Page 55 of Maxwell

She looked up when he entered. “You’re leaving?” she asked.

“I have something I need to take care of.” He sank onto the sofa beside her and peered at the magazine. “Are you doing some redecorating?”

“Mhmm. I want to spruce the place up, and I’m looking at these pictures for inspiration.”

“You look happy,” Maxwell said. “Younger, even.”

His mother laughed, a small, pleased sound. “That’s a compliment, right?”

“It definitely is. What’s changed?”

Rose sipped her tea, the corners of her mouth lifting higher. “It’s because of your father, but don’t you dare tell him I said that. He’s insufferable enough as it is.”

Maxwell let out a short laugh. “He said he wants a big wedding.”

“I know,” she sighed. “And a big engagement party.”

“He wants an engagement party too?”

“You know your father. Any excuse for a party.”

“Are you going to do what he asks?”

“Probably,” Rose said begrudgingly. “But I’ll fight him on it first. Can’t let him think he can have his way too easily. Then he’ll run all over me.”

Maxwell smiled. His parents had mastered the art of the game they played with each other. Their current state was much different from the past. They hadn’t fought often, but when they did, it had been monumental. He used to press his ear against their bedroom door and listen to their raised, muffled voices.

He distinctly remembered the strain in his mother’s voice as she pleaded with his father for more time and his father’s defensive, dismissive answers that had thrown fuel on the fire that ultimately burned their marriage to the ground. He had understood both sides. His father had a business to run that demanded his time and attention, but his mother wanted time and attention from the man she had planned to spend the rest of her life with.

Their divorce had shattered his views on love, which had already been on rocky ground. He’d watched his siblings get wrecked by the people they loved. Audra’s ex had left her to raise Kerilyn alone. Ethan, whose wife Maxwell believed was actually a demon in disguise, had been a terrible partner. Ignacio had gone through hell with Delta and their back and forth.

People talked about love but they didn’t perform love. He used to think the happiest people he knew were the ones who didn’t allow themselves to get caught up in the ‘love trap,’ as he called it. Guys like Jayson, who lived for a good time and never let their hearts be captured, hopping from bed to bed like it was an Olympic sport.

That’s how he’d been living his own life for years. Meeting Jasmine made him rethink his whole perspective.

Rose stroked his bearded cheek. “Are you okay, hon?”

“Yeah.”

“Work still going okay? You still love it?”

“More than I ever expected to. It’s so fulfilling, Mom. I know I made the right choice because I’m helping people. Right now, I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with one of my patients—why he’s deteriorating.” He had examined Trevor Thompson and come to the same conclusion as Dr. Roberson: There was nothing wrong with him. Yet there was clearly an issue, and he intended to uncover it.

“You’ll figure it out. We’re so proud of you.” She briefly patted his cheek.

They talked for a few more minutes, and then Maxwell hugged his mother briefly and left.

He climbed into his car with a renewed sense of purpose.

Challenge accepted.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nicholas pulled into a parking space. In the quiet of his Mercedes, Jasmine reached for her bag.

“Earth to Jasmine.”

“Huh?”