Mack Daddy(6)

You asked for it.

“I’m in love with my son’s teacher.”

“Already? You move fast.”

“It’s not what you think. It’s much more complicated than that.”

“Lay it on me. I can take it.”

“Frankie was my roommate back when we were both in school in Boston several years ago. I was in grad school studying political science. She was undergrad for teaching. We have a long history.”

“You’ve already banged her.”

I bent my head back in laughter.

She seemed surprised by my reaction to her bluntness. “What?”

“I just don’t expect certain things to come out of your mouth.”

“Like this?” She reached into her mouth, took out her teeth, and cackled.

I laughed even harder.

This woman was a trip.

She positioned her dentures back into place and said, “Look…I have grandchildren and cable. I know the terminology.”

I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes. “Gotcha.”

“So, you banged your son’s teacher.”

“Actually, no.”

“No?”

“No.”

“We were just friends for a long time. Then things gradually changed. I never expected what happened between us to develop. But it never got to that point with Frankie.”

“Why not?”

“That’s a story for another day, Mrs. M.”

“Maybe real rum instead of rum cake for that conversation?”

Taking a bite full of my cake, I said, “Without a freaking doubt.”





I was unable to concentrate. Mack was coming in this afternoon to read to the class, and that was preventing me from focusing.

The students were working on some math worksheets, and I looked over at Jonah who had finished before everyone else. That was typical; he was one of the smarter kids in the class. His social anxiety certainly had no bearing on his academic progress.

I walked over to him. “Your dad told you he’s coming in today, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That should be fun.” I smiled.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Does that make you nervous?”

He nodded his head yes.

“Don’t be.”

Jonah very rarely offered anything without being asked, so I was surprised when he said, “He’s going to embarrass me.”

I laughed inwardly at the fact that I was expecting him to be calm about Mack coming in when I was a nervous wreck about it myself—for totally different reasons, of course.

The firm knock made me jump.

Mack offered a smile and a wave through the narrow window of the classroom door.

Lorelai looked giddy when she spotted him there, which prompted me to roll my eyes at her.

It was show time.

When I let him in, the broad smile that spread across his face brought on a sudden feeling of nostalgia. So much had changed in our lives, but the intense emotions that pummeled through me whenever I looked at him were very much the same. They were just mixed with sadness, too, now.

“Sorry I’m a few minutes late. Lunch-time traffic on Route Nine.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not,” he insisted.

His eyes lingered on mine, and suddenly I was back in college again, looking into the eyes of the first guy who’d ever broken through my walls, made me comfortable in my own skin, then broke my heart. Mack still had the ability to take my breath away. I’d missed looking into those gorgeous, hazel eyes that were a mix of green, gold, and caramel with brown borders. I had to look away because I sensed he wasn’t going to be the first one to break the stare.

This was going to be the longest year of my life.

Turning my attention toward the students, I cleared my throat. “Class, this is Mr. Morrison, Jonah’s dad. He’s going to be reading to us today.”

Knowing Jonah was embarrassed, Mack grinned sheepishly at his son. “Hi, Jonah.”

The boy simply turned red but didn’t say anything.

“What are you reading?” I asked.

“It’s a children’s story I wrote myself, actually.”

“I didn’t know you wrote children’s books.”

“Neither did I until this past week.” He winked.

What?

Mack situated himself on the chair I’d set up in the middle of a circular rug. The children gathered on the ground around him. Lorelai grinned over at me. She still didn’t know anything about us; she just thought he was hot.

“So, today, I’m going to tell you a little story I wrote and illustrated myself. It’s called Frankie Four Eyes and the Magic Night Stick.”

My breathing stopped for a moment.

Frankie Four Eyes.

Great.

He’d made me into a book character.

He started, “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.”

Giggles could be heard all around as I started to break out into a cold sweat. Of course, the kids had no clue it was based on me.

Mack continued, “Frankie was scared of other people and often hid behind her glasses. One night, she decided to take a walk in the dark without her spectacles.”