Trace was driving Max to the airport since neither of them wanted to leave her on her own. How the hell was she going to get through this next week? What if Logan needed to go into town or had to work at the far end of the ranch?
She could feel the panic welling and had to squash it.
She stared up into Max’s face and tears blurred her vision.
“Savannah? Oh, hell, Savannah. Don’t cry, love.” It always amused her how they could spank her ass until she was sobbing like a baby without any regret, yet if she showed any hint of crying any other time, they nearly tripped over themselves trying to make her feel better.
“Sorry. Sorry.” She pulled back, wiping her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
Max brushed her tears away with his thumbs. He pulled her close to his chest and ran his hand up and down her back. “I’ll miss you, love.”
“Me too,” she whispered. The words she really wanted to say were trapped inside her, screaming to get out. But what did she say? Me too. Good one, Savannah.
“Listen to Logan, okay? And do what Molly tells you. I want to read all those self-affirmations when I get back.”
Because writing down a bunch of bullshit things about herself was what she was going to focus on while he was gone. She knew she wouldn’t be thinking of anything but Max and whether or not he was okay.
“Fuck, I wish I didn’t have to go. I don’t want to leave you. But this is the best thing I can do for our family right now.”
“I’ll look after it all, bro. Don’t worry.”
She turned her head to look at Logan, who stared down at her worriedly. But when he saw her looking, he schooled his face into a smile and winked at her. “Me and Savi are going to have a grand time here by ourselves, aren’t we, darlin’?”
She drew back slightly, leaning against the counter behind her. “You better go, Trace is waiting.”
Max cupped her face between his hands. “Everything will be okay, Savannah. The week will go quickly, and then I’ll be home, and things will be better. All right? No more money worries.”
She failed to see how one job would get them out of the hole they’d found themselves in, but she nodded and forced herself to smile.
“I love you.” He leaned in and kissed her. Gentle at first then more passionate. “Behave.”
“Now where’s the fun in that?” she quipped. It was their usual goodbye. Something he would say each morning before leaving the house. Funny, she hadn’t noticed how he hadn’t been saying it lately. “I love you too, Max.”
So much.
He smiled gently then turned to Logan. They did that manly back pat/hand shake thing that made her roll her eyes. Why couldn’t men just hug it out? They both followed Max out as he grabbed his bag.
“Be safe,” she told him.
“Always, love. Always.”
Chapter Eleven
She was moping. She couldn’t help it. Max had left yesterday, and she hadn’t heard from him since he’d landed in New York last night. How was she going to last fa week if she was already this worried about him?
Logan had done his best to keep her distracted last night. But she could sense his worry as well. She’d forced him out the door this morning. He had work to do, and he couldn’t spend the whole week here with her. She just had to sort through her shit herself.
She wandered through the house then moved to Max’s computer. She sat in his chair and wiggled the mouse to wake up the computer. She spent the next few hours searching for news. An explosion on a bus in India. Rebel insurgents in Syria.
Holy hell. Max could be going to any of those places. She rubbed her hand over her face. All right, so this probably hadn’t been her best idea. Now she felt more worried than ever.
“Savannah, what are you doing?”
She jumped with a screech as Logan appeared on the other side of the desk. She placed one hand on her chest as she quickly closed the pages she had open. “Logan! You gave me a heart attack! You’ve got to make more noise when you move.”
“I called out to you several times.” He moved around the desk. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly. Too quickly. She winced as he reached for the mouse and brought up the search history. He sighed as he saw what she’d been looking at.