Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
N o matter how many times she told herself to stop doing it, Lorna couldn’t help flirting with Mack Lassiter. It was so fun to see his neck go pink when she played with him or to watch the grin teasing the corners of his lips.
Even though she’d told him he didn’t have to bring anything, he still showed up with a bottle of wine and a carton of vanilla ice cream—two of her favorite things. And both would go with the surprise she had for him after supper.
She’d set up a folding table in the small family room off the kitchen and taped the instructions for building the pirate ship on the wall next to it. From past Lego sets, they’d learned to divide out like pieces into small containers before they started, and she and Max had spent an hour before Mack got there prepping for the build.
“Wow, it smells amazing in here,” Mack had said when he’d walked in the door and inhaled the scents of tomato sauce and garlic filling the house.
She’d taken advantage of Izzy’s afternoon nap and had got the table set and the garlic bread buttered and wrapped in foil. She’d put together a salad and made the spaghetti sauce then put the salad in the fridge and the sauce in a crockpot so all she’d have to do is boil the pasta and pop the bread in the oven when they were ready to eat.
Mack had been super impressed with their prep work and the Lego building command central they’d created, and over the last twenty minutes, they’d put together the base of the ship and were starting on the sails.
Lorna spent most of her time trying to keep the small pieces away from Izzy’s eager fingers and was relieved when the baby arched her back and kicked her legs to be let down. But she was quite surprised when the baby crawled across the floor and pulled herself up Mack’s leg then lifted her arms toward him. She was even more shocked to watch the cowboy absently lift her and a stuffed toy from the floor up into his lap, tuck her into the crook of his shoulder, all while still fiddling with trying to fit two Lego pieces together.
Izzy usually shied away from men, with the exception of the Lassiter men, Chevy and Duke in particular. Lorna assumed it was because one was around all the time and her new uncle and because of the other one’s similarity to Santa Claus.
But Mack hadn’t been around for months. It was true that he’d held her a lot when she was an infant—Lorna remembered the first day she’d met Mack and how surprised she’d been when he took a turn carrying Izzy strapped to his chest for hours while they dished up samples at the annual chili cook off.
He’d always been comfortable around the baby and Max. A sudden thought occurred to her.
“Izzy doesn’t usually take to people like she does to you,” Lorna told him. “And most men aren’t eager to hold a baby, but you just scooped her right up.”
He leveled her with one of his serious stares. “I think I’ve mentioned before that I am not like most men.”
“Yes, you have. But it makes me wonder…” She looked down as she ran her finger along a small scratch in the table before raising her eyes to meet his gaze again. “Do you already have kids?”
He shook his head but kept his gaze trained on hers. “No. I don’t. But for a while, when I was younger, I was around little kids quite a bit.”
“How so?”
“When I was around ten or eleven, we lived in this crummy little apartment building in a small town in Texas. Our neighbors across the hall were this nice young couple who had four kids, all younger than me, including a baby. The woman—her name was Anna Maria—” He smiled fondly when he said her name. “I think she must have noticed that my mom was gone a lot and tended to leave me alone for days or weeks at a time, and she sort of took me under her wing.”
Lorna noticed how he just blithely mentioned that his mother left a ten-year-old boy alone in an apartment for weeks at a time, and her heart broke for the boy he’d been.
“She started out asking if I could help her watch the kids while she went to the basement to change the laundry or to run a quick errand,” Mack continued. “Then she’d end up inviting me to stay for dinner, and most nights sent leftovers home with me, so I’d have something to eat for lunch the next day.”
“Wow. That was kind of her.”
“She was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. But don’t be mistaken.” He flashed her a good-natured grin. “She made me work for it too. But I never minded. It made me feel less like a charity case to eat with their family if I’d spent the afternoon watching the kids or helping fold clothes or doing odd little chores for her. Dante, her husband, gave me some basic tools and taught me how to fix small things around the apartment like changing lightbulbs and how to stop a leak in the sink. And Anna-Maria taught me how to shop for cheap ingredients and how to cook simple meals so I could feed myself and not starve when my mom took off again. She taught me how to do my own laundry and how to make homemade tortillas and chocolate chip cookies. I don’t think my mom ever baked a cookie in her life.”
Hearing that made Lorna thankful for that sweet mom who took on another woman’s child, and felt even more convinced Mack would appreciate the surprise she’d made for him.
“The year we lived in that apartment building was probably the happiest one of my childhood. Even though my mom was gone a lot, and my dad had already taken off by then, I still got to experience what it felt like to be part of a family. To have someone happy to see me when I got home from school and to ask about my day or praise me for a good grade. And her kids were like the siblings I’d always wished for. Every time one of them asked me to do a puzzle or play Crazy Eights or Go Fish or watch a cartoon with them, I always said yes. And I never cared about changing diapers or taking out the trash or washing dishes, as long as I got to be with them.”
“They sound great. Do you still keep in touch?”
He shook his head. “Nah. My mom met some guy, and we moved to another town, and I never saw them again. But I never forgot the impact they had on my life.”
“Thank you for sharing that story with me,” she told him, her tone as solemn as the occasion called for. They stared at each other, both seemingly thinking about that ten-year-old boy. His story had taught her something about him. And it touched her that he’d trusted her with something so personal from his past.
“I like to play Crazy Eights ,” Max said, picking up two white Lego pieces and sticking them together. “And you can watch cartoons with me whenever you want. Have you ever seen Bluey ? It’s a show about a Blue-Heeler puppy, and she’s six, like me. And she gets into trouble sometimes.”
“Also like you,” Lorna said, grinning at her son and the way he so effortlessly lightened the conversation.
“I have not seen it,” Mack told him. “But I do like Blue-Heelers, and I’d be glad to watch it sometime with you.”
“How about right now?” Max flashed his mom an innocent grin.
“How about we focus on the pirate ship for right now,” she said. “And maybe we can watch an episode after supper.”
“Ohh-kay,” he sighed, then turned to Mack. “Will you stay and watch one show with me? Just one. Or maybe two. They’re really funny.”
Mack laughed. “Sure, bud. If it’s okay with your mom, I’ll commit to at least one.”
Lorna shrugged. “Who am I to stand in the way of a new Bluey convert? But speaking of supper, it’s after five, so I’d better get the noodles going or we’ll never eat.”
Izzy seemed content in Mack’s lap, so Lorna slipped away to the kitchen to start the pasta and get the bread into the oven.
Mack was a decent man, thoughtful and kind, and it made her happy for her son to spend time with him. But they’d spent time together before and then Mack had left for months. She was in dangerous territory here, letting herself, and her little family, get close to another man. She sure as hell didn’t want her boy to have to go through the heartbreak of another guy walking out of their lives.
When she had everything ready and the food on the table, she headed back toward the family room but stopped to listen to the conversation happening between Mack and her son.
“I can’t believe how quickly you put that part together,” Mack was saying. “You’re really smart, Max.”
“No, I’m not. I’m dumb,” Max answered way too matter-of-factly.
“What? Why would you say that?”
“Because that’s what my daddy used to say,” Max said, and a piece of Lorna’s heart tore in two. “He always called me a little dummy.”
“Well, he’s wrong.” She could hear the shock in Mack’s tone.
“I know I’m not smart, I get my letters mixed up a lot. That’s why I have trouble reading. But I don’t mind being called dumb. He said my mama was a dummy too, and so that makes me just like her, and she’s awesome.”
“Max, I want you to listen to me,” Mack told him, his voice taking on a serious tone. “Neither you nor your mother are dummies. In fact, you are both very smart. Your mom runs her own business and has to keep track of a lot of things at the coffee shop and still take care of you and your sister. And it takes someone with a lot of skill and smarts to be able to build this pirate ship. You’re not dumb. You’re a very bright kid, and I don’t want you to ever let anyone tell you different or make you feel like you’re dumb. That is simply not true.”
“Okay,” Max said, but so quietly, Lorna could barely hear him.
“Supper’s ready,” Lorna said, forcing a smile as she walked into the family room. “Max, go wash your hands and get sat up to the table.”
The boy set the pieces down that he was working on and raced toward the ground floor bathroom, calling over his shoulder as he ran. “I’m having two slices of garlic bread tonight.”
“I heard what you said,” Lorna told Mack as she lifted the baby off his lap. “Thank you for that.”
“I meant it,” Mack told her, then lowered his voice. “And if I ever meet your ex, there’s a strong chance I’ll punch him in the throat.”
“I understand the sentiment.”
“How could anyone think Max is dumb? I’m amazed at the way he’s been able to put this Lego thing together. Half the time, I’m still trying to figure out the instructions, and he’s already got the next part built.”
“He was diagnosed with dyslexia earlier this year. His kindergarten teacher recognized the signs, and she’s been a great help in getting us resources and educating us on how to manage it.”
“Oh wow. I never would have guessed.”
“No, it’s not something you can see. And sometimes kids go undiagnosed for years, so we’re super thankful for Max’s teacher and all the support we’ve received from her and the school.”
“I get the first helping of pasketti ,” Max said, bursting from the bathroom, his hands still dripping water, as he raced toward the table. He pulled out the chair next to him. “Mack, you sit by me.”
“Thanks bud,” Mack said, ducking into the bathroom. “I gotta wash my hands, too. Don’t eat all the garlic bread without me.”
Yeah, Mack Lassiter was a good guy. A decent man, and just what she’d said she wanted, a good friend to her and her son.
So why was she checking out his butt when he walked down the hall in front of her and feeling a little jealous that Izzy was the only one who got to sit in his lap?