“Then let’s go.”
For almost two hours, Max showed Grace the nearby treks around the house, leading her through brush, pointing out the breathtaking views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Grace followed him without question, her trust in him implicit, snapping pictures of the trees, flowers, the exquisite light that filtered through the tree canopy, and a few of Max when he wasn’t looking, too involved in describing his adventures in the forests as a kid.
Ruby had been right—Max was a different person at the cabin. He was still the beautiful, gentle man she’d grown to know, but here Grace saw the tension in his shoulders evaporate, while the smile on his face was constantly in place. He was younger, freer, less closed off, and more willing to open up. His stories about his father and their fishing trips were too cute and at times hilarious and had Grace enraptured, especially when, later that evening, seated around a large fire, eating steak and burgers, Vince joined in. Max laughed more than Grace had ever heard, loud and bellied, as memories and anecdotes jumped around the group like a game of hot potato. Grace sat with her glass of wine, listening to the banter, feeling for the first time in years like she was truly at peace. And it was, in no small part, thanks to the man sitting at her side.
“Hey, Max, do you remember the night we snuck into the garage freezer and stole that ice cream we weren’t allowed and your dad was convinced there was a bear loose?” Ruby laughed around the rim of her wineglass.
Max snorted and nodded. “Oh my God. We were terrified he was going to find out that we’d stolen it.”
Vince shook his head. “You kids were a damned nightmare.”
The two “nightmares” fist-bumped. “Solid work, my man.” Ruby grinned.
“Word.” Max nodded solemnly.
“Why weren’t you allowed the ice cream?” Grace asked.
The roars of laughter from Vince, Fern, and Ruby and the blush creeping up Max’s cheeks were too intriguing to let go. Grace nudged his shoulder. “What did you do?”
Buck spluttered over his burger. “Man, I heard about this! Was this the naked police incident?”
Whoops of hilarity filled the warm summer evening and drifted along the edge of the water like leaves on a breeze.
“Naked police?” Caleb asked incredulously from his seat next to Vince.
“Damn, boy, I’ll never be able to delete those images for as long as I live!” Ruby commented.
Max chuckled into his forearm. “Yeah, right, like you’d want to.” He winked and sipped from his bottle of Dr Pepper.
“So, come on,” Buck’s blonde friend, Carla, said impatiently. “What happened?”
She was pretty, Grace supposed, in a fake-hair-and-boobs, bright-white-teeth kind of way, but the manner in which she’d been eyeing Max all night certainly wasn’t.
Max sighed in amusement. “Ruby dared me to flash the family who were staying across the lake.” Ruby began to protest over the loud oohs and aahs. “You did,” he continued with a pointed finger. “Don’t deny it. It was all your fault.”
Grace laughed. “And did you?”
“Of course I fucking did. I’d never concede a dare. I couldn’t let her win!”
“The only problem was,” Ruby sniggered, “as he stood on the float in the middle of the lake and dropped his shorts to greet the poor folks, the local mountain police were doing their morning rounds and saw him!”
Max dropped his head back. “Shit, I was terrified.”
“They hauled his ass back to the cabin,” Vince added. “He’s there standing on the damned porch with only a police hat covering his unmentionables!”
The group erupted again.
“Where were your shorts?” Grace asked, giggling.
“I had them!” Ruby cried. “He dropped ’em, and I grabbed ’em and swam back to the shore.”
“So I was sent to bed after a thorough roastin’ from my dad and no supper and no ice cream.” Max shrugged, smiling widely, his dark eyes dancing in the firelight.
“How old were you?”
“Fourteen.”
“Your first of many brushes with the law, huh?” Caleb commented. His tone wasn’t condescending but there was an edge to it Grace couldn’t place.