The conversation with him flowed easily, as it had the rest of the day. He amused her with pranks he’d pulled during his college years, including letting mice loose in a classroom, tying the president’s shirt and pants to a flagpole, and hiding alarm clocks in dorm rooms and having them go off in the middle of the night.
She entertained him with stunts she’d participated in with her brothers while growing up, like the time they’d herded and trapped a bear in the corral, only to have it barrel through the fencing, breaking it into pieces.
When he mentioned a past girlfriend named Sarah, she asked him about his dating life. He admitted to dating lots of women in his younger years, but over recent years, he’d been too busy with work and family responsibilities. He claimed he wasn’t in a serious relationship, and when she pressed him for why he wasn’t yet married, he offered vague answers that made her realize it was a sensitive topic, one that he didn’t want to explain.
In turn, he asked her more about Ryan. She shared about all the things she’d thought they had in common and how they’d seemed like such a perfect fit. Max was such a good listener that she found herself telling him about the McQuaid legacy of love, how the men in her family were lucky because they had inherited the ability to fall in love fast, furious, and forever with a passionate, deep, and enduring love that was totally consuming. Her dad and mom had that kind of love. Tyler had found his legacy love with Kinsey. And Brock had done the same with Venus.
“I admit,” she said softly as she leaned back in her chair, “I wish I’d inherited the legacy of love too.”
“Perhaps you have.”
“No. It’s been passed down through the men.”
He twisted his empty goblet absently. The pie in the middle was almost half gone, their forks abandoned.
She wasn’t sure how long they’d been sitting there. Maybe an hour or more. She hadn’t glanced at her phone to check the time, but she guessed it was well past midnight.
“I cannot accept your reasoning, Emberly.” Max spoke in a low voice too. “A legacy of love is not a physical trait like eye color. Even if it were, why would the women in the McQuaid family not also have the gene?”
She shrugged. “From the way my dad explains it, the men have always been the ones to go particularly love-crazy over just one woman. He’s never mentioned that happening to the McQuaid women.”
“Then ’tis possible.”
“It didn’t happen with me and Ryan.”
“Perhaps you have yet to meet the one man who makes youlove-crazy.”
She’d never considered the possibility that she might have the legacy of love running through her veins. But what if she did?
“Besides,” Max continued, “maybe the legacy is something that is passed on more through actions and example than by blood.”
“Maybe.” She didn’t know exactly how the legacy worked. All she knew was that it was something important among the men in her family.
“If your dad saw the way his dad passionately and deeply loved his wife, then he had an example of love to imitate.”
“I think you’re partly right. But I also believe that some people inherit a more emotional and passionate nature.”
“And you did not?”
“I don’t think so. Not in the same way as my dad and brothers.” She sighed. She’d always wanted to have the kind of marriage her parents had, but she’d despaired of finding someone who would ever measure up to her dad.
Max sat back in his chair and studied her through the moonlight. His eyes were especially dark and brooding at the moment. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and pressed his lips together.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Just be honest with me, Max. I can take it.”
He hesitated. “Very well. I believe you are making an excuse.”
“How so?”
“You are resigning yourself to mediocre relationships instead of accepting that relationships will only be—what did you say—aslove-crazyas you are willing to make them.”
Was Max right? Had she resigned herself to a less-than-happy love life? At this point, she still wasn’t interested in any love life at all. Even though it had been months since her breakup with Ryan, she had no desire to get involved with anyone else.
“What about you and Sarah?” she asked. “Was that a mediocre relationship?”
