“Max is a good friend,” Mom said.
“Yeah.”
“Just a friend?”
“Mom.”
I’d had crushes, but with Max, it was different. Max knew me better than anyone, and what we had was steadfast and reliable. Dating would turn all that reliability into dramatic fights and pain, like my parents. And even if what I felt for Max was a crush, I wouldn’t complicate our friendship.
“Just checking,” Mom said, hands lifted in resignation. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, would it?”
“I’m with Will.”
“Not Bradley?”
“That was like two weeks ago.”
“Right. So, Will.” My mom hip checked me. “What’s he up to tonight?”
I faltered. Honestly, I hadn’t asked Will about his plans. This night was for Max. Not that Max and Will couldn’t hang out, but I liked keeping my romantic relationships and my friendship with Max separate. After all, boys would come and go. Max was my friend. He was forever.
Chapter Eleven
Daisy, Now
The door to the outhouse slams shut, and my dad’s girlfriend, Oona, waves wildly at us, her fingers glistening with hand sanitizer. Despite her size, she possesses the stamina of a pack of huskies.
“Be nice, alright?” my dad mutters.
“I am.”
“You know what I mean.”
Guilt pricks me, because as they pulled into the dirt parking lot, Iwasdisappointed she was joining our father-daughter sunrise hike. God, I could really use another one of those hugs from Max right now—burrowing into his arms yesterday was like wrapping up in my favorite blanket. His unflinching grip onme gave me the safety I craved, and his lips skating over my forehead…
The way he pressed his mouth to my skin was purely innocent, but the flashback makes my lower belly flare with heat.
“Ready?” Oona prances over, and honestly, no one should have this much energy this early. She slips binoculars over her neck and gives me a toothy smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting this morning. We wanted to squeeze in a meditation.”
“Big meditation guy now, huh?” I ask my dad.
He makes a noncommittalmmmin reply and folds up a trail map. “I’m a bigger fan of the weekly massages we book. If you ever want a rec, Oona’s got some good ones.”
My mom and dad had been together since their school days, but Dad still found love effortlessly after she passed. My parents and Oona were part of a hiking club, and after Mom’s car accident, Oona slipped into my dad’s life in such a covert way that I didn’t have the brain space to question it. One day she’s bringing him a casserole, and the next we’re out bowling and they’re making lovey eyes at each other. I don’t want him moping around forever, but seeing him with someone new pokes a bruise that won’t go away.
We start down the trail, a fiery summer glow inching across the sky. I love the desert in these peaceful morning moments, the quiet ones before the world wakes up.
“Nice workout pants,” Oona says, piercing the silence like a bubble popping. “Where’d you get them?”
“Thrift store.” I examine them, searching for some kind of obvious logo. “I don’t know which brand.”
“They’re very chic. How’s the hotel?”
“Busy.” As much as I find joy in keeping my mom’s legacy alive, I’d enjoy some time not in work mode. My dad never involved himself with The Mirage, either, because it’s the reasonmy mom dragged him out here, so I offer nothing more on the topic.
“How’s…oh, who was that man you were dating? Alex?”
“We broke up. A while ago, actually.”
