Page 111 of Tickled Pink

“All I have to do is come home, right? Leave my life behind? Leave Phoebe?”

He waves it off. “She’ll be fine.”

“Leave Thad?”

He flexes his jaw. “What you have, Max… It’s fleeting. It’s temporary! This…” He taps the logo. “This is your real legacy. This is family.”

My chest clenches as my mind goes to that ring once again.

“They are my family,” I spit out.

“Come on, Max.“ He scoffs. “You’re smarter than that.”

I want to argue, to stand my ground again and again, but something stops me this time. Me. Phoebe. Thad.

What if we are temporary?

What if—

The study door swings open.

Thad steps inside with his token shit-eating grin. “There you are! You’re missing the party,” he says to me, giving my father a nod. “What are we talking about in here?”

“Oh, Max and I were just catching up,” Dad says. “Right, son?”

I look at him, then nod. “Right,” I say.

“Happy Birthday, Max,” he says, coming out from behind his desk. “Enjoy the rest of your party. I think your mother has some kooky thing planned to top it all off. As usual.”

“As usual,” I repeat with a chuckle.

Dad nods at Thad but says nothing to him as he leaves the room.

“Okay, that was way too cordial to be real,” Thad says, walking toward me with concern. “What’s up?”

I gesture at the file. “This is no birthday party,” I say. “It’s a goddamn ambush.”

Thad glances at it, then scoffs. “Classic Keith.”

“He wants me to stay and be full partner.”

“Well, that’s a no.”

I say nothing.

Thad studies me. “That’s a no, right?”

“Right,” I say. “That’s what I told him.”

“Max.”

“We should get back to Phoebe.”

“Max, what’s going on?”

I don’t answer. I exit into the hallway, turning to head back into the sitting room.

Thad grabs my arm and pulls me into the foyer instead.

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