“Yeah, we really do.”
twenty-one
BRADY
Family dinner at Maggie’s was different this time around.
No one was awkward or surprised by my appearance. There was still teasing from Larry. And Becca and I prepped the salad again.
But Mac and I were together, and everyone knew it.
I could reach for her hand beneath the table. Or lean over and kiss her if I wanted.
Which I did now, distracting Mac and swiping the bowl of peach cobbler her grandmother had just placed in front of her.
Nola and Junior knew I was dating their granddaughter, too. I didn’t sneak out of their house anymore, but mostly because Mac was at my place every night. Nola still gave me shit about the birdfeeder thing, but I figured that was a sign of love because she and Mac were relentless with one another. And I knew Nola loved her granddaughter something fierce.
Once Mac had pinched my ribs and recovered her cobbler, she glanced down at her phone for the fourth time.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “It’s just that Bonnie told me she was coming tonight.”
Our eyes found the two empty place settings at the end of the long dining room table.
In the month since Mac and I had become official, I’d spent a good deal of time with her sister. We’d chatted at trivia and bowling league. The ladies had even invited me to their latest book club meeting. But Bonnie’s husband, Danny, had been absent for most of that. I figured something was going on in their marriage that was none of my business.
“She’s not answering?” I asked.
“No.” Mac glanced at her unchanged text thread one more time before placing her phone face down on the table.
I reached for her thigh and gave it a squeeze. “Maybe something came up.”
She nodded.
Nola and Junior were heading out to the lake after dinner, so Mac and I were back at her house tonight.
It was after two in the morning when pounding somewhere downstairs woke me. Mac was just sitting up as I finished buttoning my jeans. I hastily threw a tee shirt over my head.
“Grab your cell and stay here,” I told her. “I’m going to see who it is.”
“Wait,” she hissed. The knocking hadn’t stopped. “Be careful.”
Nodding, I headed for the stairs.
When I reached the front of the house, I peeked out the window next to the door, unsure of what I’d find.
“Shit,” I breathed, then hurried to unlock the dead bolt.
Bonnie practically fell into my arms. She was crying so hard I couldn’t make out what she was saying.
“Bonnie, take a breath for me,” I said softly as I led her over to the couch nearby.
“Brady,” Mac called from the bottom of the stairs.
I met her gaze helplessly as she hurried over.
Bonnie’s face was twisted in agony, her eyes puffy and cheeks flushed.
