Chapter 6
Chapter Six
T hirty minutes later, after assuring Duke and Ruby that Izzy was going to be okay and collecting all the glittery bags and one wired six-year-old who was hyped up on wedding cake and soda, Mack walked into Lorna’s yellow house at the end of Aspen Grove Lane.
The spacious two-story had been Lorna and Leni’s home growing up. Their mother had bought the house and moved the three of them to Woodland Hills after their father had walked out on them.
He knew Lorna and Max had moved back into the house with her mom after that jackass, Lyle, had taken off with his secretary and left his family behind. But then, during the middle of Lorna’s pregnancy, her mom remarried and moved to Florida with her new husband and had left Lorna the house for her and the kids.
The interior was spacious, an open concept with a big living room in the front and a sunny kitchen in the back. A flight of stairs in between led up to the four bedrooms on the second floor. A laundry room, office and small family room sat off to the side of the kitchen, and a large pergola-covered patio led into a huge backyard with a view of the mountains and a creek that ran behind the house.
Lorna’s decorating style tended to be a lot of blues, whites, and grays intermixed with jam-packed bookcases, tons of throw pillows, a few plants, and masses of kid paraphernalia. The overstuffed couch had two baskets of unfolded laundry stacked in one corner, and toys littered the floor. The house smelled like vanilla candles with a hint of baby powder.
And Mack loved it.
He’d grown up in crappy apartments and trailer parks, and everything he’d owned fit into the two large duffle bags he was allowed to move from one shitty place to the next. He’d never had a yard to play in or shelves filled with books.
Lorna had created a home for her children here. Sure, it was messy, with toys scattered everywhere and dishes stacked in the sink, but he would bet there was food in the cupboards and milk in the refrigerator that hadn’t been expired for weeks.
“All right, bud, time for bed,” he told Max.
Lorna had already texted him detailed instructions on where to find pajamas for Max, his two favorite books, and to make sure he brushed his teeth before going to bed.
The little boy groaned—an exaggerated sound accompanied by a sigh too heavy for a six-year-old. “ Do I have to? I’m not even tired. Can’t we do something fun?”
“We could spend a little time cleaning up in here. Make it a surprise for your mom?”
Max frowned. “Do you even know what fun means? Cleaning up is not fun.”
“It can be.” He slid two of the empty toy bins into the center of the room. “Bet I can fill this bin with toys faster than you can fill that one. I’ll time us and see who can get more in three minutes?”
Max offered him a cautious side eye then grinned. “Do bigger toys count for two points or one?”
Mack loved a good negotiation. “Two, but only if they’re twice as big as a smaller one you put in. And you can count three points if you toss one and land it in the bin, but only if it’s a stuffed animal and nothing that can break.”
The boy’s eyes widened then he leaned down, picked up a stuffed giraffe and chucked it across the room. It hit the side of one of the bins then dropped in. “I’m winning,” he crowed then raced around the room, ignoring the other toys as he flung every stuffed animal he could find toward his bin.
Mack focused on all the other toys, sweeping them into his arms and depositing them into the tubs. It only took a few minutes to clear the floor, and he declared Max the winner without even counting. “Now, let’s tackle these baskets of laundry.”
“Aww.” Max blew a raspberry. “Do all your games include cleaning?”
He laughed. “Tonight they do. Besides, cleaning up can be fun.”
“You’re weird.”
He chuckled again. “Listen, buddy, your sister isn’t feeling well, and your mom is my friend, so I want to help her. Then when she comes home, she can focus on you and Izzy, and she won’t have to worry about this other stuff.”
Max let out another heaving sigh. “ Ohhhhh -kay, I’ll help.” He picked a small blue washcloth out of the basket and grinned slyly as he held it up. “How many points do I get for folding this?”
It only took about ten minutes for them to fold the clothes, then Max showed him where everything went, so they got it all put away as well. Mack pulled out the vacuum, promising to read Max three books if he got his pajamas on and brushed his teeth while he swept the floors.
Mack had vacuumed the living room carpet, the throw rugs, and the hardwood floors and was putting the machine back into the closet when Max raced down the stairs, wearing mismatched pajamas and carrying three books. He crouched down to the boy’s level. “Did you brush your teeth really well?”
Max nodded then blew a minty breath in his face.
Three books, two stories, one hug, and a glass of water later, Mack finally got the little boy to bed. Lorna texted to say the nurse had just brought the discharge papers, so he figured he’d have time to tackle the dishes in the sink before they got home.
He’d loaded the dishwasher, washed the pans, lit one of her fancy-smelling candles, and had just finished wiping down the stove and counters when Lorna walked through the door, the car seat looped over her arm with a sleeping Izzy tucked inside.
“How’s she doing?” he asked quietly, taking the car seat from her and gently setting it on the table.
“Better. The Motrin brought her fever down, and she stopped fussing.” Lorna was still wearing his blue flannel shirt, and the sight of her wrapped up in it made him happy.
Her eyes went wide as she looked around the house, and then she flung her arms around Gertie as the older woman walked into the kitchen. “Wow, thank you, Gertie. The house looks amazing. You picked up the toys and folded that dang laundry I’ve been meaning to get to. And you cleaned the kitchen and ran the vacuum. You didn’t have to do all this.”
“I didn’t,” Gertie told her. “I didn’t do any of it.” She glanced over at Mack, who was leaning his hip against the counter and shaking his head at her as if he didn’t need the credit. “But I can guess who did.”
Lorna turned to Mack, her expression one of surprise. “You did all this? The laundry? The vacuuming? The kitchen?”
He shrugged. “Max helped. He showed me where to put the laundry away, and some of his directions seemed questionable, so if you’re missing something, I’d asked him where to find it.” He grinned at his joke then teasingly held his arms out in case she wanted to give him the same kind of hug she’d given Gertie.
But she didn’t run over and throw her arms around him. Instead, she shifted her weight to one foot and frowned. “But why?”
Gertie cleared her throat. “Ahem. I think what she meant to say was thank you .”
Mack shook his head. “I didn’t do it for the thanks,” he said, then offered her a teasing grin. “Although I’m a little disappointed to not get one of those big hugs…”
“Then why?” she asked again, her expression still wary.
“Because I wanted to help. Izzy was sick and you were worried, and I felt bad that you missed the end of the reception. And because this is what a friend would do.”
Her expression softened. “Thank you.” Her voice came out as a whisper. “I guess I’m just not used to being offered help.”
“Without strings being attached?” he wanted to ask. But kept his mouth shut.
“Well, I think it was awful sweet of you,” Gertie said. “And I’ll take this kind of help any day. In fact, if you’re free tomorrow, you can come over to my house and run the sweeper, and I’ve got some dusting to do, and the lawn could use a mow. And if you get hot, you can feel free to take your shirt off. I won’t mind a bit.” She winked at Mack and offered him a coy, teasing grin.
He laughed. “I’d be happy to help you, Miss Gertie. Any time. But I’m keeping my shirt on.”
Gertie shrugged. “Let’s keep the option open. I’m a good tipper.”
Lorna laughed and playfully swatted at the older woman. “Miss Gertie, you are incorrigible.”
“I know.” Gertie winked again then unbuckled and carefully lifted Izzy out of her car seat. “I’ll take this little cutie upstairs and put her to bed.”
“Is there anything else I can do to help?” Mack asked as Gertie disappeared up the stairs.
Lorna shook her head. “No. Thank you. You’ve already done so much. I still can’t believe you folded and put away all that laundry. It’s been sitting there for a week.” She covered her face with her hands. “I’m just thankful it hadn’t been a basket of my socks and undies. I think I would have died if I’d come home to find you’d folded my granny panties then put them away in my way-too-boring underwear drawer.”
He blinked, really wanting to say something about how he could be the judge of how boring her undies drawer was, but he was trying to stay in the friend zone, so he ignored her comment and kept his reply light. “Like I said, Max helped.”
She huffed out a laugh. “Which also seems like a miracle. I don’t know how you did all this and still got him to bed.”
“I wasn’t trying to also take care of an infant and run a business and cook three meals a day.”
“True. But I still appreciate it.” She covered her mouth as a yawn escaped.
“Guess I’d better get back to the ranch and see if they need any help cleaning up after the reception.”
“Wow, you’re on a real roll tonight with helping people pick things up.”
He shrugged. “I don’t mind helping. It might sound dumb, but I wished for a real family for so long, and now that I have one, it feels good to be part of something. And I know they’ve only been my family for a minute, but I would do anything for them.”
“That doesn’t sound dumb at all,” she told him. “Family is everything.”
He walked to the door but paused just inside it. “Keep me posted on how Izzy’s doing, and text me if you need anything. I mean it.”
“Hey, you forgot this.” She walked across the room and into his arms.
He held her against him, the scent of her shampoo filling the air around him. The bobby pins had come loose in a few places, and pieces of her hair fell in soft ringlets against the bare skin of her neck.
And it was taking everything in him not to lift a lock of it and sift it between his fingers, then press his lips to the creamy length of her neck.
“Thanks for everything,” she said into his chest. “You were a total rock for me tonight. And I feel like I owe you more than a hug for loading my dishwasher and vacuuming the floor.”
He jostled her against him, lowering his voice as he leaned closer to her ear. “What kind of more did you have in mind?”
She grinned coyly up at him. “I’m thinking about offering you my first-born son. He’s a bit of a talker but he’s pretty skilled at checkers.”
He laughed. “I’m already taking over Chevy’s old room at the ranch. Duke might frown on me bringing in a roommate already. Although he does love a good game of checkers.”
“Max is your guy then. He’s a great player if you don’t mind him making up his own rules and changing them midway through the match.”
“Sounds like my kind of game, but still…” He lifted one shoulder as he smiled down at her. “Maybe you’d better hold on to him for a while.”
“Yeah, I think I will. Despite his questionable gaming skills, he’s still pretty dang cute and one heck of a hugger.”
Speaking of being cute and a good hugger. Lorna hadn’t pulled away from him and he relished the feel of her encircled in his arms, her lush body snug against his, fitting perfectly to him as if they were the last two pieces of a puzzle.
And he wasn’t ready for her to pull away. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her—her easy laugh, her clever wit, her profound love for her children.
He reached up, cupped her cheek in his palm as he peered into her eyes, all traces of teasing gone. “I meant what I said about family and what it means to me. And now that your sister and my brother are married, that makes you and me—and Max and Izzy—family too. So, whatever you need, I got you.”
He leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. He’d meant it to be a friendly one—yeah, right, if he were honest with himself, he’d admit that he just wanted his lips on her, anywhere—but as his face neared hers, she turned just the slightest and the side of his lips caught the edge of hers.