The day Max left New Haven was bittersweet. It had been his home for so long. The surgical team had a cake in his honor. He owed his career to them. Thankfully, he had slept the night before. With his car loaded, he set out on the two-hour drive home.

Living with his parents was the one thing he didn't want to do. He would have to for the short term, because he had zero time to find an apartment and furnish it. His contract started July first, although his first few days would be normal hours for paperwork and training. His first shift was July fifth.

When he parked in the drive, he let out a long sigh. He was finally home. Lois rushed to meet him. "Max! I thought you would be later."

"No, I completed my requirements, so there was no need for a fourteen hour shift."

She clung to him. "I can't believe you are home."

"I know mom."

As they walked in, his eye caught the pool. "I think I want to swim."

"Great idea. We'll eat when your father gets home, unless you're hungry now."

He chuckled. "No, I'm used to eating late."

His mother had redecorated his old room. At least it was a generic decor. It reminded him of the apartment he had just left. His swim shorts were in a drawer. He stopped himself from racing through the house like a kid to the back deck.

Without hesitation, he stepped onto the diving board. As he cut through the surface of the heated water, memories surrounded him. It was strange how the days Olivia visited after camp before school started were his strongest memories of summer.

He swam and felt the tension release from his muscles. No matter what the worst was over. He had achieved his goal, but at what cost. Chlorine reminded him of Olivia - lemon, chlorine, and the scent which lingered on his sheets. He shouldn't have been so weak.

Livvy. His mother would string him by his balls, if she knew how he hurt Olivia. Zach would punch him, but no one would know because loyal Livvy wouldn't tell. It took weeks to get her scent out of his bed. She was under his skin.

Max hadn't spoken to her since he dropped her at the station, not even when her father passed. Zach had relayed details of how Olivia was dealing with her father's death. If he called to help console her, he would have weakened and she would have boarded a train to Connecticut. Every time his mother or brother mentioned her name, he hoped it was in the context that she was dating.

On the Fourth of July, Zach wanted to celebrate Max finally finishing and his job. Max needed an excuse before his uncle planned a weekend trip with his family.

At dinner, his mother smiled at him across the table. "I know you're an adult, but you can stay as long as you need."

"I'm looking. Hopefully, I can get a place for the first of August."

Michael said, "Maybe you should buy a place."

He shook his head. "I'm not ready for that. I don't even know the best location since I'll be on call." On call sounded marvelous. Instead of overnight shifts, he would be called in from home to observe or perform surgeries.

"Zach and Lilli are planning a party for you on the holiday. It's wonderful you have it off."

"Who's coming? I don't have friends in Boston anymore."

"Sure you do. JJ and Violet. You can meet the baby, Evangeline. Ian and Ainsley, and even Joel from highschool."

"Mom, I haven't seen Joel in ten or eleven years."

Lois held her fork in midair. "You were best friends."

"I made other friends." His Yale friends were spread out. Jack lived close enough, but his wife thought Olivia was his girlfriend.

"You'll have fun."

"Is Uncle Kurt coming?"

Lois looked at her husband. "They haven't confirmed."

"Oh, I assumed Olivia would come." There he said it.

"No, she won't be coming. I thought you knew."

His abdominals tensed. "Knew what?" He waited to hear she was in love.

"She took a leave of absence and left New York. No one knows where she is."

"What do you mean no one knows where she is?" He wiped his palms on the cloth napkin on his lap. "Did she go to Cyprus?"

Lois shook her head. "She would have told Anita. She's in contact with her mother, but said she needed space. Anita thinks she might have a man."

Max felt nauseous as he pushed around the shrimp scampi his mother had made specially for him.

"Don't you like it?"

"It's too rich. The cafeteria doesn't use butter. I'm used to sandwiches."

"You're too skinny."

"He's fine, Lois."

"Mom, it's great. I can't believe no one told me about Olivia."

"I assumed you knew. Zach did."

"Right." He stopped himself from saying she and Zach were closer, because it was a lie. As of April, no one was closer to her than him. Maybe she didn't tell him because she was with a man. It just wasn't like her. "She loves her job and the agency."

"I think finding her father just to lose him hit her hard. With her inheritance, she can afford not to work for a while."

Max put his napkin on the table. "Excuse me. I need to bring the rest of my things in. It's a big day tomorrow."

"Huge day. We're proud of you, son."

"Thanks, Dad." Not if his father knew that he had hurt Olivia.

The Fourth of July arrived warm and sunny. Max had slept in, but feared all his catch up on sleep would be for naught. After three boring days learning hospital procedures, he was ready to see patients. He would start the next day in the ambulatory setting.

Max had hardly finished his coffee when Zach and Lilli appeared. After hugs from each, he watched Lilli unload grocery bags. Lois went to work with her daughter-in-law in the kitchen, while he took a second cup of coffee outside to the deck with his brother.

Zach reached up and tousled his messy bedhead. "Look at you lazy head."

Max chuckled. Lazy and Maxwell Steele were an oxymoron. "I start seeing patients tomorrow. They're starting me out easy. I'm not on call this first weekend. I start the six am rounds on Monday. So today?"

"Just some friends by the pool. Lil and I are taking off for Maine tomorrow. I think the Sumners are heading to Newport later."

Max nodded as he looked out over the pool. "Have you used the pool this summer? I've swum every day."

"No. Closest I've come was setting up an inflatable one in Leo's backyard. You met him at our wedding." Zach shrugged. "He's a good friend. I invited him and his family today. The kids will love the pool and I want you to get to know my friend."

"Fine with me. Who else is coming? Uncle Kurt?"

"Nah. Anita wants to stay in the city because of Olivia."

Max looked up at his brother. "What's really going on?"

Zach frowned; his worry lines would age him. "I don't know. She says she's fine. I guess she took her father's death harder than she let on. Anita thinks it involves a guy. Leave it to Livy to never date and run off with the first SOB she let's get close to her."

Not the first, because that SOB was sitting in the sun feeling like an asshole. "So no one knows where she is?"

"No one I talked to, not even the Dees. She's not in Cyprus or I'm reasonably sure since she responds to texts at times which would be the middle of the night there. You know she inherited a lot."

Max remembered her father's call and nodded. "She threatened to give it all away."

"Anita thinks she's planning to live off of it."

Max sat forward. "She's too smart to fall for a guy who wants to bleed her dry." Financially, he had already done it emotionally. "Did you invite her?"

"Yah, but she said she couldn't. Didn't you see her after Cyprus?"

He nodded. "In April. She talked about her father."

Max didn't want to admit he drove her into another man's arms, but it happened the other time he selfishly took her with no promises. Years ago, he hated thinking of her sleeping with another guy. Livvy was too sensual to not have a lover. He felt a tingle flow to his gut as he remembered her face when he made her come over and over.

He stood abruptly. "I have to shower."

Later Max sat in a deck chair with a beer in his hand. Seeing the pool full of kids brought back memories. Ian sat beside him, and Max waited for him to mention his sister. When Max stood and walked inside for some food, a group of women were in the kitchen, Lilli, Ainsley, and Zach's friend's pregnant wife.

"Here he is, the superhero surgeon. Max, do you know Isla?"

He smiled. "From the wedding. Congrats."

She possessively touched her abdomen. "Thanks, but the congratulations go to you, doctor."

"I just hope you never need me."

She nodded. Ainsley said, "We were talking about Olivia."

"Zach's worried." Lilli frowned.

"Ian is too. He talks to his mother every day."

"She didn't confide in either of you?" They looked at each other, but shook their heads. "What?" He felt his pulse race.

Ainsley sighed. "Fine. She was acting weird at Kurt's birthday party."

"Not weird. Not herself. Sad."

Max was the cause. "Mandy was with her ex."

"Maybe."

He turned towards commotion on the deck. Lilli said, "Oliver and Emma are here."

When she stepped out the others followed her. Max dipped a tortilla chip in guacamole and debated texting Olivia.

"Here's the man of honor!" Emma walked into the kitchen carrying a container. "Cookies. Don't eat them all. Daph won't like it."

"Daphne loves me."

She reached up and patted his cheek. "Everyone loves you, one more than the rest of us." She gave an extra rub to his stubble. "This isn't like you."

"Day off. I'll be clean shaven tomorrow morning." He eyed her. "What do you know about me?"

She laughed. "I've seen the smoldering eyes. Why won't you admit you love her?"

"Love isn't enough. Besides, I drove her away."

She poked his chest. "How do you feel in here when you think of her with someone new? With his hands all over her?" His fist clenched and his jaw bulged. "Intimately." The last word sounded like a wisp of wind.

"What aren't you telling me? Do you know where she is?"

Emma shrugged. "We saw her at the end of May. She told me she had a steamy weekend with some guy."

"Is that who she's with?"

Emma smiled. "Congrats on finishing. I should go help Oliver watch the kids in the pool."

Max stared at the back of her. She toyed with him more than Oliver had with the kiss line up.

Grabbing another beer, he went outside. Everyone was laughing and splashing, but someone was missing.

So Max knows he's an ass. Thanks for voting ⭐️