Mad About Max. Penny McCusker

      Joey snorted. “That’s what adults say when they don’t want to explain something. Like when it has to do with sex.”

      Sara’s first reaction was shock at hearing that word out of Joey’s mouth. Her second reaction was that he’d hit the nail square on the head. It was about sex, since that was just about the only role she didn’t play in Max’s life, and if she got her wish, that would be the only thing added to their relationship. That and love.

      “You’re right, Joey, and so is your dad. I need some time to myself right now, and it’s not something I can really explain to you.”

      “Does that mean you can’t come over and watch a movie with me, or play Scrabble, or bake cookies, or…anything?”

      “It means I won’t be doing any of those things at your house.” His face fell, the cute little boy copy of Max’s features crumpling on the verge of tears. Sara gathered him close once again, then cupped his chin and looked him square in the eyes. “It doesn’t have anything to do with you, Joey, I promise you that. You and I are always going to be best friends. If you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask. Besides, just because I won’t be spending a whole lot of time at your house doesn’t mean you can’t come over to mine.”

      “But I like it when you come to our house, Sara. It’s like…” He turned away, his cheeks heating.

      “I know what you mean.” She had to swallow back her tears. “You’ll always be my family, no matter what. Deal?”

      He took the hand she stuck out, shook it solemnly. “Deal.”

      “Now, how about we go find that father of yours?”

      He started toward the coat closet with her, but his feet were dragging. “Maybe I should go by myself.”

      “Maybe we can stop at the Five-and-Dime on the way, see if they have a sale on ice cream.”

      His face brightened immediately. Sara wished ice cream could cure all his hurts. He’d never let on that he was aware of the tension between the two adults in his life, but for the first time she got an inkling of how deeply Joey might be hurt if she didn’t handle this situation exactly right.

      Max wasn’t helping. When she thought of him telling Joey that she didn’t want to see him, the oddest feeling began to build inside her. The anger she recognized, but it was unlike anything she’d felt before. This anger was a heat that filled her from the soles of her feet to the roots of her hair, made her head throb and red crowd in at the edges of her vision. She followed Joey out of the school and into the kind of blue-sky cold that cut to the bone. She didn’t even feel it, though her coat was unbuttoned; she just shaded her eyes against the glare of the sun on the snowdrifts and set off toward the main part of town.

      She barely noticed how beautiful Erskine looked, the false-fronted buildings outlined in tiny lights that glowed against the gray clouds and purply white-capped mountains off in the distance. Or how festive the light poles were, half of them already twined with evergreen boughs, red and white ribbons and more lights. She strode down Main Street, shooting a glance over her shoulder every now and again to make sure Joey was keeping up with her. The fact that he had to trot didn’t seem to bother him, so she didn’t let it bother her. He obviously wasn’t winded enough to keep him from chattering nonstop.

      “Can we stop in the toy store?” he asked for at least the third time.

      “Not today. We need to find your dad.” Oh, did they ever, she added silently, before she lost this head of steam. “Maybe he’ll take you to the toy store later.” If he could still stand to show his face in town after she got through with him.

      “Look, Sara, there’s the feed store. I want to see if the kittens are ready to go home. And I need fish food.”

      “Not right now.” By the time she got done cutting Max into little pieces, fish food wouldn’t be a problem.

      “Can I—”

      “No, Joey.” She caught his sleeve, checked the flow of pedestrian and automobile traffic, and shepherded him across the street, all without changing stride, causing a car accident or tripping anyone—including herself. The satisfaction was enormous, even with a layer of temper blurring it.

      She hit the door of the Five-and-Dime with the heel of her palm, Joey still in tow, and weaved her way through the displays without so much as setting one of the card carousels spinning. “Hey, Lucy,” she said in greeting to the girl behind the dinette counter. “Can you keep an eye on Joey for a little while? I need to find Max.”

      “Aw, jeez, I want to come and watch,” the girl muttered.

      Sara’s temper spiked dangerously. She wrestled it down with a reminder that this teenager wasn’t the one responsible for it. Neither was the general populace of Erskine; they merely got a heap of entertainment out of it. Well, those days were over. “No one’s winning the pool today, Lucy, so you can stay right here and do your job. Give Joey whatever he wants and I’ll be in to get him in a little while. Or Max will, just as soon as I track the—” She looked at Joey, poring happily over the menu, and censored herself. “One of us will pick him up later.”

      She turned on her heel, leaving a gleeful eight-year-old and a whining teenager at the old-fashioned soda fountain in the Five-and-Dime. She marched down Main Street, plunging through the preholiday crowds like a Boston steel plow through the rich Montana soil. It helped that people scurried out of her way, some even crossing the street, shopping bags rattling and swinging as they hurried their Christmas purchases out of the path of the town’s klutz. Of course, about half of them fell in behind her on the chance they could liven up their Christmas shopping—and maybe pay off their credit cards.