All day long, Max hadn’t been able to concentrate at all. He had been hoping against hope for a chance to make things right with Sadie. All his adult life, he had been unable to move on from there relationship. He was unable to form any meaningful bond with anyone else, and he had always held out hope that maybe, one day, he would be able to resolve things.

But it didn’t happen. And he was almost afraid to hope that, even now, anything might change. Sure, they were having dinner, but that could mean anything. It was most likely that she would still want nothing to do with him. Maybe she just wanted to tell him that formally, over a pleasant meal. It would make sense that they would try to talk things out, and figure out a nice understanding they could both work with. They were going to be sharing this town now, whether they liked it or not. It was probably just her way of establishing boundaries.

But honestly, after the way he had disappeared, he wasn’t surprised that she was angry. She had been furious with him even before he had left town without any warning, so how was she supposed to expect him to somehow magically resolve things without some kind of conversation? It wasn’t the kind of thing you talked about in the car on the way to work. They were probably just going to rehash the past and hope to make the future as bearable as possible.

And yet, he couldn’t restrain the faint glimmer of hope that was dancing within him. He wanted more than anything to make things right with Sadie. This would give him a great starting point. Even if their relationship was never the same way it used to be, at least he would have some small chance of making things right.

“Max, what the hell took you so long? I’ve been unloading shit for an hour now without you.”

Max grimaced. He had gotten so wrapped up in Sadie and getting her to work on time that he had completely forgotten he had asked Terry to come over and help him take care of the shipment. It was time to start stocking the shelves of the store, and it was starting to be a lot harder by himself than he had anticipated. It was lucky Terry still had so much respect and blind admiration for him. It didn’t seem like anybody else did.

“I’m really sorry. I had something urgent to take care of.”

“Yeah, I saw her,” Terry said, shaking his head slowly. “I guess some things never change.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Max asked, his hackles up immediately. The small growl in his voice made Terry’s head snap up from his task, and a wide, goofy grin spread across Terry’s lips.

“I think you know what it means,” Terry said, chuckling to himself. He wasn’t threatened at all. Probably because he had meant no offense. “The two of you were always close. I just assumed it would be a matter of time before it happened again. I guess I didn’t think it would be this fast, is all.”

“Oh,” Max said quietly, the adrenaline that had been animating him beginning to slow and recede. “Did she talk about me a lot or something?”

Terry shook his head. “No, I think she was pretty upset when you left the way you did. We all were.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, but you know I didn’t have any other choice.”

Terry shrugged. “Sure.”

Clearly, he wasn’t so convinced. Max sighed.

“Is she seeing somebody right now?” he asked, not daring to look up into Terry’s mocking eyes.

“Not right now. She was going out with Paul for a little while, but I don’t think they were a good fit. She’s been on her own for the past six months at this point. I bet she’s been waiting for you to come back.”

Max scoffed. If that was true, then one would think she would have wanted to respond to at least one of his many heartfelt letters. She knew how to contact him, and if she hadn’t, it was because she still felt angry about the way things ended between them. Either way, he was about to find out.

“What would she date Paul for?” Max mumbled. “He’s just a big brute.”

“Apparently, she likes that kind of thing,” Terry teased.

Max grinned. “I guess so.”

They fell into a pleasant rhythm, as the clock ticked the time of the day away. Max found it really difficult to contain himself as the hour drew near to the time when he was finally going to be able to talk to Sadie alone about what truly mattered. And although he was nervous, he was also more excited now than he had ever been in his life. Even more excited than finally realizing his business had truly transcended into something amazing.

When the clock finally struck 5 o’clock, he grinned at Terry. “Well, I think it’s time to close up for the night. Thanks for all your help.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem,” Terry said, gathering his things and heading for the door. “Take care of yourself, Max.”

“You too,” Max said.

When he was finally alone, he set to work locking up and quickly took inventory. He was going to have to dress well. There was no telling what kind of dinner this was going to be, and he would just have to be prepared both for the best and the worst.