Mack Daddy(16)

As Jonah ran up the stairs to his room, I glanced over at a tall dude with a beard. He was standing in the corner holding a beer.

“Who’s this?” I asked as I continued to stare him down.

He approached me, offering his hand, which I didn’t take. “I’m Gerard Lockhart. Nice to meet you.”

“Gerard works with me.”

“I see.” I nudged my head back toward the front door. “Can I talk to you outside for a minute?”

She followed me and asked, “What is it?”

“What are you doing bringing strange men around my son?”

“You don’t have a say in whom I invite over to my house.”

“He’s not emotionally ready to have other men around. He’s still getting over my not living with him.”

“Whose fault is that? Someday when he asks why we aren’t together, I’ll tell him the truth, that you told me you didn’t love me, that you never loved me. Don’t blame me for all of this. Don’t blame me for trying to find someone to give me what you never did. It’s your fault we’re in this place, and you need to accept it. You’re the one who left.”

Fuck. To be honest, it was the truth. Not wanting my son to overhear anything, I simply lowered my voice and said, “In the future, you really need to discuss these things with me first.”

“Whatever, Mack,” Torrie said before shutting the door.

Getting back in my car, I was too exhausted to start the engine. I leaned my head against the seat and closed my eyes before eventually garnering the energy to drive away.

Once I arrived home, I stayed in the car for a bit, staring at my phone. My finger hovered over Frankie’s name. I wanted to text her so badly but decided against it. In my current mood, I might have gone overboard and said something I would’ve regretted, like how badly at the café I’d wanted to lick a line from her chest up to her neck to her bottom lip before sucking on it. We’d ended that meeting on a good note, and I needed to continue to take it slow.

Mrs. Migillicutty opened her window when she caught me walking into my house.

“Evening, Mack.”

“Evening, Mrs. M.”

“You look like shit.”

I started to laugh. “Well, thank you. Tell me how you really feel.”

“You know what the great thing about having me for a neighbor is?”

“What’s that?”

“I double as a bartender.”

“Is that so? I like that idea. We can call it Migillicutty’s Pub.”

“How about some of that rum I promised you? I make a mean rum and Coke.”

God, I could use a drink tonight.

I threw my keys up in the air and caught them. “Serve me up!”

Once inside, she prepared my drink at the table. The Coke fizzed as she poured it over the liquor. She slid the glass over to me.

“Thank you.”

“Are you kidding? I’m totally living vicariously through you, Mack.” She crossed her arms and leaned in. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s right would be a more appropriate question.”

“Talk.”

“Let’s see. Where to start? I’m angry at my ex for bringing a new man around my son without checking with me first. Speaking of my son, I’m pretty sure he hates me and blames me for his unhappiness. God knows what kind of false information his mother’s feeding him.”

“Anyone who sees you in action with that boy would never doubt the kind of father you are. The fact that you’re not with his mother doesn’t change that. As for this new man, be happy someone’s filling her love tank so that you don’t have to anymore.”

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”

“Speaking of which, didn’t you have a date with Miss Frankie?”

“It was hardly a date, but yeah. It started out a little rocky, but it ended up okay. We just talked.”

“You never told me the story of how you met her. I know she was your roommate.”

“You really want to hear it?”

“Fuck, yes.”

I couldn’t help but crack up any time she said something I didn’t expect to come out of her mouth.

She looked confused. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“So, tell me the story!”

“Okay…well, the thing with Frankie didn’t start out romantic or anything. She was—for lack of a better word—odd, even a little geeky. At least, that was my impression of her when she first moved in. But there was something really endearing about her at the same time. I guess I liked the fact that she wasn’t egotistical or intimidating like most of the other people I’d been associating with up until that point.”

“I bet a lot of people find you intimidating, Mack.”

“Maybe.” I grinned. “Anyway, I’d been surrounded by people my whole life who I felt like I had to compete with. I was brought up to find value in shallow and unimportant things. Frankie, on the other hand, never made me feel anything but comfortable in my own skin. I never felt like she was judging me. She used to have this terrible social anxiety. I used to tell her she shouldn’t give a f*ck what people thought of her. Meanwhile, that was a little hypocritical because deep down, I definitely struggled with that a little, too, particularly when it came to my father. Anyway, those months of getting to know her as a friend were like a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know I needed. It was like I’d been suffocating and didn’t realize it. Frankie was sweet and caring. She’d cook for me—no one had ever cooked for me in my life unless they were getting paid to do it. But more than anything, being around her just…felt good.”