Mack Daddy(35)

Francesca: This is totally something you would have given me as a gag gift back in college.



Mack: Back in college? It’s been ordered and is being shipped to you. Estimated delivery is Monday.



Francesca: Are you kidding?



Mack: Nope. Just don’t let the old man see. He might get excited and give himself a real heart attack.



Francesca: You’re crazy.



Mack: Goodnight, Frankie Jane.



Francesca: Goodnight, Mack.





It wasn’t a typical Saturday at all. I’d woken up determined to get Jonah out of the house and away from his electronic devices.

We drove into the city and got breakfast in the North End. The plan was that later we would go to the Museum of Science. At least there, if he didn’t feel like talking to me, there would be plenty for us to focus our attention on.

Deciding to kill some time after breakfast, we hit the farmer’s market. I’d promised Mrs. Migillicutty I’d bring her back some corn. Handing Jonah a bag, I told him to pick out any amount of fruit he wanted.

Almost immediately after that, I noticed a familiar, dainty hand squeezing an avocado. Another hand—not so familiar—was squeezing Frankie’s ass. I swallowed, taking in the sight of her and her boyfriend standing right in front of me. A cocktail of jealousy and adrenaline coursed through me.

Say something.

She hadn’t noticed me yet when I leaned in and said the first thing I could think of. “How the heck do you even know if they’re ripe anyway?”

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.”