Mack Daddy(23)

He blew out a breath that momentarily warmed the skin on my face. “Thank you. Some days I feel like a failure. But I swear, I’m trying my ass off.”

“I can see that. I’m not blind.”

“Not anymore, at least. You got Lasik.”

“Yeah.” I smiled.

My body suddenly became all too aware that he was only inches from me. Time seemed to stand still for a bit as the leaves rustled around us. He kept looking at me intensely, and I just stood there soaking him in.

“Thank you for always believing in me,” he finally said.

Trying to fight the feelings of hurt that were also creeping in, I had to ask, “I don’t know why, but I’d assumed you two had gotten married.”

“No. We were engaged for a long time, but the wedding never happened…much to my father’s dismay.”

“I can imagine he gave you a lot of grief about that.”

“I just couldn’t go through with it. Ending it was not easy. I knew she wouldn’t take it well. I put it off for so long because I didn’t want her to taint Jonah’s view of me. I worry about what she says to him.”

“All you can do is your best to show him you love him. As he gets older, he’ll see things for what they are.”

“I hope so.” He sighed. “She’s bringing this new guy around lately. Never told me anything beforehand. I happened to accidentally find him there when I dropped Jonah off recently.” He brought his hand to my forehead, removing a flyaway hair. “Anyway, I don’t mean to vent to you like this. You need to get back to class.”

My body shivered from the contact. Whenever he touched me, it felt like the world stopped.

Touch me again.

I cleared my throat. “It’s okay. I’ll see you in a bit. You’re still coming in at one?”

“Yeah. I’m just gonna take a walk, kill some time. I’ll see you soon.”

We each walked away in separate directions. Almost at the front entrance, I turned back around to look at him in the distance. My heart clenched upon realizing he was staring back at me, too.





A couple of women who’d been volunteering elsewhere in the school weaseled their way into my classroom for Mack’s story time that afternoon. Among them was Clarissa McIntyre, the mother of one of my students. She was single, and it was obvious she had her eye on Mack.

With her long, blonde hair and svelte figure, Clarissa was probably as attractive as the mothers at this school got. Her being here because of Mack definitely made me uneasy. The same thing had happened the last time he’d come in to assist with a Halloween art project. Random women seemed to just magically appear in the corner of the room. Whenever I would hear them whisper the nickname “Mack Daddy,” it made me want to punch someone.

Mack took his spot in the chair at the center of the circular rug. He took out his book, and I immediately noticed a new drawing of the cartoon version of me on the front.

“I’ve brought Frankie Four Eyes back in today for a new adventure. This one is called Frankie Four Eyes and the Boy Band Bathroom Conundrum.”

Oh goodness.

“Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Frankie Jane, but people called her Frankie Four Eyes because of her gigantic, purple glasses.”

Apparently, all of his stories started out with the same sentence.

“One day, Frankie was at a concert seeing one of her favorite boy bands. She managed to sneak backstage and was so excited, she nearly peed herself.”

Everyone got a kick out of that.

“Frankie found a private bathroom that was supposed to be for employees only. But before she could sit down, to her dismay, her glasses suddenly fell into the toilet bowl.”

The kids thought that was hysterical.

“This was a conundrum because—”

“What’s a con eardrum?” one of the students interrupted.

“Not con eardrum. A conundrum. And that’s a very good question. A conundrum is like a difficult problem…hard to solve.”

Mack repeated his previous line, “This was a conundrum…because Frankie was a germaphobe.”

Mack looked out at his audience anticipating a question.

A boy named Cayden raised his hand. “What’s a germaphobe?”

“Good question! A germaphobe is someone who is afraid of germs.” Mack continued, “Frankie didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to stick her hand down the dirty toilet to get the glasses, but if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to see. She was also embarrassed, so she chose not to yell for help. Frankie ended up keeping herself locked in the bathroom for several minutes. This was another conundrum. If she opened the door, someone would see her glasses in the toilet. If she didn’t, she’d be stuck in that bathroom unable to see.” He put the book down momentarily. “What do you think Frankie should do?”

“Call for help,” someone yelled.

“Yes. Let’s read on and find out what she does.” Mack turned the page. “Frankie didn’t have to decide, because there was a knock at the door. It was one of the singers from the band who needed to use the bathroom. She once again didn’t know what to do. This was another…” He paused.

The class answered in unison. “Conundrum.”