Riley shook his head. “I know you weren’t. You haven’t got asneaky bone in your body, so I’m actually shocked to hear you’re faking anentire wedding. But I figure it’s for a good cause, and I’ve secretly wanted tohost weddings out here for a while now. This would give me an excuse to talk toBrent about it. But he won’t mind a friend borrowing it for a day at all.”
Friend.
Max turned that word around in his head a few times, finallytucking it away with a happy glow. He could use as many friends as he couldget, and Riley seemed like a good one to have. Brent, too.
“Hey, lunch is ready,” Brent called out, making Max turn to lookat the porch.
Riley had told him earlier about all the work he’d done on thehouse. It looked brand new from where Max was standing, but it must have beenat least fifty years old, judging by the style. Maybe more like seventy.
Riley seemed like the kind of man who liked a project, and Max asthough he was maybe a project for Riley, too.
He also felt like that was a good thing.
“Come in and eat,” Riley said. “We’ll finish up the rest oncewe’ve recovered.”
Max’s stomach rumbled, so he couldn’t exactly say he wasn’thungry.
Besides, he was getting better at accepting kindness from people.He was starting to see that he didn’t have to doallof this alone.
It’d only taken him a little over three years.
“When I came out here, Brent was putting some kind of deliciousapricot pastry together,” Riley said. “I bet it’s done by now, too.”
Max licked his lips involuntarily. He could get used to this newthing where people fed him really great meals just because he happened to bearound.
“I’d like to come in,” Max said softly. “Thank you.”
“Hey, I couldnothave gotten as far as I have todaywithout you,” Riley said. “I’m not doing you any favors. You did an honestday’s work today, and you deserve a reward. Come on,” he added, heading for theporch.
Max trailed after him, his back and shoulders aching, but in agood way that made him feel as though he’d accomplished something today.
He’d planted Riley’s saplingsandsecured a venue for thewedding. That wasn’t a bad day’s work at all.
Chapter Fifteen
Connor jumped at the sound of the doorbell, heaving himself up offthe couch.
He hadn’t been expecting Max for another hour, and he’d beenplanning to put a nicer shirt on before that, but now it was a little too late,and he didn’t want to leave the guy standing outside.
Connor opened the door, smiling broadly at the prospect of seeingMax again. His face fell the moment heactuallysaw him.
His hair was a mess, his eyes were red, and there were fresh teartracks shining on his cheeks. He sniffed, which only made him look moremiserable.
Connor’s heart sank. He’d invited him over to finalize a guestlist--mostly people who were already in on what they were doing, plus otherpeople Max knew he could trust to fill out numbers.
Of course, he’dreallybeen inviting him over as an excuseto hang out again.
None of that mattered now. The only thing that mattered was thatMax was upset.
“Come inside,” Connor said, stepping away from the door. Maxslipped in past him, their shoulders brushing against each other as he movedinto the hall.
Max was a pretty big guy, but he seemed tiny right now. Connorwanted to wrap him up in a blanket and hold him until everything was okay.
“What happened?” Connor asked, shutting the door behind Max. Hehadn’t been into the bookstore today, so he had no idea what was going on inthe world.
Max sniffed again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to end up crying infront of you,” he said, his voice rough.
“You don’t need to apologize for crying,” Connor said, nudging himtoward the living room.
