He shrugged. “We don’t have to enjoy the same things. And her looks are secondary to the traits I listed.”
Tori sighed and shook her head. “Maybe I’ll pick up on some bad habit of yours or something when we go on our mock date but, right now, I can’t for the life of me figure out how you’re still single, Max.”
His smile and the way his eyes crinkled would weaken any woman’s knees. “Hopefully not for long.”
Chapter Five
On Wednesday, Max got a call from Josh inviting him to join him and Drew at the diner for lunch.
Josh had told him once they should grab some lunch together away from the televised sports, just to talk, but that had been back while he was trying to win a bet with Katie to see who could discover what went on in the basement first. Since Max wanted Katie to win, he’d taken her downstairs to show her his work space and Josh had run down after them, just in case the serial killer rumor was true. As far as Max knew, they hadn’t told anybody else. But before that, when Josh had suggested lunch, Max had told him he wasn’t very good at small talk and left it at that.
Since then, he received invitations from his friends on a regular basis, but he almost always begged off, using work as the obvious excuse. He was most comfortable being one of the guys in his own home, with a game on the television to keep everybody entertained.
But this phone call coincided with his plan to get out more, so at one o’clock, he walked into the Trailside Diner for the third time in a week. He looked around, saw Josh and Drew at a booth, but kept on looking.
He didn’t see Tori. And when, a moment later, Liz Miller stepped out of the kitchen in a Trailside Diner tee with an apron on, he felt a pang of disappointment. It was probably good that Tori wasn’t working, since she probably had jobs backing up on her computer thanks to taking an evening off to spend with him, but he couldn’t deny he’d been hoping to see her.
When he walked over to the table, it was Josh who moved over, so Max slid in across the table from Drew. The chief was in his police uniform, so was presumably on a late lunch break.
“Hey, Max,” they both said almost at the same time.
“I hope you weren’t waiting long.” They’d said about one o’clock and he wasn’t sure if that meant a few minutes before or a few minutes after, so he’d timed his arrival for exactly one.
“Just got here.” Josh passed him a menu.
Even though he already knew what he was going to order, Max read through the menu because the others were. And when Liz came through with their drink orders, he asked for coffee like the others. It felt a little strange, since he was used to cracking beers with these guys and yelling at refs on the television. Without the sports, this was weird.
Liz returned with three mugs of coffee and, once she’d set them down, she took out her order pad. “What are you guys having today?”
Max asked for a grilled cheese on wheat with fries, thankful it wasn’t a complicated order because Liz seemed more interested in exchanging smitten looks with her husband than what he wanted to eat. Josh went for a burger and Drew ordered a salad with grilled chicken. Obviously with a side of flirtation, Max thought. Drew winked at Liz and she blushed before walking away from the table.
Josh made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat. “What’s with the googly eyes? You’ve been married awhile now. You should be over that by now.”
Drew grinned, shrugging at the same time. “Can’t help it. I’m a happy man.”
“I’m a happy man, too, but I don’t make googly eyes at Katie in public. You should... Oh.” Josh looked at his sister, who was refilling coffee mugs at the counter, and then back at her husband. “Is she? Are you?”
Max was lost. He’d assumed Drew was referring to their presumably lively sex life as newlyweds, but Josh’s reaction seemed a little out of line for that. Despite Liz being his sister, Josh had to know she and Drew were making each other happy, so to speak.
“We’re not supposed to be telling anybody yet.”
When Josh leaned across the table, almost knocking over his coffee in the process, to slap Drew on the shoulder, Max got it. Liz was expecting a baby.
“Congratulations,” Josh was saying. “I can’t believe you’re going to be a dad. I can’t believe my sister’s going to be a mom.”
“Congratulations,” Max said.
“Thanks. We’ve been trying for a while and...I can hardly believe it.”
“Rose knows, right?” Josh held up both hands, as if fending something off. “Please tell me you told Rose first.”
Drew laughed. “Rose and my dad know. Other than them, we didn’t want to tell anybody yet, but I guess we’re not very good at keeping secrets.”
“Even I know you can’t keep secrets in Whitford,” Max said.
Drew snorted. “I don’t know. You do a pretty good job.”