"Yeah, there's parking under the building. If you buzz up from there you can get straight in." I winced as I said those words. I should have told him he'd be better to stop in Gary, Indiana for the day. Better yet, he should have turned around and headed back to Grand Rapids.

The kitchen door swung open behind me, nearly flattening me to the wall. Max strolled in and stretched his arms over his head. His shoulders popped and he groaned loudly. "You know what's just as good as sex? Ice cream. Nah, that's a lie. I'd rather have had sex."

I covered the mouthpiece, but it was too late.

"Is Max having trouble getting reacquainted with the city?" Nathan asked, amused.

"I think I'm cramping his style."

On the other end of the line I heard muffled talking. You're on the phone to me, your fledgling, your blood, and you can't wait a few seconds before you talk to her?

Without being able to stop it, my annoyance filtered over the blood tie. Nathan got it, and felt his relief at our renewed connection. "You're right, that's rude of me. Listen, I'm going to let you go. I can explain everything when we get there."

We. It was like he used the word as a weapon against me. "Fine. We will be here."

He hesitated. "Okay… well, goodbye, sweetheart."

Sweetheart. It was all I could take. I hung up the phone and crumpled to the floor.

Max knelt at my side before I could draw two sobbing breaths. "Carrie? Are you okay?"

I couldn't speak. I could only cry against his shoulder.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong?" He sounded as alarmed as any man faced with a woman's tears. It must have been doubly distressing, considering what we'd almost done in his foyer. "Is it me? Was it something I did?"

Shaking my head, I wiped my nose on the back of my hand, but I couldn't control my sobbing enough to make an intelligent sound.

Max pulled me tighter to his side, as if trying to absorb my suffering through his skin. "You're really freaking me out. What's the matter? Is it Nathan?"

It most definitely was Nathan. Anger roared to life in me, drying my tears. Nathan and Bella were coming here. I'd come here to get away from Nathan and clear my head, and he was bringing more pain my way? He was like the opposite of an ambulance; he brought portable disaster.

"That was him," I muttered. "He's coming down here with Bella."

"Bella?" Max frowned. "I thought she was going back to Spain , like, a month ago."

I gave him a minute. Max was a smart guy. I was confident he would figure it out.

He wasn't as quick to believe as I had been, but the comprehension slowly crept over his face. "No. No way."

I nodded vehemently. "When I called the apartment this evening she answered the phone."