“I can’t believe that!” cried Max, laughing loudly and looking so very confused. “You never told me that, Alice.”

“It never came up,” I said lamely.

“I can’t believe… all these times I’ve spoken about Bette Porter and her gallery and you’ve never once mentioned…” He shook his head, looked awed and amazed. “Wow.”

“Well, you know,” I said, looking around the room awkwardly. “It always seemed incongruous to the conversation.”

Meanwhile, Bette seemed to be working out complicated mathematical equations in her head. She emerged, finally, saying with more than a hint of triumph in her tone, “Max Bauer, the sculptor.”

“Yes!” Max said excitedly. He was now squeezing me so tight that I think he was trying to merge our bodies together. Or break my ribs. “That’s me.”

“Max, can you…” I pried myself loose.

“I’m interested in seeing anything you’ve done lately,” said Bette. “I mean, I know you said you were between projects, but…”

“There are some pieces sitting around my studio, collecting dust,” Max said with a boisterous laugh. I couldn’t help but smile. “Now, I’m not implying that I’d like to have a collection shown here,” he went on, even though we all knew that was exactly what he was implying, “but even to get the opinion of someone like yourself would be…”

Bette nodded. “Well, why don’t I give you a call and we can set up a meeting?”

I glared at her. She was trying to ingratiate herself into my life; I just knew it.

If she saw my glare, she didn’t let on, because she was mostly smiling in Max’s direction. Max was patting the pockets of his jeans in a strange manner. “I have my card…” he muttered. “Al, do you have my wallet?”

Yeah, I took your wallet and I’ve been holding onto it because I’m that strange. “No.”

“I think I left it in the car,” he said. “I’ll check.” He pointed between the two of us and said with a big smile, “You must have a lot to catch up on. So I’ll be right back.”

Once Bette and I were alone, I shook my head at her, dismayed at her wiliness. “I can’t believe you are using Max to put yourself back into my life. That is so low, underhanded, and sneaky.”