“She came to me the week before graduation.” Muscles in his jaw worked as he ground his teeth. “I’ve never seen anyone so upset…she was pregnant. Couldn’t face her parents.”
His other hand clenched into a tight fist as he spit out words like rotten fruit. “The father denied it was his.”
She squeezed his hand tighter, silently offering encouragement.
Max leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. “I asked her to marry me.”
“What happened?” she asked, careful to keep her tone neutral despite her surprise at his statement. But then, that’s exactly what she would expect of an honorable man like him.
He cut his eyes toward her. “She refused. Didn’t want me to suffer along with her.”
A heavy silence ensued as she waited for him to continue when he was ready.
“She missed graduation. Her folks said she was sick, wouldn’t let me see her. I was afraid she, well, had an abortion, though I should have known better. Anyway, things happened, and I’d had enough, so I became a Marine. We wrote for three or four months. She wanted to move to Dallas before her condition became too obvious, so I sent her what money I could.” He paused. “I never heard from her again.”
“Why did he come here?”
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together. “Evidently, she’d told him his dad was dead. Last week, they were moving some stuff from the attic, and he found one of my letters and some pictures.” He paused, then reached in his back pocket and handed her the wrinkled photograph before resuming his previous position. “A little internet search, some assumptions on his part…”
She looked at the smiling young couple in the picture, then turned it over and read the inscription. I will always love my knight in shining armor.
“She called me that because I looked out for her. A pretty girl from the wrong side of the tracks was an easy target for some kids. I tried to protect her, but….”
If possible, her love for him grew by the minute. Maddie was right. Max was a hero. Her hero. Even at an early age, he stood up for those he cared about. For what was right.
“I’m guessing she thought he loved her?”
“Yeah.”
She looked at the back of the photo again, wondering why she named the boy Logan.
As though he read her mind, he spoke up. “I don’t know why she named him that. Like I said, haven’t talked with her in years.”
When he remained silent, she asked “Do you know who his father is? Is he still alive?”
He paused, then fixed her with a steady gaze. “Please understand. It’s not my story to tell.”
She placed a hand on his forearm. “I do understand, Max. I do.” She hesitated, knowing what she had to say would add to his burden. But he needed to know Maddie heard Cade’s crass remark and wasn’t satisfied with the old you’re-too-young-to-understand answer. “Max…I hate to add to your troubles, but Maddie heard what Cade said. Asked me what it meant.”
He jerked his head toward her. “Dammit. This just keeps getting better.” Eyes closed, he shook his head. “What did you tell her?”
“That we’d talk about it when she was older.”
A sliver of a grin appeared, then vanished. “I bet she didn’t like that answer.”
“No, she didn’t. In fact, she claimed she was smarter than some adults she could name, and I may as well tell her now.”
He cleared his throat. “How do you want to handle it?”
Sky met his troubled gaze with one of her own and sighed. “I know my daughter. She has an extremely inquisitive mind and doesn’t like not knowing things.” She turned sideways on the sofa, curled her feet up under her, one arm on the back and faced him. “Cade is so vile, I wouldn’t put it past him to spread it around town.”
“You can bet on it.”
The hard note in his voice told her Max fully expected it to happen.
If it hadn’t already.
“I’ll handle it however you want me to. If you want me to talk to Maddie, I will.”
“Talk to me about what?”
Max jumped like the boogeyman had just popped out in front of him.
“Madeline Adele!”
The child flinched.
“What have I told you about eavesdropping?”
Maddie shuffled into the room and stood at the end of the couch by Max. “I had a bad dream, and you weren’t in your room.”
Sky motioned the child over and pushed disheveled curls behind her ear. Max said nothing as Maddie squeezed in between them.
“Maddie,” Sky began, then looked at Max. “What did you hear?”
“Not much.” She turned those mesmerizing blue eyes to Max. “Are you not gonna be Mama’s male companion anymore? Is that what you want to tell me?”
