Max pulled up in front of the cute brick front ranch, his gut churning. He’d been here many times before, both in good times and bad, but today was the first time that he struggled to get out of the car.

He dreaded the upcoming confrontation, and he knew there would be one. And it would likely be ugly. Sara, kind soul that she was, probably wouldn’t have a problem with what he was going to tell them, but Keith would. Max hated to lose their friendship, but he wasn’t giving Molly up either.

Strengthening his resolve, and giving himself a kick in the ass for dragging his heels, Max exited the car and strode up the front walkway. Before he even reached the door, Sara was there, holding it open and welcoming him inside.

“Max, so good to see you!” She gave him a hug after he closed the door behind himself. “Come into the kitchen. I made coffee and some cinnamon rolls. When Keith said you want to talk, I figured baked goods might be needed.”

Max thought whiskey might be a better option, but it was only ten o’clock on a Sunday morning.

“Thanks, Sara. You’re too good to me,” he said, following her into the kitchen, where Keith sat at the table with Carter on his lap.

The boy certainly was a cutie, especially with icing smeared across most of his face from the mangled cinnamon roll in front of him.

“Hey,” Keith said in greeting, though it wasn’t very welcoming. Max didn’t blame him, much, since he’d probably guessed what Max wanted to discuss. “Here, babe,” Keith said, handing the toddler to Sara. “Can you give him a bath?”

Sara scooped Carter up and turned to face Max. “I don’t have a problem with you dating Molly; you know I’ve forgiven her. As long as you care about her and will stick by her this time, I’ll be happy for you. She needs structure and someone to look out for her. But if you screw her over again I’ll be really, really angry with you, Max.”

Max tried not to smile at Sara’s attempt at being tough. “Thanks, Sara. I appreciate your honesty.”

She gave him a decisive nod and walked out of the room with Carter, leaving Max alone with Keith.

“Your woman is something else,” Max said, pouring himself a mug of coffee and taking a seat across from Keith. “How’d she know?”

“Who knows?” Keith said, casually taking a sip of his coffee while pretending the rest of his body wasn’t strung tight as a bow. “Sometimes women just know things. Especially Sara.”

Max mimicked Keith’s artificially relaxed posture and picked up his own coffee mug. “However she figured it out, I’m glad she’s supportive, even if they never have any contact.”

Keith eased slightly, the shift so small anyone other than a trained detective would have missed it. “So you’re not expecting us to accept Molly with open arms and forget about the past?”

Max was insulted he’d even think that. “Of course not, Keith. That’s not realistic, or really any of my business, plus, you have a restraining order. I’m here to tell you that we’re seeing each other, that it’s serious, hopefully to avoid a public altercation. If we’re able to maintain our friendship that would be a welcome bonus.”

Keith studied him for a long time, the air between them thick with tension. Max suspected the main reason for Keith’s concern, and didn’t blame him one bit, but waited for him to formulate the words.

“What about Carter?” Keith spit out, obviously dreading the answer.

“He belongs to you and Sara,” Max replied evenly.

“What if Molly stays clean and you two get all cozy and you decide you want kids. You can’t just come in and take my son from me. I won’t allow it.” Keith vibrated with rage at even the thought of that happening and Max rushed to calm him down.

“Neither one of us wants kids. Molly says she needs to focus on taking care of herself and she has no interest bringing a child into this world with her issues. I’ve never wanted to reproduce and don’t see myself changing my mind, ever.” Keith opened his mouth in interrupt but Max cut him off. “Even if we both changed our mind, which is highly unlikely, we would have one of our own. Molly signed her rights away, twice. She understands that and doesn’t want to change anything. Carter is yours and Sara’s and nothing will ever change that.”

Max felt a twinge of guilt for making these promises without telling Molly first, though they had talked about everything. Max didn’t think she’d ever change her mind about having children, but even if she did, he’d never let her try to take Carter.

“You have nothing to worry about where Carter is concerned, Keith. Even if she said she wanted to get involved in his life, which I can’t picture her doing, I wouldn’t allow it. It wouldn’t be right.” Max took a breath and met Keith’s wary glare head on. “I know Molly did terrible things, things that could have ruined your life, and believe me, she knows it too. I’m not asking you to forgive and forget. I’m just asking you to accept that people can change, and Molly is one of those people. She’s clean and determined to stay that way, and working. I’m not going to bring her around and make you guys uncomfortable, but I would like to be able to have a few beers with you or play ball without worrying if you’re going to take a swing at me.”

Max stood to leave having said what he came to say. He wasn’t going to beg. “You think about it, but just know that whatever you decide, I think you and Sara are great people and I’m glad to have known you.”

Then he left, without waiting for Keith to answer.

* * *

They settled into a routine after that day and life evened out. If Max wasn’t working in the evening, they stayed at his house. If he did have to work, Molly made dinner at her apartment and he’d join her whenever he got home, even if it was after she went to bed. They went to the movies on the weekend, a matinee show so Molly would be home by nine, and did their grocery shopping together on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon they’d sometimes go hiking in the hills about an hour away from the city, or walk along the waterfront, talking and sharing their hopes and dreams. If Max had business downtown in the afternoon, they’d meet for a quick lunch, checking out new, funky restaurants together. All things couples do. There was no drama and no rule breaking. Everything was smooth sailing.

Max should have known better than to tempt fate by even thinking about how well things were going.

A month after the run in with Rodney, Max found himself summoned downtown to a meeting with his boss’s boss. After taking a seat on the other side of her desk, Max waited for the Chief of Detectives to speak. He hadn’t the faintest idea what she wanted with him, though. It couldn’t possibly be anything bad. He made sure all of his cases were one hundred percent by the book.

“This is a strange situation for me, Davidson, and I’m not quite sure how to handle it,” she began, her demeanor not giving him any hint of what was to come. She sat straight up in her chair, her hands clasped in front of her on the desk. “So, I’m just going to say it and you can tell me whether it’s true or not.”

Max started to worry, even though he was certain he’d done nothing wrong. “I’d appreciate that because I’m not sure what’s going on, either.”

“I’ve had a report of you misusing department resources to aid a known felon.” Once the words were out, she sat back in her chair and waited for Max to reply. Which took him an overly long time because he couldn’t believe that someone accused him of something so wild.

“I don’t really know what to say, ma’am. I’m not sure why someone would say that,” he admitted, at a loss. He searched through his memory for any incident that might be misconstrued as inappropriate, because he certainly hadn’t ever deliberately done anything wrong.

“I didn’t believe it, at first, but when I expressed my doubt the accuser provided me with photos.” She reached for a file folder from the top of a pile of other folders and set it in front of her. “These pictures don’t really tell me much without a story to go with them, and the person who reported you is claiming you broke department policy and used your position to help a felon with no benefit to the city.”

She slid the folder across her desk and Max reached over to grab it, almost shaking with a mixture of frustration and confusion. When he opened it, he found pictures of him in the driver’s seat of a department issued vehicle. After a second, he realized they were taken while he was watching Molly’s exchange with Rodney. Whoever took the picture made sure to leave Grayson out of it, so it looked like Max was alone. Further down in the stack were shots of him running down the street with his gun and badge out, then some of him hugging Molly and walking back to the undercover car with her. Then, finally, several of him in the car with her.

He saw why the chief would find it plausible that the story was true. Just looking at these pictures, it looked like he’d done exactly what she’d said.

“I took the liberty of pulling the arrest reports from that day, and didn’t find one of yours. So, you can see how I might be concerned, even though there’s nothing in your file that would make me suspect this of you.”

“Chief, I can see why it looks suspicious, but I have a different story to tell.” Max put the folder back on her desk and sat back. He’d hoped to avoid telling anyone about his relationship with Molly since it wasn’t anyone’s business, but he had no choice now. “You didn’t find any arrests by me, but there is one by Grayson. He was in the car with me and he also ran down the street towards a known drug dealer who was trying to kidnap a woman. That woman is my girlfriend.”

“Interesting. And why was your girlfriend in that neighborhood, in danger of being kidnapped by a drug dealer?” He had a feeling she already knew the whole story, and just wanted to make sure Max told her the truth.

Max took a deep breath, steeling himself for any possible outcome. “He used to be her dealer, before she went to jail. She owed him money from before and he was harassing her to pay him back. He was also trying to snatch her off the street to get her back on drugs so she’d prostitute herself for him. She wasn’t a prostitute before, just someone who liked to party and didn’t like to work. We met and dated years ago, but her life took a few bad turns and she ended up in trouble. After she was released from prison, we reconnected and are now dating. I was there, with Grayson, to provide back up while she made the pay off, and to arrest him if he stepped out of line. Which he did.”

The chief didn’t speak for so long that Max felt obligated to fill the quiet.

“Molly is on parole and doing great. She has a full-time job, goes to counseling once a week and is committed to living her life on the right side of the law.”

“That’s good to hear, Davidson. I’ve already spoken to Detective Miller this morning and you’ve corroborated everything he’s said. My only other question is why does Tina Roundtree have it out for you?”

Max’s lip curled up in disgust at the mention of that woman’s name. “She wanted me to date her and I refused. I should have known she’d retaliate eventually.”

“Well, you make sure you don’t retaliate back. I’ve reported her to human resources and I don’t expect her to be around much longer.” The chief stood up, indicating that the meeting was over. “I’m glad we cleared this up so quickly.”

With that, Max was dismissed. He turned and left her office fighting the urge to punch a wall or throw a desk. He couldn’t believe that Tina tried to get him in trouble. That she’d followed him, taken pictures, and had the gall to make up lies about what happened. Did she honestly think the chief would believe her over both Max and Grayson? The woman was delusional.

He drove straight home, unable to return to the same building Tina worked in, texting Grayson along the way. Once home he tossed his suit jacket on the couch and headed straight to the kitchen for a beer. He’d been mostly avoiding alcohol in deference to Molly, but he really needed a cold one right now. Since it was only one in the afternoon, he had at least four hours until she got home. Plenty of time to have a few and calm down. He had a brief thought that a better way to release his frustration would be to hit the gym and that he’d regret his choice to drown his problems in the middle of the afternoon, but he shut that down within a second.

Unfortunately, two beers turned into six while he considered just how evil a woman scorned could be, and before he knew it Max was squinting to make the numbers on the clock stop moving around. When he finally could see straight he wanted to toss his beer across the room.

It was nine fifteen and Molly wasn’t home yet.

He couldn’t believe that he’d trusted her, that he’d believed her when she said she wanted to obey the law and stay out of trouble. She knew she had to be home by nine or else risk going back to jail. How could she be so careless? Didn’t she understand that he needed her, here, with him?

As if thinking about her summoned her, Molly walked in through his side door. She looked fantastic in tight little cotton shorts and a tank top, but Max wouldn’t let her hot body distract him.

“Hey, honey, how was your day?” she called from the kitchen. He heard the fridge open and watched her saunter into the living room, like she hadn’t just broken a rule and violated the terms of her parole.

“Where have you been, young lady?” He pushed himself up out of the couch but stumbled backwards before he could get his footing. He hadn’t gotten up in a while, apparently, and his last two beers were hitting him hard.

Molly froze when she caught sight of him. “Have you been drinking, Max?”

“Yes, a little. But I’m allowed to drink.” She flinched at that, but he ignored her and kept going. “The better question is, where were you? It’s after nine.”

He took a swig of beer, giving her a second to come up with some lame excuse, but then decided he didn’t want to hear it.

“I should have known better. You’ve only been out of prison for what? Three months? Four months? Actually, I’m surprised you made it this long without screwing up.”

“But, Max, I…”

“Nope. I’m not listening to your excuses. You broke your promise to me when I trusted you. I believed you.” He took another drink, and took a step towards Molly.

“I’m going to go, Max. I don’t want to be around you when you’re this drunk.” She backed up when he took another step.

“I’m not that drunk.” He moved towards her again, which had her retreating further. “Where do you think you’re going? You broke a rule and you need to be punished.”

Her face turned red and she clenched her fists; her confused look turned into one filled with anger. Max waited for her to explode; fly off the handle and tell him to go to hell. Then he’d know that her good girl routine was just that—an act meant to make him believe that they could work as a couple.

Then she took a deep breath. And another, as if she was the one who deserved to be angry. It took her several minutes to compose herself enough to speak, and the whole time Max just glared at her. He didn’t know what kind of story she’d come up with, but he suspected it would be a doozy.

“I didn’t break a rule. When you look at your phone you’ll see that I’m telling the truth. And you’re never punishing me when you’re in this state, if I let you punish me at all.” She paused and closed her eyes, breathing deep. “Now, I need to leave as I’m having a hard time remembering why I should stay sober since obviously you think I’m the same person I was before I went to prison. I’m not, Max, and you of all people should know that. I don’t know what more I need to do to prove that to you.” She reached the door and pulled it open. Max decided to let her go since he knew where she lived. “You’re going to feel really stupid in the morning, Max.”

She walked out the door and didn’t look back, even when Max yelled after her, “You better come straight home from work, young lady. You’re in trouble.”

Well, that was just one more thing that went wrong on this shit day to end all shit days.

He stumbled back to the couch and dropped down into the same spot he was in before Molly showed up. He’d just rest for a few minutes and sober up a bit. Then he’d go deal with Molly.