Colorado 01 The Gamble (81 page)

“Max,” I tried to cut in but Max’s gaze was
directed at the pillowcase beside my head and his focus was
directed on whatever Harry was saying.

“
I don’t care if you were drunk,” Max went
on. “She told me the shit you said and she also told me while you
were fuckin’ with her head, you told her you’d do her and you gotta
know, I do
not
like that.
That is
not
cool. You
know she’s in my house, you know she’s in my bed and you know
better than to say that kind of shit to my woman.”

“Max,” I tried again when he paused to
listen but he kept right on talking to Harry.

“Yeah, we got problems. Fair warning, you
need to avoid me for awhile and you get anywhere near Nina or I
hear you tried to speak with her, our problems will get bigger. Are
we clear?”

I lifted a hand and curled it around his
neck, his eyes cut to mine, his were very angry and I braved the
look on his face, opened my mouth to say something but before I
could, he continued.

“I don’t give a fuck about that. What I give
a fuck about is you tellin’ me we’re clear. Now, are we clear?”

“Please, Max, I think –” I started, Max’s
mouth got tight, his eyes narrowed and his look was so scary, I
clamped my mouth shut.

“
Advice, Harry, grow a fuckin’ pair. You
got somethin’ to say to me, you say it
to me.
You got issues, you deal with them like a man.
What you don’t do is, when my woman or
any
woman slides her ass on the stool next to you to
show you some compassion and kindness, you do not use that
opportunity to let go of your shit by breakin’ someone else’s
heart. You got a problem with the way your life’s gone down, deal
with it without draggin’ someone down with you. Should have told
you this a long time ago, Harry, but you need to man up, for fuck’s
sake. You need to man… the fuck…
up.
”

With that, he took the phone from his ear
and bleeped it off. Then he tossed it aside on the bed. Then his
eyes came back to me.

“Max –” I began again.

“
Don’t, Duchess,” he cut me off.
“Seriously, don’t. It’s a guy thing. I know you got an opinion
about everything but the bottom line is what he did was not cool,
he upset you and that led to a string of events where you got hurt.
I know it was our shit that led to you gettin’ hurt but what he did
didn’t help the situation. It’s my job to protect you. What he did
interfered with my ability to do that and I need to make certain
that shit doesn’t happen again. I’m doin’ that. It’s a guy thing
and you need to know right now, you do not stick your nose into a
guy thing.”

“Okay,” I replied, Max stared at me a second
then blinked.

Then he asked, “What?”

My hands moved on his back and I repeated,
“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes, okay.”

He stared at me again. Then he asked, “Easy
as that?”

My hands slid around his sides, up his chest
to curl around his neck and I asked back, “Is this important to
you?”

“Yeah,” Max answered.

“Then yes,” I lifted my head and touched my
mouth to his before dropping my head to the pillow again, “easy as
that.”

That’s when, bizarrely, he said one word
firmly and that word was, “No.”

My head tilted on the pillow. “No what?”

“No to your earlier question. We’re
definitely not crazy.”

I smiled at my man’s amazing, handsome
face.
My
man. And God,
I didn’t care if it was crazy, but I loved my man.

The fingers of one of my hands ran along his
jaw and I asked quietly, “Can I tell you something?”

The fingers of both of his hands ran along
my body as he answered quietly, “You can tell me anything,
baby.”

I planted a foot in the bed and rolled him
to his back, rolling over him, I looked down at his face as my
thumb explored the contours of his cheekbone.

Then I whispered, “There was a time in my
life where I used to roll the dice. I did it a lot and I always
lost. Every time, I lost and when I lost, I lost everything. So I
got scared of rolling the dice.”

My hair was hanging down, curtaining our
faces and one of Max’s hands moved to pull one side up and hold it
at the back of my head. I watched his face get soft and I knew that
he knew what was coming.

So I gave it to him.

“
Thank you for showing me it was worth
taking a gamble again, darling.” I dropped my head until my lips
were against his and finished, “It feels good finally to win and
win
huge.
”

I saw the flash in his eyes and heard the
rumble of his growl before his hand at the back of my head brought
mine down the fraction of an inch it needed to go before his mouth
took mine in another kiss.

Then he rolled me to my back and showed me
yet again why taking a gamble on Max, on us, on Colorado and on
life was absolutely worth it.

* * * * *

“I don’t know, Neenee Bean,” Mom said at the
grocery store checkout, her face thoughtful, her eyes watching the
clerk scan my purchases, “this feels like a celebration and a
celebration doesn’t say ‘red wine, beer and pasta bake’. A
celebration says ‘champagne and salmon en croute’.”

Mom and I were shopping for dinner that
night. Max and Steve were giving us Nellie and Nina time. They were
leaving the next day and Mom had announced upon their arrival to
the A-frame that she wanted a testosterone free zone for at least
two hours.

Prior to Mom and Steve’s arrival, Max and my
love fest was interrupted by a variety of calls that were, as Max
decreed, only slightly less annoying than Harry’s. They included
Mom and Steve saying they were heading up the mountain; Linda
saying Kami was coming with her for pasta bake; Brody calling to
remind us this was also his last day in town and therefore getting
an invitation for him, Mindy, Barb and Darren to come too; and
finally, since Gnaw Bone was Gnaw Bone, Arlene heard about the
party and called to alert us to the fact that she and Cotton would
be there. She didn’t ask for an invite and she hung up before I
could politely demur.

So our party of five turned into a party of
twelve.

This did not make Max happy. Mom’s decree of
a testosterone free zone made Max less happy. And what made him
even less happy was when Mom pointed out his dining room table
seated six and it needed to seat twelve. Thus she ordered Max and
Steve off on the errand of buying more dining room chairs, this,
her attempt to establish her testosterone free zone.

Mountain Man Max, not exactly the kind of
man to be sent on an errand, did this only after his eyes cut to me
and he asked, “This gonna happen often?”

“Is what going to happen often?” I asked
back.

“Half the town sittin’ at our dining room
table?”

I scrunched my nose and tilted my head
because, at the look on his face, I didn’t want to say yes but the
answer
was
yes. I liked
to cook. I liked to entertain. I liked my friends around me. So it
was definitely going to happen often.

Max read my face, sighed, hooked me at the
back of my head to pull me in so he could kiss my forehead and then
he took off with Steve to buy chairs.

“Individual,” Mom, at the checkout,
finished.

“Individual what?” I asked, handing my
credit card over to the clerk.

“Individual salmon en croutes,” Mom answered
and I looked at her.

“Mom, I’m not making individual salmon en
croutes for twelve people. That would take all day.”

“It’s a celebration, Neenee Bean! It doesn’t
matter how long it takes just as long as it’s special.”

I signed the credit card slip and handed it
back to the clerk. “Firstly, I just signed the credit card receipt.
I’m not going back through the store to buy ten more bags of food.
Secondly, Max gave you two hours and I know you like Max because
he’s a great guy and there’s a lot to like. He also likes you. But
take my advice, you shouldn’t test him. He’s a great guy but he’s
also a mountain man. Mountain men aren’t fond of being tested. And
lastly, I think mountain people will be happy with red wine, beer
and pasta bake as a celebration. I think mountain people don’t care
what they eat during a celebration, they just care who’s there to
eat it with them.”

“Damn tootin’,” the clerk muttered under her
breath and I turned my surprised gaze to her then smiled at her
welcome solidarity. Maybe I was finding my mountain woman
within.

Mom glared at the clerk. “Have you had
salmon en croute?” she asked.

The clerk’s eyes came to me. “I saw five
bags of grated mozzarella. Is that for your pasta bake?”

“Yes,” I answered and her eyes went back to
Mom.

“Anything with mozzarella wins, especially
five bags of it,” she declared, I laughed, thanked her then I
tugged Mom through the checkout, commandeered our cart and headed
to the car.

Mom fell in step beside me and she did this
while pouting. I grinned at the cart full of food because I decided
Mom was cute when she pouted. I had to admit I may have decided
this because I had an amazing looking mountain man who was in love
with me so pretty much anything would be cute.

Still, I said softly, “Stop pouting, Mom, we
have today and then you’re off home. Don’t waste it pouting.”

She bleeped the locks on the car and pulled
up the boot. “Okay but only if you promise me you won’t argue with
what I tell you next.”

I didn’t have a good feeling about this. If
there was anything that could put a dent in my euphoria, Mom’s
craziness could.

I pulled the cart to a halt and rounded it,
yanking out bags to put in the boot. “That depends on what you say
next.”

“You can’t argue, Nina, because it’s
important.”

I stopped loading bags because the tone of
my mother’s voice made it sound important. I straightened and
looked at her to see her face communicated what she was going to
say was important too.

“What?” I whispered.

“You know what you told me on the way here
about Max’s inheritance from that murdered man?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Well, I’m going to talk to Steve about us
giving you some money to help with the taxes so Max doesn’t lose
that land.”

I felt my face go soft and I moved closer to
my Mom.

“You can’t do that, Mom. It’s sweet but Max
would never let you,” I informed her.

“He won’t have a choice. I’ve been thinking
about it and as far as I’m concerned, the way he is with you, the
way you are with him, I see good things and so I’m thinking it
would be me investing in my grandchildren’s future,” she replied, I
pulled in a sharp breath at a thought I’d never had, having Max’s
children, giving Max a family and I felt my body grow tight even as
my heart wound up to sing. “He wants that mountain clean, you want
that mountain clean and I want to do my bit to help you keep it
clean for you, for Max, for your children, their children and so
on.”

“Mom –”

“Don’t argue, sweetie, and don’t tell Max
until I have a chance to talk to Steve.”

“You don’t have to talk to Steve, I’m
selling Charlie’s house and using that money for the taxes,” I
blurted before I even thought about it and then my body got
tighter.

“
You’re
what?
” Mom breathed, her eyes scanning my face, her face a mask
of shock. She knew how I felt about Charlie’s house.

Oh my God. What was I saying?

Do it, Neenee Bean,
Charlie said in my head,
it’s time. Let the
past go. Just let it go. I’ll always be right here.

Charlie –
I started to say back.

Let it go, sweetheart, I want
you to gi
ve
this to Max, to your future. You don’t need that house to have me
with you. I’ll always be with you.

Oh Charlie.

Always, Nina.

“Nina!” Mom called sharply, her hand
squeezing my arm and I focused on her face and stopped talking to
my dead brother in my head. “Are you really going to sell Charlie’s
house?”

“He’d want me to,” I told her the truth.
“I…” I looked at the grocery bags in the boot then back to my Mom.
“I think I was holding onto him through that house because I didn’t
have anything else. Not when I was with Niles. I was holding onto
that house because I was trying to hold onto something Charlie. But
Max told me that having the memory of Charlie is precious. And he’s
right. And I have Charlie with me all the time. I don’t need his
house to keep him with me. And I think, if Charlie was here and he
could give it, he’d want to do what he could, just like you, to
keep Max’s mountain clean for Max, for me and for…” I smiled but I
felt my lips tremble as tears filled my eyes and I concluded, “Our
kids.”

Mom’s eyes never left my face as she lifted
her hand to cup my cheek.

“Love you, Nina,” she whispered.

“Love you too, Mom,” I whispered back, my
hand coming up to curl around hers at my face.

“And I’m happy for you, sweetie,” she kept
whispering.

“Me too,” I kept whispering back.

“I think you’re right about this. It would
be what Charlie wanted. He’d want you to have everything you want
and he’d want you to be happy.” Her fingers curled around mine and
brought our hands down where she tightened her grip and shook them
between us. “He’d like Max,” she finished.

“Yes,” I agreed.

Yes,
Charlie said in my head and I laughed at
Charlie.

Then I said to Mom, “Let’s get back to the
house.”

We filled the trunk and Mom got in the
passenger side as I hoofed the cart to the bay. I was turning
around, my mind on pasta bake, family, friends and getting back to
Max so I wasn’t looking where I was going and I ran smack into
something solid.