Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Sweet flowers to brighten up your room while you recover.”
“These are beautiful, Benny! Thank you!”
“And they are a bit of an apology too. I should have gotten to the gutter sooner.”
“Oh, Benny! Don’t blame yourself. I should have kept myself on the ground and let you get to it when you could.”
I pointed to the flowers. “I’ll go get a vase before they wilt.”
“That’s okay, Savannah. I’ll get it.”
We watched Benny as he went to the kitchen. I saw my mother’s lips twitch as she smirked.
I nudged her. “He does have a nice ass, doesn’t he? For a man his age, he isn’t half bad.”
“Savannah!” She covered her hot cheeks and laughed. I joined her. My spirits lifted slightly at the thought that after all these years alone, my mother might finally be ready to take a chance on love again.
That night, the three of us ate dinner together. After Benny left, I helped her in the bathroom and we figured out how to do a semi-shower without getting the cast wet. It was not as difficult as I had thought it would be. And I felt a little more at ease at the thought of leaving her to cope on her own in a day or two.
I helped her to the guest room which I had set up on the ground floor since navigating any kind of stairs was out of the question.
That night, I slept on the pullout couch to be near her in case she needed help with anything. As I lay staring up at the ceiling, thoughts of the past two weeks raced around in my head. Talking about Max with my mother had been a bit cathartic. I had been as transparent as I could be given the circumstances. But the conversation still left me feeling that things were not completely resolved. My time in the mountains to think things through and get things straight felt as if it had been for nothing. And it did not help to know my mother was actually on Max’s side without even hearing his side.
By the third day, I felt comfortable leaving my mother and heading back to my apartment.
22
MAX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJOTlE1K90k
-girls like you-
I kept in touch with Savannah on her mother’s progress. I gave her the time and space she needed to be with her mother, but the more updates I got about her mother, the more I wanted to visit her.
I’d always liked Priscilla. She was a good, honest woman. In her I saw what Savannah would look like in the future and I liked what I saw. It was almost inevitable I would turn up on her doorstep one evening. I rang the doorbell, a bouquet of flowers in hand. An attractive older man answered the door. Savannah had not said anything about her mother being remarried, but perhaps she had found someone after all.
“Hi! I’m Maximus Blackstone. I heard Priscilla had a fall. May I see her?”
“Of course. Come in. Priscilla is in the living room.”
I followed him into the house and found Priscilla by the window overlooking the side garden. She turned at our approach, and her face broke into a huge smile of pure happiness. “Oh, Max! It’s so good to see you again.” She turned to the man who let me into the house. “Benny, this is the Max I was telling you about. Savannah’s Max.”
Benny nodded. “Oh! That Max. In that case, I’m going to make myself scarce for a bit and give you two a chance to catch up with each other. I’ll be in the kitchen making dinner if you need me.”
Benny nodded to me once more and disappeared. I watched him go before turning to look at Savannah’s mother. I put the flowers down on the table and quirked an eyebrow as I took a seat on the couch beside her. I leaned in and brushed my lips against the cheek she offered.
“Is a wedding on the horizon? Should I be looking into tuxedo rentals?” I murmured.
“Oh, Max! You and Savannah are incorrigible. Are you sure you haven’t been exchanging notes with Savannah? She said pretty much the same thing when she met Benny. He’s my tenant.”
I pointed to her cast. “So, you’ve been climbing on ladders.”
“It needed to be done.” She pursed her lips and looked at me keenly. “So you’ve been talking to Savannah.”
I plucked a card out of my wallet and handed it to her. “Now you can call me and we can talk without going through Savannah.”
“I would rather you went through Savannah, though. At least it would keep the two of you talking.” She patted my arm gently. “Sometimes Savannah does not know what she wants or needs, and as a mother, I need to nudge her in the right direction. Now that we’re on the topic of Savannah, let’s talk about what happened between you. She never told me. Why does she want to have nothing to do with you?”