“Celebrity is so hard, isn’t it, Maxwell?” Warren says.
“Not my name,” Max grumbles.
Vanessa leans in close to me, asking, under her breath, “Whatishis name?”
“Sorry,” I whisper back, shooting her a knowing look. “You’re on the enemy team now. I can’t tell you.”
From her stroller Claire grins at Max, who has stopped to pick up her toy, waving a chunky arm at him and making a babbling noise that sounds a lot like, “Dada!”
Max freezes. We all do. My mouth drops open, even though I know there’s no way she’s saying her first word so young.
Then, a smile erupts on Max’s face and he reaches into the stroller, unbuckling her and pulling her out, lifting her up into the air. “That’sright!I’m Dada!Good job, sweetheart!”
I decide not to tell Max that Claire was definitely just making random sounds.When he glances over at me, I mime taking a picture, and Vanessa nudges me, pointing to her phone. “I got the real one, if you want it.”
The smile is present on Max’s face all day, through the face painting and pumpkin-picking and even weaving our way through the crowds, which have only gotten thicker this year — especially with the customers coming to get pieces directly from Max’s store, which is only open one day a week usually, but more during the fall festival.
The website and social media postings have helped drum up some interest, along with the fact that Warren has been working his magic with marketing Max’s work, spreading the word for nearly twelve years, so when Max finally did appear on theinternet, there were already plenty of people searching for him there.
We’ve been at the fall festival for about an hour when Max and I spot something at the same time.
“Is that—” Max starts to ask.
At the same time, I pull away and shout, “Mom!”
Itisher, standing with Liam Smythe, who’s leaning on an apple booth and smiling up at my mother like she brought him the sun. Of course, she’s drinking it up.
“Uh, hi, Mom,” I say when I get closer, and she turns to me, her cheeks pink from the flirting. I shoot Liam a glare, for the first time understanding a modicum of what Max doesn’t like about him. “What are you doing?”
“I thought I would come early,” she says, pulling me into a hug, her perfume washing around me, “and surprise you at the festival!” Then, lower and just for me, she says, “Sure you need me to take Claire tonight? Looks like I could have other plans…”
Pulling back, I shoot Liam another glare, but he’s too busy mooning over my mother. I cross my arms and clear my throat, glaring at her. “Yes, I’m sure. Sorry, no way you can get out of it.”
She fluffs her hair and looks back at Liam. “Too bad.”
“Yeah.” Warren laughs. He gives Max a look that I can’t quite read. “Too bad.”
“Well, come on,” Vanessa says. She’s holding a caramel apple in one hand and a pumpkin spice croissant in the other, definitely embracing the vibe of the festival. “We have to finish visiting all the booths.”
“Ri-ight.” Max laughs, while Warren slings an arm around Vanessa’s waist and says something teasing into her ear, which earns him a smear of pumpkin spice over his cheek.
For a moment, as my mom takes Claire from Max and coos at her happily, I’m almost paralyzed by my own happiness. More than a year ago, when I climbed into my car and started for Montana, I never could have predicted that it would go likethis.
“What’s in your head?” Max asks, pulling me in and pressing a kiss to my temple.
“Oh, nothing,” I say, turning to him, smiling when I realize we’re going to get the entire night — no diaper changes, no crying, no waking with a start just to check the monitor and realize everything is fine — all to ourselves.
He smiles back, making a joke that puts even more meaning and emphasis on theto ourselvespart. I laugh, and Max kisses me, ignoring the calls from the others to hurry up as the kiss deepens.
If there’s one thing Montana has taught me, it’s to slow down and take every moment as it comes.
When we flickthe lights on at the cabin and walk inside, exhausted and happy from the long day at the festival, I’m hit once more with the sense of Jasper being here. In the walls and floors, in the bones of the place that Max and I have made a home for ourselves.
It’s like I can practically hear him saying,Good job, Bug.
“Max?” I ask when he quickly takes off his shoes and jacket and disappears into the bedroom. “Wait, are you okay? What are you doing?”
Mom has Claire and Dona down at the other cabin. It’s still where Max goes during the day to do woodworking and glass blowing, and where Vanessa and Warren stay when she comes to visit. This is my mom’s third time here, the first being right after I had Claire.
