Page 12 of Craving You

“I’m used to closing up alone, Max. I’ve been doing this for far too long. Don’t worry about me. Be careful driving home. I know those roads in and out of Sweetbriar Ridge aren’t well lit and can be treacherous at night.”

He grinned. “Now you sound like my dad.”

“Well, I’m old enough to be him. Go and have a good night and call and let me know when you want to come in again.”

“Thanks, Ned. Have a good night.”

The drive home was long and quiet, and honestly, exactly what Max needed. Talking to Ned confirmed what he’d been thinking about reaching out to Hailey. A text would be a great way to reach out. He still had no idea what he was going to say, but he was excited just thinking about talking to her again.

Working for himself meant that his schedule was flexible. Maybe he’d see about taking a trip down to Florida to see her. That would be preferable to her coming back to Sweetbriar Ridge. With so many Donovans around, they wouldn’t have any privacy.

“There would be plenty of Donovans in Florida too, doofus. That’s where her family lives.”

Okay, so neither was ideal, but considering he had family in Sweetbriar who would be watching them too, he had to imagine Florida would be the lesser of two evils.

So he’d start by asking how she was, maybe tell her how much he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, and then see about him flying down to see her. Logistics still weren’t on their side, but he genuinely felt like Hailey was worth trying the long-distance relationship thing. It wasn’t ideal, but he knew he’d regret it if they didn’t even try.

“I can’t believe I was stupid enough to let her leave without even trying to make plans to see her again. What the hell was I thinking?”

She didn’t ask or try either, though…

While that was true, the morning she left had been borderline chaos. They had overslept and she was supposed to meet her parents and siblings so they could say goodbye to everyone before leaving for the airport. Max hated how rushed their own goodbyes were, and he probably should have done something sooner, but he was going to do it now and, hopefully, he wasn’t too late.

It was obviously too late to text her tonight, but tomorrow after he had brunch with his family, he was going to do it.

Feeling confident, he finished the drive home thinking about his plans for the upcoming week. He had several calls with clients, a few in-person meetings with local clients, and needed to work on some plans for a proposal he was working on for the town. He enjoyed what he did, but cybersecurity wasn’t his passion. As crazy as it may seem, working at The Cornerstone was something he loved. Bartending had been a great way to make money after he graduated from college and needed the money, but the longer he did it, the more he realized it was something he could easily see himself doing as a career.

But he had a college degree that he worked hard for, and he knew tech jobs would be far more stable and offer him a fairly secure future. Working weekends for Ned gave him that outlet he craved after being chained to a desk all week. In a perfect world, he could own a pub of his own and have someone else run it. Then, he could go in whenever he wanted and know it was his.

“That ship has clearly sailed,” he murmured, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He was making good money and maybe at some point he could find someplace closer to where he lived, where he could tend bar occasionally. “Because this drive sucks.”

When he pulled up to Marcus and Billie’s house, it was almost one in the morning. Their house was completely dark, and he was more than ready to crash. His father and Billie’s dad were joining them for brunch tomorrow around eleven. If he went upstairs right now, he could realistically be asleep by two and sleep until ten.

And as he trudged up the stairs to his studio over the garage, he yawned and was already thinking about the French toast and cinnamon rolls Billie was going to make. After stripping and sliding into bed, he fell asleep faster than he thought he would.

And with a smile on his face.

Morning came way too soon, but it wasn’t his alarm clock that woke him up, but his father.

“Max! Max, you awake?”

“What the…?” Slowly sitting up, he had to blink a few times to bring things into focus. “Dad? What are you doing here? What time is it?”

“It’s after ten. I thought you’d be up by now.” It was hard to believe that six months ago, his father’s health had been so bad that they thought he was going to die, and now he was healthy and active and looked better than he had in a long time. “Ronan’s already here too, and Billie said we couldn’t eat until you came down. So I told everyone I’d come and get you. Why aren’t you awake yet?”

“Because I didn’t go to sleep until after one.” Scratching his head, he yawned before explaining, “I worked for Ned last night. That drive home is a real bitch.”

“Why are you still doing it then? If the drive is that bad, it doesn’t make much sense to keep working there.”

“Yeah, well…it’s something I enjoy.” Another yawn. “Go back over to the house and tell everyone I’ll be there in around twenty minutes. I need to grab a quick shower to wake myself up.”

“Twenty minutes?” his father whined. “But everything’s ready!”

“The longer you sit here and argue with me, the longer it will take for me to get ready,” he said lightly, kicking the blankets off.

“Fine. But try to rush.” And as his father walked down the stairs, Max could hear him mumbling the entire time.

Not that he blamed him. Anyone would be annoyed if they had to sit and wait to eat anything Billie made.

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