With the Last Goodbye: Thirty-Eight, #6

By Len Webster

It was always bros before hoes—except when Josephine Faulkner got involved. 

The saying had been obliterated for Maxwell Sheridan the moment he met her. His Josephine. She had become his everything without even trying. It’s too damn bad that Max broke her heart. Left her behind to seek redemption for his past mistakes. Life with Josie was perfect. He had found his La Vie En Rose … Or so he thought. 

One moment outside her apartment building changed it all. 

Josephine Faulkner’s world erupted with a single phone call. She became numb with a revelation, and her beliefs held no meaning the moment Maxwell Sheridan left her. Gone was the perfection she thought they had found together. All the good taken away by his decision. 

But his goodbye wouldn’t destroy her. 

Josie has more important things to worry about than the shattered pieces of her heart. Because not even Max can stop her from saying the one goodbye that means the very most. 

The very last goodbye that will hurt her in ways Maxwell Sheridan couldn’t.
 

The final book in the Thirty-Eight series --Conclusion to Max's story. 

The Thirty-Eight Series reading order:

#1 Thirty-Eight Days

#2 Thirty-Eight Reasons

#2.5 What We'll Leave Behind: A prequel

#3 What You Left Behind

#4 All We Have

#5 With the First Goodbye

#6: With the Last Goodbye

• Language: English
• Publisher: Len Webster
• Release date: Jan 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781540151445

Len Webster

Associate Professor Len Webster has expertise in educational policy, educational development, quality development and flexible learning. Currently he is the Educational Adviser in the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) at Monash University, Australia. He previously was the director of an educational development unit in the Faculty of Law, Monash University, where he was the Faculty Quality Development Coordinator. He has also been a reviewer of the Australian University Quality Agency conference proceedings.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title Page

Books by Len Webster

With the Last Goodbye

Quote

Dedicaiton

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

EPILOGUE

The Theory of Unrequited

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Connect with Len Webster

Copyright Notice

The First Touch of Sunlight

The Wait For You

The Sometimes Moments Collection

Sometimes Moments (Sometimes Moments #1)

Sometimes, Forever (Sometimes Moments #2)

Sometimes. Honestly? Always. (Sometimes Moments #3) Coming Soon

Thirty-Eight Series

Thirty-Eight Days (Thirty-Eight #1)

Thirty-Eight Reasons (Thirty-Eight #2)

What We’ll Leave Behind (Thirty-Eight #2.5)

What You Left Behind (Thirty-Eight #3)

All We Have (Thirty-Eight #4)

With The First Goodbye (Thirty-Eight #5)

With The Last Goodbye (Thirty-Eight #6)

The Science of Unrequited: The Story of AJ & Evan

The Theory of Unrequited (The Science of Unrequited #1) Coming Soon

It was always bros before hoes—except when Josephine Faulkner got involved.

The saying had been obliterated for Maxwell Sheridan the moment he met her. His Josephine. She had become his everything without even trying. It’s too damn bad that Max broke her heart. Left her behind to seek redemption for his past mistakes. Life with Josie was perfect. He had found his La Vie En Rose … Or so he thought.

One moment outside her apartment building changed it all.

Josephine Faulkner’s world erupted with a single phone call. She became numb with a revelation, and her beliefs held no meaning the moment Maxwell Sheridan left her. Gone was the perfection she thought they had found together. All the good taken away by his decision.

But his goodbye wouldn’t destroy her.

Josie has more important things to worry about than the shattered pieces of her heart. Because not even Max can stop her from saying the one goodbye that means the very most.

The very last goodbye that will hurt her in ways Maxwell Sheridan couldn’t.

And when I stepped away from it all, there she was.

-Maxwell Sheridan, With the Last Goodbye

For my readers.

The end of one series together does not mean goodbye.

Thank you for your love, your support, and your faith.

With you all, I am a better person.

The day Maxwell Sheridan broke Josephine Faulkner’s heart was a sunny Sunday morning.

It was early.

The skies were as blue as her eyes.

The wind was cool and refreshing.

But as Max sat outside on her apartment building’s steps, he knew the beautiful day was a façade.

He felt the pain of his decision weigh heavily on him.

It made it hard for him to breathe.

His heart begged him for a change.

It pleaded with him that redemption wasn’t worth the destruction he’d ensure.

Max spent all night replaying his verbal promise to Andrea Wallace.

He was going to Boston, Massachusetts.

Not for her.

Not for her love or affection.

He was going to put away the demons.

His demons.

Finally put them to rest.

Seek redemption and forgiveness for the things he had done in the past.

Reveal the truth to his two best friends and hope to God that they would someday forgive him for the awful things he had done to them.

Though he wasn’t going to claim Andrea’s love, he was going to seek her forgiveness, too.

He had pursued her when her heart wasn’t his to chase.

To want.

To desire.

To believe he could have.

Andrea Wallace was never meant to be his.

He finally understood that after all this time.

Because his heart didn’t whisper her name.

To have.

To want forever.

Max stared at his hands as he waited.

He felt the end creep toward him.

He knew it was close.

The wait broke his heart even more.

He wished she was home.

He had knocked on her apartment door and waited. When he got no answer, he returned downstairs and sat on the step, waiting for her.

Then he heard it.

Faint, slow footsteps that eventually came to a stop.

Max lifted his chin to find her standing before him.

Her eyes had glazed over with tears.

She knew.

She knew what he had decided.

She put him first, and Max had deemed her last.

His lip trembled at the wounded expression on her face.

It was horrible to see the one person he loved the most look at him with such pain.

He inhaled a sharp breath and whispered, Josephine, as he slowly got to his feet.

Max watched as she winced.

A painful wince even he felt.

Because he heard it in his voice.

The pleading for her forgiveness and understanding.

The pleading for her.

Just her.

Josie covered her face with her palms and sobbed.

He felt her slowly fall out of love with him.

Unable to stop himself, he closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her.

She shook.

Her pain he felt and knew.

Her pain was what he had caused.

Because he felt her heartbreak.

He felt her love for him and the devastation.

Because I chose Andrea and not her.

Josephine Faulkner was the name his heart whispered.

She was his solace.

His entire heart and being.

But he gave her up for his morality.

He chose her.

He chose someone else.

I gave him the chance at closure only for it to backfire on me.

Josephine Faulkner inhaled a deep breath and prayed that it extinguished the fire in her chest. Instead, it gave it life. It was the oxygen that fire needed to turn into an inferno.

The disappointment she felt in herself barrelled through her veins, determined for her never to forget the fact she trusted him with her once guarded heart. Only for Maxwell Sheridan to ruin it.

She loved him.

Completely and utterly loved him.

He was her La Vie En Rose.

Her everything.

When life handed her the very worst, he made it the very best …

Until he didn’t.

Until he told her that he had to leave with Andrea.

The pain in his eyes couldn’t match the pain she felt.

He had no idea how betrayed and hurt she felt.

He had no idea what horrible timing he had.

Josie could have told him the truth.

It might have made him stay.

Made him pick her.

But she refused.

All her life, she was the second choice.

She wouldn’t be this time.

She wouldn’t let Max stay.

She wouldn’t let Max have her heart or love.

He had been her La Vie En Rose.

But not anymore.

And never again.

La Vie En Rose.

He had said that to her.

That she was his La Vie En Rose.

Pain infiltrated her heart when he had, and she had pushed away from his once loving embrace and slapped him across the face.

He had no idea.

He had no idea how much he insulted her with one sentence.

Maxwell Sheridan had no idea how much he had broken her heart and belief in him with a lie.

One damn lie that she would never—even with the last breath she was capable of making—believe to be the truth.

Max had been the one person in her life who she believed could never disappoint her.

But he was just another notch.

Her love for him had become the biggest disappointment of her life.

She had expected disappointment from her father.

But with Max, she never thought he could hurt her so deeply.

He left her standing outside her building to collect her heart’s broken pieces off the ground as he walked away.

He left.

Just like her father had done many times before.

And just like her mother had.

Her mother.

Her warm, loving mother had left her.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Her once beaming mother was now on life support after her cancer had claimed her lungs and other vital organs. Her cancer had been terminal for two weeks. Josie assumed she was going to tell her today when they went to lunch together. Emily Faulkner’s neighbour had discovered her door left open on his way to work and found her collapsed in the hallway. He had called 000, and she was rushed to the ER. That was when Josie had been notified.

Dr Frederickson had pulled her aside and told her the news.

Terminal.

Her mother’s cancer was terminal.

Her organs were shutting down.

She was on life support.

He had said more, but the moment she heard ‘terminal,’ everything in her lost its strength, and she fell to her knees, sobbing.

Life support.

Her mother was hooked up to machines to keep her breathing.

To keep her alive.

She had little time left.

Josie wiped her tears away as she stroked her mother’s cold hand.

After Dr Frederickson had told her the news, he sent her home to get some rest. Little did she know that when she arrived back at her apartment, Maxwell Sheridan would obliterate any other remaining functioning part of her.

Josephine Faulkner had everything before it was all taken away from her.

Her mother was dying.

The love of her life had left her.

Now, she was empty inside.

Suddenly, a knock on the intensive care room door had Josie glancing over her shoulder to find her mother’s doctor with a tight smile on his face.

Good afternoon, Josie, he greeted in a careful tone that she appreciated.

Josie didn’t bother to get out of the visitor’s seat as she grasped her mother’s hand a little tighter, hoping she felt it. Hello, Doc.

The doctor made his way to her side and set his clipboard on her mother’s bed. Settling his hand on Josie’s shoulder, he asked, Did you sleep?

She shook her head. I showered and then drove back here. I sat in my car for a while.

I also got my heart broken by Maxwell Sheridan.

But Dr Frederickson didn’t need to know that. And he didn’t have to know how close she was to screaming that it wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair that she gave Max her love, only for him to throw it in her face.

It wasn’t fair that her mother was on life support when Josie was the one who had all but given up on life.

She’d trade places with her mother.

Any day of the week, she would.

Because Josie was so tired.

So tired of life and its unfairness.

Tired of disappointment.

Tired of never being someone’s first choice.

Tired of knowing what pain felt like when it consumed you.

Josephine Faulkner was tired.

You know it’s a decision you don’t have to make right now, Dr Frederickson said.

Tears filled her eyes and then dragged down her cheeks as quickly as she blinked. I know, she whispered.

I’m here for you, Josie, he assured.

And she believed him.

After everything she had been through in the past year and a half, Dr Frederickson was one of only a few who never gave her false hope. And when he gave her bad news, he stayed to comfort her. He never left. He never gave her that sick feeling of being so vulnerable. He always ensured she was never alone.

Dr Frederickson, Josie said as she took her eyes off her pale mother and faced the doctor. Her lip trembled, and she found it difficult to speak. Josie let go of her mother and covered the doctor’s hand on her shoulder. I don’t know what to do.

The doctor bent his knees and removed his hand from her shoulder. Then he grasped her hand in his, and his lips pressed into that tight, reassuring smile that she appreciated. It wasn’t one of false hope. One that told her that her mother would suddenly be cancer-free and Josie could have a chance to tell her mother how sorry she was for all the selfish things she had done. Selfish things like hurting her when all Josie wanted to do was hurt her absent father.

It’s okay, Josie. It’s not a decision to be made lightly. It’s normal to feel the way you do.

She nodded as the tears continued to fall. Although she had the doctor’s support, she had never felt more alone. She wished Max was here now. But he wasn’t. Not after he told her he was leaving with Andrea. This was the time she needed him the most, and he had let her down.

Disappointed her the way her father had many times before.

But Max’s disappointment was far worse.

Especially since he had promised never to disappoint her.

And he had.

A lie had been committed against her.

But … She inhaled a shaky breath. But I kill her if I make that decision.

The doctor shook his head. You’re turning off your mother’s life support, Josie. It’s not an easy decision.

She let out a painful sob. If I keep her on it, I’m causing her more pain, right? Prolonging the dy-dying process?

Your mother’s cancer has spread to her lungs and other parts of her body.

And it’s incurable? No chemo will get rid of it?

Dr Frederickson squeezed her hand. Unfortunately not, Josie. Your mother’s cancer is terminal. She refused to undergo another round of chemo. Instead, she wished to live her life at home.

How long was she given?

A month, maybe two.

Josie pulled her hand free from the doctor’s and covered her face with her palms. She sobbed as guilt and grief consumed her. Her mother was given months to live. She had been sent home a few weeks ago. All this time Josie spent concentrating on useless things like assignments and work should have been spent living the best days with her mother.

After several ugly sobs, she wiped her cheeks and took a deep breath. Then she asked, And your professional medical advice?

He didn’t falter as he said, It’s in your mother’s best interests that we withdraw life support.

Withdraw.

Cease.

End.

Death.

The doctor’s advice was to stop the pain.

To stop her mother’s suffering.

Josie’s eyelids fell closed as tears ran down her cheeks.

She knew in her heart the doctor was right.

But she needed more time.

More seconds with her mother.

Even though she knew her mother had left her that morning.

Josie, a soft, feminine voice whispered.

But she ignored it.

In the darkness, she was safe from feeling.

Safe from all the hurt that terrorised her.

Josie, the voice called again.

It was familiar.

A voice of comfort.

Blinking her eyes open, Josie lifted her head from the mattress to find her best friend, Stella Weller, standing next to her with a bouquet of tulips in her hands and a sad smile on her face. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.

Josie ran her palms over her face and let out a sigh. It’s okay, Stella.

Her best friend walked to the bed and kissed Emily’s forehead. Hey, Em.

Josie blinked the forming tears away. She couldn’t cry. Not in front of Stella. She had done all her crying with Dr Frederickson. After some time, he had stopped talking and allowed her to have someone be with her. Comfort her. She was sure that most people on life support had a room full of people by their side, but not Emily Faulkner. Josie’s mother was loved by so many, but when she revealed she had cancer to Josie, she announced that no one besides her daughter would know. She wasn’t happy when Stella had found out, but her mother understood Josie’s need to have someone know.

Stella set the flowers on the table and gazed at Emily. She stared at the breathing apparatus in her mouth, then she lifted her eyes to find Josie. How are you?

Okay, she replied in a small voice as she brushed her brunette hair behind her ear.

What did the doctor say?

Josie swallowed hard and then dug her teeth into her lip as if it would rid her of her pain. Then, after a long moment of silence, she said, Her cancer’s terminal. Her organs are shutting down. Dr Frederickson said that I have a choice to make about … She closed her mouth, not wanting to say it out loud.

Tears rolled down Stella’s cheeks. She knew. Josie didn’t have to vocalise it for her best friend to understand. I can see it on your face … You’ve made a decision.

She nodded. But I want more time to be sure of my decision, you know.

I know, Josie.

Josie glanced over at her mother. In the hours she had sat by the hospital bed, her mother hadn’t moved. Not a single stir. She’s my mother, Stella, Josie cried. She raised me when my dad walked away. Besides you, she’s the only person who has loved me and put me first.

That’s not true.

It is.

There’s Max.

Josie’s chin dipped as her heart painfully clenched. That small box she had mentally put Max and her love for him in quickly exploded, and the crippling pain of him leaving wounded her once again.

Deep slices were made all over.

Hours.

It had been hours since he walked away.

Since he left her.

Since he threw her love in her face and betrayed her heart.

Josie …

She shook her head and then lifted her gaze at Stella. There is no Max.

Her best friend flinched. What?

Max is going to Boston.

Why? Stella asked in disbelief.

Why?

Why, why, why?

The same question she had asked herself when she stood under the scalding hot water this morning and sobbed.

Maxwell Sheridan ruined her in the very worst way.

He caused doubt in her.

Questioned her worthiness.

Cheapened her love.

And caused her heart to weep in ways it had never done before.

She swallowed the large lump in her throat and then licked her dry lips. To go after the love he’s always wanted the most.

It was the truth.

Andrea was who he loved more.

Who he loved the most.

And Josie Faulkner was a notch Maxwell Sheridan had screwed into obliteration.

Goodbye.

The worst word in existence.

In every language, it was horrible.

And Max had used it.

Used it against Josephine.

Used it to hurt her.

Used it as a weapon.

Used it and cemented the likelihood of her falling out of love with him and hating him for the rest of their lives. He had no doubt that she’d never see him again. He wasn’t sure when he’d be back from Boston, but he couldn’t leave without making her understand why he was going. When he had told her that he was leaving yesterday, she was stunned. Her eyes had glazed over, and there was a nothingness to them. Like she wasn’t her. Like the Josie he loved had been ripped from her, and she was a shell.

Max saw the heartbreak in her eyes.

He winced at the memory of the wounded expression on her face.

His heart twisted and heated, remembering the horror when he had said that she was his La Vie En Rose.

It was the truth.

She was and always would be his life in pink.

The better thing in his life that he let ruin.

But he let Andrea’s words hurt him and convince him that right now he was meant to be in the States to right all his wrongs. Yesterday, he stood outside Josephine’s apartment and tore her heart out, knowing he would never deserve her or her love for the decisions he had made.

The moment she slapped him, he knew he was worse than Andrea.

And when he said goodbye, he knew he was worse than Sarah.

He had become a monster in Josie’s eyes, and it was justified.

He didn’t just break her heart, he also broke his.

She needs to understand why I have to do this.

Why I have to go.

Max inhaled a deep breath and stopped outside her apartment door. He would beg. He would plead for her to understand. He knew he couldn’t obtain her forgiveness just yet, but he’d spend his life trying. But he had to hope that she meant it when she said she’d wait for him.

That she meant her love.

That she’d understand.

His hand made a fist, and he tapped his knuckles against the door.

He stood there, nervous and anxious to see her. Hope and dread mixed in his chest. He had no idea what to expect. Max had been up for hours rehearsing incomplete sentences. He expected her door to slam in his face. He expected her silence. He also expected her anger. But what he didn’t expect was for her roommate to answer the door.

Stella’s expression was steel, cold, and completely unwelcoming.

He saw the disappointment swirl in her green eyes.

Can I help you? she asked. Sceptical Stella was gone. Instead, she was protective and brute, as if she wanted him gone.

Hey, Stella. Is Josie home? I need to talk to her.

Stella shook her head. She’s not home, Max.

His jaw tensed, hating that Josie’s roommate no longer had that teasing gleam in her eyes towards him. Are you saying that because you’re her best friend?

I’m saying that because she’s not here, Max.

Where is she?

She sighed. Living a life without you, she deadpanned. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to bed. It’s my first day off in ages, and you’re disturbing it.

Stella, please, he begged. I need to talk to her.

No, Max. She told me what happened, and I am so angry with you.

He winced. In his time getting to know Josie, he had come to like Stella. It was clear now that his actions had affected her impression of him.

Stella—

I really liked you, Max, she said, interrupting him. I get why Lorelai held on … and I get why she let go. I just thought you’d prove me wrong. I thought you’d see it through. I thought you were good enough for her. You have no idea how much you’ve hurt her. You have no idea what she’s going through.

His heart dipped. So much guilt filled his chest. He had hurt her. Can I see her? Please, Stella.

No, she said with an unbelievable laugh. Do you want to know how it all ends?

"I don’t want to know how Gilmore Girls ends," he answered.

Stella removed her hand from the door and crossed her arms over her chest. I’m not talking about Luke and Lorelai. She had pursed her lips before saying, This ends, Max. Hell, it’s already ended. You’ve done all you needed to. Josie doesn’t go around trusting and falling in love with men. You know her relationship with her father. You were a rarity for her and her heart. But that’s over now. I don’t want to see you at my doorstep again, Max. The next time you show up here, I’ll call the coppers. I don’t care if you’re a lawyer. I care about my best friend, and I will do anything and everything to make sure you stay away from her.

He understood the fire in her eyes and the passion in her voice to protect Josie. If he were in Stella’s position, he’d do the same thing. Max sighed in defeat. There was no way he could convince her to let him see Josie. I understand.

Good. You can go now.

Just hang on a second, he said.

Surprise and annoyance succumbed the features of her face. What?

You might not tell her, but I really hope you do. I leave for Boston in a few days, and I’d really like it if I could just say goodbye to her. I don’t deserve to see her, and I get that. But I love Josephine, and she’s the last person I wanted to hurt. But I have to go. So if you could tell her that my flight leaves on Wednesday at eleven a.m. and that I’d like to see her and explain, I’d appreciate it.

Stella’s jaw clenched. Then she sighed and untangled her arms. She gripped the door and said, Goodbye, Max, then she slammed the door deservingly in his face.

He hoped to God that Stella believed him.

It was just after ten a.m. when Max stepped off the elevator and made his way down the hall and to his office. Once he reached the glass door, he frowned the second he noticed a woman in his office. He wasn’t used to seeing her in skinny jeans and a white T-shirt. All the times he had seen her, she wore dresses worth thousands. She always had this professional appeal to her.

Max opened the door and walked inside. Andrea, he greeted in a clipped tone.

She had the worst timing in the world.

But he owed her.

He also owed Noel.

And when she had begged him to come work in Boston, he couldn’t refuse. Not if it meant it would affect Noel. He hoped that helping Andrea transition into her new role and him helping her with renewing all the contracts would pardon him for pursuing her. He hoped that his pro bono work meant he would be forgiven. Somehow, he’d have to make the trip to New York and finally tell Alexander Lawrence that his high school girlfriend had cheated on him with Max. That he was sorry for all the lies and betrayal.

Your office has a great view of the city, she commented as she spun around and faced him.

Her brunette hair was not as dark as Josephine. And her blue eyes didn’t have that brightness and clarity he had come to love in Josie’s. Andrea Wallace was no longer the spark to his detonation. She was no longer a muse but a hindrance. And Max knew it wasn’t just because he was in love with another woman. It was because Andrea had burned him. She left him and his feelings in the dark. She had him and dismissed him so easily.

Thanks, he said as he shrugged out of his jacket and set it on his oak desk. Going to Josie’s had made him later than usual, but he didn’t care. He took a chance, and it hadn’t paid off. Josie wasn’t home, and her roommate had warned him to stay away.

She also told you that you hurt Josephine.

His heart painfully throbbed at the thought.

He had hurt her.

He had seen it himself.

Max had walked away and chosen another path.

Another woman.

How are you liking Melbourne?

She smiled. It’s nice. I can see why Noel loves it here.

He tensed at the mention of his best friend.

He’s here with Clara.

I know, she said as she swept her hair over her shoulder.

Have you seen some of the sights?

Andrea shook her head. No. What can I see in two days?

Max let out a sigh and made his way around his desk. Once he sat down in his chair, he gazed up at her. There’s a whole lot.

You wanna go explore together? The hope in her eyes had him balling his right hand into a fist.

I have a lot of work to do before I leave for Boston. I have clients I need to call and assure that I’m still their lawyer. There’s an information desk with maps at Federation Square. If you’re lucky, you might see the Men’s Single Scull Rowing World Champion training on the Yarra.

The flash of hurt in her blue eyes had guilt surging through him, demanding to be felt all over. He hadn’t said anything about Josephine because he didn’t want to expose Josie to the horrible things he had done. He had to keep her safe and clean of and from Andrea. But he knew it was too little too late.

Okay, I’ll go walk around, she said in a small voice and then made her way to his office door.

Feeling terrible for how he spoke to her, Max got up from his seat. Andrea, wait.

She turned, and her lips made a tight smile. Yes?

I’m sorry. For the way I just spoke to you, I’m sorry. You have to understand that you didn’t give me much time to just drop everything here in Melbourne and go to Boston with you. I have a career here that I’m putting on hold for you. Max paused and clenched his eyes shut for a long moment, then he added, I hurt someone for you.

Andrea’s eyes widened. "Oh," she breathed before looking away and making her way out of his office.

Two days.

Two more days and he’d be on his way to America to make up for his mistakes.

Then he could come home and beg for Josie’s love and forgiveness.

Max: Josephine, I’ve tried calling all day. Please, just let me know you’re okay. Let me explain. I’m so sorry I hurt you. I meant it when I said I love you. Please believe me.

Max: YOU’RE my La Vie En Rose, Josephine. Even if you don’t believe me.

Max: Please, Josephine. Please answer my calls.

Max hung up for the fifth time today.

His calls to Josie continued to go straight to her voicemail. He knew she needed space, but Max needed to see her before he left for Boston. He knew he hurt her—felt it the moment he agreed to help Andrea.

He wished Andrea had needed him before.

Before he fell in love with Josie.

Before he could hurt her.

Before he saw the betrayal in her eyes and the pain so visible on her face.

Maxwell? his father called out his name.

Max slipped his phone into his pocket and entered his father’s office. He approached his father’s desk with a careful expression on his face. Gordon Sheridan wouldn’t like what Max had to say.

But this was about Max.

For once, it would be about him.

About his morality.

No one would understand that.

He needed to be free of his sins in order for him to live a better life.

A life worthy of Josephine Faulkner.

Everything all right? his father asked, eyebrow raised as he set the manila folder down.

Max nodded. Dad, I need to take some leave.

Leave?

Another nod. Yes.

May I ask why?

I need to do some freelance work for Noel. I need to right some wrongs.

His father blinked unbelievably at him. And this requires you to go where?

America.

For how long?

Max swallowed hard, unsure of how his father would react. For as long as it takes for Noel and Alex to forgive me.

And your life here?

On temporary pause.

His father sighed and shook his head at him. "Life doesn’t pause, Maxwell. You might think it does. In your heart and your mind, you believe it will. But she will move on."

"She?"

You don’t think I know about you and Josephine? I saw you kiss her in your office a few weeks ago. You have a lot of life in you again because of her. I hate to see you take steps back.

I already have, he whispered. But I need to do this, Dad. I need to make sure I know that I’m a good man. I can’t live my life full of guilt anymore. Josephine doesn’t deserve that.

His father let out a heavy sigh. "I can’t force you to stay. If you think your life needs to be in Boston, then go, but don’t expect life here to wait for you, Maxwell. Don’t expect her to be waiting. But I do expect you to properly inform your clients of your departure."

Max nodded. I’ll make calls now and inform them. I’ll continue to work for you, Dad. I just need to go and sort this out.

Just make sure you tell your mother goodbye before you leave, Maxwell. She won’t be happy, his father said, then he reached down and picked up the folder.

Pretending is torture.

Josie had sat through her contracts lecture and tutorials in pain. Oswald had asked her several questions, but Josie shook her head and gave the same, I don’t know, response. It was the truth. She had no idea what he was asking. All Josie could think about was how many more minutes she had until she could get back to the hospital. Yesterday, Stella had all but forced Josie to agree to go to university. Not for her classes, but to hand in her assignment and hope that her degree got her mind off her mother’s health and Max.

Max.

The bane