Mack Daddy(39)
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.”
Mack pulled into what I assumed was his driveway and waved to an older woman who was outside getting her mail.
“Shit,” he muttered.
“What?”
“That’s Mrs. Migillicutty, my neighbor. I was hoping she wouldn’t see me with you.”
“Why?”
“She knows about you. This might get a little weird, okay?” Before I could respond, he opened his door then came around to let me out.
Mack nodded his head. “Hey, Mrs. M.”
The woman placed her hand over her eyes to block out the sun as she approached, dragging her slippers along the concrete. “You must be Frankie.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“The red hair.”
“Well, it’s really nice to meet you,” I said.
She winked at Mack.
“I’ll talk to you later, Mrs. M.”
“I fully expect that.” She snickered. “Wonderful meeting you, Frankie Jane.”
Frankie Jane? She knew about that name, too? What the hell?
“What was that all about?”
Mack looked amused. “She’s sort of like my neighbor-slash-bartender-slash-psychologist.”
“She knows everything?”
“Pretty much. Talking to her keeps me sane.”
As weird as it was, I found Mack’s friendship with the old lady quite endearing.
Mack lived in a large, split-level home. Just inside the front door, there was a small set of stairs leading up to his living area and another set of stairs off to the left leading down to the finished basement.