Page 31 of Written with Love

He blinked and turned to her, as if snapping out of a daze. “Yeah, just thinking.”

“Dangerous,” Parker joked, earning a round of chuckles from the table.

Max rolled his eyes but smiled. “I was just remembering the last time I did a big project like this. I helped my sister Ally renovate a bathroom in her first house. It was a disaster at first—wrong measurements, missing materials—but somehow, we pulled it together.”

Juliette rested her chin in her hand, intrigued. “Sounds like a fun memory.”

He chuckled. “It was. Charlotte was a baby, she’d sit in her little bouncer and ‘supervise’ while we worked.” His smile softened. “Now she’s all attitude and glitter.”

Juliette grinned. “She sounds like a handful.”

“She is, but she’s the best.” He took a sip of his drink before glancing at her. “You’d like her. She’s got this big personality, always chattering on about everything. Even if you don’t understand a word of it, she keeps you entertained.”

Juliette imagined a mini-Max running around, full of curiosity and mischief, and the thought made her heart warm.

“How’s Faye doing?” she asked, shifting slightly.

Max’s expression dimmed slightly, but he nodded. “She’s doing okay. Still recovering. My mother claims she’s annoyed at having to stay with her but since Ally and Charolette are there as well, she’s sticking it out.” His fingers drummed against the table. “She’s been learning new ways to adapt. Since we all learned sign language, that has been a huge help, but it’s been an adjustment for her.”

Juliette reached out and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “She’s lucky to have such a caring family.”

He looked at her, something unreadable in his gaze, then he smiled. “We’re lucky to have each other.”

For a few moments, they sat in comfortable silence, watching the view as the rest of the crew laughed and joked around them.

“Do you think you’ll ever return to the bright lights of the city?” she asked finally when her curiosity got the better of her.

“And leave all this behind?” He smirked slightly. “The quiet is so… healing.”

“Sometimes it’s a little too quiet.” She glanced out and watched a seagull swoop down towards the water.

“I don’t think there is such a thing,” he said with a frown. “Not like Faye…” He dropped off and suddenly she felt foolish for her statement.

Of course, Faye was losing her hearing and here she was complaining about quiet.

“I didn’t mean…” she started, but Max’s hand reached out and took hers.

“I know.” He smiled. “No, I don’t plan on ever going back to the city. Last night’s run-in with the paparazzi assured me of that. It’s the one thing I hate about this job.”

“Yeah, but the lights, the attention?” She nudged him in the side with her elbow. “The women.” She wiggled her eyebrows and had him laughing.

“Right now, I’ve got everything I could ever wish for.” He pulled her a little closer. “Well, almost everything.” He winked at her and she grew warm.

“Now I know just how you got all those women.” She laughed, shaking her head. But as she looked at him, watching the easy way he smiled, she realized just how dangerous this was becoming.

When lunch was over, everyone went back inside to work.

She aimed the camera and moved in closer as they lifted the first of the upper cabinets into place. They had put in braces to hold the cabinet up while a worker secured each to the wall with long screws.

By the time they were done with the last cabinet, the golden hues of the late afternoon sun streamed through the windows, making the fresh wood gleam.

“Hold it there,” Palmer directed, stepping back to check the alignment.

Juliette adjusted the focus, catching the way Max braced the cabinet with his forearms, his muscles flexing slightly as he held the weight steady. He looked up, catching her watching him through the lens, and smirked.

When they were done, the men rushed around and cleaned up their tools and the trash left behind.

Juliette let the camera rest against her hip as she took in the transformation.

“Wow,” she breathed. “It actually looks like a kitchen again.”

Max wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he stood next to her. “And it’s gonna look even better once we get the stone countertops in.”

Palmer clapped him on the shoulder. “Not bad for a day’s work. Soon you’ll have one finished room in this monster of a house.”

Max chuckled and shook Palmer’s hand.

Juliette lifted her camera one last time, capturing the moment—the exhausted but satisfied crew, the golden light spilling in, Max standing in the middle of it all, looking proud and completely in his element.

This was exactly why she loved doing this.

And maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the man at the center of it all.