Mack Daddy(75)

“Yes. It was a horrible way to find out.”

“I suspected she was in on it, but I just can’t believe she would do that and that he let her do the dirty work.”

“Mack, how could you have known about this and not told me the second you found out?”

“I’ve been sick over it,” he pleaded. “I’ve only known for a few days. I was trying to figure out how to do it in a way that would hurt you the least…if that was even possible. I’d planned to tell you this weekend when you came to visit. Then you canceled, so I had to come here. I would’ve never kept this from you, Frankie. You have to know that.”

“I know this isn’t your fault. I just don’t know how to handle it.”

“This is typical of my father. This is the type of shit I’ve seen him do to people my entire life. Back when you and I first met, I’d always feared that something like this might happen someday, that if I loved you openly, somehow my father would do something to hurt you. More recently, I had myself convinced that I could protect you from anything even if that did happen. This time around with you, I’d stopped obsessing about it, choosing to just enjoy life. I let my guard down. I wanted to just love you without worrying about all of that. But out of all the possible things he could’ve done, I never could’ve predicted this scenario.”

“My mother confirmed everything. She never planned to tell me, but it’s all true. Freddie Higgins is my father.”

“Are you okay?” He rested his forehead against mine. “I know that seems like a dumb question.”

“I’m just in shock. This feels like a dream. I can’t even explain what I’m feeling because it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

“I hate that I caused this.”

“You didn’t cause it.”

“Not directly. But if I hadn’t come back into your life, this never would’ve happened. I’d never forgive myself if I ever put you in any kind of danger. What did Torrie say to you?”

I reached into my bag and took out the folded piece of paper. “I have the letter here.”

Mack’s ears were turning red as he read it. He looked like he was burning up in anger. “I can’t believe this. I just can’t believe she would threaten you like that. This is the fucking mother of my child acting like this.” Running his hand through his hair in frustration, he looked down at the floor and then up at me. “I swear to God, if it weren’t for my son, I’d take you away and hope we never came back. I just wish I knew the best way to handle this. I truly feel helpless.”

“I don’t think the answer is going to come overnight.”

“What do we do in the meantime?”

“Honestly? I just want you to hold me tonight. That’s all. I don’t want to think. I just want to be with you.”

“I can do that.”

Mack closed the curtains, shutting out most of the light. He rolled down the bedding before taking off his shirt. As he enveloped me in his arms, I curled into his warm body. For a few moments, I was able to forget the past week.

His heart was thumping against my back. I knew his mind was racing.

He finally spoke. “All these years, you thought your father didn’t want you. He was just fucked-up.”

“I’m glad I know the truth. I just wish I knew what to do with it.”

“Do you think you’ll ever contact him?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“I think it’s better if you don’t. It’s not worth the risk.”

“Do you really think someone would come after me after all this time?”

“I don’t want to find out, Frankie. The thought of something happening to you because of what my father pulled is unfathomable.”

He held me tighter. I felt tiny in Mack’s big arms.

We eventually both drifted off to sleep. It was the first good sleep either of us had gotten in days.





After he returned to Virginia, during the days that followed, things would change again and not for the better.

This time period reminded me so much of how it felt years ago when he’d left our apartment in Boston and went home for the summer only to come back and break my heart.

Mack was once again distancing himself much like he’d done back then. Whenever I questioned him, he’d tell me he was trying to figure out what the best step was moving forward.

I couldn’t help but worry that he’d come to the conclusion that it was safer for everyone if we went our separate ways.

For the first time, I doubted whether we would be able to recover.





As I waited in front of Mrs. Migillicutty’s, the sight of Mack’s empty house next door made me melancholy. The windows were dark, and the for sale sign still sat out front on the dried-up, ice-coated grass. It was a terrible time to have a house on the market in the middle of winter, so he hadn’t gotten any bites on the property.