Текст книги "Heart of Texas"
Автор книги: Debie Macomber
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Текущая страница: 22 (всего у книги 32 страниц)
Eleven
Time was running out and Richard knew it. He had to leave Promise and soon. It wouldn’t take Grady more than a few days to discover there was no money. The check Richard had given him was written on a closed account; it was going to bounce like a rubber ball, and when Grady found out... Nor would he be able to hold off paying his creditors much longer. All he needed was a week or so to get everything ready. No one would think to look for him in that old ghost town. He’d just quietly disappear.
Until then, he had to keep the wool pulled over his brother’s eyes. Even if it meant doing work he’d sworn he’d never do again. That morning Grady had insisted Richard fill in for one of his summer hands who’d suddenly taken ill. This time Grady wouldn’t listen to any excuses, and Richard was forced into what he considered slave labor.
“I don’t know how much good I’m going to be,” he told Laredo as he saddled Roanie.
“A little extra help is all Grady is looking for,” Laredo said.
Savannah’s husband hadn’t made any effort to disguise his dislike of him. It hadn’t bothered Richard to this point. He wasn’t a big fan of Laredo’s, either, although he had to admire the way the wrangler had finessed himself a partnership with Grady. Smith had apparently sold some land in Oklahoma and was investing it in stock for their quarter-horse operation. There’d been a celebration the day Laredo discovered his newly purchased mare was pregnant with Renegade’s foal. From all the fuss, anyone might assume it was Savannah who was pregnant, not some horse.
“Grady wants us to weigh calves and get them into the holding pens,” Laredo said as they rode toward the pasture.
“What for?” Richard demanded, bouncing in the saddle. He’d never been able to get comfortable on a horse. If he was going to be working his butt off, quite literally, then he wanted an explanation of his duties.
“They need to be weighed.”
“Is he selling them?”
“Eventually. He wants to be sure they’re healthy and gaining weight the way they should before we send them to market.”
Richard stifled a groan. Anyone looking at those smelly animals could see they were doing fine. Better than he was, Richard thought bitterly. Already his backside hurt. By the end of the day he was bound to have blisters in places people didn’t normally talk about—but then that was exactly what Grady had planned.
His brother was punishing him, Richard knew, for Grady was vindictive and a sore loser. He’d been jealous of Richard’s skills and talents for years. The only reason he’d insisted Richard mount up this morning was to get back at him for the embarrassment of being confronted by Max Jordan a few nights earlier.
It would do no good to complain about it now. He didn’t want to give Grady the satisfaction of knowing he’d succeeded in making him miserable.
After they’d ridden for several minutes, they came to the holding-pen area. Laredo told him to dismount, then had him sort through the calves. It was his duty to separate the steers from the heifers. No easy task, and it irked Richard that his son-of-a-bitch brother-in-law took such delight in the trouble he had. Even the dog seemed to be working against him, instead of with him. Laredo was at the gate while Richard herded the cattle one way or the other. All too frequently, Laredo had to correct him, but then, Richard had never been any good with animals. He hated ranch life, and Grady knew it. His brother was unfairly trying to make him pay for circumstances beyond his control.
When they’d finished sorting the calves, they broke the steers into twenty-head lots and weighed them. Nothing hurt Richard’s ears more than the sound of ill-tempered cattle thundering onto the scale. They weren’t any more interested in being weighed than Richard was in finishing the task.
“Are they loaded?” Laredo shouted.
“Isn’t it lunchtime yet?”
“No. Answer the question.”
“They’re on the scale,” he shouted back, waving his hand in front of his face. Not only were cattle stupid and nasty, their stench gave him a headache.
Laredo did whatever he did with the controls of the scale and checked the balance. Richard watched it bob back and forth until the correct weight was found. Then the steers were moved into the holding pen.
Laredo seemed pleased with the results. “They’ve gained an average of fifty pounds in the past twenty days,” he said.
“Whoopee.”
Laredo ignored him. “At this rate they’ll weigh around six hundred pounds by the sale date.”
“Great,” Richard muttered, seeing that his sarcasm was lost on the wrangler. He stared at his watch. “Isn’t it lunchtime yet?”
“Soon.” Laredo shoved back his hat with the heel of one hand. “When we’re finished here, Grady wants us to vaccinate the steers.”
“What? You mean my brother actually expects me to give them shots? With a needle?”
“So it seems.”
“I hate needles.” Damn it, Laredo hadn’t mentioned this earlier, and Richard just knew the omission had been on purpose. Probably figured he was saving the best for last, the bastard.
“I don’t suppose the calves are fond of being vaccinated, either.”
“Fine, then let’s skip the entire procedure.”
Laredo didn’t bother to respond, and Richard accepted that there was no help for it. But down the line, his big brother was going to pay for the trouble and humiliation he’d caused. Oh, yes. Grady had learned about the bill with Max, but he didn’t know about the others. Not yet. And by the time he did discover the amount of money Richard had charged...well, Richard would be long gone. Bye-bye Yellow Rose.
Who’d be smiling then? Who’d be feeling smug and superior? It was enough to carry Richard through the rest of the day.
***
Ellie spent as much time as she could with Glen, but not nearly enough to satisfy either one of them. A September wedding date had been set, and she was busy making plans. At the moment Glen and his brother needed to get the herd to market; that was their immediate priority and not something Ellie could help with.
“I thought I’d find you in here,” Glen said.
Ellie, who was in the sick pen with a couple of calves, smiled up at her fiancé. He wore his Stetson and cowhide chaps. His approach warmed her heart.
“Are these two going to make it?” she asked. Most calves had slick hair, bright eyes and big bellies, but the calves in the pen looked dull-eyed and thin.
“They don’t have anything a little bit of medicine and some tender loving care won’t cure.”
“Good.”
Glen joined her in the pen. “When did you get here?”
“Fifteen minutes ago. George is closing up this afternoon.”
He kissed her briefly. “Thank him for me.”
“He’s going to have to get used to it. When we’re married, I’ll be leaving early sometimes.”
Glen wrapped his arm around her waist. “I like the sound of that word.”
“Married?”
He nodded, and opening the gate, ushered her out of the barn and toward the house. “I like the sound of it more and more every day.”
“So do I,” she admitted softly. And she thought to herself that her father would have liked the idea of his Ellie married. To her friend, who was his friend, too. She imagined him smiling, telling her she’d chosen well. John Frasier had liked Glen and respected him. Her only regret was that her father wouldn’t be there to walk her down the aisle or dance at his daughter’s wedding.
“Give me time to shower,” Glen said as they entered the house. “I’ll be back before you know it.” He smiled down at her and then, as if he couldn’t restrain himself, kissed her once again.
While Glen cleaned up, Ellie went into the kitchen to start dinner. Since they’d made their engagement official, she’d stopped by the ranch two or three nights a week. It only made sense for them to eat together. She’d taken a few cooking lessons from Dovie on preparing basic meals. Meat and potatoes, mostly. Next thing, she’d tackle pies. She enjoyed practicing in the big ranch-house kitchen, especially with Glen there to cheer her on. Ellie found she begrudged every minute she couldn’t spend with him, and she knew he felt the same way.
She had a roast in the oven and was peeling potatoes when Cal walked into the kitchen. “Hey, Ellie, how’s it going?” he asked.
“Great,” she said, dropping a freshly peeled potato into a kettle of water.
“You don’t have to do this, you know. But let me tell you I appreciate every morsel.”
Ellie grinned up at him. She was discovering that she liked Cal. Actually she always had, but he could be a difficult man to understand because he often seemed so remote, and sometimes even gruff. She’d been spending more time with him lately, and they’d developed a comfortable rapport. Ellie had even talked him into attending the Fourth of July celebration with her and Glen. To all appearances, he’d enjoyed himself, although he hadn’t asked anyone to dance at the evening festivities. It was a well-known fact that he didn’t trust women, although he was obviously pleased for her and Glen.
“You’re welcome to join Glen and me for dinner any time after we’re married,” she told him. They’d already decided it would be most beneficial, considering her business, for Glen to move into town after the wedding and commute to the ranch every day. Soon they’d be setting up an appointment with a Realtor and looking at houses. Glen hoped to have the deal closed by August so that once they were married, they could move right in. Ellie hoped that was possible, too.
As soon as Glen reappeared, his hair wet and glistening from the shower, Cal quickly left the room. Glen’s arms circled her from behind and he kissed her neck. “Damn, but I love you.”
Now that he was comfortable with the words, he said them often; he seemed to delight in sharing his feelings.
“I love you, too.” The words had no sooner left her lips when she turned in his arms to face him. “I’m worried about Cal.”
“Cal? What’s wrong with my brother?”
“Nothing love wouldn’t cure.”
Glen frowned and took Ellie by the shoulders. “You’ve got that look in your eye. I’ve seen it in my mother’s and Dovie Boyd’s.”
“What look?”
Glen kissed the tip of her nose. “I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s what comes over a woman when she thinks she knows what’s best for a man.”
“I’m not trying to be a...a matchmaker, Glen!”
“But you think Cal needs a woman.”
“He needs to fall in love.”
“He did once,” Glen reminded her.
“Next time it needs to be with a woman who’ll love him just as much in return. Who’ll appreciate him for who he is without trying to change him.”
“And where do you intend to find such a woman?” Glen asked, his gaze holding hers.
“I don’t know, but she’s out there and just waiting for someone like Cal.”
Glen eased Ellie back into his embrace and kissed her with a thoroughness that left no question about his own love for her. “You’re a terrible romantic, Ellie Frasier-soon-to-be-Patterson.”
“I’m a woman in love and I want my almost-brother-in-law to find happiness, too.”
“He’ll have to look for his own partner if he wants to do a Texas two-step.”
Glen drew her closer still.
She smiled up at him. “Well,” she said, “that’s the thing about the two-step. There’s no changing partners if you do it right.” She raised her mouth to his in a teasing kiss.
“You can bet on that.” And he kissed her back.
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author
DEBBIE MACOMBER
Her grandfather wants her to come home, and Molly thinks she just might. His ranch will be a good place for her sons to grow up, a place to escape bigcity influences. Then she learns—from a stranger named Sam—that her grandfather is ill. Possibly dying. Molly packs up the kids without a second thought and makes the long drive to Sweetgrass, Montana.
She immediately has questions about Sam Dakota. Why is he working on her grandfather’s ranch? Why doesn’t the sheriff trust him? Just who is he? But despite everything, Molly can’t deny her attraction to Sam—until her ailing grandfather tries to push them into marriage.
Some borders aren’t so easy to cross….
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Debbie Macomber is a number one New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. Her books include 1225 Christmas Tree Lane, 1105 Yakima Street, A Turn in the Road, Hannah’s List and Debbie Macomber’s Christmas Cookbook, as well as Twenty Wishes, Summer on Blossom Street and Call Me Mrs. Miracle. She has become a leading voice in women’s fiction worldwide and her work has appeared on every major bestseller list, including those of the New York Times, USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and Entertainment Weekly. She is a multiple award winner, and won the 2005 Quill Award for Best Romance. There are more than 100 million copies of her books in print. Two of her MIRA Christmas titles have been made into Hallmark Channel Original Movies, and the Hallmark Channel has recently launched a series based on her bestselling Cedar Cove series. For more information on Debbie and her books, visit her website, www.DebbieMacomber.com
ISBN: 978-1-4603-1443-2
Texas Two-Step
Copyright © 1998 by Debbie Macomber
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Caroline’s Child
New York Times Bestselling Author
Debbie Macomber
Who’s the father of Caroline’s child? Everyone in Promise wants to know, but no one’s ever asked-or ever will. Maggie’s five now, and Caroline Daniels has kept her silence all these years. It doesn’t change how the people in this community feel about Caroline. They’re protective of her and Maggie; they care. Especially rancher Grady Weston, who’s beginning to realize he more than cares.
Look for more heartwarming titles from New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber, available now from Harlequin MIRA!
Other titles by Debbie Macomber now available wherever Harlequin ebooks are sold:
Blossom Street Books
The Shop on Blossom Street
A Good Yarn
Susannah’s Garden
Back on Blossom Street
Twenty Wishes
Summer on Blossom Street
Hannah’s List
The Knitting Diaries: “The Twenty-First Wish”
A Turn in the Road
Cedar Cove Books
16 Lighthouse Road
204 Rosewood Lane
311 Pelican Court
44 Cranberry Point
50 Harbor Street
6 Rainier Drive
74 Seaside Avenue
8 Sandpiper Way
92 Pacific Boulevard
1022 Evergreen Place
A Cedar Cove Christmas (5-B Poppy Lane and Christmas in Cedar Cove)
1105 Yakima Street
1225 Christmas Tree Lane
Dakota Series
Dakota Born
Dakota Home
Always Dakota
The Manning Family
The Manning Sisters
The Manning Brides
The Manning Grooms
Christmas Books
A Gift to Last
On a Snowy Night
Home for the Holidays
Glad Tidings
Christmas Wishes
Small Town Christmas
When Christmas Comes (now retitled Trading Christmas)
There’s Something About Christmas
Christmas Letters
Where Angels Go
The Perfect Christmas
Angels at Christmas (Those Christmas Angels and Where Angels Go)
Call Me Mrs. Miracle
Heart of Texas Series
VOLUME 1 (Lonesome Cowboy and Texas Two-Step)
VOLUME 2 (Caroline’s Child and Dr. Texas)
VOLUME 3 (Nell’s Cowboy and Lone Star Baby)
Promise, Texas
Return to Promise
Midnight Sons
VOLUME 1 (Brides for Brothers and The Marriage Risk)
VOLUME 2 (Daddy’s Little Helper and Because of the Baby)
VOLUME 3 (Falling for Him, Ending in Marriage and Midnight Sons and Daughters)
This Matter of Marriage
Montana
Thursdays at Eight
Between Friends
Changing Habits
Married in Seattle (First Comes Marriage and Wanted: Perfect Partner)
Right Next Door (Father’s Day and The Courtship of Carol Sommars)
The Man You’ll Marry (The First Man You Meet and The Man You’ll Marry)
Orchard Valley Grooms (Valerie and Stephanie)
Orchard Valley Brides (Norah and Lone Star Lovin’ )
The Sooner the Better
An Engagement in Seattle (Groom Wanted and Bride Wanted)
Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove Cookbook
Debbie Macomber’s Christmas Cookbook
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
1
CLUTCHING THE MAIL IN ONE HAND, Grady Weston paced the narrow corridor inside the post office. He glanced distractedly at the row of mailboxes, gathering his courage before he approached Caroline Daniels, the postmistress.
His tongue felt as if it’d wrapped itself around his front teeth, and he was beginning to doubt he’d be able to utter a single sensible word. It shouldn’t be so damned difficult to let a woman know he found her attractive!
“Grady?” Caroline’s voice reached out to him.
He spun around, not seeing her. Great. Not only was he dreaming about her, now he was hearing her voice.
“Open your box,” she instructed.
He fumbled for the key and twisted open the small rectangular door, then peered in. Sure enough, Caroline was there. Not all of her, just her brown eyes, her pert little nose and lovely mouth.
If he’d possessed his brother’s gift for flattery, Grady would have said something clever. Made some flowery remark. Unfortunately all he managed was a gruff unfriendly sounding “Hello.”
“Hi.”
Caroline had beautiful eyes, dark and rich like freshly brewed coffee, which was about as poetic as Grady got. Large and limpid, they reminded him of a calf’s, but he figured that might not be something a woman wanted to hear, even if he considered it a compliment. This was the problem, Grady decided. He didn’t know how to talk to a woman. In fact, it’d been more than six years since he’d gone out on an actual date.
“Can I help you with anything?” she asked.
He wanted to invite her to lunch, and although that seemed a simple enough request, he couldn’t make himself ask her. Probably because their relationship so far hadn’t been too promising. Calling it a “relationship” wasn’t really accurate, since they’d barely exchanged a civil word and had never so much as held hands. Mostly they snapped at each other, disagreed and argued—if they were speaking at all. True, they’d danced once; it’d been nice, but only when he could stop worrying about stepping on her toes.
Who was he kidding? Holding Caroline in his arms had been more than nice, it had been wonderful. In the month since, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that one dance. Every night when he climbed into bed and closed his eyes, Caroline was there to greet him. He could still feel her softness against him, could almost smell the faint scent of her cologne. The dance had been ladies’ choice, and that was enough to let him believe—hope—she might actually hold some regard for him, too. Despite their disagreements, he’d been the one she’d chosen to ask.
“You had lunch yet?” Grady asked, his voice brusque. He didn’t mean to sound angry or unfriendly. The timbre of his voice and his abrupt way of speaking had caused him plenty of problems with Maggie, Caroline’s five-year-old daughter. He’d been trying to get in the kid’s good graces for months now, with only limited success. But he’d tried. He hoped Caroline and Maggie gave him credit for that.
Caroline’s mouth broke into a wide grin. “Lunch? Not yet, and I’m starved.”
Grady’s spirits lifted considerably. “Well, then, I was thinking, seeing as I haven’t eaten myself…” The words stumbled all over themselves in his eagerness to get them out. “You want to join me?”
“Sure, but let me get this straight. Is this an invitation, as in a date?”
“No.” His response was instinctive, given without thought. He’d been denying his feelings for her so long that his answer had come automatically. He feared, too, that she might misread his intentions. He was attracted to Caroline and he wanted to know her better, but beyond that—he wasn’t sure. Hell, what he knew about love and marriage wouldn’t fill a one-inch column of the Promise Gazette.
Some of the happiness faded from her smile. “Understood. Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you out front.” She moved out of his range of vision.
Grady closed the box, but left his hand on the key. How could anyone with the skills to run a thriving cattle ranch in the Texas hill country be such a fool when it came to women?
He rapped on the post-office box hard enough to hurt his knuckles. “Caroline!” Then he realized he had to open the box. He did that, then stared through it and shouted for her a second time. “Caroline!”
Her face appeared, eyes snapping with impatience. “What’s the rush?” she demanded. “I said it’d take me a few minutes.”
The edges of the postbox cut into his forehead and chin and knocked his Stetson askew. “This is a date, all right?”
She stared back at him from the other side, and either she was overwhelmed by his offer to buy her lunch or surprised into speechlessness.
“All right?” he repeated. “This is a date.”
She continued to look at him. “I shouldn’t have asked,” she finally said.
“I’m glad you did.” And he was. He could think of no better way to set things straight. He hadn’t invited her to lunch because he needed someone to pass the time with; if that was what he’d wanted, he could have asked his sister, Savannah, or her husband or Cal Patterson—or any number of people. No, he’d asked Caroline because he wanted to be with her. For once he longed to talk to her without interference or advice from his matchmaking sister. It didn’t help to have Maggie there hiding her face in her mother’s lap every time he walked into the room, either. This afternoon it’d be just the two of them. Caroline and him.
Grady respectfully removed his hat when she joined him in the lobby.
“This is a pleasant surprise,” Caroline said.
“I was in town, anyway.” He didn’t mention that he’d rearranged his entire day for this opportunity. It was hard enough admitting that to himself, let alone Caroline.
“Where would you like to eat?” he asked. The town had three good restaurants: the café in the bowling alley; the Chili Pepper, a Texas barbecue place; and a Mexican restaurant run by the Chavez family.
“How about Mexican Lindo?” Caroline suggested.
It was the one he would have chosen himself. “Great.”
Since the restaurant was on Fourth Avenue, only two blocks from the post office, they walked there, chatting as they went. Or rather, Caroline chatted and he responded with grunts and murmurs.
Grady had long ago realized he lacked the ability to make small talk. Unlike his younger brother, Richard, who could charm his way into—or out of—anything. Grady tried not to feel inadequate, but he was distinctly relieved when they got to the restaurant.
In a few minutes they were seated at a table, served water and a bowl of tortilla chips along with a dish of extra-hot salsa. He reached for a chip, scooped up as much salsa as it would hold and popped it in his mouth. He ate another and then another before he noticed that Caroline hadn’t touched a single chip.
He raised his eyes to hers and stopped chewing, his mouth full.
Caroline apparently read the question in his eyes. “I don’t eat corn chips,” she explained. “I fill up on them and then I don’t have room for anything else.”
He swallowed and nodded. “Oh.”
A moment of silence passed, and Grady wondered if her comment was a subtle hint that she was watching her weight. From what he understood, weight was a major preoccupation with women. Maybe she was waiting for him to tell her she shouldn’t worry about it; maybe he was supposed to say she looked great. She did. She was slender and well proportioned, and she wore her dark brown hair straight and loose, falling to her shoulders. In his opinion she looked about as perfect as a woman could get. Someday he’d tell her that, but not just yet. Besides, he didn’t want her to think he was only interested in her body, although it intrigued him plenty. He admired a great deal about her, especially the way she was raising Maggie on her own. She understood the meaning of the words responsibility and sacrifice, just like he did.
She was staring at him as if she expected a comment, and Grady realized he needed to say something. “You could be fat and I’d still have asked you to lunch.”
Her smooth brow crumpled in a puzzled frown.
“I meant that as a compliment,” he sputtered and decided then and there it was better to keep his trap shut. Thankfully the waitress came to take their order. Grady decided on chicken enchiladas; Caroline echoed his choice.
“This is really very nice,” she said and reached for the tall glass of iced tea.
“I wanted us to have some time alone,” he told her.
“Any particular reason?”
Grady rested his spine against the back of his chair and boldly met her look. “I like you, Caroline.” He didn’t know any way to be other than direct. This had gotten him into difficulties over the years. Earlier that spring he’d taken a dislike to Laredo Smith and hadn’t been shy about letting his sister and everyone else know his feelings. But he’d been wrong in his assessment of the man’s character. Smith’s truck had broken down and Savannah had brought him home to the ranch. Over Grady’s objections she’d hired him herself, and before long they’d fallen in love. It came as a shock to watch his sane sensible sister give her heart to a perfect stranger. Still, Grady wasn’t proud of the way he’d behaved. By the time Laredo decided it’d be better for everyone concerned if he moved on, Grady had wanted him to stay. He’d gone so far as to offer the man a partnership in the ranch in an effort to change his mind. Not that it’d done any good. To Grady’s eternal gratitude, Laredo had experienced a change of heart and returned a couple of months later. Love had driven him away, but it had also brought him back.
Savannah and Laredo had married in short order and were now involved in designing plans for their own home, plus raising quarter horses. Savannah, with her husband’s active support, continued to grow the antique roses that were making her a name across the state.
In the weeks since becoming his brother-in-law, Laredo Smith had proved himself a damn good friend and Grady’s right-hand man.
“I like you, too,” Caroline said, but she lowered her gaze as she spoke, breaking eye contact. This seemed to be something of an admission for them both.
“You do?” Grady felt light-headed with joy. It was all he could do not to leap in the air and click his heels.
“We’ve known each other a lot of years.”
“I’ve known you most of my life,” he agreed, but as he said the words, he realized he didn’t really know Caroline. Not the way he wanted, not the way he hoped he would one day. It wasn’t just that he had no idea who’d fathered Maggie; apparently no one else in town did, either. He wondered what had attracted her to this man, why she hadn’t married him. Or why he’d left her to deal with the pregnancy and birth alone. It all remained a mystery. Another thing Grady didn’t understand about Caroline was the changes in her since her daughter’s birth. In time Grady believed she’d trust him enough to answer his questions, and he prayed he’d say and do the right thing when she did.
Their lunches arrived and they ate, stopping to chat now and then. The conversation didn’t pall, but again he had to credit Caroline with the skill to keep it going. Half an hour later, as he escorted her back to the post office, Grady was walking on air.
“I’ll give you a call tomorrow,” he said, watching her for some sign of encouragement. “If you want,” he added, needing her reassurance.
“Sure.”
Her response was neither encouraging nor discouraging.
“I’d like to talk to Maggie again, if she’ll let me.”
“You might try this afternoon, since she’s spending the day with Savannah.”
This was news to Grady, but he’d been busy that morning and had left the house early. He hadn’t spoken to Savannah other than a few words over breakfast, and even if he’d known Maggie was staying with his sister, he wouldn’t have had time to chat with the girl that morning.
“I’ll make a point of saying hello,” he said. His heart lifted when it suddenly struck him that he’d be seeing Caroline again later in the day, when she came to pick up Maggie.
They parted. Whistling, Grady sauntered across the asphalt parking lot toward his truck. He felt damn good. The afternoon had gone better than he’d hoped.
He was about to open the cab door when Max Jordan stopped him.
“Grady, have you got a moment?” The older man, owner of the local Western-wear store, quickened his pace.
“Howdy, Max.” Grady grinned from ear to ear and didn’t let the somber expression on Max’s face get him down. “What can I do for you?”
