Pastries and Prophecies by Christine Pope
Author:Christine Pope [Pope, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Chapter 10
Enter the Lion
For a second, I could only stare up at Max, wondering whether all the strain of the past few days had been too much and Iâd suddenly started hallucinating.
But no, that really was my friend standing there on the doorstep, looking way more tanned and relaxed than the wintry landscape just beyond him would normally have warranted.
Then I found my voice saying, âWow â this is a nice surprise. Come on in.â
And I stepped aside, thinking he had a much bigger surprise waiting for him inside the house than he was probably expecting. At once, his gaze moved to the woman who sat at the dining room table, and one eyebrow lifted in question.
âMax, this is my mother, Alicia Petrucci,â I said. âAlicia, this is Max Sullivan, a friend of mine.â
At that introduction, Max looked absolutely flabbergasted, although Alicia didnât appear quite so astonished. Considering Iâd already picked up several clues that sheâd been paying a bit more attention to my life than Iâd previously thought, this didnât surprise me as much as it once might have. She must have known that Max Sullivan had grown up right next door to me, and she probably also knew that the two of us had renewed our friendship after he came back to Las Vegas to shoot Perdition Row and had decided to buy the ranch and settle here, if only part-time.
But she smiled as she stood and extended a hand saying, âThe world-famous Max Sullivan. Itâs an honor to meet you.â
He was way too polite to refuse her handshake, although the sidelong glance he sent in my direction told me Iâd have some explaining to do once the two of us were alone. âVery nice to meet you, Ms. Petrucci.â
âAlicia,â she corrected him, still wearing that Mona Lisa smile of hers. âNo need to stand on ceremony.â
Because I could tell he wasnât sure how to respond, I said hastily, âMax, why donât you go ahead and sit down? Weâve got tacos to spare, if youâre hungry.â
That was for sure. I didnât know which army Alicia had thought she would be feeding, but sheâd brought enough takeout from The Skillet to stuff at least a football team and possibly the cheer squad to boot.
Maybe the slightest hesitation after I made the offer. However, this was Max Sullivan, a guy who could sail into just about any social situation and float through it with aplomb, so he said, âThat sounds great, especially after all the airplane food Iâve eaten over the past twelve hours.â
âThen go ahead and sit down,â I said. âLet me get you a plate and a glass so you can have some water.â
This time, his eyebrow lifted just a bit. No, I didnât have wine with every meal, but usually if I had guests, then there was wine on the table.
To my relief, though, he didnât comment, only sat down opposite the spot where Alicia was already seated, placing him on my right side. Sheâd insisted on
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