Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lacey stared at the doorknob of her apartment. It was late. Mack had said he brought Bridger home at six for dinner and then put him to bed at eight. He was probably sitting on the couch inside waiting for her, and she’d have to have the conversation she wasn’t ready for.
Already, she could feel the emotion bubbling to the surface like molten lava. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to sit down next to him and not cry her eyes out.
Angela was still ignoring her. It didn’t matter how many messages or voicemails she sent to her sister’s phone, she hadn’t gotten anything back.
None of it was Mack’s fault. Maybe that was why she didn’t want to talk to him about it. She didn’t want him feeling guilty over the rift that had been torn between herself and Angela. She just wished she could go back in time and tell Angela the first night she’d stayed over.
Only, that wouldn’t have worked. At that point, Lacey had been in denial. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d liked Mack.
There was no avoiding him tonight, though. She’d dragged him into her life, and she owed him more than she was prepared to give.
Shoving her key into the knob, she cleared her head and told herself everything would be okay. She could allow Mack into her heart. She could trust him. No matter how hard she fought against it, she could give herself fully to him.
She pushed the door open, and sitting right there on the couch was the man she might actually love. He turned his head toward her, and that charming grin filled his face. He reached for the remote and flipped off the television before he got to his feet and beckoned to her.
Lacey shut the door and moved toward him as if her feet had a mind of their own. She chewed on her lower lip, and the second he pulled her into his arms, the tears fell. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He rubbed her back. “You don’t have to be sorry.”
“But I am.” She buried her face into his chest. “I’m sorry I pushed you away last night. You didn’t have to help me today, and you did?—”
Mack pulled back and pushed a tendril of her hair behind her ear. His eyes searched hers for a moment. Then he kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheek, and finally the edge of her mouth. “Eventually, you’re going to believe me. When I tell you that I care about you, I mean it.”
She searched for that amusement in his gaze. The side of him that flirted with her, teased her—it was gone. In its place was a man who meant every single word he said.
Lacey leaned into him, wrapping her arms tight around him. She felt the same way, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to voice it.
“Talk to me,” he murmured into her hair. “How are things with your sister?”
She rubbed her face into his chest. “She won’t talk to me.”
Mack didn’t pull away. He didn’t dig deeper. He didn’t even offer any advice. All Mack did was listen. And that was what she needed most.
Funny how a simple vent session was all it took for Lacey to get her head in the right space again. She couldn’t believe she’d been so quick to shut Mack out. And he’d been a sweetheart from the very beginning.
Her relationship felt stronger than ever—even though Angela was still giving her the cold shoulder. Now that everything was out in the open, Mack had insisted that she bring Bridger around Sagebrush Ranch a lot more.
“The kid’s a natural!” Mack hollered from where he stood in the center of a corral.
Lacey couldn’t get her heart to lower itself from its location lodged in her throat as she watched her son, clad in a new pair of jeans, a pair of real cowboy boots, and a hat—all courtesy of the man standing before her.
If this wasn’t heaven, she didn’t want anything to do with it.
Her eyes followed Bridger, her anxiety a little eased now that she’d watched him for a while. Mack was right. Her son was born to be in a saddle. And by the looks of it, Mack was born to be a father.
A shiver crept up her spine as her thoughts ran away with themselves. For the first time in a long while, she could see a future with him—with both of them.
“You must be the boy’s mom.” A deep voice jolted her out of this particular fantasy.
Lacey twisted to find a familiar young man.
She’d met him before, but she couldn’t recall his name.
He belonged to Mack’s family—Sammie’s other brother-in-law.
It had been a brief encounter, so it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t remember her.
Offering him a small smile, she turned her attention back to Bridger’s riding lesson. “And you must be Mack’s baby brother.”
“I’m Noah,” he scoffed. “I heard you had a mouth on you.”
She lifted a brow, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “Oh? Who would have said such a hurtful thing?”
This time he chuckled, likely hearing the amused drawl of her voice.
He leaned up against the bar that kept them separated from the interior of the corral and rested his folded arms atop it.
“I never thought I’d see the day when Mack would willingly take responsibility over someone else.
He’s always been…” His voice trailed off, and he shrugged.
Noah’s words scratched at something in the back of her mind.
He could be referring to anything. Mack had said that he’d been a disappointment to his family.
Angela had said that Mack wasn’t who he appeared to be.
Why wouldn’t any of them just come out and tell her what they thought was so wrong about him?
Her gaze locked with Mack’s. His smile only grew. There was nothing wrong with him. He was finding his way in the world just like anyone else. And he was going to chase a dream no one thought he could handle.
Lacey didn’t bother asking Noah to clarify. She didn’t need any negativity right now. Between her concerns with Angela and the thread of control she had over her relationship with Mack, there was already too much taking place in her mind.
“Anyway,” Noah murmured, tossing her a smile. “It’s nice to see that he has something to fight for.”
Now that statement warmed her from the inside out. “You really think so?” She couldn’t help the question as it slipped between her lips.
“Definitely.” Noah nodded toward the duo still in the middle of their exercises. “You can’t tell me that you don’t see how much he loves your kid. I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”
Lacey dragged her focus to Mack, and she smiled again. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I overreacted.”
Lacey chewed on her thumbnail as she paced the kitchen. Mack was reading Bridger a story, and when Lacey had seen who was calling in, she couldn’t ignore it. Her eyes kept flitting to the bedroom door, expecting Mack to make an appearance.
She didn’t know why she was nervous. It wasn’t as if Angela had expected Lacey to break up with Mack after their argument. Still, she didn’t want to rock the precarious position where she now found herself. Angela had finally called her back after three days. Those three days had been torture.
“It’s okay,” Lacey murmured. “I get it.”
“It’s not okay. I didn’t have a claim on him.
” Angela sighed. “He’d even said right off the bat that he liked someone else.
I should have known.” This time she groaned.
“I was so stupid! Seriously. All the signs were there, Lacey. He’d said he liked someone else but was trying to convince her.
And the fact that he was at your complex that day I arrived! ”
Though Lacey couldn’t see her sister’s face, she could imagine that Angela was dealing with a flush of embarrassment.
Her sister didn’t need to be embarrassed.
“I should have mentioned he was really flirty.” Lacey grimaced.
Mack was more than flirty. He’d openly tried to get her to go out with him from the beginning.
“No. You weren’t under any obligation. It does all make a little more sense. If there was one guy who could break down those walls you put up, it would be Mack.”
A smile threatened to cross Lacey’s face, but she bit it back. “Does this mean you’ll come back and stay here again?”
There was a pause, and Lacey’s stomach dropped. Already she knew what her sister would say to her before her voice came through the line. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?’ Lacey whispered, fighting to hold back the pain that lurked behind her cheerful tone.
More silence, and then Angela sighed. “Your relationship with him is still so new. I don’t want to rock the boat.”
“You won’t be?—”
“Yes, I would. I’m still a little… jealous. You know I had a crush on him back in high school. And all those memories came rushing back to the surface when I bumped into him again. I’m just… worried that if I’m there and he stops by, I’ll start resenting you again.”
Those words did something painful to Lacey’s stomach.
At least Angela was being honest with her.
That was more than Lacey could expect right now.
Her sister was being the bigger person. She was starting the healing process.
But that didn’t mean she was completely okay with how everything had turned out.
The bedroom door opened, and Lacey nodded more to herself than anyone else as Mack emerged. His eyes connected with hers, and his smile made her insides melt. One step at a time. That was all Lacey could hope for. She was willing to let the relationship with her sister heal for as long as it took.
“I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” Angela murmured.
“Yeah. We’ll catch up later,” she repeated.
The second she hung up the phone, Mack’s arms slipped around her waist from behind. Lacey leaned into his embrace and closed her eyes with a sigh. His nose nuzzled into the crook of her neck. “Who was that?”
“Angela.”
Mack stilled his movements. He wasn’t tense like she’d expected—more curious than anything else. “Oh?”
She nodded, turning within his arms to get a good look at him. The smile that tugged at her face was all the indication he needed to know how her conversation had gone.
He grinned. “So, everything is okay?”
Her smile slipped. “Not exactly. She said she was sorry about overreacting, but that she’s still hurting.
While she’s not admitting it, I know she thinks that my keeping this from her felt like a lie.
” Lacey leaned into him again, resting her cheek to his shoulder.
“And she’s probably right. I shouldn’t have kept it from her.
It would have hurt less if she’d been aware. ”
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you can’t change the past.”
His words wrapped around her in a peculiarly sinister way. It was an innocent enough statement. And on its own, she agreed with it wholeheartedly.
But something about it coming from Mack rubbed at her wrong. She couldn’t help the way her mind shifted to the unknown—to everything that others had alluded to.
He’s not who you think he is.
They don’t think I’ll make anything of myself.
… never thought I’d see the day when Mack would willingly take responsibility over someone else…
“Hey, what’s wrong?” His voice was low, concerned.
Dang it! She hadn’t realized she’d reacted. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep the flicker of guilt from showing on her face, and she knew it from the moment she stared into his soulful eyes.
Mack’s brows narrowed as he continued to study her. “Lacey.” The note of warning sent chills crawling across her skin. “You can talk to me.”
“I know,” she blurted, pulling away from him. Then she waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Lacey…” he tried again, but she stepped out of his reach.
She ran a hand through her hair, turning her back to him as she regained her focus.
“It’s been a long day. I’m tired. You must be tired, too.
” Lacey faced him and prayed that her expression wouldn’t give her away.
She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let her doubts get in the way.
She’d fight tooth and nail to keep them at bay.
He continued to study her for a long moment. Just when she thought he’d push the issue further, he relented. “Then I suppose I should get going so you can get some sleep.”
Lacey nodded, grateful that she’d managed to dodge this one. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Mack nodded. His eyes delved into hers, and then he smiled. “I’ll be counting the seconds.”