The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland

An hour later, we were already getting ready to leave. I went to use the bathroom before our trek home, and when I came out, Max and his mom were alone in the kitchen. They didn’t hear me come in.

“I really like her. Please tell me she knows.”

“Can we talk about this another time, Mom?”

She frowned. “Max…”

He looked up and saw me. “There she is. It was good seeing you, Mom. I’ll call you next week.”

“Okay.” She smiled and turned to me. “You’re a breath of fresh air. I hope I see you again real soon.”

“You, too.”

She hugged me, and then it took another fifteen minutes to say goodbye to everyone else. Poor Max had to practically pry Four from his nieces’ hands. He soothed away the oldest girl’s impending tears by promising her he’d bring the dog when he came to town for his next game.

Once we got back in the Town Car, I took a deep inhale and exhaled audibly.

Max smiled. “That bad.”

“No, no…I had fun. It was just…a little overwhelming with so many people. Since I’m an only child, my family gatherings are usually just my mom and me. She has one sister, who lives out in Arizona, and we see her maybe once every two years. But I had a good time. Though for a minute there, I thought we were going to go out in a ball of flames with your three nieces crying about Four. It works out great that you’re able to bring him to the game with you.”

“I’ll wind up getting fined for sneaking him on the team plane again. But I’d rather that than tears. Thank God I only had brothers, because I can’t take seeing girls cry. Keri, the woman I dated for eighteen months a couple of years back, cried when I told her I wanted to end things. I gave her my car.”

I laughed, but Max didn’t. “Oh my God. You’re joking, right?”

He shook his head and shrugged. “It made her stop crying.”

“Wow. Okay…well, I’ll keep that in mind if I’m having a hard time getting my way with you.”

Max looked at me tenderly. He brushed his knuckles along my cheek. “Trust me, you won’t have a hard time getting anything from me.”

Warmth flooded my belly. I had the strongest urge to rest my head on his shoulder, so I gave in and did. We were mostly quiet the remainder of the way to the airport, but it didn’t feel awkward, which was nice. Once we boarded the waiting jet, Max and I sat across from each other.

His eyes pointed down to my ankle, where I had a big bruise on the inside of my leg.

“How did you get that?”

“I, uh, jumped out of the shower to write something down that I’d thought of while I was washing my hair, and I slipped on my way back in. My leg hit the side of the tub. I have a matching one on my hip.”

Max looked amused. “Do you run out of the shower often?”

I sighed. “I do, actually. I don’t know why, but I think of things I forgot to do at work when I go in the shower. I could sit at my desk for an hour, and nothing. But the minute I’m lathered up, things start popping into my brain. Does that ever happen to you?”

“Nope. I put on music and enjoy the down time.”

“Yeah. I’m not so good at that.”

Max smiled. “So did my mother and my sisters-in-law tell you stories about how rotten I am while you were sitting on the deck?”

“You mean like when you and your brothers snapped Cassidy’s Christmas tree in half while wrestling?”

Max hung his head. “It was an accident. We bought her a new one, even if it was pretty sad looking because that was all they had left on Christmas Eve. That year was a shitshow. Did she also tell you about the stolen presents?”

My forehead wrinkled. “Someone stole gifts?”

He nodded. “Ever since my mom started getting really into the church, she brings around strangers for the holidays. Usually it’s when she has us at her house in Washington, and they’re people her church knows. But a few years ago, we started having Christmas at Tate and Cassidy’s, because they’re the only ones with kids. Mom went to some local church near them on Christmas Eve morning and came home with a woman she met. Not to be a jerk, but the woman looked like an addict. She was scratching her arms constantly, and she didn’t meet your eyes when she spoke to you. But Mom had invited her for dinner, so everyone was polite. After we finished eating, my brothers and I went to the garage to put together some toys the girls were getting for Christmas, and the ladies were all clearing the table and doing whatever. When we were done, we came back in, and I asked where the woman was. She was gone, but she hadn’t said goodbye to anyone. Then Cassidy noticed half of the presents under the tree were gone, too.”

“Noooo.”

Max nodded. “Mom’s a little too trusting at times. It’s great that she wants to help people who are less fortunate, but she needs to sprinkle a bit of safety into her decisions.”

“Yeah, definitely. Is her growing more involved with the church something new?”

“She’s always been religious. We were raised Catholic and went to religion classes growing up, and Mom always went to church on Sundays. But ten years ago, she started to go daily and get involved in outreach programs and stuff.”

“Did something happen to make her turn to the church?” After I asked the question, I realized maybe it wasn’t polite.