Mack Daddy(35)

His words were sobering. I stayed silent as he continued.

“These two years with you have been the best of my life. I never doubted that we would be together forever—until recently. And when I found out the reason why you’ve been acting strange, it was proof that my worries were warranted.”

“I’m so sorry to have put this kind of stress on us.”

“Don’t be sorry. You were honest with me. I appreciate that more than you know. But I’m not going to lie. After seeing that the guy you’re hung up on looked like a Calvin Klein model on top of everything, well, that didn’t help.”

I laughed slightly only because I didn’t know how else to react or what to even say. Mack did look like a freaking model, but that had nothing to do with why we were in this predicament. “I’m not a superficial person. You know that. My connection with him was more than skin deep, just as my connection to you is.”

“I know you think with your heart and mind. So, if at any point you decide that your heart isn’t in this, I would prefer that you rip the Band-Aid off. That’s all I ask. I don’t want to be strung along.”

“I promise never to do that to you, Vic. And I promise to work this out so that we can move on with our lives.”

He looked down at his watch. “I’m going to be late, but one more thing before I go.” He placed both of his hands around my face. “If you do determine that I’m the one, I’ve decided that I want to go all in. Because there is no halfway with how I feel about you, my love. And I’m not sure I realized it until losing you became a very real threat. I want to marry you. I want to have babies with you. I want to love you for the rest of my life and do nothing but make you happy. You just need to decide which road you want to take. If the journey is with me, I promise, you won’t regret it.”

Tears began to fill my eyes. Victor had never said anything quite like that to me before. “I love you, Vic. I do.”

“I love you, too, Francesca. Take care of yourself this week, okay?”

“Okay.”

Then, he was gone.





My head was pretty much in the clouds as I attempted to teach that morning. I couldn’t stop thinking about Victor. He’d never bared his soul to me like that. It made me truly realize how much I stood to lose if I let my feelings for Mack get in the way of my relationship with the only man who’d ever claimed to love me.

Later in the day, my mood would change and not for the better. I was correcting papers while the students were completing a spelling test.

Lorelai came up behind me and spoke low. “I was talking to Clarissa this morning. She mentioned that Mack was at her house yesterday.”

My stomach churned.

“What?”

“According to her, they spent the whole day together.”

My blood was boiling. Here I was, putting my entire life on the line due to unresolved feelings for him, and he was canoodling with that whore?

I was angry.

I was confused.

I was missing Victor.

“Did she say anything else?”

“She just kept going on and on about him, how hot he is, how sweet he is, what a great dad he is. She has got her sights set on him hard, Francesca. I just thought you should know what she’s been saying.”

“Thank you.”

I feigned calmness that entire afternoon, but as soon as the class was dismissed, the emotions I’d been harboring were about to explode. I had no right to even feel jealous or angry. But that didn’t seem to make a difference.

Taking out my phone, I took a deep breath before texting him.



Francesca: Heard you had a nice time with Clarissa.



The three dots signaling that he was responding appeared almost immediately.



Mack: It was a playdate for Jonah. I wasn’t going to entertain it, but he actually asked me for it. I couldn’t say no. I wasn’t going to just drop him off at a strange house, especially with his freakout tendencies.



Francesca: I don’t think Clarissa saw it as just a playdate. She wants you.



Mack: It doesn’t matter what she wants.



Francesca: Maybe you should go for it.



Mack: Where are you right now?



Francesca: I’m still at school.



Mack: Stay there. I’m coming to pick you up.



Francesca: I have a car.



Mack: Meet me out front in twenty minutes.



My heart was racing as I waited just inside the front door to the school. When I saw Mack’s truck pull up, I looked behind my shoulders to make sure no one was around before heading toward him.

I opened the door and got in, slamming it shut.

Mack looked angry when he said, “Hi.”

“Hi.”

Letting out a deep breath, he put the vehicle in drive and took off. We must have driven in silence for the better part of a half-hour down Route Nine.

He suddenly drove onto a tree-lined, residential street. It seemed like a nice, middle-class neighborhood.

“Where are we going?”

“My house.”

I swallowed, nervous at the prospect of being alone there with him. “Why?”

“We need to talk. I don’t want to do it in front of people.”