Maxie (Triple X) Read online

  But that was the problem, wasn’t it? She’d never been brave enough.

  The Green Thumb van pulled into the parking lot. Cam was back. She started blinking hard as he climbed out of the van with a cardboard carrier full of coffees. Lexie hurried out to meet him. The two of them didn’t seem to have any problems communicating. They were about as solid as a couple could get.

  “Hey.” Roxie caught Maxie by the chin and made her look into her eyes. “Are you all right?”

  No, she wasn’t. She was tired, her head hurt, and things were spiraling down a path she didn’t like. “Zac and I had a fight this morning,” she confessed.

  “Hmm. I thought the tension between you was different.”

  Maxie blinked hard, determined not to let that first tear fall. Once it went, she wasn’t sure she could hold back the rest. “Tension?”

  Her sister’s laugh was low. “The sexual kind. You two just ooze it.”

  Ooze it? Really? The irony of that statement got a laugh out of her, but it didn’t really sound like a laugh once it came out.

  “Oh, sweetie. It couldn’t have been that bad.”

  Oh, yes. Yes, it could have. He thought she didn’t care about him at all, and now he was headed into a situation that was potentially dangerous.

  “Whoa, don’t do that.” Roxie rubbed her hand over her head. “Let’s go talk, just the three of us.”

  Maxie sucked in a shuddering breath. Yes, that sounded good. She’d done so much lying and deceiving, she was about to burst. She needed to talk to someone. She needed to talk to her sisters.

  “Lexie, come over to the dining tent. Watch the booth, would ya, Hatchet?” Roxie pointed behind him. “You’ve got customers coming in.”

  The tough, sexy tycoon started towards the booth, but stopped when he saw all the knickknacks and flowery decorations.

  Maxie wiped her eyes and took an instinctive step forward. “It’s okay. It’s my business. I can cover it.”

  Roxie hooked her about the waist. “He’s wrestled Fortune 500 companies into submission. I think he can figure it out.”

  “What’s going on?” Lexie asked. Their shoulders bumped as the three of them walked together towards the empty tent. The pancake breakfast wouldn’t start for another half hour. “What’s wrong?”

  “She and Zac had a fight this morning.”

  Maxie climbed onto the nearest picnic table and sagged. She settled her elbows onto the wooden tabletop and rubbed her face with both hands. How had everything become such a mess?

  Lexie sat beside her and patted her back. “It’s all right, honey. All couples fight.”

  “And the fun part is making up.” Instead of sitting across the table, Roxie perched atop it.

  Maxie closed her eyes. That was the problem. She and Zac weren’t even to the point where they could fight and make up, because they’d never really been together in the first place.

  “Come on. Tell us what happened,” Lexie said soothingly.

  Maxie sucked in a shaky breath. She’d been holding back for so long, she expected it to be difficult to find someplace to start. Only too many confessions were pushing at her. There was nothing holding her back, making her hesitate. She wanted them to know the truth. She wanted to confide in them.

  “I’ve always been really timid,” she began. “I’m the wallflower in the corner of the room. I’m the quiet one who waves but never says anything.”

  “That doesn’t sound like you,” Roxie said.

  “Not since you two arrived.” A smile forced its way onto Maxie’s trembling lips. “But that day you walked down the street and I first saw you? I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to say or what I was supposed to do.”

  “Nobody knows what to do in that situation,” Lexie crooned. “We understand. We’ve been there.”

  “You scared me,” Maxie admitted. “Because of that, I did some things I normally wouldn’t do. I was trying to stay in the shadows, but you wanted to pull me into the spotlight.”

  “Things like what?” Roxie asked.

  Maxie dropped her hands to the table, but she couldn’t stop fidgeting. “I needed time. Time to deal with what you were telling me. Time to figure out what the truth was. But I lied to buy that time.”

  “You lied to Zac?” Lexie sucked in a breath of surprise.

  In a way. She just hadn’t been quick enough with the truth.

  “I lied to you.” Tension was vibrating in the air, and Maxie couldn’t take it. She burst from her seat and began pacing up and down the row between the tables. “I’m thrilled to have family again. Honestly. Now that I have you back, I don’t feel so tied down and lonely anymore.”

  “Wait,” Roxie snapped. “Back?”

  “You remember us?” Lexie gasped.

  Maxie spread her arms and let her head drop. “I remember the idea of you. I remember wanting someone beside me as I jumped in puddles or a motel pool. You’ve got to believe me, I’m so happy and relieved that you finally found me. I feel like I’m starting to get myself back.”

  “But?” Lexie said worriedly.

  “But nothing.” Roxie leapt off the table and caught Maxie in a fierce hug. “I told you that you were ours.”

  Lexie joined in to their tight little circle, and it got hard to breathe. “We love you, Maxie.”

  Maxie’s chest ached. “I love you too. It feels right. I know we’re three parts of a whole.”

  “So what’s the problem with Zac?” Lexie asked. “Is he afraid we’ll take you away from him? That you’ll want to move to Cobalt City?”

  “I thought he liked us.” Roxie moaned. “I like him—unless he did something bad to hurt you.”

  “He didn’t hurt me. I hurt him.” Maxie let out a shuddering breath, and this time a tear did sneak out. It trailed across her cheek. “He’s not afraid you’ll take me away, because I’m not with him. Not really. We lied. Or, I made him lie.” She closed her eyes, but more tears were falling. “That’s why we fought. Because we’re not really a couple.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Bullshit,” Roxie said. “You two are a couple if I ever saw one.”

  “No. We’d barely spoken before I fainted in his arms that morning.”

  “Well, there was obviously something going on between you before that,” Lexie argued. “You should have seen the way he looked at you when you were unconscious in his lap. That man would slay dragons for you.”

  “He almost cut us down, that’s for sure,” Roxie agreed.

  Maxie shook her head jerkily. “He’s just a nice guy. I needed his help, and he went along with everything I said.”

  “It’s called jumping at a chance.” Roxie laughed. “Sparks fly whenever you two get within twenty feet of each other. You can’t fake that.”

  Maxie looked at her sister as if she were dense. “Have you seen him?” There was a relationship and then there were hormones. The two didn’t necessarily intersect.

  “Of course, I’ve seen him! I’m not blind. I understand lust, but he’s not making moony eyes back at me—and we’re identical, baby cakes.”

  “Oh, you two.” Lexie grabbed their shoulders. “What are we arguing about?”

  “I’ve been lying,” Maxie insisted. “I made Zac lie, and now he can’t even look at me without that muscle in his jaw bulging.”

  “That’s not all that’s bulging…”

  “Roxie.” Lexie swatted at her. Pushing the air in a calming motion, she tried to settle things down. It was clear that of the three of them, she was the peacemaker. “I still don’t understand. What was the argument about? You might have told a fib or two, but it’s the truth now. Anyone looking at you can see you’re crazy about one another.”

  But that was the problem. Maxie dashed back the wetness on her face. She was angry, upset and so frustrated they didn’t understand. They were making light of this. She’d lied to them, and she’d pulled Zac into her machinations. They didn’t know about his background in undercover wor
k or how he was trying to get away from it. The truth was that everything was more screwed up now than ever.

  “He asked me this morning if we were still role-playing or if we had a relationship growing.”

  “See?” Lexie said. “He knew up from up. Isn’t that what matters?”

  Roxie’s eyes narrowed. “But what was your answer?”

  Maxie wrung her hands together. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You didn’t?” Lexie gasped. “But why?”

  She looked away. It all sounded so easy, but these two had probably never had a day when they were less than confident. They were both composed and self-assured. Roxie always spoke her mind, and Lexie had a quiet strength about her. They hadn’t gone through life uncertain and timid.

  Because they’d forgotten about her? They hadn’t needed her pushing them along?

  Fresh tears pooled in her eyes. “I was happy with the way things were. When he asked the question, it jarred me from my world of make-believe. If he had to ask the question, I thought he had doubts.”

  “That man does not have doubts,” Roxie muttered.

  Maxie’s hair swished against her shoulders. “But he thinks that I do because I couldn’t get the words out.”

  “Oh, honey.” Lexie sighed.

  “Now I don’t know how to act around him. I get all knotted up. I’m afraid I’ll make everything worse.”

  “It’s just a misunderstanding. You can work it out. Cam and I did.”

  Maxie looked at her with surprise. “You and Cam had problems?”

  “There was a lot of friction. I didn’t trust him when my father hired him. I had concerns about where his loyalties were. I was so wrapped up in that, I didn’t see what was happening between us. We weren’t communicating, and it nearly drove us apart.”

  “But you two… You’re so right together.”

  “Because we worked it out. You have to talk to Zac and clear things up.”

  Maxie folded her arms over her stomach. Just the thought of it jumbled her insides. He’d been so irritable and intimidating. Of course, he’d been working. He’d been focused on getting Becky’s money back, but she’d felt the heat and frustration directed at her. “You saw the way he was. He doesn’t want to listen—because he probably thinks that all I do now is lie.”

  Roxie planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t know about that, but I saw the way he looked at your waiter buddy. I thought he was going to rip Martin’s arm out of its socket and beat him over the head with it. He didn’t like that man touching you.”

  “So…maybe talking isn’t the way to start,” Lexie mused.

  Maxie frowned. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she was surprised it had come out of sweet and proper Lexie’s mouth.

  “I like how you think, sis.” Roxie drummed her fingers. “Men do listen better after all the wrestling is done.”

  Maxie’s eyes rounded. What were they saying?

  She stepped back from the two of them. This was silly. Self-involved and pointless. There were more important things to think about right now. Park Art’s reputation could be damaged with this theft scandal, and Zac was heading to a construction accident where somebody had been hurt. She should be worrying about those things. She should be trying to find some way to help.

  “Oh, no. None of that.” Roxie caught her hand and pulled her back into the group. “You’re not going back to the wallflower routine, not with us around.”

  “The cavalry is here,” Lexie declared. “We’ll come up with a plan of action together. The get-Zac-back plan.”

  Maxie’s finger pulsed under Roxie’s firm grip. The thorn pricks had healed, but she remembered the wish she’d made. These two were willing to do crazy things with her on the spur of the moment. They were willing to be her sidekicks, her support system.

  She had sisters now, but old habits were hard to break.

  “What if something goes wrong?”

  “Do you want him?” Roxie asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then you need to stop worrying and go get him. He’s yours for the taking.”

  Lexie looped their arms together. “Nothing’s going to go wrong. Everything’s about to go very right. We just have work to do.”

  Zac had his siren blaring and lights flashing. The souped-up engine in his cruiser was getting a workout as he sped down the Indigo Byway. He was nearing the bridge accident site, but even with all the noise and chaos, he couldn’t put the look on Maxie’s face out of his head.

  She’d told him to be careful. That had to mean something. Right? And she’d acted like she’d wanted to say more.

  “Damn it.” He was tired of trying to figure her out. He’d been playing catch-up with her from the very start. She was like a chameleon, always changing colors to blend in with the background. He knew how exhausting that could be, probably better than anybody. He’d spent years being someone other than himself.

  And to him, she stood out like a lighthouse beacon.

  Had he really been that wrong? He’d thought they’d made a connection. He’d seen past her shyness to the passionate, adventurous woman underneath. Neither of them had been faking it in the shower or in that big bed. Yet this morning, her hesitation about them had been clear.

  He could still feel the kick that had left in his gut.

  Lights were flashing as he came onto the scene, and his thoughts focused. Shit, it was bad.

  A crane was sitting cockeyed, its front right outrigger jutting out past the edge of the bridge. Its boom was swaying off-center in the hot summer breeze. Construction workers were rushing around, while others peered over the side of the bridge. Policemen from Freeman had already arrived and were trying to create some sense of order. One thing was clear, the danger hadn’t passed.

  He parked alongside the road and radioed in. He’d worried that something like this would happen. The construction company had been pushing to meet its schedule. He’d seen the pressure the workers were under, only he’d been dealing with the results of it in the form of fights and drunken binges. While this turn of events was surprising, he couldn’t say it was unexpected.

  He hurried to the bridge and found Dodd talking to the fire chief.

  “What do we have?” he asked.

  The Sergeant pushed back his cap. “Hey, Sheriff. Looks like they’ve been rushing and trying to cut corners. I’ve got witnesses who say the driver of that behemoth was tired this morning. He took quite a jolt when the accident happened. The ambulance has already taken him to the hospital.”

  “Is there anyone else who can drive that thing?”

  “A couple, but the wind is making things tricky. Besides, we have something even more urgent that needs to be taken care of.” Dodd nodded towards the side of the bridge, and his expression turned grim. “We’ve got another one down there.”

  “Ah, hell.” Taking care with his footing, Zac peered over the edge. A dusty, worried construction worker looked up at him from about twenty feet down. He was on an I-beam, holding on for dear life. How he’d gotten there, Zac didn’t want to know. All he was sure of was that every time a gust of hot wind blew up, the guy’s face turned a little greener.

  His mind working fast, Zac checked out the scene. The bridge seemed solid, except for the section of railing the crane had taken out. The embankment where the bridge connected was stable. What wasn’t steady was the heavy-duty crane rocking over the construction worker’s head like a metronome.

  “What’s the plan to get him out of there?”

  “We’re waiting for the fire department’s rig to show up. The chief thinks he might be able to maneuver it down the hill a bit so the ladder can reach the guy.”

  Another hot breeze slapped Zac in the face. They’d had nearly a week of stale, heavy air. Why, today of all days, did the wind have to pick up?

  “I don’t think we have time to wait for that,” he said, looking at the way the metal boom was swinging back and forth.

  “You got any other i
deas, Sheriff?”

  “Yeah, I do.” Zac stood upright and brushed off his hands. “Someone has to go down there and get him.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  What was happening?

  Maxie sat at her kitchen table worrying, thinking, waiting, and worrying some more. Martin and Becky had been updating her with news on the bridge accident, but that was a mixed blessing. Half of her wanted to know what was going on, while the other half was scared silly. To make matters worse, she didn’t know how much truth the reports contained.

  Had someone really fallen off the bridge? How dangerous was the site? Was Zac okay? Why was it taking so long?

  It was getting dark outside. She bit her lip as she watched a June bug bounce against the window as it tried to get to the light. Her sisters had been positive he’d come to her, but she wasn’t as confident. They hadn’t witnessed their fight. She knew she should be the one to reach out. She should go to his place to talk things through, but with the long day he’d had, she didn’t want to pile on. He had to be tired, and he’d already been grumpy.

  She got up to get rid of her tea. She’d made chamomile in an attempt to calm her nerves, but it wasn’t working. Besides, it was too hot for tea. The air conditioner was trying to keep up, it was so muggy outside. She poured the liquid down the sink and watched the June bug do its desperate dance. The light from her garage showed her driveway was empty.

  What should she do?

  Raking a hand through her hair, she returned to her seat. Should she go over to his place? Maybe drive by to see if he’d made it home, safe and sound? No, with the way her nerves were coiling, she couldn’t let the situation go on much longer. She had to talk to him to clear things up—or just apologize.

  Her stomach squeezed.

  She hoped there was still a chance for them. Roxie and Lexie insisted there was. They’d developed a plan of action for her, but she couldn’t implement it if he didn’t show up.

  What if there was a reason why he couldn’t?