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Mackenzie knew better than to press the issue. His mother wouldn’t come.

Once, long before he was born, Lila McCann had run in the same social circles as the Edwardses. In fact, she’d dated Steven Edwards briefly…then Ben Draper had come into the picture and Lila’s life took a turn.

A wrong turn. A wrong fucking U-turn away from anything good that she’d ever had.

Her parents had stood by her—even when she’d become pregnant with Mac’s older brother, Benjamin Jr.—and had footed the bill for an extravagant wedding. His grandparents had died in a car accident about a month before Benjamin was born, and Mac had never met them.

His great-grandmother, however, was a bright light in an otherwise bleak childhood. It was only because of Grams that any of the kids went to college, and it was only because of Grams that the roof over their head stayed in their hands and not the bank’s. His great-grandmother was nearing her ninetieth year and still right as rain.

He didn’t want to consider what would have happened to the Draper kids if not for her.

Ben Draper used his looks and charm to get by, but he’d never quite managed to hold down a regular job. The booze always got in the way.

Like it had on a hot summer night when Mackenzie was about nine. That night, Mac had cowered in his room, afraid to go out and face his father but afraid that Ben was going to kill his mother. He’d called Jake Edwards, and less than twenty minutes later, the police and Steven had shown up.

That was Ben Draper’s first trip to county lockup, and it signaled the end of his mother’s relationship with her old crowd, including the Edwardses.

And now here he was, staring at a woman who could have had it all and yet she stood in the kitchen, dressed in secondhand clothes, kneading dough for a party that she would not attend.

“I ran into Raine Edwards the other day,” she said quietly. “At the grocery store. She looks good. Happy.”

“Yeah?” Mac drained his glass and rinsed it out. Raine was with one of his oldest buddies, Jake Edwards, and he was a lucky son of a bitch to have her. Even though Mac would never have what his friends did, that didn’t make him any less happy that they’d finally found each other.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns up pregnant real soon.”

Here we go.

“Nice, for Steven and Marnie to finally have a grandchild,” his mother continued.

Mac nodded. “I’m sure it would make them real happy.”

He waited for the questions that were headed his way. The usual ones.

Have you met someone?

When are you going to settle down and have a family?

I’d sure like to hold another grandchild before I get too old.

He hated disappointing his mother, but family—a wife, kids, and the white-picket fence—just wasn’t in the cards for him. He and kids didn’t mix, and besides, there was no need to pass along the family genetics.

He thought of his father and Ben’s father before him. Nope. No need at all.

He was smart enough to know that it wouldn’t take much for him to cross the line into Ben Draper territory.

Hell, it was only a matter of time. He knew that on occasion he drank too much, and he sure as shit wanted no responsibility other than his job, but he was willing to straddle the line. He had more control than Ben, and for now, it was enough.

But his mother surprised him. She bypassed talk of grandkids and a wife and hit him with something he wasn’t expecting.

“Raine told me that Jake wants you to help him out with the new development across the lake.”

Shit. He’d rather take her ribbing over his lack of commitment and family than talk about this. Did he want to get into it right now?

“It’s been mentioned,” he said slowly. No way was he spending the summer in Crystal Lake.

“I think it would be wonderful for the town if you and Jake worked together on this. A lot of folks aren’t exactly keen on more construction, but Jake’s promised it will benefit everyone.” Lila turned over the dough. “How would that work with your job?”

Mac was at a point in his career where he could pretty much make anything work, but that didn’t mean he wanted this particular situation to evolve into something solid. “I’ve got time in the bank, but…”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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