Isa leaned against the stove and looked at me. “That man of yours is one helluva guy. You better snatch that one up, let me tell you.” She shrugged her shoulders. “If you want him, that is. Someone will scoop him up if you don’t watch it.”
Her words scraped me to the core because they were true and I knew it. I couldn’t fathom seeing Max with someone else. The mere thought made me want to go wild or ‘ape-shit crazy’ as Cane would say.
“You know what? Forgive me. It’s none of my business. I have had a hard time keeping my mouth shut. Pierce says I have no filter,” she laughed. “Let’s take this stuff to the table.” She handed me a tray and I placed the drinks on it and followed her.
“Ah, Isa. That smells so good,” Max said as we got close. His hair was all rumpled from being under his hat and I just wanted to run my fingers through it. “You didn’t have to go outta your way to dothis, ya know.”
She sat the pan on a mat and swatted Max’s shoulder. “Of course I did! I’ll put Jos in her high chair.” She reached for the baby but Jos buried her face in Max’s shoulder.
“Mwax!” she said, her voice muffled.
Isa laughed. “She’ll get it all over you. Just be warned—she’s trouble at the table.”
“She’s fine. You won’t ruin my shirt, right, Jos?”
She lunged for the silverware as I took my seat across from him.
“Who all have ya seen so far?” Max asked as we got settled in and began spooning the food onto our plates.
“My parents and my brother. A couple of guys from college.” Pierce lifted his fork to his mouth. “Your mama brought by a casserole this afternoon. She looks good.”
“Yeah, she’s doin’ real good. Dad’s retired now, so they just go around on their golf cart and they’re all into taking cruises these days.”
Isa unscrewed her water bottle. “Your mama is just a sweet thing. And Brielle, too. She’s supposed to be by tonight, actually.” She glanced at the large wrought iron clock on the wall.
Brielle, Max’s younger sister, was the feminine, younger version of Max with long, shiny dark hair and wide eyes. Max was very protective of her. I could tell he wanted me to get to know Bri, but she had an invisible wall built around her. She very clearly did not want to get to know me. I got the feeling she didn’t like me much and I wasn’t sure why, but we didn’t see each other often so it really didn’t matter.
“She doing okay?” Pierce asked, taking a drink of his beer.
“Yeah. She’s doing well. She’s been working for a dentist for a while now. She lollygagged around long enough and Dad finally had to tell her he was gonna stop paying her bills. That straightened her up pretty quick.”
“Is she still hanging around Samantha?” Pierce asked, smiling.
“Yeah,” Max laughed. “Those two are as inseparable now as they’ve always been.”
“Samantha? Is she the one that came to our wedding with Brielle?” Isa sat down her fork and patted her lips with a napkin. “That girl rubs me wrong. I know, I shouldn’t rush to judge and I was really busy when they were there, so I didn’t really get to know her. But there’s something about her that strikes me wrong. I just don’t know what it is.”
“Ah, Isa, she’s harmless,” Pierce laughed. “Settle down.”
She flashed him a look. “I’m not unsettled. I’m just saying. Do you know her, Kari?”
I nodded, thinking back to Brielle’s blonde, leggy friend. “I do, but not well. I just see her at Max’s family events and things sometimes. Brielle’s brought her to Max’s a couple of times when I’ve been there. She’s alright. Kind of annoying,” I said, looking at Max out of the corner of my eye. Jos reached over his shoulder and grabbed his hat off the back of the chair and tossed it into the middle of his plate.
“Ah, Jos,” Max pouted, sticking out his bottom lip. She grabbed ahold of it and squealed.
“I warned you,” Isa laughed. “I know trouble when I see it.”
The doorbell rang and Pierce excused himself to go answer it. Isa got up, too, to grab more napkins from the kitchen.
I sat quietly and watched Max play with Joselyn. He was such a natural, tossing her in the air, blowing raspberries on her cheek, making her shake with laughter. She was clearly smitten with him...and him with her.
“Look who’s here,” Pierce said a few moments later, leading Bri into the room. I looked up to see her making a beeline for Isa and her friend standing still behind her. Sam’s eyes were trained on Max.
She was wearing tight brown pants, making her legs look like they went on forever, and a cream-colored knit shirt. Her long blonde curls were perfectly cast across her shoulders, her blue heels making her eyes pop. I never would’ve thought that outfit would work, but it looked seamless on her.
She cast a small smile at Max, watching him as he turned to face her.
“Hey, Sam,” he said, bouncing Jos up and down on one knee. “How are ya?”
