Joe laughed. “My wife would kill me. I wanted to talk to you in person before any other actors arrived. Now that you’ve seen the script, are you comfortable with it? Do you want any changes?”
“I thought the script was great. I’m really looking forward to doing live theater again.”
“Wonderful. That’s such a relief.”
Max studied the man and noticed he was much more relaxed now. “Did you think I’d come in, throw my weight around and try to take over your production?”
Joe raised his brows. “We’ve had that happen before. Not with you, of course. Last summer we had a certain A-list actor who wanted some things changed before he’d commit.”
Max knew who Joe referred to. Even though L.A. was on the other side of the country, the acting industry really was small, and word traveled fast...especially when other performers were all too eager to slip into some diva’s shoes.
“Well, I assure you,” Max went on, “I’m thrilled to be helping out with the charity and to get back to my roots. Are we starting rehearsals Monday?”
“Yes. Since we’re pushing the envelope with the lead role change, you’ll be coming in at the start of dress rehearsal, so I’m afraid there’s not much time to get acquainted with the cast.”
“I’m flexible.” Max walked around behind the stage, checking out the lighting, looking at the various exits. “This place hasn’t changed since I started here fifteen years ago.”
“Not too much has. I’ve been here for almost ten years, and we’ve replaced the sound system and done some minor updating, but that’s about it.”
Max glanced to the small dressing area in the corner for the quick changes that were sometimes needed between sets when there wasn’t time to change in a dressing room.
As if he were watching it happen, he saw a younger version of Raine and himself sneaking into that room and closing the door. They’d fooled around for hours on end in there. They’d arrive early for rehearsal and while the director and sound manager were busy talking, he and Raine would make out. Pathetic, but they were in the throes of a teenage love that consumed their every waking moment.
“If that’s okay with you...”
Snapping out of his reverie, Max turned back to the elderly man. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I said I was going to have you and Patricia come in earlier on Monday. Since you’re the leads, I thought you’d want to go over some key scenes without the rest of the cast here.”
Max nodded. “That should be fine. If my mother is feeling up to it, I may bring her to a few of the rehearsals just to get her out of the house.”
“We’d love to have her.”
Max shook the man’s hand again and walked around the theater, taking in all the familiar surroundings, letting the nostalgia seep through him.
After several minutes of strolling down memory lane, Max knew he needed to get ready for his date with Raine. He was pretty anxious for their time together. Granted being around Abby made him a little uneasy, but he was starting to get more comfortable with her. It was just...she was so tiny he seriously feared he’d hurt her.
The snow was still stark white, except for the black slush that lined the side of the streets, but, for the most part, it remained beautiful and crisp.
As Max maneuvered his way back home, he realized how much he’d missed this weather. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he’d once loved the winters here. When he’d been a kid, they’d had so many snowstorms. Canceled school, sleigh rides and sneaking off with Raine had been the major highlights from his youth.
He may not know what the hell he was doing with her, but he knew for sure that, when he was with her, he had that same feeling he had always had when they’d been together in the past...perfection. There was simply no other way to describe it.
L.A. would be waiting for him when he returned in two months. But for right now, he wanted Raine. He wanted to spend more time with her, with Abby, and, when it came time to leave again, who knows, maybe she’d come this time.
* * *
Raine didn’t have much in the way of going-out clothes, but she settled for her nice jeans, black knee boots and a pink top that rested just off her shoulders. A bit sexy, but not obvious and trampy.
She nearly snorted. She was so not the poster child for seduction. She’d had to scrounge to find some makeup so she at least looked a little feminine.
And Max had called earlier, upset and frustrated because his father’s plans to come visit had fallen through so they would either have to cancel their plans or spend Valentine’s Day with his mother.
So did this really constitute a date since his mother and her baby would be there? Um...no. Apparently fate had intervened and taken the romance out of the most romantic night of the year. She nearly laughed. This whole spending the evening with his mother bit felt a little like working backward. Shouldn’t they have done this before falling back in bed together?
Raine left her bathroom and picked up Abby from the Pack ’N’ Play pen. Abby looked absolutely adorable with her red leggings, black-and-red shirt with hearts and black furry booties. There was a matching black hat with a red bow on it, but Raine wasn’t so sure Abby would keep it on. Raine would at least try.
She had just descended the last step when the doorbell rang. Nerves settled low in her belly. This was nothing major. Just because it was Valentine’s Day and just because Max had invited her and Abby to spend it at his house didn’t mean anything. They were old friends. Okay, so they were old lovers. No, wait, they were new lovers.
Biting back a groan, Raine headed to the door. She honestly didn’t know what they were right now. They’d slept together, argued, rehashed a very rocky point from their past and now they were having dinner. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they’d slipped right back into their old pattern...except now she had a baby in the mix.
She jerked open the door, and Max stood there with a potted...basil plant?
Raine laughed. “You never were predictable.”
“Why should I be? I always prided myself on standing out in a crowd.”
“Basil, Max?”
He shrugged, stepping into the foyer. “You like to grow your own things so I thought you’d like an herb.”
Unable to resist, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed Max on the cheek. “You’re very sweet.” Raine didn’t want to think about how handsome he looked in his perfectly pressed dress pants and cobalt blue shirt, matching his eyes. Nor did she want to think about the lengths Max had gone to in order to get this plant at this time of year. The fact he didn’t do the traditional roses on Valentine’s Day warmed her heart and touched her in places his niceties had no place touching. He was leaving in less than two months, and she refused to let her heart go with him this time. Spending time with Max was going to happen, she refused to deny herself. But she was older and wiser now, and she had to be realistic.
“Are you two ready to go?” he asked, holding his arm out waiting for her to take it.
“I need to get the car seat from my vehicle first.”
Max shook his head. “I bought one and put it in already. Well, the store manager had to install it because I was afraid to screw it up, but it’s in and ready to go.”
Oh, God. That was it. Her heart tumbled and fell into a puddle at his feet. Damn this man. How could she even consider handing him her heart again when it had been shattered in so many pieces last time? For heaven’s sake, she was still recovering, if she were completely honest with herself.
“Everything okay?” Max asked, searching her eyes.
Raine offered a smile and shifted Abby in her arms. “We’re good. All ready to go.”
He slid a hand over her cheek, brushing her hair aside. “You look stunning, Raine. Too bad we can’t stay in.”
“Perhaps it’s for the best.”
“You don’t believe that.”
She stared up into his crisp blue eyes and held his stare. “I do. As much as I love being together, we both know you’ll be leaving soon. So let’s just enjoy the time we have and worry about everything else later.”
He captured her lips softly, then eased back. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Raine followed him out, angry at herself for the pity party she waged deep inside. There was that sliver of heartache in her that wanted him to stay. Wanted him to deny that he’d leave.
And didn’t that make her naive?
Did she honestly think that they’d make love a few times, set up house with Abby, and he’d be all ready to throw his life in L.A. away and play daddy? She wasn’t that gullible as a teen, so why now?
Because she wanted what she’d never had. Because she wanted to have that family, and, dammit, she wanted it with Max.
Once they were settled in his SUV, she forced herself to calm down. Wishing and wanting things that would never come to fruition was an absolute waste of time. She had other worries in her life, other people who loved and depended on her.
Like Abby. Each day that passed without a word from the courts made Raine more irritable and nervous.
Hopefully spending the evening with Max and Elise would provide the perfect distraction.
Fourteen
“She is just precious.”
Max watched as his mother’s eyes lit up while she held Abby. The baby kept trying to suck on the side of his mother’s cheek, and Raine went to the diaper bag.
“She’s getting hungry,” she explained, mixing formula into the bottle. “Here, I can take her.”
His mother looked up at Raine and smiled. “Would you mind if I fed her?”
“Not at all.”
Raine shook the bottle and handed it over, along with a burp cloth. Max watched as his mother nestled Abby into the crook of her arm, and instantly Abby took to that bottle, holding onto his mother’s hand.
Max couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. Just this alone was worth spending Valentine’s Day with the women in his life.
“Why don’t you two go for a walk or something,” his mother suggested, looking across the sitting room to him. “I’m fine with this little angel, and I’m sure the last thing either of you want to do is babysit me.”
Max laughed. “I’m not babysitting, and this is no hardship to spend my evening with three of the most beautiful ladies I know.”
“Cut the charm, Romeo,” Raine chimed in. “We already agreed to be your dates for the night.”
His mother laughed. “Go on, you two. I’ve taken care of a baby in my time. Abby and I will be just fine.”
Max really hated his father right now. Absolutely hated the man for always putting his work ahead of his family. Granted Max’s mother wasn’t sick at the moment, but she was just coming off of major surgery, and it was Valentine’s Day, for pity’s sake. What the hell could possibly be more important than your own wife?
He wasn’t even married to Raine and still wouldn’t have thought to spend today with anyone else. He wanted to have a good time with her while he was here. He wanted to make memories...and that revelation scared him. They’d already made memories in the short time he’d been here, but part of him wanted more. A lot more.
Max glanced over at Raine. “I have the greatest idea. Grab your coat.”
Raine quirked a brow at him, and he shrugged, waiting for her to argue. But, surprisingly, she grabbed her coat, hat, scarf and gloves and bundled up as he did the same.
Max whispered his plan to his mother before he left the room, and she smiled up at him, indicating he should take his time and not to worry about Abby.
He grabbed Raine’s hand and led her from the room, through the kitchen and into the attached garage off the utility room.
“What are we doing?” she asked as he flicked a switch, flooding the spacious three-car garage with lights.
“You’ll see.”
He went to the far wall where two sleds were hanging. More than likely these old things hadn’t been used since before he left for L.A., but he knew his parents never got rid of anything and kept everything in an orderly fashion.
“Are you serious?” Raine asked when he held the sleds up.
“Very serious. This California transplant can’t let all this good snow go to waste.”
Raine glanced back toward the inside of the house, then back to him. “But your mother...”
“Is fine,” he finished. “She knows we’ll be a little bit. Let’s have fun. Mom is loving this baby time, and I haven’t been sledding in years.”
He saw the battle she waged with herself, and then a wide grin spread across her face. “Oh, all right.”