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“Uncle Mac.” A pause. “Hello.”
He glanced up at his nephew. “Sorry, Liam. What was that?”
“Do I take my old room?”
“Ah, sure.” He glanced at Becca and pointed her in the direction of his bedroom. “Take it, Becs. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
He had just arrived back at the cottage with his sister, his truck full of her shit along with a considerable amount of groceries. It amazed him, how much a kid like Liam could eat.
Their mother had called a few hours earlier. According to Lila, Ben was out looking for a job, but Mac figured his father was holed up somewhere with one of his loser buddies, making his way through a case of beer. Either way, it had freed them up to get Becca’s stuff and bring it all back here.
His mother had seemed so sad—so lonely—but for the first time in his adult life, Mackenzie truly accepted that she wasn’t going to change and that it was on her. He loved her—of course he loved his mother—and he thought that, maybe sometime down the road, he would be able to forgive her for choosing Ben Draper over her kids, but right now he was content to leave things be.
Baby steps and all that.
It took a good hour or so to unpack, even with Mackenzie going full tilt. His nerves were shot to hell, and he needed to see Lily in a way that hurt. Without thinking, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and swore when he realized the goddamn battery was dead.
How long had it been like that?
Shit.
“Becca, can I borrow your cell?”
She nodded and grabbed her purse, rummaging through it for a good minute before she found the damn thing. He had no idea what the hell she had in her bag, but he was thinking it might be a good time to purge.
“It’s crap and the service sucks, but you might be able to get a call out.”
He snagged the cell and headed outside, punching in Lily’s number along the way. Again, it rang several times until it went to voice mail.
“Dammit,” he muttered, already heading back inside for his keys. He’d track her down if he had to because he couldn’t wait any longer. He would charge his phone in the truck on the way into Crystal Lake, and he wasn’t leaving until he found her.
“Becca, I’m heading into town.”
He punched in Jake’s number before handing over Becca’s cell and damned if Jake didn’t pick up on the first ring.
“Mac, where…hell…trying to…you.”
Jake was breaking up.
“I’m trying to find Lily.” He hoped Jake would hear him. “Do you know where she is?”
Static filled his ear, and pissed off, he fought the urge to toss the damn phone. Clamping down on his anger, he exhaled and got his shit together.
“Jake, did you get that? Where are you? Where’s Lily?”
“Hospital…baby.”
“What?”
But there was only static and the cold, hard fear in his gut churned so heavy that he buckled over, not caring that the cell phone slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor.
“Jesus, Mac. What’s going on?”
“I’ve got to…Jesus, Becca, I think Lily’s in the hospital.”
His sister’s face went white, and she pointed toward his truck. “Go.”
He peeled out of the driveway so fast that gravel went flying everywhere, and then he broke every speed limit there was on his way to the hospital. When he got there, he screeched to a stop and didn’t bother getting into it with the param
