AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mack and Dean shot each other a quick glance.
“Looking back now, I guess they could have done that so Jacob, if reading a paper, wouldn’t have a clue it was Rose. Why, I don’t know. Perhaps they blamed him and thought he would suffer more anguish thinking she didn’t love him and had chosen Richard instead of letting him know that she’d died,” Thomas said.
“That is sad. Did they ever find her?” Mack asked.
Tears stung Thomas’s eyes. “No.”
Mack took hold of Thomas’s hands while Dean put his arm around Mack’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Thomas,” she said, crying with him and for him.
“Don’t worry. It was a long time ago. It’s just that reliving it is hard.” He patted Mack’s hand.
“I’m not helping, am I?” She wiped her tears away.
“It’s time I got everything off my chest. I’m feeling weary tonight, but maybe tomorrow.”
She squeezed Thomas’s hand in thanks and stood up. She started to put the dinner out on the table.
While she was lost in her own thoughts, Dean was inviting Thomas to go with them to the garden party tomorrow, much to Lucas’s delight.
Chapter 28
Dean was driving into the city with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen sitting beside him. He felt so much for her. She was amazing and all his. Since he wasn’t sure what kind of reception they would get from his mother, he hoped and prayed Mack would still be his at the end of the day.
Before he went up to Cape Elizabeth, Cynthia, her mother, Gladys, and his mother were all hinting it was time to ‘pop the question,’ even after only one date. The rest of the time he was with Cynthia, she’d just kept showing up wherever he just happened to be. In the end, he’d stopped telling anyone at home where he was going and just said to use his cell phone if they needed him. He’d escaped to Cape Elizabeth and met Mackenzie. His Mack.
He was smiling as he started to daydream about Mack. He’d been shocked when she appeared downstairs this morning in the soft, pale pink dress that fell like silk against her curves and gorgeous legs, emphasized by the strappy sandals she was wearing.
“Lucas, stop fidgeting.” Mack twisted around to look at him in the back. He was in neatly pressed jeans and a striped polo shirt, which she’d insisted be tucked in, much to Lucas’s dismay and disgust.
Thomas started a game of I Spy to try to occupy him.
“It isn’t too far now,” Dean announced, hoping his body didn’t misbehave with her so close and smelling so delicious.
Mack was sitting in the front seat, and she was starting to get more nervous the closer to their destination that they got. She’d never been in the position of ‘meeting parents’ before. For the first time in her life, she was with a guy she had fallen in love with so getting approval from his folks would mean a lot. Then there was Cynthia, who Dean had told her didn’t mean anything to him, or did she? Mack had spent practically all her time with Dean since he’d arrived in Cape Elizabeth so there hadn’t really been time for him to spend it with anyone else. There hadn’t been time for him to sneak back to Boston, either. Ugh. She was driving herself crazy with all these thoughts.
Dean quickly glanced at Mack and took hold of one of her hands. “Mack, it’ll be okay, I promise. Don’t be nervous.”
“I can’t help it. I’ve never met a guy’s parents before, and knowing there’s going to be a woman there who thinks she’s yours is making me a nervous wreck.” Mack tried to smile but failed miserably.
Dean pulled over to the side of the road, climbed out of the vehicle and walked around to the other side. He opened Mack’s door, unclipped her seatbelt, and then looked at the back at Thomas and Lucas. “Just give us a minute, guys.”
She climbed out of the car to join Dean. He took hold of her hand, pulled her around the back of the car, then into his arms where he held her tight. “Just remember that you’re the one I want, for always Mack. No matter what anyone says or does, it’s you, and only you, making my heart pound and my blood heat. No one has ever made me feel like this before. Just remember that, okay?” He tilted Mack’s face up to his and placed a very gentle, very sweet kiss on her lips. “All right, Mack?”
“Okay, Dean. Just try and stay close,” she asked, still feeling nervous about meeting his parents, but more sure of herself with Dean.
He grinned. “Wasn’t thinking of doing anything else.”
She’d just climbed back into the car when Lucas tapped her on the shoulder. “Auntie Mack?”
She turned around to face him. “Are you okay?”
With his face all scrunched up in a frown, he asked, “Do you love, Dean?”
Mack felt a blush start to creep up her neck to her face with Lucas putting her right on the spot, but she answered honestly, “Yes. I do, Lucas.” She looked at Dean.
Thomas just smirked while sitting back in his seat, enjoying the discussion.
Dean grinned, leaned forward, and placed a slow kiss to her lips. “I love your Auntie Mack as well, Lucas. Is that okay?
