Colorado 01 The Gamble (32 page)

“Nina,” he said and I looked up at him,
wishing I didn’t like his finger in my belt loop so darned much.
“She’s good,” he told me in a hushed voice. “She’s used to it. She
adjusted a long time ago”

“What?” I asked.

“Her chair.”

I blinked as I realized Max thought my mood
had shifted because Bitsy was reminding me of Charlie.

This was thoughtful, as Max, I knew since
he’d exhibited this ability on more than one occasion, could be and
I suddenly decided I detested that too.

“That’s good,” I muttered, pulled from his
hold on my belt loop and headed to the door where a be-jacketed
Bitsy was pulling it open.

“God, it’ll be good not to have to go
somewhere in that stupid van,” Bitsy commented and looked at me,
taking the sting out of her complaint by explaining, “I like the
Cherokee.”

“Then you get to sit in front,” I told her,
using this as my excuse not to be close to Max, not even in his
car. I needed distance, I needed to think, I needed to process the
knowledge I’d learned in Bitsy’s house and what it meant to me.

“Oh, that’s okay –” Bitsy began.

“I insist.”

“Really –”

I cut her off again saying, “Better views
from up there.”

She gave me another smile and a, “Thanks,”
then rolled herself out, down a ramp and to the front passenger
side of Max’s Jeep.

Max opened the door and lifted Bitsy in
without effort like he’d done it more than once before. I grabbed
the chair and wheeled it to the rear of the truck, thinking he was
so obviously strong and detesting that suddenly too. Bitsy was
thin, though not skinny, and looked fit regardless of the
wheelchair. But standing, as I saw in the photo, she was Anna’s
height and Anna, I guessed, was my height which meant Bitsy was not
exactly light as a feather.

I pulled the seat up at the middle, folding
the chair as I’d done to Charlie’s time and time again, thinking
Anna was blonde and she was my height. She was also, according to
Arlene, funny. She didn’t look like me, I wasn’t hideous but I
certainly didn’t have her beauty or her obvious effervescence, but
we resembled each other.

Maybe Max, at long last, thought he’d found
a replacement. Not the real thing, never to have the real thing
again, but close enough.

“I got it, Duchess,” Max told me as I pulled
up the back of the Cherokee to load the chair.

“Right,” I muttered and walked around him to
sit behind Bitsy, not sparing him a glance. I got in and buckled
up.

“It’s nice that you came, Nina,” Bitsy said
into the car. “I know you’re on vacation and this is probably the
last thing you wanted to do.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Max got in and I noticed he did this twisted
so his clear, gray, too intelligent eyes were on me. I looked out
my window.

“Please don’t worry. I’m fine,” I told Bitsy
but spoke to the window.

“It’s just that,” Bitsy said as Max switched
on the ignition and started to back out, “Max and I’ve been friends
for a good long while and I’d heard about you so I was curious.
And, without making a big production out of it, I couldn’t come to
you.”

“
Really, it’s okay,” I assured her again.
“It isn’t every day a girl goes to a Police Station. I came out for
an adventure and here it is. I’m having it.”

She laughed quietly at my lame joke but she
did it without a lot of humor. “Yeah, great adventure, hunh?”

I didn’t reply. Instead I hesitated then
leaned forward, reached through and curled my fingers around her
shoulder. I felt it tense under my hand but I gave it a squeeze and
then pulled away and sat back.

We rode in silence to the Station, not
exactly comfortable since everyone was in their own thoughts and
none of our thoughts were good. However, fortunately, it wasn’t a
long ride.

I stayed silent and hung back as Max took
care of Bitsy and she wheeled herself into the Station.

“I’ll go find Mick,” Max said when we were
all inside, moving forward, as usual taking charge and Bitsy looked
relieved to wheel herself to a bank of chairs.

I followed and she backed in beside one,
giving me my cue to sit by her.

“This is stupid, this whole thing,” she
muttered when I sat down.

Her head was tilted down but she was looking
under her lashes at the reception desk.

“What is?” I asked quietly.

“I shoulda let Mick come up to the house,
talk to me there,” Bitsy looked at me, I noticed her face had
changed, the mask was falling, grief was moving to the surface and
she whispered, “I just couldn’t.”

“It’s okay,” I assured her.

“It’s already a crime scene, my house.” She
was still whispering. “I can’t go to the utility room. It’s roped
off with yellow tape.”

These words made my heart hurt for her and
my stomach pitch in revulsion at the knowledge she shared with me.
So without hesitation this time, I covered her hand with mine. She
turned hers so it was palm to palm and her fingers curled and, when
they did, so did mine.

“You do this as you have to do it,” I said
to her.

“I don’t want any more of this in my
house.”

“Then that’s how you’re doing it.”

She looked to the reception desk and back at
me. “I’m sorry, Nina. Max has enough to do. Mindy, you, all the
stuff he has to see to when he’s in town. He doesn’t need me adding
to all that stuff.”

I gave her hand a squeeze and said, “I don’t
think he minds.”

She looked over my shoulder and replied, “He
never minds.”

No, she was right. Apparently Super Max was
pretty content with taking care of half the town, such was his
wonderfulness.

That, too, I suddenly detested.

Her hand gave mine a squeeze as her
attention came back to me. “I promise Nina, because Curtis is gone
this won’t get to be a habit. I’ve got people who look out for me,
a lot of friends, family close, people who take me grocery
shopping, a girl who comes in to clean the house, you know, stuff
like that.”

“It’s okay,” I promised, wondering why she
felt she had to reassure me about these things. Then again she
lived in town and pretty much everyone in town, including Max,
thought that he and I were going somewhere and we were doing it
together.

“You should know something else too,” Bitsy
said, calling my attention to her and she kept talking. “Harry came
by yesterday. He’s torn up.” She shook her head but continued. “We
won’t talk about that but anyway, he said he met you and so did
Shauna.”

“Yes,” I confirmed, she gazed at my face and
I knew she read my opinion about Shauna because our eyes locked and
we shared a silent moment of keen understanding about Shauna
Fontaine.

Then her hand squeezed mine and she carried
on, “He told me what Shauna said to you and, you should know, it
isn’t true.”

“Sorry?”

“Max,” she went on. “He takes the jobs out
of town because he makes really good money doing them. He’s never
gone long, three months, sometimes six or eight, but not often and
he never takes the big ones that last forever. He likes to be home
and, sometimes, even when he’s on a job, he’ll come home for
weekends and stuff.” I nodded, she kept tight hold of my hand and
continued speaking. “He doesn’t rent that house for the money, like
Shauna said. He’s got money. Not only does he make good money but
he’s also got some besides, from, um… you know,” she hesitated then
finished, “a little nest egg.”

I didn’t know and I didn’t get to ask, not
that I would have, she continued.

“It’s just that he’s smart. If he’s going to
be gone all that time, why not rent the house? He makes a bucketful
when he rents it, he can get top dollar and he demands it. I would
too. I mean, who wouldn’t? His house is great.”

I didn’t want to be in another conversation
about Max’s finances, especially considering the reasons why I was
in another conversation about Max’s finances, so I said, “Of
course,” hoping that she’d be reassured and we could stop talking
about it.

She nodded and went on, “The other thing…”
She paused and her hand squeezed mine, not comfortingly,
spasmodically, a reflexive action communicating something else
entirely. Then this action was explained when she said in a low
voice, the words coming fast and I knew it took a lot for her to
utter them, “Beware of Shauna. I know why she was with Curtis and I
know why she was with Harry. I’m guessin’, from what Harry told me,
that you figured it out so you gotta know, she was with Max for
another reason. She wanted him for a long time before she got him
and she made no bones about it and when I say that, I mean a
long
time.” She paused to let that
penetrate, before she finished, “She still wants him, maybe even
more now that she’s lost him.”

Considering the fact that I’d recently
decided to go home to England as soon as humanly possible and never
come back to Colorado again in my life, it was unnecessary for
Bitsy to give me this warning. Although I didn’t tell her that
since her doing so was also kind.

“Thanks Bitsy,” I said and then told her the
truth knowing, even so, she’d not understand my true meaning, “I’m
not worried about Shauna.”

She smiled at me, it was again small, her
face had not fought back the grief but she wasn’t letting it
consume her, something else I admired her for, and she gave my hand
a final squeeze before letting it go.

“Sucks,” she started, looking back at the
reception desk and I saw her eyes lock on something and I looked to
see Max and Mick were heading our way. “Finally, he’s found someone
he’s into and it’s during all this crap.” I felt her eyes come back
to me so I looked back to her and she was again smiling. “But we’ll
get to know each other.”

“I’d like that,” I said quietly, even though
I knew we wouldn’t.

“Me too,” she replied with feeling, not
sharing my knowledge and making me feel guilty because she appeared
to be looking forward to it.

“Bitsy,” Mick greeted as he stopped in front
of us and I stayed seated. I did this out of habit. It was
something I did for Charlie, keeping myself at his level, not
making him look up all the time, reminding him of what he’d
lost.

“Hey Mick,” Bitsy greeted back.

“How’s things, Nina?” Mick asked me.

“Interesting,” I replied and Mick
smiled.

“Max, would you stay with me when they talk
to me?” Bitsy asked and then said to me, “Or, sorry Nina, I should
ask you. Do you mind?”

I shook my head and smiled at her. “I’ll
just go get a coffee or something.”

“Thanks,” she said softly. She nodded at
Mick, started wheeling away and Mick followed her.

Max stayed with me and I stood.

“Bitsy wants you,” I reminded him.

“Somethin’s up,” he said straight out,
watching me closely.

“You better go,” I encouraged him, evading
his subject. “Do you want me to bring you a coffee when I come
back?”

He got close, tilting his head down to look
at me but he didn’t touch me.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I’ll get Bitsy a coffee too. Do you know
what she likes?”

His finger went into my side belt loop
again.

Then he said in a low tone, “Not gonna ask
twice, Duchess.”

God. Seriously. He was
so
annoying.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re lyin’.”

My eyes narrowed, I yanked my hips away but
his finger held fast and instead of tearing my loop, I settled and
repeated, “I said, I’m fine.”

“Bullshit.”

I leaned in and hissed my lie, “All right,
Max, I’m going out for coffee and my Dad’s in town. I don’t want to
run into him and have another scene, this time in public.”

His finger in my loop drew me closer as his
face relaxed.

“Just stay at the Station,” he suggested.
“I’ll ask Mick to get someone to bring you coffee.”

“Police coffee?” I asked, sounding
horrified.

“Yeah, Duchess,” he returned, grinning. “You
think your system could stomach that?”

“No,” I lied again.

His grin got bigger and he muttered,
“Christ, you’re cute.”

I sucked in breath, feeling those three
words pummel me like blows to the gut.

Then I reminded him, “Max, they’re waiting
for you.”

“Stay here, you want coffee, we’ll get
coffee with Bitsy after. She’d like that.”

“
Max, as I said,
twice
, I’ll be fine.”

He shook his head and his finger in my loop
brought me even closer, inappropriately closer for a public place,
a closer that was almost, but not quite, as close as
making-out-in-the-kitchen close.

“
Now you explained it,” he said,
“
I
don’t like the idea of you
runnin’ into your Dad in town without me havin’ your back. So I
want you to stay here. Yeah?”

I decided it was probably better to give
in because Max wouldn’t let it go and I needed distance
immediately. What I did
not
need were more indications of all the reasons he could
easily be the love of
any
woman’s life.

I decided this but I also decided not to
give in gracefully.

So I did it on the release of a heavy,
annoyed breath. “Oh, all right.”

His grin came back, his finger left my loop
but his hand lifted and curled around my neck, giving me a squeeze
then he turned around and walked away.

Not five minutes later, a lady who
introduced herself as Jane brought me coffee and when I took a sip
it was just how I took it.

Yes. Max was
so
annoying.

* * * * *

We were on our way back up to the
A-Frame.