The Great Between

Bookshelf Detectives

'I don't know if I trust the two of you to go on a walk together and not cause some kind of trouble,' Mum says. 'Especially not after what happened with the Leo Incident. What if you're going off to meet up with Charlie or something?'

That's what she's calling it now, the Leo Incident. As if we conducted a heist or something. Max is nervous, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

'We're just going to Will's house,' I say. 'He wants me to feed his cat again.'

Mum's expression softens. I told her about Will after he was on the news and now she's a little bit obsessed with him. Apparently, she met him once at a school event and every time I mention him, she pulls that face that says, now there's someone I would quite like as a son-in-law. Which is ridiculous because Will is very gay. So am I, with the exception of Leo.

'Okay,' she says. 'But be home before dinner. Do you need to bring anything? I think we've got some chocolates in the fridge.'

'I think keeping his cat alive will be enough of a present.'

'Don't worry, Nat,' Max says. 'I'll keep Stella under control. She's a nightmare without me. I don't know how you coped before I moved in, to be honest.'

I don't mention that all this started after Max moved in.

Mum sighs and waves us off. 'Just be back before dinner. And no sneaking around with anyone, alright?'

We thank her as sweetly as possible and bounce down the front steps.

'Your mum's getting more paranoid about sneaking around with boys,' Max says.

'No, she was always this bad,' I say.

'Even before you liked Leo?'

I nod. 'She's like this with girls too. She has equal opportunity paranoia.'

We turn onto the footpath and Max brushes her hair out of her eyes, springing along beside me like an overgrown puppy. I want to hug her when she's like this.

'I missed happy Max.'

She grins at me. 'Me too.'

She almost dances down the street. She used to dance down the street a lot and I always had to run to keep up. Now, I just let her go ahead and hope she stops every now and then to let me catch up.

Max stops at a driveway to wait for me and says, 'We should dust the letters for fingerprints.'

'The letters you, Gracie, and I have all touched?'

'Yeah.'

'Do you know how to do that?'

'No, but I bet Gracie does.'

'Why would Gracie know how to dust for fingerprints?'

Max shrugs. 'She seems the type.'

'There's only one problem with that plan.'

'There's no problem. It's a great idea.'

'But if someone other than you, me, or Gracie sent it, how are you going to check their prints?'

She scowls at me. 'It was a good idea.'

The wind is crisp and Max complains about the stinging cold on her ankles, but refuses to uncuff her jeans. We walk like little kids, jumping on piles of fallen leaves and crunching curls of eucalyptus bark under our boots. There are moments like this where I wish I liked Max back so we could be a stronger pair, so we could become the old married couple Gracie jokes we are. I wish I could do that for her.