Souls in Peril (44 page)

He showered and changed quickly, wanting to get out of the house before Mel left for work. He had a feeling Tim would have another
list
for him otherwise. He rode the bike slowly, not wanting to be a sweaty mess when he visited Em.

“Good afternoon, JD. Come on in.” Bev held the door
open wide for him. She had her
Kiss the Coo
k, But Cash is Accepted Also
apron on, which meant she was
baking
cookies. She led him to the family room past the tray of fresh baked peanut butter cookies. He tried not to drool.

The family room looked like a florist shop with all the flowers and balloons everywhere. Two cheerleaders, Holly and Emily, sat next to Em on the couch, giggling.

“JD, hi!” Em smiled as he approached the couch. She wore a sling wrapped around her torso to hold her arm and shoulder in place.

“Girls, I hate to be a nag, but your time is up.” Noah stood in the doorway with a stopwatch.

“Oh, it can
’
t be. We just got here,” said Emily.

“I think your watch is wrong,” complained Holly. She stood and clutched her purse under her arm. “We
’
ll see you tomorrow, Em.” She bent over and kissed Emma
’
s cheek
,
as did Emily.

“Bye. Thanks for stopping by.” Emma waved with her good hand.

“You have twenty minutes, JD.” Noah clicked his stopwatch and went back in the kitchen.

“Just ignore the little general. Dad
’
s paying him to babysit me.” Emma sat up straight.

“He
’
s not paying me enough,” Noah complained from the doorway, a still warm cookie in his hand. “Those cheerleader friends of yours are vicious.”

“Thanks for coming by,” she said when Noah left. “You
r
face looks so much better. How are you feeling?”

“Tim
’
s been working me hard the past couple days, but otherwise, I
’
m good. Does the arm and shoulder hurt?”

“Nope.” He frowned at her. “
Okay,
a little, but not too bad. I can
’
t miss any
more school, JD.”

“Em, the teachers will work with you. You had a concussion. And you have a broken arm and collar bone.”

“Hairline fracture of the clavicle, actually.”

Max rolled his eyes, shoving his hands through his hair. Emma grinned.

“You
’
re not going to get anywhere with her, JD.” Marty came in through the garage carrying a couple bags of groceries. “I
’
ve talked to her about waiting a few more days until even I
’
m sick of hearing my voice. She
’
s insisting on going back to school.”

“I
’
m fine. You
’
re all overreacting.” Emma got up, slowly, and
walked
into the kitchen. JD followed.

“Do you want some lemonade?” She pulled out a pitcher from the fridge and set it on the counter. Max tried to help with the glasses, but after she shot him a bone-chilling glare, he snagged a cookie and stood at the end of the counter instead.

“Leo stopped by today. I’m worried about him.” Em took a small bite of
a
cookie as she spoke.

“Me too. I have no idea how to help
Leo
since he hates me.” Max set his
warm cookie
down. He grieved over Leo
. He
struggled to find
a way
of
comfort
ing
his life-long friend, but always came up blank.

“I was thinking maybe—”

“Time
’
s up,” Noah announced.

“Dad, not JD, too. Can
’
t he stay a little longer, please?”

“I suppose, if you stay seated in the family room. I don
’
t want you wandering all over the place. The doctor said you have to take it easy,” her father reminded her, not for the first time Max was sure.

“Fine.” She
glared
at Max and added, “Now you know where Noah gets his dictator tendencies from.” She opened the cupboard and took out a small orange bottle of pills and swallowed two before going back into the family room.

“Do you think Izzy would mind if I went to visit her? She
’
s been on my mind lately.” Em leaned her head back against the couch, looking tired.

“She
’
s going to school tomorrow for the first time since her surgery, too. She could use a friend. I mean she has me, but she doesn
’
t have any female friends.”

“I will. I thought about—” 

“Okay. Are you hiding one of your friends, Em?” Noah checked the coat closet and behind the couch.

“What are you talking about?” Em sat up, wincing.

“There
’
s a pink bike outside. I know JD didn
’
t ride it here
,
so whose is it?”

“JD, you
’
re still
riding
the pink bike? I told you you c
ould
use Max
’
s old bike.” She struggled to stand up.

“Sit down, Em. I
’
ll get it for him,” Noah insisted. “It
’
s out in the shed, JD.”

Max followed him out, grinning widely when he saw his gray mountain bike. Marty came over as they pulled it out.

“JD
’
s taking Max
’
s old bike, dad. He
’
s been riding a
pink
one.” Noah shook his head in disg
ust
.

“Em
’
s letting you use this?”  Marty asked, smiling.

“Yes, is that alright?”

“More than alright. I
’
m surprised she
’
s willing to give it up is all.” He took the bike and rolled it to his truck. He drove a black three-quarter ton pickup that Max coveted.

“Nice truck.” Max ran his hand along the bed.

“Thanks. I
’
ll load the two bikes in the truck and take you home.” He lifted the gray bike into the bed. Noah came around the corner, pushing the pink one along. “Do you have a pink helmet, too?” he teased.

Max braced himself for what was coming. Em
’
s dad was a fanatic about bike helmets. “I don
’
t have a helmet.”

Marty froze, mid-swing with the pink bike. He
glared
at Max and finished setting the bike inside the truck bed. “JD, do you know how many kids suffer brain injuries each year needlessly because they don
’
t wear a helmet?”

As he droned on with the lecture Max knew by heart, Noah stood behind him imitating him. Max struggled not to laugh. He finally lowered his head so he didn
’
t have to look at Noah.

“Noah, are you mocking me?” Marty said without
glancing
behind.

“Now, dad, would I do that?” He looked
at Max
innocently.

“Just get the rope out of the shed so we can tie the bikes down. I don
’
t want them sliding around and scratching up my paint. JD, I believe Em still has Max
’
s old helmet somewhere. You
’
ll have to ask her, I don
’
t know where she
’
s keeping it.” He added under his breath, “Though I have a pretty good idea,” as Max opened the patio door.

Em was still in the family
room
, but she was sound asleep. He stood watching her for a moment. Even sleeping
,
he thought her beautiful.

“Did you find the helmet, JD?” Noah traipsed through the room heading straight to the kitchen sink to wash his dirt covered hands.

“She
’
s asleep. I didn
’
t want to wake her,” Max said following him.

“I think I saw it in her room yesterday. Down the hall, third door on the right.” He continued lathering his hand as he pointed with his chin.

Max knew the way. Her parents had a strict
open door
policy when it came to bedrooms, but he
’
d helped her carry books and cheerleading paraphernalia to her room too many times to count. Max turned the knob and pushed the door open, stopping dead in his tracks.

Pictures.  Dozens and dozens of them, staring at him. He stepped into the room. It looked nothing like it did two months ago when he
’
d helped her search for a lost glove.

Em had turned her room into a shrine . . . to him. Pictures of Max covered the walls
as thick as
wallpaper
in many areas
, some in frames, some simply tacked to the wall with the playful tacks Em loved. In the mirror over her vanity were more photos tucked into the frame.

She
’
d mounted old movie tickets stubs onto foam board and attached them to her pink and blue bulletin board with ribbon. A playbill from
Fiddler on the Roof
sat prominently in a shadow box on her dresser. On the wall next to her bed she
’
d mounted his letterman jacket. Max remembered the night she wore it last. They
’
d gone to dinner to celebrate her eighteenth birthday at her favorite restaurant, The Blue Moon. When they left, it started raining and he gave her the jacket to keep her dry. He told her she could keep it until their golden wedding anniversary.

“Did you find it?” Marty asked stepping next to him.

Max, still stunned, just
star
ed at him. Marty nodded. “We
’
ll talk in the truck,” he said low. He stepped past Max and scooped the helmet up from a chair in the corner. “I
’
ll meet you outside.”

He wandered back out to Em, bewildered. He knew he should be flattered, only he felt sick to his stomach instead. Em, still asleep on the couch, stirred as he came in the room. Slowly, her eyes peeled open and she smiled up at him.
She
struggled to stand
and
Max slipped an arm around her waist to help her.

“Thanks, Max,” she said softly.

She
’
d called him Max. Again, part of him was thrilled, as if he had a small piece of her back in his life, but…

“JD,” he corrected.

“What?” she said, confused.

“You called me Max. I
’
m JD,” he pointed out.

“Sorry,” she giggled. “These stupid pain pills make me loopy. I
’
ll be glad when I no longer need to take them. Besides,” she added, “you and Max do share a lot of the same traits.” She mimicked the way he ran his hands through his hair when he stressed.

“JD, I
’
m really tired. I think I should go to bed. You don
’
t mind, do you?” She didn
’
t wait for an answer, instead heading straight for her bedroom.

Max went out to the truck and climbed in. “She
’
s still struggling with losing Max,”
Marty
said, stating the obvious. “It
’
s gotten worse. She sits in her room and looks at old cell phone videos of him
,
o
r spends hours working on a scrapbook she
’
s making about him. She still cr
ies herself to sleep at night.”

He rubbed a hand over his face. Max said nothing. He didn
’
t know what to say. They backed out of the driveway and turned toward JD
’
s house.

“Sh
e was doing better. She met you
and started running again. We limited the time she could spend at his grave. When she brought you over for dinner that first night, Bev and I were so happy that she was finally moving forward with her life. But she
’
s gotten worse, not better. Bev and I
are
worr
ied
.” He shook his head. “Don
’
t get me wrong, JD. We don
’
t want her to forget Max. We loved him too, and his family. We just want her to move on with her life
and stop dwelling on the
could have, should have
been
s
. Am I wrong to want that for her?”