It was their eyes that had me completely mesmerized, however. That incredible blue that I could so easily drown in if I weren’t careful.
But they didn’t belong to the guy I wanted to be wrapped around at that moment. As if they could see the apprehension in my eyes, they stepped closer, blocking me in. But it was the taller of the three, the one standing in the middle, who smiled reassuringly.
To my surprise and complete delight, he lifted his hands and began signing to me. “Hi, I’m Reid.” His hands didn’t move quite as smoothly as Max’s or Nova’s did, telling me he wasn’t as comfortable or as fluent in ASL as they were, but I was just happy to have someone actually speak to me.
“Delaney,” I offered with a small smile.
“Max told me about you,” he said, his signs slower, a frown pulling his brows together as he concentrated on the words.
“I can read lips too,” I tried to convey, and relief filled his handsome face. “Just talk slowly.”
“This is my brother, Elias.” He indicated the one on his left, then the one on his right. “And our cousin, Chance.” I glanced at the two of them, offering each a tiny smile. Elias gave me a head nod in greeting, but Chance only stood there, his eyes drilling into me, unable to hide his suspiciousness. Just like Tavia and Lexa, only…more intense.
Cautiously, I took a step back from him, and Reid slapped him on the back of the head. “You’re scaring her, dumbass,” I thought he said, but his lips moved too quickly for me to be sure.
Chance glared at his cousin. “She doesn’t belong here. What is Max doing with…”
My tears had dried when these three had appeared in front of me, but they returned at his words. I took another step back, looking away so I didn’t have to read the rest of what he was saying. I started to move around him when someone grasped my wrist, turning me to face them.
When my eyes lifted to the bride and her groom, I wanted to sink into the floor. Her eyes were glassy with tears, and the tip of her nose was red. She had reason to cry and even to be angry with me. Having me show up with Max had ruined her wedding reception. She was probably going to make me leave, and I was all too ready to go.
Yet when I expected her to drag me toward the door, she jerked me against her with surprising strength and wrapped her arms around me in a hug so tight, it knocked the air from my lungs.
Shocked, I stood there, my arms at my sides, not sure what to do next.
The hug lasted all of twenty seconds before she released me, and then she was smiling at me as tears spilled down her cheeks. Her mouth moved so fast I couldn’t make out a single word. Unable to follow her, I glanced at the tall, kind of scary guy behind her.
Recognition hit me, and I realized he worked at the Ink Shoppe. I’d only seen glimpses of him in the weeks before I’d met Max, but it was hard not to recognize a guy who looked like him.
Which meant…
I threw my arms around the bride, tears spilling down my cheeks just as rapidly as they were hers. My hug didn’t last nearly as long as hers had, but when I pulled back, I was quick to sign what was in my heart.
My appreciation and gratitude for what she’d been able to do for me when she hadn’t had to do anything but call the cops on me for squatting in her place of work at night.
When she just stood there, frowning at me because she was unable to keep up with what I was saying, I swallowed the lump in my throat and spoke the words. “Thank you. For…for the…blanket.”
Her green eyes widened even more, understanding lighting her entire face, and then we were hugging again.
“It was you?” I read her lips when she pulled her head back. “You…?”
Shame hit me again, but I nodded. “I’m sorry if…I got you into…trouble.”
“You didn’t,” she said with a shake of her head. “I have been so worried about you. But you’ve been with Max?”
“For a little while.”
“Oh.” Turning her head, she looked up at the guy behind her. He gave her a grim smile, and she seemed to relax a little. The connection I could sense between them reminded me of how it was between Max and me.
I glanced around, hoping to see him, but when he didn’t magically appear, my heart sank all over again.
“I should go,” I spoke again. The vibrations in my throat from speaking so much were weird, and I hoped she could understand me. When her head snapped around to look at me again, I saw something like determination swimming in her eyes. “I’m sorry…for ruining today for you.”
“No, no. You didn’t. I swear. This has been a great wedding present. Finding you.” She clutched at both of my hands, holding them tightly in her grip. “Mom has been looking everywhere for you, Delaney.”
Maybe I was reading her lips wrong, because no way was her mom looking for me. If her mother was the woman Raven had to hold back earlier as I suspected, then I was sure of it. Why would she even care about me, the homeless girl who had been bothering everyone in town?
Unless…
Did she work for Uncle Tony and Aunt June?
It seemed impossible, but my uncle was a bad man. It was reasonable to believe he had contacts everywhere.
I jerked out of the bride’s hold—River, I remembered Max saying his cousin’s name was—and started backing away from her.
“What’s wrong?” River demanded, her face scrunching up and reminding me a little of Nova. “Don’t be afraid. I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
Her mouth stopped moving, and she glanced at something over my shoulder. Before I could turn to see what the new danger was, strong arms wrapped around me from behind. My eyes clenched closed as relief hit me so hard, I could actually taste it.
Max.
He hadn’t left me.
I didn’t know where he’d gone, but he hadn’t abandoned me.
My knees felt weak as I turned in his arms and buried my face in his chest, inhaling his comforting scent and letting the safety of his hold calm my racing heart. His hands rubbed up and down my back, erasing the hurt I’d felt when I first thought he’d left me there to deal with his family all on my own.
His thumb under my chin tipped my head up moments later, making me look up at him. “Okay?” he mouthed the words.
I shrugged, not sure if I was or not. My fear that his family would hate me had come true, and now River was telling me her mom had been looking for me. I was scared and confused, my heart still aching knowing people thought I was only using him.
He stroked one hand over my hair, tucking a few strands behind my ear and exposing the earrings that matched the necklace he’d insisted I wear. They were light as air, but right then, they felt like they weighed my head down, making it impossible to lift it high under the weight of the money he’d spent on me, while everyone who looked at me judged me.
Max pressed his lips to my forehead before releasing me so he could sign, “Come outside with me. We need to talk.”
In every book I’d ever read, I knew that those four words never led to anything good. Apprehensively, I let him take my hand and followed him out the door, mostly because I just wanted to be away from all the angry looks everyone was shooting me.
But when we stepped outside and I saw his mom standing close by with the angry woman from earlier, I stopped in my tracks. I didn’t feel up to whatever was going to happen, and I knew before either of them even took a step toward us that something was about to.