Love Lifted Me (9 page)

“No one, but I wasn't sure what we wanted.” Max kissed her forehead. “I heard some interesting whispers in Kidwell's.”

“I bet you did.” Jade quartered the potatoes and slipped them into the boiling water.

“Mom drove a golf cart down Main Street? Tossing out clothes, yelling things about Dad?”

“In rare June Benson form.”

“Do you know why?” Max came around the island and leaned against the counter.

“She said she's had enough. Your dad canceled counseling, but other than that I don't know if anything happened between them.” Jade twisted open a can of green beans. “She also blabbed our business to the crowd. I pushed her in the cart and drove away.”

“Our business?” Max said. “You mean, mine.”

“I mean ours. Your affair, my abortion. Chandler Doolittle heard it all. Can you get me the small saucepan?” Jade pointed to the island cupboard.

Max reached down and handed it to Jade. “If you didn't see it with your own eyes, I'd never believe it.”

“I couldn't believe it, Max. Even though I chased her down Main Street. I thought she was drunk, or that something really bad happened that made her finally snap. But she seemed of sound mind. Sober.”

He stared at the wall. Jade knew what he was thinking. How to avoid becoming like his parents. She'd been pondering the same thing all afternoon.

“I think I'll give her a call,” Max said. “Check in with Dad too.” Asa stood at Max's feet, offering up his Cheerios container. “Open, please.” Max popped the top and handed it back to Asa. “Here you go, buddy.”

Jade locked in on Asa's face. He looked so much like Rice. But didn't Jade see Max in his eyes? And the full pout of his lips?

She'd checked the mail and her e-mail when she came down from the ridge, in the middle of her Googling, and had received nothing from Taylor. But silence was golden at this point. It meant Jade didn't have to speak about this to Max.

Max leaned over her shoulder, the scent of his skin seeping into hers. “Smells good. What are you making?”

“Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans.”

Max lowered his head to see her face. “You're making all my favorite dishes.”

“A man's gotta eat.” Her gaze met his. She was tired of being in debt to fear and betrayal, driven by bitterness. Enough already.

“Thank you.” He lifted her chin and kissed her, a teasing spark of passion buzzing across her lips. The soft ends of his hair brushed her cheeks. “I'm all in, Jade. I promise you.” He pulled back and leaned against the counter. “By the way, I checked in with Tripp. He's a good friend as well as accountability partner. I can still see his face when I told him I'd do anything to get clean. Also I called Clarence and said I'd work with the associates, take pro bono cases. I'm golfing with the Rainwaters in the morning. Even though Gil Rainwater is about the most bleeping client on the face of the earth. Pray I don't smash him with my club instead of the ball. I won't be able to take Asa to school, though. And oh, I also talked to Reverend Girden. He can counsel with us if you want.”

“What happened to Texas and football?” She felt a bit deflated. She'd spent all day praying. Googling. Thinking. Surrendering.

“Well, it's still there, but you really didn't seem to want to go, so I started figuring out what I'd do if we stay here. You're right, there's lots to do and the time will go by fast. What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Max.” Jade grabbed the pale yellow collar of his oxford. His long bangs framed his temples, accenting his eyes. Everything about him made her want to love him. Trust him. “Look me in the eye. You
really
don't have any phantom back pains or desire for pills?”

His gaze held without a flinch. “No phantom pains, no desire for pills. At all. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Why be a prisoner when Jesus already paid the price? Granted, I have to do the work to stay free, but I have no craving or desire whatsoever to go back to my old ways. I don't even like that guy.”

“I believe you.” She released his collar. Max didn't move other than to rake his hair out of his eyes.

“Okay, now that I passed the test, what's going on in that pretty head of yours?”

“I've been praying . . . and don't give me that look. I told you I would. Spent an hour up on the ridge after I got your mom out of the street.”

“And?”

“I came home and Googled Colby. It's not like the Hollow, but it seems like a nice little town. Yeah, it's in the middle of nowhere—but with a population of fifteen thousand, it's bigger than the Hollow.” Jade flipped on the oven light to check the baking meat loaf. “I didn't realize it's only twenty-five minutes from Amarillo. I read a few articles and it does seem Colby High needs something good to happen for the football program.”

“You're making my heart go pitter-patter.”

“Maybe you are the man for the job, Max. Did you know they used to be state champs two or three times a decade all the way back to the teens?”

“Yeah, I know, I told you.”

“I hate when traditions die. When old things are forgotten or tossed aside.” She absently wiped her hands on the dish towel. “Max, what happened with your mom today scared me. In a good way. Could that be me thirty years from now? Driving down Main in a stolen golf cart, throwing your things or anyone's things into the street, blurting my guilt and shame?”

“No, that's not you thirty years from now. Or me. We're nothing like Mom and Dad.”

“Not today, Max. But the Hollow has a way of lulling people to sleep. We think we're safe up here, cloistered away from the world, but we're just as evil and sinful as everyone else. We get comfortable. Lazy in life. Do you know how many affairs and secrets are in these hills?”

“Scary, I know. But there're good people too. Reverend Girden and his wife. Tripp and his family. Lillabeth and her parents are honorable, God-fearing people.”

Asa ran into the room with his new car and opened his personal cupboard. “Drink, please.” He offered up his cup. Jade tugged open the fridge and filled it with his apple juice.

“There you go, sweets.” She kissed him, brushing his hair aside. And, she told herself, if they went to Colby, Jade might be able to bury Rice's secret in the Hollow. Where it belonged.

“Colby probably has just as many ruts and pitfalls as Whisper Hollow. We just don't know what they are yet, Jade.”

“But we go in fresh, with new eyes.” She came around the island to Max. “If we're starting over, then let's start
over
. Let's go someplace where the only person we know is each other. That'll make us or break us—fast.”

Max narrowed his gaze and stepped back. “You're willing to trust me that much?”

“I'm going to trust God and pray hard. Max, it's time to be happy. To choose life. I want to try. Let's pull out my roots and transplant them in Texas. I don't want to be my mom, flying off and wild, but I don't want to be your mom either. Stuck in the Hollow, bitter and resentful.”

“As long as you're with me, we can do anything.”

Max grinned, then donned his cross-examination expression. “What about the Blue Umbrella?”

“Lillabeth agreed to take it. I can hire a few part-timers. The shop is solvent, takes care of itself. Lilla can take the profits. We won't earn any money, but the shop won't cost us either.”

“You're serious then.”

“Yeah, the more I prayed, the more I felt what I saw in your face this morning. I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's go to Texas. Coach football.”

Max snatched her up and spun her around. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Woot!” When he set her down, he grabbed her face with his hands and kissed her forehead, her cheek, her nose, her lips, her forehead again.

“Call them.” She tapped his pocket where he kept his phone. “See what they say.” Excitement swirled low in her soul at first, growing larger, wider.

Max pressed his touch screen a couple of times and put the phone to his ear. “Chevy, hey, Max Benson. Good, good, listen—I was wondering if the coaching . . .”

Jade paced, her belly roiling. This was insane.
Oh, Mama, can you believe I'm doing this? Leaping out, catching the current in the wind?
Baby sister Willow had been Mama's kite in the breeze. Jade had been her roots in the ground.

“Yeah, that's good. Certainly, I understand. Okay . . . thanks, Chevy, talk to you soon.” Max hung up, his expression dour and drawn. “Jade, listen, don't be disappointed but—”

“Oh, Max, no, they hired someone already? I thought they wanted you. You're the one for the job.
You
.”

“Yeah, they hired someone.” Max slipped his phone in his pocket. A glint flashed in his eye. He walked toward the doorway. “How long until dinner? I'm going to call Mom, see what's up with her.”

“What? Max, what else did he say? What?” Jade grabbed his arms, arresting his forward motion.

“Hey, don't make dessert.” Max smacked his abs. “I just chiseled out this six pack and—”

“Maxwell Charles Benson.”

“Oooh, the lady breaks out the middle name.”

“Okay, fine, don't tell me.” Jade released him with a large gesture. “I was going to make chocolate cake.” She sashayed toward the pantry. “Isn't that your favorite?”

“Give, give, you win.” Max's smile purchased the very last bit of her qualms. “He wants me there next week. Sooner than I thought. Will you be ready to go? I need to get started on certifications to coach.”

“Next week?” Jade pulled up a mental picture of her sticky notes to-do list. “I don't know.”

“We'll work together. Get it done.”

“Then let's do it. Yeah.” Jade opened the pantry for the cake mix. “We're moving to Texas.”

Max dashed over and kissed her—long, wild, and exuberant.

Nine

Forget sleeping. A million thoughts ran through Max's head at a million miles an hour. From doubts about his decision to his speech on the first day of practice.

What am I thinking? I'm a lawyer, not a coach
.

Jade doesn't really want to go, she's just being nice and I don't deserve it
.

Need to call Coach Bonham tomorrow and set up a meeting
.

One season, just commit to one season . . . you can always come back to Benson Law. Sure, easy. This will be a fun adventure. You and Jade can focus on being together, a team against the world
.

Boys,
I'll say on our first day
, this is a football.
And hold up the ball. Yeah, and what if they don't know about Vince Lombardi?

Max kicked off his covers and stretched long on top of the sheets, willing a cool blast from the air conditioner. But his thudding heart and careening thoughts made it impossible to cool down. Rolling out of bed, he walked down the hall to check on Asa. The clock flashed 3:16.

When he open Asa's bedroom door, the hinges creaked. Max made a mental note to oil them tomorrow. Along with the eight hundred other details he'd been logging.

Perching on the edge of Asa's bed, he squared away the cover and rested his hand on the boy's back. This kid inspired him. His son. So small, yet so bold and brave, tackling his little world—the playground at Laurel Park—as if he were Indiana Jones on a mission. Fearless.

Asa slept, lullabied by his own deep breathing. “We're moving to Texas, Ace. You'll be a baby Warrior. What do you think?”

Max had scheduled a meeting with his dad and Clarence first thing in the morning to let them know he'd spend his probation on a football field in Colby, Texas.

After the meeting, he'd get going on a house hunt. Friday to Friday, that's all the time they had. He didn't want Jade to worry about Realtors and houses while dealing with the Blues—selling one, handing over the other.

Jade could pick the house she wanted, but a Realtor could narrow down the field. Colby had a lovely historic district with gabled Victorian homes and quaint '20s bungalows. Outside of town, there were century-old ranch houses dotting the ends of long dusty driveways, shaded by elms and cottonwoods.

Max felt sure he could find a new Benson associate to live in the house. Jade had already started furniture shopping online.

Her decision to move to Colby blew Max away.
God, only you
. But she still treated him like a friend she had a crush on and didn't want to
mess things up
.

Max smiled. He could appreciate that, but thinking of Jade did nothing to cool him down. He loved being her friend and he'd committed to protecting her heart. He owed her that much. Love was patient and kind. Love didn't seek its own desire. Axel had drilled that into him. So he'd wait.

Heading back down the hall, Max paused at the second-floor landing. A thin ghostly light created a white pond on the foyer's marble floor. The front door stood wide open.