, so I hope what I’m wearing is okay.
” She looked down at her jeans, then back to Max, who still hadn’t taken her eyes off of Annie; how could she when she was such a natural focal point?
“Hi,” Max said dumbly, remembering that usually in conversation, it was customary to say more than a greeting, especially when asked a question.
“You’re great. I mean, you look good—um, what you’re wearing is perfect.
” She stumbled her way through her sentence, enjoying the way Annie pressed her lips together in an attempt to hide her smile at Max’s flustered state.
Get it together. You don’t even know each other, Max reminded herself. And anyway, the last thing Annie needed right now was Max. Not when she was in the middle of getting over having her heart ripped out. But then what about all the flirting?
The click of Annie’s seatbelt snapped Max’s attention back to the car. “All set?” she asked, putting the car in reverse. Annie nodded, and Max carefully backed out of the driveway.
“How was your day?” Annie asked politely.
While Max typically wasn’t one for small talk, finding most of it boring as hell and a waste of her time, she found herself genuinely wanting to indulge Annie in her question.
“It was good. Saturdays are my one day off between the club and the winery. Lynn and I—you met her at Mae’s a few weeks ago—usually work out together in the morning and then hang out in her level of the house for a bit.
Today we were crafting.” She looked both ways, bringing the car to a stop at the end of the lane, catching the pleasantly surprised expression on Annie’s face.
“Is it the crafting or the fact that my best friend is twice my age that’s throwing you off? ” she asked mischievously.
“Both, but I think it’s the crafting that threw me off more.
” Annie let out a laugh. And wow, okay. That was a sound Max would never forget.
She straightened herself in the driver’s seat, trying and failing to ignore the way that sound seemed to linger in her mind. “You don’t seem like the crafty type.”
“I’m, like, comically bad at it,” Max admitted, laughing too, thinking back to all the different craft sets she had gotten herself over the years that she had either ruined beyond repair or abandoned altogether.
“I have fun trying though. I have recently become obsessed with paint-by-numbers.” She tossed Annie a cocky grin.
“You’re fascinating, you know that?”
Max stopped at a red light, the engine humming beneath them. “Life’s too short to be boring.” The light turned green as they pulled onto the highway toward Hartford.