Chapter Five

	Jake's head sunk further into his hands.  Coffee, that's what he needed.  A good
strong cup of coffee.  With great effort he dragged himself from his chair and shuffled
across the shop to the coffee pot, then stood staring down at it as if in a trance.  Of all
the days for Reese to have left the pot empty!  Jake let out a tired groan and ran his
hand through his hair, blinking to clear the sleep from his eyes. With a sigh, he moved to
the window that overlooked the driveway and glanced outside. 
	Kincaide Landscaping was housed in a turn of the century coach house situated
behind a house of the same vintage, both of which Reese had restored and renovated
himself, with a lot of Jake's help.   Jake hadn't needed to be told that Max was inside the
house with Mikki that morning.  When  he'd  pulled into the driveway he had seen her car
there, and had headed straight for the shop.  He'd quickly scolded himself for doing so,
reminding himself that Max was his best friend and he shouldn't feel he had to avoid her
for any reason.  This had just succeeded in worsening his mood, and Reese had taken
full advantage of the situation.
	Now, both the company truck and Max's car were gone from the driveway,
leaving only his own vehicle and Mikki's car.  Jake heaved a heavy sigh and strode
towards the door.  Mikki would have coffee, he was sure of it, and she'd treat him much
more kindly than her husband had.  In fact, he might just take Reese up on that offer of
a nap in the spare room, too.  With Max out of the way, the coast was clear, and once
he'd had a good sleep he knew he'd be able to look at his whole Max issue much more
objectively.
	"Hey, Gorgeous, I hope you have a pot of strong coffee brewing,"  Jake called,
as he stepped inside the house after a brief knock that was merely a technicality.  He
knew his way around this house as if it were his own, and both Reese and Mikki
welcomed him in it like one of the family.  And the prospect of seeing their little Maddy
actually brought a smile to his tired face.  He could hear the baby babbling in the kitchen
and was grinning as he peeked his head around the corner of the doorway.  But as his
eyes travelled from the little girl in the highchair to the woman standing by the counter,
he froze in his tracks.
	"There should be enough for a cup left, but it's been there a while,"  Max was
saying, a bright smile on her face.  "But just for calling me Gorgeous, I could brew  a
fresh pot just for you if you wanted?"  
	Jake stopped in his tracks and stared at her, then realized he was supposed to
say something,  gave himself a shake and swallowed hard.  "Aw heck, I'm sorry, was
expecting Mikki," he said, then winced at the possible implications of what he had said. 
"I mean, I was just joking around — I mean — umm, — that coffee will be fine, the
stronger the better."  He plunked himself in a chair near the baby and groaned inwardly. 
He'd better shut up while he was ahead, he decided, before he put his foot deeper into
his mouth.  Maddy banged a toy on the tray of her highchair and shrieked at him, and he
turned his attention to her.
	"You look like something the dog dragged in," Max said, as she placed a cup of
steaming black coffee on the table beside him. 
	"You guys have a conspiracy or something? Reese said exactly the same thing," 
Jake lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip, then set it down again and leaned toward
Madison and made a face.  The little girl giggled and reached her arms toward him.
	"Well it's true," Max said, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms in
front of herself.  "You look horrible."
	Jake cast her a sideways glance and despite himself he grinned.  "And that's the
thanks I get for calling you Gorgeous?"
	Max laughed.  "But that wasn't meant for me, you said so yourself.  Besides,  I
just call it like I see it.  You look like you could just crawl under a rock and sleep for a
week."
	Jake grunted.  "You pretty much nailed it," he said, then decided it was time to
change the subject, and took another long sip of his coffee.  "Where is Mikki anyway?  I
was expecting to find her in here,  because your car was gone when I came out of the
shop."
	Max nodded.  "She had to go pick up some medicine for Maddy.  She took my
car because I was parked behind her in the driveway."
	Jake frowned.  "Medicine?  What's wrong with my little princess?"  he asked,
looking more closely at the baby. Her cheeks were a bright rosy red, but her eyes were
bright and she was smiling and giggling at him. "She doesn't look sick."
	Max chucked.  "She does look better than you do, that's for sure," she said,
sauntering over to the highchair and lifting the baby into her arms.  "She's OK, she's just
running a fever because she's teething, and Mikki used the last of her medicine last
night."
	"JA – KE"  Maddy squealed, leaning out of Max's arms and stretching her arms
toward Jake.  She  squirmed until Max almost lost her and Jake took her into his arms
just before she wiggled free.  She let out a giggle of excitement and buried her face
against his chest.
	"Hey, hey!" Jake laughed. "I got ya now!"
	Almost immediately the toddler pressed her face against his shirt front and
closed her eyes, cooing softly, and fingering one of the metal buttons on his faded denim
shirt.  Jake stood up and sauntered slowly around the room, rocking the child slowly in
his arms and talking softly to her.  She giggled and cooed, and closed her eyes, 
	"Poor little thing," Jake said softly, rubbing a large hand over her tiny head. 
"Burnin' up, huh?"  He glanced at Max, and nodded slightly in the direction of the other
room.  Slowly he made his way out of the kitchen and eased himself into the soft,
rocking armchair in the corner of the living room.  Maddy lifted her head slightly and
looked at him, then snuggled her face against his chest again and cooed. 
	"Do you always have that mesmerizing affect on women? "  Max asked from
where she leaned in the doorway, a soft smile on her face.  
	Jake lifted a laughing gaze in her direction.  "Your a woman, you tell me," he
said, with a wink, then  when he saw the laughter on her face that sparkled in her eyes,
he wondered if he should have kept quiet.
	"Oh no, don't you drag me into this," she said, wagging a finger at him as she
straightened.  "But since you've got everything under control here, I'm going to go wash
up Maddy's dishes so Mikki doesn't have to do then when she gets home.  Maddy kept
her up most of the night last night, so she's pretty tired."
	That makes two of us, Jake thought, as he  watched  until Max disappeared.
Then he looked down at the little girl snuggled on his chest.  The cooing had faded, and
now there was nothing but peaceful breathing as the child rested quietly in his arms.  He
smiled, then looked at the empty doorway from where he could hear the sounds of water
running and Max moving around. 
	"Well, Maddy," he sighed softly against her fine silky curls.  "That seems to have
gone  pretty well.  Now it's just you and me, huh?"   He tilted his head and looked into
the little girl's face to find that she was sleeping soundly.  He brushed a curl from her
face and smiled.  "I think you've got the right idea there, Princess,"  he said, and with
that he settled deeper into the chair, rested his own head back and closed his eyes. 

	Max hummed to herself as she set the last of Maddy's clean dishes on the shelf
in the cupboard.  She had stopped by for a cup of morning coffee with Mikki and found
her friend tired and pulling out her hair after a sleepless night spent walking the floor with
Maddy.  An offer to lend a helping hand was quickly accepted, and once the baby was
settled in her highchair with a cold popcicle soothing her sore gums, Mikki had taken
advantage of the opportunity to get out of the house for a while.  Certainly the fever
medicine that she'd run out of in the middle of the night was a necessity, but so was the
time out alone, and Max had insisted that she take her time and not rush back.  Maddy
was in good hands, and her mother would be of more use to her after some
rejuvenating time spent amongst adults, even if she had to find that company in the local
pharmacy.  
	Max's thoughts turned to the man in the next room.  He was as sturdy as an oak
tree, she thought, where his friendship were concerned.  He'd do anything to help, she
was certain of that, and he truly did think the world of Madison Kincaide.  At this thought
it occurred to her that she hadn't heard any noise from the next room in a while,. She
draped the dish towel over the back of the highchair and headed toward the door. 
	"Everything alright in here, Jake?" she said, as she stepped into the living room,
then she stopped in her tracks.  The sight that met her eyes made her catch her breath,
and she felt a warmth seeping through her as she leaned against the wall she smiled. 
The big man was sound asleep with the baby laying against his chest, asleep as well.  A
large hand rested protectively against the child's back, and the other lay gently curled
around one tiny foot.  
	She looked at his face, his dark hair was tousled above closed eyes.   The
exhaustion she had seen when he had first arrived was now replaced by the
peacefulness of sleep, although he still looked tired.   But what struck her most was how
perfectly natural the scene looked.  It was as if Jake was meant to be sleeping with a
babe in his arms, and it should be no surprise at all that he had been able to soothe her
as no one else had managed to do.  The entire scene tugged at her heart in a way she
hadn't felt before, and she let her eyes linger on his face once more.
	Strong, masculine features were framed by dark hair with an ever so slight curl in
it, that was even more accentuated in its current un-brushed state.  Behind those closed
lids she knew there were the most caring eyes she had ever seen, and her smile
widened.  Yes, this man truly looked like he belonged there, in that chair, with the
sleeping child on his chest, and Max sighed. 
	Then she shuffled her feet as an unfamiliar feeling twinged inside her.  Utterly
ridiculous, she told herself, as she chased the thought from her mind.  Seeing man and
child asleep had stirred the longing for a child of her own that she always felt whenever
she was around Maddy.  That didn’t surprise her.  What did surprise her was the thought
that flashed through her mind like a spark, and fled again, but left her shaking herself
back to her senses afterwards.  The thought of those future children of hers being
fathered by Jake Forrester!
	Max glanced around nervously, as if she imagined someone may have read her
thoughts. Silly, she told herself,  Jake is my friend, why should I be thinking like that?  It's
just because you love kids, and you do eventually want your own, she rationalized to
herself.  But still, the idea just didn't seem to want to leave her thoughts, and she dared
to steel one more glance at the sleeping pair.  
	The sound of the back door opening startled her. She jumped, and spun around
with a guilty look on her face.  At the sight of Mikki, she blushed as if she'd been caught
doing something she shouldn't.
	"What are you up to?" Mikki asked, giving her friend a suspicious glance as she
set a bag on the counter.
	"Shhh," Max brought a finger to her lips and nodded her head toward the other
room.  "Have a look at this."
	Mikki wrinkled her brow questioningly and slowly made her way to the doorway. 
With one last curious glance at her friend, she turned to look into the living room. 
Instantly her face broke into a huge grin, and she covered her mouth to muffle her voice. 
"That is so precious," she whispered.  "How long have they been like that?"
	"At least fifteen minutes," Max suggested, although she had to admit to herself
that she had no idea how long she had been standing watching them sleep. 
	"I have to take a picture of this!"  Mikki said, with a mischievous grin, and scurried
off to find her camera. 
	"Don't wake them up!"  Max insisted, chasing after her.  Since Maddy had
arrived, Mikki had taken a million pictures, it seemed.  Nothing escaped her camera
lens; almost every day, if not every hour, of Maddy's life was permanently documented
in pictures.   Max watched with concern as Mikki steadied herself in the doorway and
lined up her lens; held her breath as Mikki eased her finger down on the exposure
button, and let it out when the flash had come and gone and the two sleeping figures
remained motionless.  Only then did Max retreat back to the kitchen table and sit down
to wait for her friend. 
	"What's he doing here anyway?" Mikki asked, setting her camera down nearby in
case there were need of it again.  
	Max shrugged, and glanced at the almost full coffee cup that still sat on the
kitchen table.  She hadn't washed it because she had been expecting Jake to come
back and finish it.  "He came in for a cup of coffee.  I guess there mustn't have been any
in the shop.  He looked absolutely dreadful!  Like he hadn't slept all night.  Maddy
wanted him, so he took her in there while I did up her dishes.  When I was done, I found
them like that"  She grinned despite herself, and glanced at the doorway.
	Mikki chuckled.  "Poor thing.  He must have fallen asleep as soon as he sat
down.  I wonder why he's so tired?"  She shrugged, and lifted her gaze to her friend,
then narrowed her eyes in scrutiny.  "What's that look I see on your face?"
	Max blushed, and tore her eyes away from the direction of the living room. 
"What look?" she asked, and Mikki's grin grew.  "Honestly, Mikki, I don't have a clue
what you're talking about!"
	Mikki leaned a little closer, and Max sat back in her chair and crossed her arms in
defiance.  "I know that look," Mikki insisted.  She looked from the living room doorway to
her friend sitting across the table, then back again with a wink.  After everything her
friends Max and Joey put her through during their days of matchmaking, Mikki grabbed
every opportunity for pay back.  She tried to keep a straight face as she looked Max in
the eyes and continued.  "Why, you're sweet on Jake!"
	"I am not!"  Max blurted out.
	"Are too!"  Mikki insisted,  as one corner of her lips curled up in a sarcastic grin.
	"Am not!" Max repeated.  “It’s Maddy!  You know how I get around her
sometimes.  I start longing for one of my own and get a little dreamy, that's all."  Then
she groaned as she saw the laughter creeping into her friend’s eyes.    She should have
known better than to get roped in to reacting to any of Mikki’s teasing.  She glared
across the table, but couldn’t keep a straight face when confronted with the  triumphant
“gotcha!” expression plastered all over Mikki’s face.
	At last Mikki stood up and reached for the neglected coffee cup, setting it in the
sink, and turning to look thoughtfully towards the living room.  "Well, it doesn't look like
he'll be getting much work done today, but then he probably wouldn't have anyway if he
was as tired as you say he looked.  I should probably move Maddy into her crib, but I
hate to disturb them."
	"You'd probably wake her up," Max agreed, glad that the topic  of conversation
had turned away from herself.  Mikki could be ruthless at times with her teasing, feeling
that Max deserved all she got after the way the girls plotted behind Mikki’s back to set
her up with one man after another.  Max had to agree, now that the shoe was on the
other foot, they had probably gone a little overboard, but no one could ever say that
Reese and Mikki weren’t a match made in heaven.  The fact that she was the only one
of the trio of friends who was still single, however,  just added fuel to the fire, especially
since neither Mikki nor Max had had the pleasure of meddling in Joey’s love life.  

	“Excuse me?” Max stared at the man standing on the other side of her door. 
She had never seen him before in her life, and she was sure he had just asked her if
she were ready to go.  Ready to go where, she wondered, as she wracked her brain.
	 “Have I got the date wrong?” he asked, his brows wrinkled in concern as he
reached into his pocket and pulled out a small electronic organizer and began to punch
at the keypad.  Max had seen this sort of gizmo in the stores, but she'd never actually
known anyone who used them.  She could hardly believe it, and was staring at it when
he spoke again. “I wrote it in my day planner before I left for Seattle.  Yes, here it is,
dinner with Max, Wednesday, June 29th at 6:30."  He lifted his head questioningly.
"Perhaps I should have called first to confirm.”  His frown deepened and Max tried not to
look so completely stumped. Something about the mention of Seattle had begun to jog
her memory.
	“Michael?” she’d mulled over the name, then recollection dawned on her.  Damn!
She’d forgotten all about Mikki’s neighbour’s nephew’s friend, Michael — or whatever
the connection was.  She flashed him a bright smile and gave him the best excuse she
could to come up with on the spur of the moment.  “Oh!  Michael!  I thought you said
Mitchell.  Of course I’m expecting you!  Come on in! I’m sorry I’m not ready yet though, I
was helping a friend with something today and got home later than I expected. Give me
five minutes and I’ll be ready.”
	Michael gave her a wary smile, almost as if he thought five minutes wasn’t
enough time for her to get herself ready, but said nothing as he stepped inside and
began to casually look around.  Max scurried towards her bedroom to get ready,
stopping just outside the doorway to glance back at her date. 
	“Where did you say we were going?”  
	His smile brightened just slightly, as if in anticipation.  “Charmaine’s”  he said, but
if he’d been expecting her to swoon over the mention of the most expensive restaurant
in Elmdale he was probably very disappointed. Max merely nodded, offered a curt ‘right’
with a lifted finger, and turned to dash into her room.
	Damn!  Max cursed under her breath as she tore open her closet door.  She
muttered to herself as she rummaged through her clothes in an attempt to find
something appropriate for Charmaine’s, and finally pulled out a slim fitting strapless
dress made of burgundy taffeta.  Other than the black number she’d worn to the Charity
Ball, it was the fanciest dress she owned.  The man in the other room had better
appreciate it, she thought to herself.
 	The man was the result of one of Mikki’s matchmaking attempts.  He’d called her
several weeks ago, and over the phone he’d seemed like a nice enough guy.  But he
had been leaving on a business trip the very next day, and so they had set up a date for
after his return and Max had thought nothing more about it.  In fact, she had promptly
forgotten all about it, and when he showed up at her door to pick her up she had blinked
at him blankly until he had become obviously uncomfortable.  
 	Overcome by feelings of guilt for having forgotten him,  she quickly applied her
make-up and realized that this guilt was probably more responsible for her having
chosen the taffeta dress than the mention of Charmaine’s.  She owed it to him, she
decided, to look her very best for this date, because nobody deserved to be forgotten!
	It was almost worth it just for the look on his face, she thought, when she
emerged from her bedroom ten minutes later.  “I’m sorry,” she said, looking apologetic. 
“I took a little longer than I said I would.”
	He stared at her with raised brows, and Max blushed slightly at the look she
recognized in his eyes.  It was a look any woman would recognize.  That of appreciation,
and she smiled as he spoke.  “Oh, don’t apologize for that!” he said.  “It was well worth
the wait.”  Max smiled at the compliment and moved toward the door before a thought
occurred to her. 
 	Jake!
	Although Tuesday was their regular gym night, Jake had been working out of
town the last few days, so they had arranged to meet for their workout on Wednesday,
instead of Max going alone on Tuesday.  She glanced at her watch in horror, then shot
Michael a worried look.  Hopefully she still had time to catch Jake before he left home to
pick her up, otherwise she’d have two men waiting for her, and she definitely wouldn’t be
dressed for the gym!
	“Umm — can you excuse me for just one minute?” she asked, her expression
showing her concern.  “I just have to make a quick phone call. Won’t be long.”
	Michael watched as she ran to the phone, as quickly as her high heels would let
her, that is.  She tapped her foot nervously as she listened to the phone ringing in her
ear, muttering under her breath a repetitive oath of please be there, please be there,
please be there, and glance at her date to see if he was looking at her. When at last she
heard Jake’s voice on the other end of the line, she heaved a sigh of relief.
	“Jake!  I’m so glad I caught you at home!”  She eyed the man waiting near the
door, then turned her slightly so her back was towards him.  “Listen, Jake,” she said in a
near whisper.  “I’m afraid I can’t make it to the gym tonight, something came up.”  She
listened carefully to her friend’s voice, trying to decipher how disappointed he was. 
Apparently he was fine with the sudden change of plans, and Max smiled despite
herself.  “Oh Jake, you’re a doll!  I owe you one, I really do! You’re the best.”
	“What was that all about?”  Michael asked, when she had hung up the phone
and returned to him, a bright smile on her face.
	“Oh, nothing, really.  Just something I forgot to tell someone earlier.  I’m ready to
go now.”