Chapter 13

	“Can you believe what they say about Chris Carlson?” Max commented as she
followed Mikki down the grocery aisle, her nose in a magazine.
	“Not at all,” Mikki quipped. “since I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.  I
haven’t read that magazine, remember, and I hope you don’t intend to read the whole
thing while we’re shopping and then put it back on the rack before we leave.”
	“Mikki! Would I do such a thing?” Max looked at her with wide, innocent eyes.
	“I wouldn’t put it past you.” Mikki replied, as she reached into the cooler for some
cheese.  “Max, what kind of cheese did that recipe call for again?”
	Max lifted her nose out of the magazine for a moment and squinted at the
cheese Mikki held in her hand. “Nope, that wasn’t it. I think it was Feta.  No, wait a
minute, maybe it was Romano.”
	Mikki groaned. “Max, there’s a big difference between Feta cheese and
Romano!”
	Max shrugged. “Well, why am I always the one who has to remember these
things?”
	“Maybe because this dish was your idea, and the recipe was in one of your
magazines?”
	Max frowned. “Well, we’re making Moussaka, right. That’s Greek isn’t it? So it
was probably Feta.”
	Mikki put the cheese she’d been looking at back in the display and shook her
head. “I don’t think so, I would have remembered that, it’s the same cheese they put in a
Greek Salad.” She looked over the cheeses on display with a frown on her face. “I have
a feeling it was something they don’t even sell here.”
	Max lowered the magazine for a moment to glance over the cheeses as well.
“You’re probably right. We should have chosen a local dish. Oh well, so much for
wanting to try something new and exciting, huh.”
	“Well, that would defeat the purpose of trying a dish from a different country each
day, wouldn’t it?”  For the past week they’d poured over magazines and recipe books
and selected a different international dish to try for each day. They’d aimed for originality,
avoiding the more popular choices like Italian and Chinese, opting for foods such as 
Greek and Thai instead.  The exercise had been Max’s brainchild, intended to keep
Mikki’s mind off of Reese, and Mikki had to admit, she’d been enjoying the cooking. In
fact, when they had decided on making this their Greek night, she’d been eager to make
Baklava as well as their main course, the pastry being the first thing she had sought out
when she’d entered the store. 
	She picked up a brick of Romano cheese and put it in the cart. “I’m going with
Romano, it’s pretty versatile and I think it will work.  What else do we need?”
	Max glanced into the cart, unaware of what Mikki had already picked up since
she’d been preoccupied with the magazine for the last three aisles. “Eggplant.” She said.
	“Produce, here we come then.” Mikki nodded, and maneuvered her cart around
the people stopped ahead of her at the milk cooler and nosed around the corner at the
end of the aisle. “And put that magazine down Max. You should either put it back on the
stand or buy it, not read it in here!”
	Max sighed and closed the magazine, pretending to pout. “I was just getting to
the part where they were going to talk about Liz Taylor’s newest diet.”
	Mikki turned to her friend and shook her head, laughing at her. “We’re not dieting
on Moussaka and Baklava are we, so I don’t think you’re missing anything.”
	As she spoke, she felt her cart bump into another cart and quickly turned a
deeply  apologetic glance towards the victim. When their eyes came face to face she
nearly had to pick her jaw up off the floor.
	“Lucas!?” 
	“Mikki!” He beamed down at her, moved around the carts and gave her a big hug
like a long lost friend.  Max shifted uneasily at her side and cleared her throat.
	Mikki stepped back from Lucas’ hug and laughed at her friend. “Sorry Max. This
is Lucas Ryan. Lucas, my best friend, Maxine McGreggor, although she’ll never forgive
you if you call her Maxine.”
	Max nodded. “Just Max, please.” She smiled sweetly, and Lucas reached for her
hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it in an exaggerated gesture.
	“Enchanting.” He said, flashing her a brilliant smile and making her blush.  “Two
ravishing beauties  in the same grocery aisle.  I am a lucky man today!”
	Max beamed and giggled, and Mikki gave Lucas a friendly swat on the arm. “Cut
it out Lucas, this is my friend you’re talking to, not a movie star.”
	“Mikki!” Max shot her a look of mock indigence. “Please, if the gentleman wishes
to flatter, who are we to discourage him.”
	They all laughed, and Lucas made himself at home, draping his arm over Max’s
shoulders.  “Your groceries look more interesting than mine.” Lucas commented.
“Maybe I should invite myself over for dinner?  I’ve just got back in town and my fridge
and cupboards are bare.”
	“You’ve been in Clay River ‘til now?” Mikki asked, and he nodded.  “How is
Emily?”  She steered the conversation away from the possibility of him joining them for
dinner, just in case Max got any ideas of going along with it.  Much as she liked Lucas,
and found him easy company, she didn’t need him at her apartment, asking questions
about where Reese was or why he wasn’t dining with them as well.
	“Home with Dad again. It would take a lot to keep that woman down.” He
accentuated his comment with a smile of admiration, and Mikki returned his smile.
	“I’m so glad she’s all right.”
	Lucas eyed her questioningly. “Reese didn’t tell you she’d been discharged a
couple of days ago?”
	Mikki shifted uneasily. “No, he -- ahhh -- didn’t mention it.”
	“So you know Reese?” Max broke in, smiling up at the handsome man who had
easily attached himself to her, turning his attention away from Mikki.
	“Unfortunately.” He scowled, then broke into a laugh. “Step-brother.”  he said,
then hugged Max a little closer. “But you know I’d rather talk about you ladies than that
ugly mug.”
	Mikki laughed, knowing he was only teasing, that he thought of Reese as a true
brother.  For a moment she envied him his closeness to Reese, something she would
never have now.  She looked at her friend, who seemed delighted with Lucas’ flirtations,
and was eagerly describing the meal they were going to be making.
	“Sounds delicious!” he said, winking down at her. “Just like you.”
	Max giggled and Mikki gave her friend a sideways glance. “Watch out for this
guy, he’s a real ladies man.” she said, though still smiling.  
	“Aww Mikki, give a guy a break, huh?” he said, winking at her, as they moved
their carts out of traffic and started to move on through the aisles.  As they finished their
shopping, Lucas stayed by their side, chatting and flirting with Max, until Mikki
announced that she had everything she needed for their meal.  Lucas gave her another
brotherly hug, planted another elaborate kiss on the back of Max’s hand, and bade them
farewell, before reluctantly moving on to finish his own shopping.
	“Isn’t he quite the character?” Max announced, laughingly, as they left the store. 
	“He sure is!” Mikki glanced back towards the store and chuckled.  “But he’s OK.
He just likes to flirt.”  She shot Max a teasing grin. “You better watch it, he might show up
at your door unannounced some day.”
	Max laughed.  “Yeah, he’s sweet, but he’s not really my type.”
	“What exactly is your type?” Mikki asked.	
	“Oh I don’t know. Like I said, he’s sweet, but he just kind of felt like a brother, or
good friend. He’s hilarious though.”
	Mikki raised her brow. “So you’d have a good time together anyway.”
	“Mikki Johnson, don’t you get any crazy ideas of match making with me, you
hear?”
	Max laughed, “Oh really! It’s OK for you to do it, but not for me?  You know, don’t
you, that you have to expect payback one of these days!”
	“Ouch!” Max winced, and the two of them laughed. 	

	Reese had thrown himself into his work when he’d returned from Clay River.  The
Cartwright contract involved himself, Jake and several other workers he brought in. 
They’d all worked for him in the past, and he knew he could count on them to turn out
good work, while they knew what he expected from them.  Their usually easygoing,
friendly boss, however, was driving them hard and expecting perfection.  He was on the
job-site long before anyone else arrived in the mornings, and worked well after his men
had left in the evenings.  Nothing seemed to satisfy him, and he put a lot of time into
doing work personally that normally his workers could have done. He was grumpy, and
critical, and at the end of the day, he was exhausted.
	“You’ve got to say something to him.” Tom Jennings said, pulling Jake aside one
day.  Tom had worked for Reese on many jobs, and had brought a few of his friends
with him for this project when Reese had put out the call for workers.  Tom knew Reese
as a fair boss, easy to work for, and easy to get along with, but lately, his friends had
been saying that if this man was what Tom called fair, he needn’t bother to call them the
next time Kincaide Landscaping needed workers.
	Jake glanced across the lot to where Reese was pointing out instructions to one
of the new men, sighed and raked his hand through his hair.  “I don’t know what it is
Tom, you know he’s not usually like this.”
	“I know it, but the guys don’t, and he’s going to lose a pile of good workers if this
keeps up.”
	Jake nodded.  “Ever since his mother took sick he’s been like this. Something’s
eating at him, and I don’t know what.  If you can talk to the men and assure them that
this is just a temporary madness, I’ll see what I can do.”
	Tom shook his head in uncertainty.  “I’ll try. I hate to see a good man in a bad
state of affairs.  If something isn’t done soon, word’s gonna get around.”  He glanced at
the workers who were giving Reese hard looks over their shoulders as he strode away
towards his truck, and sighed.  “I’ll have a word with the guys, but you have to work fast,
Jake, I’m telling you, they aren’t gonna take much more of this.”
	“I know.” Jake assured him, and turned to watch his friend pull the truck out of
the lot and head off down the road. “I know.” he repeated to himself.  With a heavy sigh,
he headed towards his own truck.  On a contract such as this one, Reese usually
required Jake to be on the job-site if he wasn’t there himself, but drastic times called for
drastic measures, Jake told himself, as he pulled off the lot.

	Reese pulled the truck to an abrupt stop outside the shop and crossed the
distance to the main door with long purposeful strides.  He glanced at the car that was
parked in the driveway as he walked past it and grumbled under his breath.  
	“What’s up?” He asked, as he entered the shop, acknowledging Lucas without
even looking at him. 
	“Hey, you’re in a good mood today.” Lucas said, sarcastically.
	“Cut the crap and get to the point.” He cast his step-brother a stern look and
flipped open a crate in the back of the shop.
	“OK, OK, I just thought I’d drop in and let you know I’m back in town, and give
you an update.”
	Reese sighed and slumped against the crate, turning to look at the other man,
rubbing his hand over his face in fatigue. “Sorry Luke, I’m just overworked right now, this
contract is heavyweight. How was Mom when you left?”
	“She was getting along fine. The doctors say she’s bounced back remarkably
well, and with a slight change in her medication, she’ll be good as new, as long as she
takes it easy for a few weeks. Dad was managing, just barely, to keep her quiet.  She
insists on cooking, but he’s doing the vacuuming and laundry -- with her supervision, of
course -- and Marina’s been a great help. She’s been over to the house every day since
Emily came home.”
	Reese nodded, and smiled. “Thanks Luke, I appreciate you coming all the way
out here to keep me posted.”
	Luke squinted across the room at him.  “You look a mess you know, Reese.  I’ve
never seen you like this.  You pushing yourself too hard on the job or something?”
	Reese sighed. None of your business was his instinctive answer, but he knew
Luke didn’t deserve that kind of a response.  Instead, he turned away and started
digging in the crate again and mumbled an excuse under his breath. 
	“Got a lot of time to make up for from when I was in Clay River.  It delayed the
start of this contract more than I’d like it to have.”
	“Nonsense, you’ve got Jake, he’s quite capable of taking care of things while
you’re away any time he needs to.  And I imagine for a contract like this, you hire a
number of men to help out.”
	Reese tossed a crowbar aside in the crate and it clanged loudly when it landed
against a pile of other tools.  He swore under his breath, took a deep breath, and held
back the curse he wanted to spit out at his step-brother.
	“Look, Luke, as I said, I appreciate you coming by to let me know about Mother. 
I was reassured when I left, to know that you were going to be staying back longer and
would be able to bring me news when you came back to town. You know as well as I do
that  if I called and asked her myself she’d never tell me the truth, and if I talked to
Patrick, well, he’d have to watch what he said if she was listening.  So, you’ve given me
the low-down, is that all you came out here for, or is there something else on your
mind?”  He said, curtly.
	Luke straightened, and cleared his throat, taken aback slightly by Reese’s short
temper. “Well, yeah, as a matter of fact, I was kinda wondering if you could wheedle me
out an invitation for dinner tonight?”
	Reese looked at him like he’d gone mad.  “You want what?”
	Luke grinned sheepishly and shuffled his foot against the shop floor. “I thought
maybe you could coax Mikki into inviting me over for dinner tonight?”
	Reese’s eyes flashed dark and cold. “Why would I want to do that?”
	Luke shrugged. “Well, -- umm -- I ran into Mikki and Max at the supermarket
earlier today. They were doing their groceries. Mikki’s making Moussaka and Baklava,
and I thought -- well -- I bet there’d be lots, what’s one more person at the table, you
know.” He grinned nervously, because suddenly Reese looked ready to kill, and Luke
wasn’t exactly sure what he had said to bring on this apparent rage.  At the same time,
Jake stepped into the shop, but neither of the other men noticed him at first.
	“If Mikki and Max were at the store doing their groceries, what makes you think
I’d have any influence over who gets invited to dinner?” Reese bit out his words through
clenched teeth, his hand gripping on the tool he had just picked up.
	Luke glanced towards the door, where Jake had moved further into the room. 
“Well, I just thought that....”
	“Well you thought wrong.”  Reese said flatly.
	“Reese, get a grip.” Jake said in a calm yet stern voice. “He didn’t mean anything
by it. He just wanted to share in the good cooking you know, that’s all.”
	Reese shot his friend a warning glance. “Stay out of this, Jake.”
	“Reese! Hey, man, don’t worry, I’m not after your girl or anything.  It’s just that
Max...”
	Reese let the tool drop from his hand, and it clattered to the floor loudly. “Exactly,
Luke -- Max!  Don’t you get it? If Mikki’s with Max, why the hell would you think she’d still
be with me?”  Having said this, he seemed almost relieved, the source of his fowl mood
finally out in the open.  He sighed and ran his hand through his hair and strode across
the room towards the workbench. “She played me for the fool, Luke.”  He shot a glance
from Luke to Jake. “I thought she was different, I thought she was special, but all the
while she was playing doubles.”
	“What the hell?” Luke looked at him as he ranted on, totally confused as to just
what his step-brother was carrying on about. “What on earth are you talking about?”
	Reese swung around and glared at the two of them. “Mikki.  That’s what we’re
talking about, isn’t it? Mikki, who acted so sweet and innocent with me while all the while
she had this Max guy to play with too.”
	Silence filled the room as both Jake and Luke stared at him in disbelief.  All of a
sudden Jake burst out laughing, nearly doubling over, and hardly able to talk. “Is that
what’s been eating you up ever since you came back from Clay River?”
	Reese shot his friend a look that could kill. “And what’s so funny about that?”  He
spat out at him.
	Jake held his stomach now, laughing uncontrollably, while Luke still blinked in
amazement.  “Reese, Max is a woman!”  Jake managed to say through his laughter.
	A look of bewilderment started to seep over Reese’s face as he looked from
Jake to Luke, who was suddenly laughing almost as hard as Jake.
	“And what a woman!” Luke added, using his hands to form the shape of
womanly curves in the air. “You mean to say you’ve never met her?  Red hair, blue eyes
-- hot!”  He shook his hand in a common gesture men used to describe a hot female,
and Reese’s face began to turn red.
	“Max is a what?” he demanded, as he watched the two other men contorting in
laughter.  Suddenly his head was spinning.  The vision of a red-headed woman walking
down the hall of Mikki’s apartment building was becoming clearer and clearer in his
mind, and he groaned.
	“A woman.” Jake chimed in. “A girl!  Hot blooded female. Real sexy voice!” 
	“Her name’s Maxine McGreggor.” Luke said, his grin mocking Reese now.  “But
she prefers to be called Max.  I think it suits her actually.  She’s Mikki’s best friend.  I
thought if I could score an invite to this Greek dinner the two of them are cooking tonight
I might just have a chance with her.  She thinks I’m funny you know”
	“Oh go stuff a sock in it!” Reese blurted out, and with that he stormed past them
and out of the shop.  Jake and Luke looked at each other and burst out laughing once
again.
	Reese charged across the yard and into the house, where he proceeded to pace
the floor and rake his fingers through his hair, before finally dropping down on the couch,
and burying his face in his hands. He had managed to get one thing right through all of
this.  He had indeed been made a major fool of, but not by Mikki -- he’d done it all
himself!