Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten Read Free Book Online Page A

talked for hours. Tony talked about the disappointment of his divorce and his regret that he had no children. She told Tony about Max (using another false name)—his problems, her fears, her loneliness as a single parent. She did not reveal that she was a lawyer or that Max was at Maitland. Danielle could not bear to speak of the fresh agony of a hospitalized Max. She finally drifted off, awakening before dawn to an empty bed. Embarrassed and not a little piqued at having been loved and left, she got up hastily and dressed. Before she left, she caught a glimpse of something white next to her pillow—a sheet of hotel stationery.
    Hate to go, but have to be in Des Moines this morning. Could not disturb your sleep. You look beautiful in my bed. Dinner tonight? Yours, Tony
    Danielle sits down at the small writing desk. She reads and rereads the note. Reluctantly, she turns it over and writes. “I can’t tell you what last night meant to me. You are a wonderful, lovely man, but my life is far too complicated for a relationship that has nowhere to go.” She pauses. The memory of his hands upon her and the absolute safety she felt in his arms flood her with warmth and desire. She balls up the page and picks up another piece of hotel stationery. “I’d love to. See you downstairs at seven.” She signs her false name. “Lauren.” After that, she takes one last look at the deliciously mussed bed and walks out.
     
    Back in her room, Danielle pulls on her jeans and makes a cup of vile hotel coffee. No sooner does she take a scalding sip than there is a knock on her door. “Damn.”
    “Hey, you. Let me in.”
    That voice couldn’t belong to anyone else. Danielle grabs the knob and flings open the door. “Georgia!”
    Dressed in a dark, navy suit, Georgia walks in and gives Danielle a big hug. “Surprise!”
    “My God! What are you doing here?”
    She grins. “Just passing through.”
    Danielle pulls her farther into the room. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
    Georgia sits on Danielle’s lumpy couch. “I can’t believe it, either. Just when you think it’s over, there’s that drive from Des Moines to scenic Plano.”
    “Coffee?” She gives Georgia a broad smile.
    Georgia peers into the paper cup Danielle offers. “I’ll pass.”
    They sit, and Georgia squeezes her hand. Danielle is thrilled to see her dear friend. “Why are you here, by the way?”
    “Because I’m worried about you and Max.” She takes a deep breath. “And I have some things to tell you that I felt needed to be said face-to-face.”
    Danielle feels a fresh uneasiness. “What things?”
    “Later.” Georgia settles back into the couch.
    Danielle waits. Their specialty is shorthand speech. Georgia begins the beguine.
    “How are you?”
    “Okay.”
    “Max?”
    “Not great.”
    “He hasn’t tried to—”
    “No!” She pulls back. “Of course not!”
    Georgia places a cool palm on her arm. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you don’t always tell me the worst.”
    Danielle gives her a miserable smile. “It’s because I can’t even bear to think about it.”
    “Do you have a diagnosis?”
    “No.” Before she lets Georgia continue her cross-examination, Danielle changes the subject. “Tell me something about the outside world.”
    Georgia doesn’t let her down. There is the latest office gossip—who’s sleeping with whom; who made a fool of himself at the summer recruiting party; which associate is brown-nosing which partner; which partners are trying to screw around other partners.
    “So,” says Danielle, “how did you manage to get away from the office? From Jonathan and Melissa?”
    Georgia’s lovely face bleeds from blushed pearl to arsenic white. “Oh. That.”
    “Oh, what?”
    Her deep indigo eyes fall to the floor. “Well, like I said, there are a few things I have to tell you.”
    “A lot, I’d guess.” Danielle’s voice is dry. “And don’t try to put a good spin on it, Georgia. You look like shit, and