Max was taken aback by Celina’s answer. He’d fully expected her to have relayed the entire disaster to her mother… not keep it a secret in order to defend him. The realization pained him: that even at his worst, she’d protected him. It made him feel like shit. “Mia’s been trying to kill me since she was born,” he remarked, eyes rolling. “She’s almost succeeded a couple times, you know. Hit me on the head with a tire wrench once. I’m pretty sure I have CTE from that.” He turned to face Celina. “But you should’ve told your mom.” It was a quiet assertion and one that could confuse her. After all, he’d spent the past few minutes moaning and groaning about her mother wanting his head on a silver platter under the belief she knew what he’d done and now, rather than be relieved, he was the opposite. “She’ll find out eventually. Moms always do.” And when she did, Max wasn’t sure he could actually look her in the eye. Perhaps ever. To think of him at dinner with her, pretending as if he hadn’t abandoned Celina, only for Elena to realize the truth later on made him feel… scummy. There weren’t many things Max Pierce preferred to be honest about, but this was one of them. “Why didn’t you tell her?” He searched her face for an answer before looking down at Mia. “You don’t have to lie for me, Celina.” His voice was soft although he didn’t dare meet her gaze. “I know what I did.” He allowed the silence to fall between them, although he heaved a sigh quickly enough. He didn’t want to ruin the peace. “As for a dog,” he scoffed. “It’ll probably end up liking you more than me, so. Not sure I can handle that sort of betrayal.”
It was easier to get along when they strayed from painful topics. Max leaving being one of the biggest of them all. At least, for her. Maybe if Celina dared to look deeper, she’d acknowledge that by protecting her mom, she was protecting herself right along with her. She’s had months to mull over why Max left. Why he didn’t say goodbye, and what could’ve possibly been more important that it was worth abandoning her and their unborn child. As she voiced to Mia, she thought maybe there could have been another woman. However, Mia was quick to shoot that idea down, failing to entertain it by claiming Max was many things but a cheater wasn’t one of them. The truth was, Celina had no firm explanation for why Max left. He took that answer with him as he crossed Interstate lines. So, how could she possibly explain his disappearance to others if she didn’t even understand it herself? “Tell her what? That I was blindsided?” Celina could feel her throat close up as she snuck an almost frustrated, teary-eyed glance up at Max. “She’d only have more questions I don’t know how to answer because I don’t know many of the details myself.” Even now, he hasn’t explained them to her in depth. He’s apologized, offered her some cryptic messages, but that’s about it. “The misconceptions are always worse. You don’t deserve that. Neither do I.” She’d had her own, so she’d know. It wasn’t fair to let others map out his execution, without first hearing his side of the story. “I would’ve done the same thing for her, had she grown old enough to ask.” She means Jade, as her gaze falls on the stroller. “Plus, I don’t know....” Skepticism reaches her brows. “You’ve only known her two days and already, I feel like she’s grown more attached to you. She sleeps better for you than she does for me. I’m jealous.” Sure, maybe a dog would be different. But considering Celina would hate to clean up after it, and canines are known to be man’s best friend, maybe Max is underestimating his natural-born allure, just a little bit. “A cat then? They hate me.” Probably because Celina is too much like one herself.
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