“You can’t be serious,” Sadie exclaimed, pausing in front of the huge building as Terry Porter perfected the sign he was hanging from the top of his ladder.

“What are you talking about?” Terry asked, quirking his brow down at her.

“This is Stone Shifter,” Sadie said, taking a step back and looking the storefront up and down. “That’s Max’s store, right?”

“You would be absolutely correct about that,” Terry said, laughing heartily. “I hear there’s going to be a huge grand opening for his new headquarters and it’s going to bring him some serious business. It’ll be good to have him back in town again.”

“You mean he’s going to be coming here?” Sadie exclaimed. “I thought he was living over near Oak Mountain!”

“Well, he’s moving back,” Terry said. “And it’s about time. The pack has needed him for a long time. You know things went a little south when he ended up having to leave.”

Sadie’s stomach turned. She knew better than anybody how south Max’s luck had become at that point. Because it had been her fault it had happened in the first place. She had never forgiven herself for the way her big fat mouth had gotten him into trouble. If he hadn’t been run off and forced into leaving town the way he had, then maybe their relationship would have had a chance.

But she had been angry at him, and angry at the world, at that point. And although she had just been a kid, she still found it really hard to forgive herself. She had ruined his life, as far as she was able to tell. Even if he did have a successful business now, he had been forced to give up the things he had cared the most about. Things like his leadership and his duties and his role within the pack. Stonybrooke had been his home, and it was because of her he had lost it. And now, she was going to have to face that reality again and again, every time she passed the storefront. And any time she might potentially run into the man she had never stopped loving.

“Okay, thanks, Terry,” Sadie said quietly.

She felt a tightness in her chest as she turned away, her mind reeling with the new information. Max hadn’t spoken to her in fifteen years. Ever since he had been driven out of town and she had gone off on him about what a selfish, arrogant prick he was, they had been estranged. He probably hated her guts, and she had no way of contacting him to tell him how sorry she was.

Even if she had wanted to, it was just too much to say over the phone or in a letter. And that was assuming he would even be willing to talk to her at all. It seemed likely that if he knew who was calling, he would laugh right in her face or hang up on her.

“So Max is back in town, is he?”

Sadie froze as her mother’s voice reached her ears and she turned toward her, smiling as cheerfully as she could muster.

“I guess so. I haven’t seen him yet.”

“He will be in town Monday,” Terry said loudly from up on his ladder. Sadie cringed inwardly. Great. At least she knew how long she was going to be safe from his memory. But, come Monday, she would have to avoid this street for the rest of her life.

“How charming,” her mother said.

“I guess so, Mrs. Green,” Terry said with a chuckle. “Sure will be good to have him back in town again.”

Sadie’s mother smiled tightly at Terry. She had never liked Max, and Sadie knew the news didn’t make her mother feel any better than it made her feel. She had viewed Max as the scourge of the Earth. In fact, she had been insufferable during Sadie’s teen years, being controlling and paranoid about her relationship with him. She thought he was some sort of hooligan, and always treated them that way.

“Indeed. Come now, Sadie. We have some shopping to do.”

“Bye, Terry,” Sadie said.

“Take care, ladies.”

Sadie followed along behind her mother, nausea plaguing her. The news about Max meant her day had just gotten considerably worse. It was no fun to be trapped in her mother’s pushy Friday shopping trips, but now that she had a reason to complain, Sadie knew bad things would happen. There was nothing worse than being stuck with her mother when she was in a bad mood.

“Isn’t that interesting? About Max…” her mother began as they rounded the corner.

Sadie sighed. That hadn’t taken very long.

“I guess so,” Sadie said. “It doesn’t affect us any, though, so whatever.”

“’Whatever?’” her mother asked, frowning. Sadie sighed.

“Here we go,” she mumbled.

“That man was a heathen! He was an absolute disgrace and Stonybrooke was much better off without the likes of him here. And all you can say is ‘whatever’?”

“I know you never got along with him well,” Sadie sighed. The truth was, it had been hellish to try to get her mother to admit even one decent thing about Max. Sure, he was a cocky jerk, but he wasn’t useless. He was brilliant and strong and handsome…

But those weren’t the types of things a mother could see in the man she thought was desecrating her daughter, and Sadie couldn’t help but sigh. Her relationship with Max had been complicated enough without her mother’s interference. If she hadn’t planted those awful ideas into Sadie’s head about the kind of person Max really was deep down, maybe she never would have said those things to him…blabbed and said things that got his enemies right on his trail and drove him out of Stonybrooke forever.

And now, he was coming back.

“If the rest of the world knew Max the way we know him, I doubt his little business would be so successful. Why would anybody want to support such a dishonest man? I have never met anybody more full of himself in all my life.”

“Mother, do we have to talk about this now? We’re almost to the store. Let’s pick this up later. It’s distressing enough to know he is coming back to town.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. Let’s just try to enjoy this experience together, shall we?”

Sadie sighed. It was rare that she actually did enjoy these shopping trips, but her mother had insisted on them. It was something they had done ever since she had moved out of her mother’s house, where she had felt deeply depressed for most of her life. Their relationship had always been strained, mostly because her mother really didn’t understand her. And she certainly did not understand her taste in men like Max. Then again, she had a hard time justifying that attraction to herself as well. It certainly hadn’t turned out very well.

“All right, let’s get this over with,” Sadie said.

Her mother nodded, and they walked into the store in silence.