Mack Daddy(32)

She jumped at the sound of my voice.

“Mack. What are you doing here?”

“Same thing as you. Squeezing things?”

Frankie’s cheeks turned red.

Her man faced me then turned to her. “This is Mack?”

She simply nodded.

Wow. She’d told him about me.

I wasn’t sure whether that gave me satisfaction or disturbed me.

He held out his hand. “Victor Owens.”

I took it. “Mack Morrison.” It was a bizarre feeling to only now be coming face to face with someone who’d been my number one adversary for a long time.

He’d kept a firm grip around her waist with his other hand. Much to my dismay, Frankie’s boyfriend was actually a decently good-looking, older man. Despite the salt and pepper hair, he was in good shape and what most women of any age would probably deem attractive.

Jonah appeared by my side with a plastic bag full of apples and pomegranates.

Frankie forced a smile. “Hey, Jonah.”

He looked uncomfortable to have run into his teacher. “Hi.”

“We’re heading to the Science Museum in a little bit,” I said.

“Oh, he’ll love that.” She smiled.

Victor turned to my son. “I used to love going there when I was a kid, although it’s way better now. Make sure you visit the Colossal Fossil.”

“What’s that?” Jonah asked.

“It’s a sixty-five million-year-old dinosaur skeleton, discovered in the Dakota Badlands about a decade ago. Really neat if you’re into dinosaurs.”

While my jealous and immature ego wished it could make a joke about Frankie being into dinosaurs, it was hard to take my inner thoughts seriously right now. In reality, this guy came across as younger than I’d imagined him. For the first time, I realized I had some serious competition if I ever dreamt of stealing Frankie away from him. A sinking feeling developed in the pit of my stomach as I looked back over at his hand that was planted just above her ass.

“Well, have a nice time,” she said.

Fumbling my words, I said, “Yeah. You too. I mean…a nice weekend.”

“Thank you,” she said.

Frankie’s eyes locked with mine in a silent acknowledgement of how awkward this encounter was.

Victor briefly patted my son on the shoulder. “Nice meeting you, Jonah.”

My chest felt tight as we walked away.

That afternoon, while Jonah and I gazed up at the stars atop the ceiling of the museum’s planetarium, my mind was elsewhere. I couldn’t get the encounter out of my head. More than ever, it felt like I was running out of time.





Sunday night, I pulled up to Torrie’s with Jonah. I was feeling particularly emotional between the run-in with Frankie the day before and having tried my ass off to bond with my son all weekend.

I looked behind me at Jonah who was hugging his backpack. “I hope you had a good time this weekend. I know I had fun spending it with you.”

Instead of answering me, he floored me with a question. “Are you sad?”

My heart felt like it stopped beating for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“You smile to my face, but sometimes, you seem sad when you don’t think I’m looking.”

My boy was apparently more perceptive than I’d given him credit for. I stopped to think about how I could explain it to him.

“We all have our moments. There are some things in life I wish I could change. And those things make me sad sometimes. But you’re not one of them. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. If you ever think I don’t look happy, it has nothing to do with you. You’re the one thing that brings me the most happiness. You’re my home, Jonah. We’re a team. I go where you go. Even if I’m not under the same roof at night, I’m still with you…just a phone call or a quick drive away. Whenever you need me, I’m there. Got it?”

“Okay.”

“Good.” I turned to reach into the backseat. “Now, give your old man a hug.”

After we embraced, I was just about to exit the car when he said, “Miss O’Hara doesn’t have a dad.”

“She told you that?”

“Yeah. I feel bad for her.”

I simply nodded, making a note to ask her what prompted her to admit that to him.

With Jonah back at his mother’s for the night, the urgent need to see Frankie that had followed me around that entire weekend was at full force.

I picked up my phone and called her from the road.

She knew it was me when she answered, “Mack…”

“Frankie…”

“What’s up?”

I got right to the point. “Can you meet me somewhere? I’d come pick you up at home, but I’m not sure if he’d appreciate that.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine, but I really need to see you. I’m in my car. Just tell me where to go. As long as it’s not to hell.”

After some hesitation, she agreed to meet me. Frankie had me pick her up outside of the Massachusetts statehouse, which wasn’t too far from where she lived.

Waiting on the steps, she was dressed in a fitted, beige blazer and jeans. A bright-colored scarf was wrapped around her neck. Looking sexy as hell, she was also wearing tall, black, leather boots. Her style had definitely evolved for the better over the years.