Souls in Peril (45 page)

“No, sir. Not at all. I
’
ll do what I can to help,” Max promised, not knowing what that would be.

“Thanks, JD. I appreciate that.” He smiled
,
slow
ing
as they approached JD
’
s house. “Now which house is yours again?”

Marty helped Max unload the bikes and put them in the shed. “Thanks, JD. Bev and I appreciate your friendship with our daughter.” He held out his hand and Max shook it. “We
’
ll see you tomorrow, I
’
d imagine.”

Chapter 25

Max slumped onto the bed. His selfish desire to be around Em hurt her. How could he not see that? He twisted to his side, punching the pillow,
uncertain
over what to do. Her friendship with JD was vital. Her simple act of accepting him had helped JD to be accepted by others, like Jeff. But he couldn
’
t allow his friendship to hurt Em either. There had to be a balance. The phone rang, interrupting his guilt trip.

“Hi, JD,” Izzy said. She
’
d asked him to come over and have dinner with her tonight. Max looked at his watch, relieved he wasn
’
t late. “I
’
m going to have to cancel. My stupid bag is leaking again.” He heard the frustration in her voice.

“Do you need help?” He had no idea how he could possibly help, but he made the offer anyway.

“No. The doctor warned me this could happen, but I don
’
t think I
’
ll be in school tomorrow.”

“Do you have to have more surgery?” Max sat upright.

“No. I left a message with the doctor
’
s service. I think they
’
ll try a different style of bag. That
’
s the easiest way to describe it without getting all technical on you.” Max noted the uncomfortable tone in her voice. He let the subject drop.

“How
’
s the painting coming along? Did you finish the sky?”

“Yes. It looks so good. I might have it framed for my room. For alongside my bed, maybe.”

A clicking sound told Max she had another call coming in.

“That
’
s the doctor
’
s answering service. I have to take the call. You
’
re the best.” She hung up.

Before he set the phone down, it rang again. Max checked the caller ID.
McKay, Martin.
With every ounce of self-control he could muster, he laid the phone down. He needed time to think. He knew once he heard her honey-sweet voice, all reasonable thought would leave his brain.

After she called the sixth time, he couldn
’
t handle the temptation any longer. He hopped on his old bike and rode up and down the canal to keep from answering the phone.

**

“JD! I called you like four times last night.” Emma sat down carefully next to him in journalism.

“Sorry. Is everything okay?”

“Yes. I just wanted to talk. I found this old photo of Max last night—”

“Hold that thought. I need to ask Mr. Roberts a question.” He bolted out of his chair.

“Oh, sure,” she said, confused.

He footed over to the teacher and asked some lame formatting question he already knew the answer to. Max knew Mr. Roberts loved to talk computers
,
and he soon had him embroiled in a debate over computer programs and operating systems. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Em. Ten minutes into the conversation, she came over.

“Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Roberts, but I
’
m only stay
ing
half
the
day today. I need to talk to Ms. Haley about my science midterm. Would it be alright if I leave now?”

“You bet, Emma. How are you feeling, by the way?” He wrote her a hall pass as they spoke.

“
A lot better today, especially since I refuse to take those horrible pain pills anymore
.
The nightmares they gave me were creepy
,” she grimaced.

“They
’
ll do that to you. Here you go.” He handed her
a
pink slip.

“Thanks.” She took it and turned to Max. “I
’
ll see you at lunch?”

He wanted to say no, he really did, but those sky-blue eyes were too much for him to resist. “Sounds good.”

Guilt ate him alive for the rest of the morning. At lunch, he hurried to her table and planted himself on the end next to Jeff. Emma showed up a few moments later. She was forced to sit on the opposite end of the table, a tense expression on her face. Soon the other cheerleaders swarmed her and she was smiling and laughing, easing Max
’
s guilt. Her dad arrived as they finished eating to take her home.

“JD, my dad wants to know if you
’
d like to come over for dinner tonight?” she asked as the bell for fourth period rang.

“I can
’
t, Em. I promised Izzy I
’
d stop by. Thanks anyway.” He perched his backpack on his shoulder and waved to her dad. Emma didn
’
t say a word as he left for class.

After school he went straight home, and to keep from calling Em, he called Izzy. “How
’
s it going?” He dropped on the couch and propped his feet up on the back.

“
Good.
They think this system will work better
for me
and not leak. I hope so. My dad said I have to go to school tomorrow no matter what. But the good news is he
’
s letting me take the car
,
so we don
’
t have to ride the bus.”

“Really
?”

“The doctor guilted him into it.” She laughed. “I asked the doctor if I should stay home for a couple more days to make sure the new appliance is working correctly. He said there was no reason for me to miss anymore school
,
and that if it did leak, my dad could bring me right to his office and he
’
d take care of it. I told him my dad was going out of town for the day and I
’
d be riding the bus because he never let anyone drive his precious Beamer. The guy kinda flipped out.” She laughed again. “He confronted my dad, who insisted I was lying to get out of more school and that it
’
d be no problem to let me drive tomorrow.”

“Did he yell at you when you left the office?”

“Oh
,
yeah. I just turned up my iPod and ignored him. He can never see the cord through my hair, the idiot. I just kept looking at him and saying,
‘
I
’
m sorry,
’
whenever his mouth stopped moving.” This time Max laughed. “I
’
ll pick you up at seven thirty.”

“Sounds great. Thanks. Do you want some company tonight?” Max asked,
meandering into the kitchen in search of cookies. He found sour cream and onion potato chips instead.

“No. My dad feels bad about yelling at me, so he wants us to have a daddy-daughter date to make up for it. He
’
s taking me to some boring foreign film with subtitles. I can hardly wait,” she said, her voice riddled with sarcasm. “I have to shower. He insists. He said I smell like a dirty diaper. See you later.”

A dirty diaper? He
loathed
her dad the longer he knew him.

Max did an easy upper body workout since his ribs still hurt, then he went for a ride along the canal, which JD enjoyed.
Pedaling
home, Max thought back to when he first started helping JD. He was so sure that if JD lost a little weight, all his problems would disappear. He couldn
’
t have been more wrong. The exercise did help with burning off the stress, and JD fe
lt
better about himself, but it was the friendships he
’d
develop
ed
for JD that made the real difference in his life. And it all started with Em. She reached out and befriended an awkward, overweight guy
,
and drew him into her circle.

And now Max was turning his back on her when she needed
him most
.

He spun his bike around and pedaled straight to Em
’
s. He had a plan and hoped it would work. He found her sitting on the porch playing with a kitten as he came up her street.

“JD!” She smiled happily. “I thought you couldn
’
t come over tonight.” She padded across the grass as he parked his bike in the driveway. The kitten turned out to be a tiny little puppy, hopped along after her.

“Izzy and her dad are going to some foreign movie tonight. I see you got a pet rat,” he teased.

“Isn
’
t she adorable? She
’
s a Teacup Yorkie.” Em tried to bend over and pick her up, but struggled with her brace.

“I
’
ll get her.” He scooped the little runt into his palm. She tried to lick his face before Max handed her to Em.

“Thanks. This thing is obnoxious some times,” she said, tugging on the brace.

“What are you going to name her?” Max grinned as the puppy let out a high-pitched bark.

“Not sure. I
’
m thinking maybe Bella.”

The smile died on Max
’
s face. Whenever he and Em talk about getting married and having a family, Bella was the name they
’
d
chose
n
for a girl.

“I take it you don
’
t like the name?” She turned toward the house, Max followed.

“It
’
s okay.” He shrugged. “Maybe you should name it something fierce, you know, like Killer, or Spike, as a joke.”

She laughed, ruffling its fur.
“Hmm, maybe.”

“Why did you get a small dog? I thought your mom hates dogs.”  He cringed. JD and Em hadn
’
t ever talked about dogs before.

“My parents thought it would be good for me to have one,” she said, oblivious to his faux pas. “My mom insisted it be a little one. I believe her exact words were,
Little dogs make little poops. Big dogs make big poops. You do the math.
”

“Your mother is a smart woman.” They sat down in the living room, the puppy now asleep in her
palm
.

“I get the feeling that you
’
re upset with me for calling you Max last night?” She peered into his eyes. “I
’
m really sorry. It was those stupid pills. I threw them away this morning.”

“Em, I feel uncomfortable talking about Max all the time. I know I didn
’
t cause the accident, but every time you bring him up, I feel a twinge of survivor
’
s guilt, I guess.” Max hoped the explanation would be enough for him to balance JD
’
s friendship with her, and help her find closure.
With him.

“
I
’
m so sorry. I didn
’
t even think of that. I promise, I
’
ll never mention him again to you, ever.”

“No.
He was important to you and if you need to talk about him, I get it. Just not all the time.” He leaned
over
and stroked the sleeping dog
’
s head. “I saw your room last night looking for the bike helmet. You have to let him go.”

“My father
’
s been talking to you
,
hasn
’
t he?” She got up and walked to the door.

Max stood,
noting the anger on her face
. “Em, he . . .
we
are all worried about you.
We spend too much time talking about him and keeping his memory alive.
You
’
re dad
’
s right, you
’
ll never move on if you keep trying to live in the past, and
y
our dwelling on Max isn
’
t a good thing.
”

“You should go, JD. I have a headache and need to take a nap.”

“Em—”