Fixed up in February (Spring River Valley Book 2) by Clarice Wynter Page A

like him?
    Harper and Cassandra met her for lunch in the hospital café. Both women wore serious expressions.
    “Are you okay?” Harper asked the moment Audrey sat down with her lunch tray. “You look exhausted.”
    “Thanks.”
    “I’m sorry, Audrey. I really screwed everything up this time. You have no idea how bad I feel about all this,” Cassie said. She put her hand on Audrey’s. “Max was so—”
    “Don’t mention him,” Audrey said, her voice rising in pitch. “I know he’s your cousin, so it’s probably best if we don’t talk about him. I don’t want to say anything that will insult you.”
    “Then let me say it. He’s a jerk. His male pride is hurt, that’s all. I guess he figures you’d always be wondering what might have happened if the original date had gone as planned.”
    “Well, I guess maybe I am.” She wasn’t. In fact she no longer cared at all, but she couldn’t let Max’s change of heart derail her. She was stronger than that. “So, I hope things are still on with John tonight. He’s feeling better since his appendectomy, right?”
    “Um…” Cassie gulped her ice water. “Yes, he’s fine. But are you really sure you want to go out with him? Just because Max said…”
    “Max, whom we’re not supposed to be discussing, is right. You thought John and I would make a good couple, and you’ve got this matchmaking mojo thing, so who knows? Maybe he and I belong together. We shouldn’t let that opportunity slip by.”
    “Audrey, don’t do this to get back at Max,” Harper said.
    Audrey stiffened a bit. She was mad at everyone right now and trying to pretend she wasn’t. It wasn’t working out very well. She took a deep breath before responding to Harper, who didn’t really deserve any of her wrath. “I’m not trying to get back at Max. I’m taking his advice. I’d like to meet the man Cassie set me up with. Maybe it’ll go really well, and if it doesn’t, c’est la vie .”
    “Max is going to regret this. I know he is. He’s always been impulsive like this. He’s been this way ever since his mom left…”
    Audrey stared at Cassie. She’d spent almost twenty-four hours talking with Max, making love to him, and he’d never mentioned any of his family other than Cassie and their grandmother. “What about his mother?”
    “She left the family when he was young, and she married someone else. She has a couple of kids with her second husband, and Max always felt like he was second best to them.”
    Audrey nodded. “So that explains why the understudy remarks bothered him so much. He doesn’t want to be a stand-in for anyone.” She hated that she’d made him feel that way, but it didn’t change the fact that he was still overreacting to her impetuous decision to go out with John. A decision she’d changed her mind about almost immediately. Now she felt bad because it was too late to cancel with him, and yet she knew in her heart there was no way this poor guy was going to be able to compete with Max. She wanted Max. She’d thought of nothing else but him since the moment she’d met him.
    “Let me talk to him,” Cassie said. “I shot my mouth off, I should figure out a way to fix this.”
    “You’re not to blame, Cassie. Max wants to be sure I’m not settling for him, so I’ll go out with John, and then I’ll call Max and tell him how the date went. If he’s still interested in being with me, he can take it from there.”
    Harper looked impressed. “That’s very mature of you. I thought your way of dealing with men behaving badly was to buy a machete.”
    “I have one on back order.”
    “So you’re going to give Max another chance?” Cassie asked.
    Audrey sighed and tried to steady her breathing so she didn’t break down and cry in front of her friends. Somehow this mess was her doing, not Cassie’s. She’d been so determined to find the perfect guy that she’d almost let him get away. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. “I have to