Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
MAX
Max nervously looked around the crowded living room.
From her position, she could still see the stairs Annie and her mother had disappeared up moments ago.
“I should go with them,” Max muttered from her spot next to Jack, tucked away from the other partygoers.
“You know, just to make sure everything’s okay.
” She gripped her drink tightly, unable to ignore the protective instincts she had been fighting since Annie had slipped away with Colleen.
Drew stepped beside them, having finished helping his dad and brother get the party moved inside.
“I wouldn’t if it were me. Dillinger family conversations are not for the weak,” he said, catching the tail end of their conversation, handing each of them a cookie snagged from the dessert table in the next room over.
Max hummed, eyes scanning the room full of faces that were part of Annie’s world.
Through the archway leading into the dining room, she spotted Dani on the other side of the dessert buffet wearing a long, flowing blue maxi dress adorned with clusters of embroidered red flowers.
Much like her, Max appreciated Dani’s quiet pushback and avoidance of wearing anything overtly patriotic.
She watched Dani load her plate with an assortment of desserts.
Next to her, Annie’s sister, Avery, followed suit, but it was the final member of the trio who surprised her most—Caroline.
“I didn’t realize they were all friends,” Max said, eyeing the three, thankful to have something else to focus her attention on while her nerves were upstairs with Annie.
Jack snorted. “They aren’t.”
Drew followed her gaze, landing on the three women. “They aren’t anymore,” he corrected, quietly bumping his shoulder into Jack’s. “They used to be, back when we were in high school, but no one really knows what happened and none of them have said a word about it.”
Jack cut in. “All we know is when Drew and I left for college, the girls were all best friends forever.” He shook his hands in mock excitement.
“And when we came home for summer break, no one was speaking. Caroline and Avery went off to college, and Dani got shipped off to boarding school in Vermont. We didn’t really see her again until she moved back to town to work for her dad a few years ago. ”
Max let her mind wander through the possibilities of what could have transpired between the trio, realizing that it wasn’t important, but gladly taking the distraction.
“I take back all my previous complaints about having moved around so much. I managed to avoid being anywhere long enough to form friendships with fallouts.” She bit into a cookie, watching Avery laugh at something Caroline had just said, Dani smiling in polite acknowledgment.
“How did Annie and Caroline get together in all of this?” she asked, the question she had quietly wondered for months since becoming intertwined with Annie.
“Colleen,” Jack and Drew said simultaneously.
“I think my mom liked the idea of cultivating Wellington Point royalty. With Caroline’s dad being who he is, my mother may have given Annie a gentle push or two in the direction she wanted her to go.”
“More like a giant shove,” Jack mumbled into the last sip of his wine.
Drew shot a glare at Jack. “There were parts of Annie and Caroline that made sense, but Annie has a habit of putting everyone else’s needs before her own.” He looked pointedly at Max over the rim of his glass. “I’m really glad she seems to be outgrowing that.”
The underlying warning landed cleanly. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her do that with me. For the record though, big brother threats are way less effective when I’ve watched you lose your shit over meeting your favorite drag queen.”
Max checked her phone—ten minutes had passed since they had all dashed into the house seeking shelter from the rain. “I’m taking my chances,” she said quietly, slipping away from the boys towards the back staircase before they could argue.
Muffled voices carried down the dark upstairs hallway as she reached the top landing. A flash of lightning, followed immediately by a thunderous boom, echoed through the house—the kind of thunder that reverberated in her chest long after it sounded.
Colleen’s sharp tone reached her ears first through the partially closed door at the end of the hall. “Your feelings have always been too big, too much. You’re never settled.”
Max paused in the hall, standing on the other side of the door, finding herself in the awkward position of unintentionally eavesdropping.
She kicked herself for not fully thinking through her plan.
Should she knock? Wait for Annie and her mom to finish?
She settled on the latter, leaning against the wall opposite the door, trying her best not to listen to the conversation on the other side—a challenging feat given the way Annie’s voice cracked as she responded.
“I’m not too much, Mom.” But her voice was strengthening as persistent rumblings of thunder drowned out the rest of her words.
That didn’t stop Max from standing there quietly in awe of Annie and the way she stood up for herself.
The thunder subsided, Annie’s words reaching her once again.
“—and now that I’ve finally gotten myself to a place where I feel like I’m in love—”
Max’s ears perked up, her heart racing, the rapid whooshing of her pulse drowning out the rest of Annie’s words as she focused on just the one: love.
Annie was in love with her. This was wrong.
She shouldn’t be listening like this. She should have stayed downstairs with Jack and Drew and waited for Annie to come to her.
Max moved away from the door, back down the hallway to Annie’s room, deciding to wait there for her instead, her mind still turning over Annie’s admission to her mother that she was in love with Max.
It wasn’t a total surprise to her, but the confirmation filled her with the same warmth she had first felt weeks ago when she reckoned with her own feelings for Annie.
She had spent the last few weeks trying to figure out the right time to tell her, but every time an opportunity presented itself, she hesitated—the looming question of where her future was taking her stopping her in her tracks.
Max slipped into Annie’s bedroom, flicking on the light, casting the room in a golden hue as she perched herself on the edge of the perfectly made bed to wait.
Her gaze swept over the room. She’d only been up here a handful of times since she and Annie had started seeing each other, but on each occasion her eyes were always drawn to the stack of boxes in the corner.
A reminder that Annie, like her, was in limbo.
A few minutes later, Max heard a door open and close in the hallway, and a moment later the door to Annie’s room swung open, whining on its hinges as Annie pushed through it.
Startled to find Max sitting on her bed.
Their eyes met, Max instantly taking in the redness of hers—she had been crying. That gutted her.
She stood, opening her arms for Annie to fall into.
She did, breathing deeply as Max held her, not saying anything, rocking slowly on the spot.
Annie’s head nuzzled against her, arms draped around her neck, letting herself need Max—a need Max took seriously.
She pressed her lips to Annie’s hair, still a little damp from getting caught in the rain.
She inhaled deeply, the scent of her jasmine conditioner wrapping itself around her.
“What do you need right now?” she asked softly against Annie’s temple, hands working soothing, repetitive arcs over her back.
Annie sniffled, stepping back enough to look at her through tired, intense eyes.
“Can you give me a few minutes to put myself back together?” she asked quietly, blinking as she extricated herself from Max’s arms, fingers wiping at her running mascara.
“I just need to, uh, digest a few things.” She offered a weak, apologetic smile, placing a chaste kiss against Max’s cheek.
Max hated the idea of leaving her like this, but the silent plea in Annie’s eyes was clear. She nodded, kissing her once more, ducking out into the hall, giving Annie the privacy she asked for.
The sound of a throat clearing stopped her. Colleen stood by the study door at the end of the hall. Even with her windswept hair and smudged makeup, she still looked like a force to be reckoned with as she straightened her red-striped seersucker shirt, assuming a practiced posture of confidence.
“Maxine,” she said, her voice slightly raw but no less controlled.
“A word?” She motioned for Max to enter the study, which she obliged.
“I hope you’re enjoying the party. Your first of many Dillinger Fourth of Julys, hopefully.
” Colleen plastered on a fake smile, but there was a hollowness behind her eyes that Max couldn’t let go of.
“I’m having a great time. You are an excellent host, Colleen.” Max purposefully kept her response even, tucking her hands into the front pockets of her pleated shorts.
A proud smile replaced the fake one on Colleen’s bright red lips. “That’s very kind of you.”
An awkward and uncomfortable silence stretched between them while Max tried to figure out what to say to fill it. Colleen adjusted her cuffs, gaze flitting toward the window where the storm continued to grumble in the distance.
“I’m sorry you had to witness one of our family’s more…” She paused, choosing her words with precision. “Conflict-heavy moments.”
While her words were effortless and confident, Colleen’s eyes said otherwise, her gaze not quite meeting Max’s.
“Annie,” she continued, letting out a sharp, defensive sigh, “has always been my most difficult child, which I suppose I should have known from the day she was born.” She laughed grimly, turning back to face Max.