Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
M ack’s threat should have scared Lorna, but all she felt was protected and cherished by this man. For the first time in so long, it seemed like she truly had a man in her corner and that Mack genuinely cared about her and her kid’s well-being.
Sitting on Mack’s lap, in the tight circle of his arms, with the warm spring air wafting through the open windows, she felt safe.
She wasn’t looking for a hero. In fact, she’d spent the last year trying to be her own hero for her kids, and for herself.
But it felt good to feel like she had someone to count on. She’d seen Mack with her babies and with animals on the ranch, and she knew that he had a kindness and a gentleness to him that she’d never seen in Lyle. Mack Lassiter was a good man.
She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. The tightness in his shoulders eased and the arm around her waist pulled her closer as she kissed him again. Then again.
Everything else fell away. The only thing that mattered was this man and his mouth on hers. His free hand came up to cup her cheek, holding her face as his tongue slipped between her lips.
Heat rushed through her body, filling her with warmth and need, and she melted into him.
“Hey, if you guys are swapping gum, can I have some?” a small voice said from the back of the truck.
Mack chuckled against her mouth, and she loved the feeling of it. She’d never experienced that with Lyle. After they got married, it seemed like he’d never laughed at all.
“We’re not swapping gum,” Lorna told her son. “That’s gross, Max.”
“Why?” Max asked. “Gum is great.”
Mack stretched his long arm along the back of the seat as he turned to grin at the boy. “Gum is great. But we were just kissing.”
“Kissing?” Max made a barfing sound. “Now that’s gross.”
Their laughter filled the cab of the truck, and Lorna breathed it in, trying to capture and hold on to this tiny moment of pure sweet happiness.
Lorna tried to let the tenseness of her body go as they walked up the steps to the porch of the ranch house. She knew Mack had let his family know what had happened with Lyle taking Max from school and him getting hurt, so she wasn’t sure what to expect when they walked through the front door.
Max had no such worries as he barreled up the stairs and let himself in.
Mack held Izzy in her car seat with one hand, and he reached out to take her hand in his other. They felt like a team.
She wanted to feel good about that. But the thought of letting herself count on someone else terrified her. She was just starting to feel like she could count on herself. It was too hard to think about letting go of some of that control and let someone else into her life. No matter how great a kisser he was.
She needed to get her head back on straight and remember that all this relationship stuff was a ruse. The kissing was real, and she kept letting herself get caught up in the heat of it, but there was no way she was ready to let a man fully back into her life. Having Lyle back was a good reminder of why.
But it was hard to feel alone when she stepped through the front door and was engulfed in hugs and hellos from Maisie, Elizabeth, Duke, Dodge, Ford, and an assortment of big, furry dogs. Thank goodness it was only the dogs who wanted to lick her face.
“We were so worried about you,” Maisie said, leading her to the big table that had already been set for supper. “You sure you and Max are okay?”
“I’m fine,” she told them. “And Max is excited about getting to eat a bunch of popsicles.”
“As many as I want, Aunt Maisie,” Max shouted from the floor where he was the center of a cuddle puddle of golden retrievers. “Help me, Uncle Dodge.” He shrieked with laughter. “I’m getting licked to death.”
Mack gave her a quizzical look.
“Earlier this year, when Leni and Chevy started planning the wedding, he took to calling your brother Uncle Chevy, and I’m not sure he understood that all your brothers and Maisie and Elizabeth weren’t also his aunts and uncles,” she explained, then smiled at the way Dodge was on the floor ruffling both dog’s bellies and her son’s hair. “They all seem to like it though.”
In their current situation, she was kind of glad Mack hadn’t been around when that had started, since it would sound quite awkward for her son to now be calling her pretend boyfriend, “Uncle Mack’.
A knock sounded then the front door opened. One of the local deputies, Knox Garrison, stepped inside and waved to the group as he took his cowboy hat off and hung it from a peg inside the wall. “Hey, everybody.”
“Hey, Knox,” Dodge said, stepping forward to shake the tall cowboy’s hand. “Come on in. What brings you out this way?”
“You mean besides the offer of a brisket sandwich?” Knox answered with a grin.
Lorna gaped at Mack. “I thought we weren't going to call the police.”
“Mack didn't have anything to do with this,” Duke said, stepping up beside her. “I told Knox I had a bunch of smoked meat left over from the wedding and that if he stopped around, I’d send him back out with a hot brisket sandwich.” He touched Lorna’s elbow and lowered his voice. “It’s up to you if you want to talk to him about what happened this afternoon. But you know he’s a good man and someone you can trust.”
Ford gestured to Mack. “Knox, I don’t know if you’ve met our little brother, Mack, yet.”
“Haven’t had the pleasure,” the deputy said, extending his hand to Mack. “Good to meet you. I went to high school with most of the people in this room and played hockey with a couple of your brothers.”
“Good to meet you, too,” Mack said, shaking Knox’s hand. “But what the heck? Why does it feel like everyone I’ve met in this town either knows each other or somehow went to high school together?”
“Right?” Elizabeth, the only other person in the room who hadn’t lived most of their lives in Woodland Hills or the neighboring town of Creedence, said. “How big was this high school?”
Dodge laughed. “Not big at all. That’s why we know everyone around our age in this county. When there’s only eighty-nine kids in your class, you tend to get to know them, their siblings, and all their out-of-town cousins, pretty well.”
Knox shook his head. “Don’t even bring up my cousin Lisa. She still talks about sneaking off to the lake with Chevy that summer she turned sixteen and visited us for the weekend.” He grinned at Elizabeth. “Chevy took her midnight fishing, the boat flipped, and they both ended up in the lake.”
“From what I’ve heard about Chevy’s teenage years, it sounds more like a ploy on his part to get your cousin’s clothes off,” Elizabeth murmured.
As the laughter over old memories died down, Knox finally turned to her. “Hey, Lorna. Good to see you.”
“Hey, Knox. You, too.”
“I heard there was a little trouble with Lyle this afternoon.”
“This town has too many gossips.”
Knox crossed the room and lowered his voice as he spoke just to her. “Can I ask you—do you have sole custody of the kids?”
She nodded. “Yes. Lyle was so cheap, and I assume so anxious to move on with his young new girlfriend, he sent me the simplest divorce documents, which included full custody.” And knowing Lyle, he probably thought giving her custody meant he wouldn’t have to pay child support for a couple of kids he wasn’t interested in anyway.
“Then you can file charges against him for taking Max from school grounds without your permission.”
“I’m not sure…”
He shrugged. “I can just be here as an old friend, and we can leave it at that. Or I can be here in an official capacity, if you want to talk to me about what’s going on. I can tell you that the more reports we have on him now will sure help when we finally get a chance to haul this guy in. And if I know Lyle Williams, we’re going to get him for something. But it’s up to you…”
He let the question hang in the air.
Funny how suddenly everyone else in the room found something to keep themselves occupied so it seemed like they weren’t paying attention to their conversation at all.
Lorna wrapped her arms around her stomach. She’d spent so many years keeping this secret to herself, and Lyle had her terrified of ever involving the police in their family matters. Telling Knox about Lyle picking Max up from school didn’t mean that much unless he knew the whole story and about the cycle of abuse.
She’d spent so much time hiding from this. But she’d told Mack, and the sky hadn’t fallen. Although, talking to Mack wasn’t the same thing as filing an official police report and telling a sheriff’s deputy about the abuse.
Lyle would be furious if he found out. And who knows what he would do in retaliation.
Damn it. She was so tired of walking on eggshells and doing everything to avoid making Lyle Williams mad. She was done trying to manage her ex -husband’s temper.
She looked at Mack. He hadn’t spoken up with advice or told her what to do. He’d just offered his steadfast support. And also threatened to kill Lyle—but let’s stay focused on the positive. Or maybe that was the positive.
Knox stood patiently waiting for her answer.
Duke was right. Knox was a good man. She’d known him for years, and he was engaged to her hairdresser, Carley Chapman, who only ever spoke with the highest praise of all the good work he did for the community of Creedence.
She pulled in a deep breath. “Okay. Yes, let’s talk.”
Duke offered her a nod of encouragement then gestured toward the hallway. “You can use the office. No one will bother you.”