The Better Man (Chicago Sisters) (15 page)

“It’s your body,” Lucy relented. “Sorry for trying to protect it.”

Their dad followed behind their mom and gave Lucy a hug. “You’re a good big sister, but never throw away someone’s cheese puffs.”

“I’m coming over tomorrow and helping Mom throw away all your junk food. We’re putting you on a diet.”

“What?” He looked at his wife for confirmation.

Maureen’s shoulders slumped and she glared at Lucy. “I wasn’t going to tell him what we were doing. If you don’t tell him, he doesn’t miss it. When you tell him, he gets all worked up.”

“We’re headed into holiday season. How can I go on a diet before Thanksgiving and Christmas? You go on a diet
after
the holidays. It’s a rule or something.”

“Mom said your cholesterol was up again,” Emma chimed in. “She’s got to do something, Daddy.”

“Says the girl licking fake powdered cheese off her fingers,” Lucy said with a sneer.

“At least I don’t have to color my hair,” Emma said in retaliation. “How can you bear using all those horrible chemicals on your head?”

“I do not color my hair!”

“Yeah, right.”

Kendall let them all fight it out. Her mom explained she’d be packing her dad’s lunches from now on, which sent him into a tizzy. Emma and Lucy continued to exchange gibes. Even as they roared, Kendall smiled. They were a loud and obnoxious bunch. They might not agree on everything, but they loved one another and she loved them.

“Where’s Simon?” her dad finally asked.

“Probably hiding from Aunt Lulu, Chief of the Food Police,” Emma teased.

“Don’t call me that,” Lucy said, her tone threatening.

“He’s upstairs,” Kendall said. Maybe she found their argument so entertaining because it distracted her from her own problems. “I’m not sure he’s going to want to go trick-or-treating now that he knows Max isn’t coming.”

“He didn’t take it well?” her mom asked.

Kendall shook her head.

“You want me to go talk to him?” her dad offered.

“You can try. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t respond.”

“I’ll come, too,” Lucy said. “He likes me best.” She stuck her tongue out at Emma.

“Real mature!” Emma shouted after her. “Seriously, she should have been born last. I have way more firstborn traits than she does.”

“Give me some of those cheese puffs,” Kendall said, holding out her hand.

Emma shook a few onto it. “You waited until she left. You are such a chicken.”

“I call it being smart.” Kendall popped a cheese curl in her mouth and chewed it up. “No one can throw away your junk food if you don’t tell them you have it.”

“Don’t tell your father that,” her mother said.

Lucy ran into the kitchen, looking panicked. “He’s not up there.”

Confused, Kendall shook her head. “Of course he’s up there.”

“We checked everywhere. He’s not in his room or your room. He’s not in the bathroom.”

Everyone moved at the same time and spread out in different directions. “Simon! Where are you?” Kendall shouted as she climbed the stairs two at a time.

Her dad came out of Simon’s bedroom and shrugged. “He’s not in any of the closets or under the beds. Maybe he’s hiding downstairs.”

Kendall flew back down the stairs, nearly knocking over Emma. “Simon!”

She scoured every room on the main level to no avail. He was nowhere to be found. Her heart raced as she ran outside. Families and costumed kids were beginning to fill the sidewalk on either side of the street. There were superheroes and princesses, but no Simon.

He wouldn’t leave, she told herself. They must not have looked everywhere upstairs. Kendall went back inside and up to Simon’s room. The sound of her family calling his name made her want to cry.

“Simon, you need to come out, honey. This isn’t funny. Mommy is worried,” she said, getting on her hands and knees and peering under his bed.

His cars weren’t under there. On the other side of his bed, they were all spread out like he had been playing with them. Kendall knelt down and picked up the red Corvette. It was the only one he hadn’t taken out of the container. That’s when she noticed the picture. The one Simon had drawn at school. It was ripped down the middle.

She held the two pieces together and stared at the red door. Simon wasn’t here. He was right where he wanted to be.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

M
AX
BURIED
HIS
head under his pillow, hoping to block out the sound of his door buzzer. If those trick-or-treaters thought he’d throw candy out the window if they annoyed him enough, they were wrong. He was pouting. Life had kicked him when he was down and he wanted one day to pout about it.

Jin’s audacity yesterday was beyond belief. He really thought Max would tell him everything and turn over the restaurant on a silver platter? The man was insane. If Max was being handed his walking papers, then he was walking out. He wouldn’t graciously explain the entire operation. Let Jin figure it out for himself.

The door buzzer would not stop. Max threw his pillow across the room and marched to the intercom. “I have no candy. Go away.” He headed back to his bedroom when the buzzing started again. Max growled in frustration. He pressed the intercom. “What part of no candy are you not understanding?” He pressed the other button to listen.

“Maxwell, open the gosh darn door!”

What in the world was his mother doing here? He buzzed her in and opened his door to the stairway. “Mom?”

Joanna raced up the steps. “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home,” she said as she climbed the last few stairs to his landing. “Happy Halloween, honey.”

Joanna was dressed in a blue-and-white-checked dress with her hair in braids and ruby-red shoes on her feet. Her appearance in Chicago was surprising to say the least. He opened the door wider to let her in. “Welcome to Oz,” he said. “I must have slept through the tornado.”

She kissed his cheek and stepped into his condo, setting her bag down inside. Her hair was a new color, sort of a strawberry blond. If it weren’t for the shoes, she might be mistaken for Pippi Longstocking or the face of Wendy’s. She looked healthy, though. All that clean living in the Land of Granola was doing her some good.

“Why
do
you look like you just woke up? I thought you were working days until the restaurant opens.”

“Unexpected day off,” he replied, locking the door. He decided he wasn’t going to refer to what happened yesterday as being fired. Until he heard it from Mr. Sato, he was considering this an unpaid vacation.

“I was worried about you. The last time we talked, you were acting weird. I felt like I needed to check on you.”

Max sank into his couch. “It’s been a pretty brutal week. But you know me, I can take care of myself.”

She frowned. “I know you like to think you can take care of everything by yourself.”

“I’ve been doing it long enough.”

His mom sat down next to him. “Oh boy, I didn’t realize I invited myself to a pity party. Come on, kiddo, what’s going on with you?”

He had no idea where to even begin. Nothing made sense and probably never would. He was fighting for custody of a child who already had two loving parents, and as much as he wanted to hate Jason Michaels, he couldn’t. On top of that, his boss’s son wanted his job, and for all intents and purposes, he’d fired him yesterday. Then, there was this woman and her son. A woman he couldn’t stop thinking about and a little boy who made him feel like maybe he wasn’t the bad guy everyone thought he was.

Max was a fool for thinking Kendall could be interested in a relationship with him. She’d had the perfect husband. Max wouldn’t automatically replace Trevor in her heart just because Max looked like Trevor. Trevor Montgomery fought for his country, and that was the only reason he would have been separated from his wife and child. Max’s reasons were notably less noble. Kendall didn’t want someone like that in her life, and Max couldn’t blame her.

“Do you think people can change?”

Joanna stared at him for a second before falling into a fit of laughter. “Are you really asking
me
if people can change?”

Max rolled his eyes. It was kind of a ridiculous question to pose to someone who redefined herself all the time. “I mean really change. You might be infatuated with something different every time I see you, but you’re still you. At the core, you’re the mom I’ve always known. The one who dresses up in crazy Halloween costumes and shows up at my door without so much as a phone call.”

Joanna wiped her eyes, her lips falling into a straight line. “I don’t think it’s a question of
can
you change, more so do you
want
to?”

“I want to. I want to be a good father. I want to be someone Aidan can look up to and trust.” Trust being the most important. Aidan needed to believe Max was always going to be there for him.

“Then, you will be,” she said simply.

He wanted to believe it could be that easy. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to let his guard down. That he wouldn’t let Aidan in all the way and that would lead to real resentment. Or worse.

“What if I let people in and they’re disappointed?”

“I’ve never been disappointed in who you are,” she said, throwing her arm around his shoulders. “Nobody’s perfect. We all make mistakes. If I’ve taught you anything in this life, it should be that.”

It was Max’s turn to laugh. She was right, but he’d been too hard on her lately. “You did the best you could, Mom.”

“You have a good heart, Max. If you let people see it,
really
see it, there’s no way they’ll be disappointed.”

A knock on the door brought their conversation to an end. Confusion creased Max’s forehead. No one in the building had any kids who’d be trick-or-treating. Maybe someone snuck in. Max peered through the peephole and was greeted to a distorted view of Charlie’s big head. It wasn’t until he swung the door open that he could see Charlie wasn’t alone.

“Hey, Floor Three. Speed Racer here was standing outside when I was heading out. He didn’t say anything, but I got the sense he was looking for you.”

Simon stood silently next to Charlie. His black sweatshirt was decorated with various NASCAR sponsors. His cheeks were red and so were his eyes.

“Hey, Simon. Does your mom know you’re here?” Simon shook his head. That wasn’t good. Max thanked Charlie and let Simon inside.

“Hi, there,” Joanna said to Simon, who raised his hand and waved. “What’s your name?”

“This is Simon, Mom. He’s not the talkative type.” He looked around for his phone. “I need my phone so we can call your mom and let her know you’re here.”

“No!” Simon shouted, startling both of them for different reasons.

“Buddy, your mom is going to be worried sick. We need to call her so she knows you’re okay.”

Simon looked at Joanna and bit his lip.

“You know what? I need to freshen up a bit before I go find the Wizard. Do you mind if I use your bathroom, Maxie?” she asked, somehow knowing exactly what Simon needed.

As soon as she was out of sight, Simon opened up. “Why don’t you want to be my friend?”

Max’s blood boiled. It was one thing for Kendall to tell him not to come around. It was another to blame the decision on him. “Is that what your mom told you?”

“No. She said she told you not to come with me trick-or-treating. She’s mean.”

That was a relief. He couldn’t imagine Kendall throwing him under the bus. She took all the blame because that was who she was. Selfless, unlike him. He regretted his flash of anger. He would not put this child in the middle as he had with Aidan. “She’s not mean. She loves you and wants to keep you safe, which is why we have to go back to your house.”

“No!” the little boy pleaded and clung to Max’s legs. “I promise I’ll be good. I’ll go to school. I’ll talk to my teacher. I won’t be bad.”

Max pried the little guy loose and knelt down in front of him. This poor kid had been through so much. The last thing Max wanted was to add to his pain. “Listen to me. You are a great kid. You are not bad.”

“Then why don’t you like us anymore?”

“I do like you.”

“Daddy left because he didn’t like us anymore. I thought you were different.”

Max felt completely unequipped to handle this. Explaining life and death to a kid was not something he’d learned in restaurant management. “Your dad dying doesn’t mean he didn’t love you guys. I’m sure he loved you so, so much.”

“I heard him yelling,” Simon whispered like it was a secret, tears welling in his eyes. “He told Mommy he didn’t love her anymore. He made her cry and cry. She wanted him to stay here and be with us, but he said no. I heard him. He didn’t love us and Mommy wasn’t even mean to him.”

Not knowing what to say, Max simply put his arms around Simon and hugged him tight. There was obviously much more going on than anyone, other than Kendall and Simon, knew. Perhaps Trevor hadn’t been the perfect husband after all.

* * *

M
AX
TRIED
K
ENDALL
’
S
cell phone twice with no luck. It rang and went to voice mail the first time and was busy the second. Joanna had rented a car at the airport and offered to let Max drive them to Kendall’s house. Max figured the faster he got Simon home, the better. He threw on some jeans and a clean shirt and convinced Simon they would talk to his mom together about all this.

Kendall’s street was lined with cars on both sides. They had to make a few passes before a spot opened up nearby. Kendall’s sisters stood on the front porch passing out candy to neighborhood kids. Instead of smiling, they looked quite anxious. Three other people stood out front, appearing equally distressed. Joanna and Max got out of the car, and Max opened the back door for Simon.

“Come on, buddy. I think you’ve got some worried people waiting for you to come home.” He took Simon’s hand and led him toward the house.

“Simon!” Lucy spotted them first. She came barreling down the sidewalk and scooped him up in her arms. “Don’t you ever, ever, ever do that again. Do you have any idea how scared we were when we couldn’t find you?”

Emma was next and basically said the same thing. They both looked at Max like he’d kidnapped the boy. “Where’s Kendall?” Emma asked, as if he would know.

“What do you mean where’s Kendall?”

“She went to your place to get him,” Lucy explained.

Max patted his pockets. No phone. He’d forgotten it in his rush to get Simon home. “I never saw her. Can you call her and let her know he’s okay?”

Lucy pulled out her phone and sent off a text.

“Simon, honey.” A woman with short gray hair and a gentle voice joined them on the sidewalk. Max assumed she was Kendall’s mother. They had similar smiles. “Thank you for bringing him home, Max.”

“No problem,” he said. He always felt a bit like a freak show around people who knew Trevor. Every time he met someone from Kendall’s life, he had to remember they had to get over the initial shock of him looking like her husband. The two men on the porch were definitely gawking.

One of them appeared to be Kendall’s father. He was the taller of the two. His round face and balding head were a dead giveaway. The other man had a death grip on the porch railing. He was staring at Max as if he had seen a ghost.

Kendall’s dad steadied the other man and sat him down on the porch steps.

“How?” the man croaked, overwhelmed with emotion.

Simon wiggled out of Lucy’s arms and ran over. He gave the man a hug before sitting next to him. With a reassuring hand on the old man’s knee, Simon smiled up at Max. “It’s okay, Grandpa. That’s Max. He’s not Daddy. Don’t be sad.”

Simon’s grandfather became completely overcome. His eyes glistened with tears and his hands were shaking something fierce. Max figured this guy had to be Trevor’s dad. This was more than awkward, it was downright depressing.

“Simon!” Max turned to see Kendall sprinting toward them, dodging the trick-or-treaters. He could only imagine the panic she’d been feeling all this time. She didn’t stop running until she had her arms wrapped around her son. Out of breath, she hugged him and told him over and over that she loved him and that he couldn’t run away ever again.

Max heard his own mother, her ruby slippers click-clacking on the sidewalk pavement behind him. As he watched Kendall and Simon reunite, he realized how grateful he was for her presence today. She came when he needed her, without even being asked.

Joanna stopped cold. “Monty?”

Monty?
But that...
Max’s head swung around to see his mom bug-eyed and slack-jawed. He looked back at Mr. Montgomery, sitting on the steps. He was much older than the man in the photo Max had hiding inside the Pearl Jam album back at home, but there was a definite resemblance, now that he thought about it.

“Joanna? Is that really you?” he asked, rising to his feet. Kendall’s dad offered his hand again for support. Max wasn’t confident in his own legs’ ability to hold him up. He suddenly felt like the Cowardly Lion standing next to Dorothy when they faced the Great and Powerful Oz.

Joanna put her hand on his shoulder. “Max, this is Monty. Monty, meet Max.” There was an eerie silence, then, “Our son.”