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When we arrived, we parked the car and carried the basket and a blanket to the park. I spread it, and we sat down before I unpacked the food I’d bought from a delicatessen not too far from where I lived. Wine, a variety of cheeses, different kinds of crackers, fruit, and cold cuts of meat.
“You really went all out,” Mackenzie said when I poured a glass of wine and handed it to her.
“I don’t do anything halfway,” I said with a grin. “I do it properly, or not at all.”
“I’m beginning to see that,” Mackenzie said with a laugh. “This is really great, and it’s nice to get away from work.”
I nodded. “I don’t usually feel that way, but this time, I agree.”
I didn’t want to tell Mackenzie that I wanted to see her outside of work. I’d planned this day so that we didn’t have to talk about the project, about Johnson and Toussaint, and who would get the contract in the end. I didn’t want to think about any of that. All I wanted was to live in the now, with her. It had been years since I’d wanted to do that. Thenowwas usually filled with memories that haunted me or emotions I didn’t want to deal with, but with Mackenzie, it felt like the bad shit was erased and I could have a good time for a change.
It sounded pathetic to put it into so many words, but there it was. I liked hanging out with her because I liked how Ifeltaround her.
Kids threw a football back and forth a short distance away, and while we chatted and drank our wine, nibbling on the snacks, the ball fell onto our blanket.
“I’m so sorry!” one of the kids cried out.
“Don’t worry,” Mackenzie called and grabbed the ball before I could react. “Here, can you catch?” She wound her arm up and threw the ball with impressive flare.
“Woah!” the kid said, catching the ball, and his friends cheered, too.
Mackenzie laughed. “You’re welcome!” she cried out when they thanked her.
“That was… pretty good,” I said, staring at her. “Beer, pizza, chips…andyou throw like a guy?”
Mackenzie giggled. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t mean it as sexist as it came across.”
I shook my head. “I’m not sexist. I’m just surprised. Women don’t generally do stuff like that, and you’re amazing.”
“Stop it, or it’ll go right to my head.” Mackenzie laughed.
“I’m serious. You’re a regular tomboy.”
“Wow,” she said. “Regular and an insult, all in one sentence?”
I shook my head, feeling like an idiot.
“That’s really not how I mean it. You’re just… different. Incredible, don’t get me wrong. But different.”
Mackenzie laughed, and her cheeks colored a little.
“I guess that’s what happens when you only grow up with brothers.”
I frowned. “You have a sister too, though.”
“Well, yeah. I guess I do, but it wasn’t like that when I grew up. My brothers and sisters are all much older than I am. I wasn’t exactly planned. They were all out of the house, or just about, when I came along. I was pretty much raised as an only child until my mom died.”
I stilled. She’d mentioned that her mom had died early on, but the way she talked about it now, as if it was normal, showed me that it had hurt a lot. I knew what that was like—acting like it didn’t matter because it mattered more than she wanted to show.
“When that happened, Rachel took on the job of raising me. My brothers all jumped in, too. They took over the role of Dad since mine grieved so hard he couldn’t see straight and do what needed to be done.”
My heart ached for that family.
“It sounds rough,” I said.
“It was,” Mackenzie said. “But I had the advantage of growing up with my brothers and sister after all, when I’d been an only child before then. My brothers taught me how to fend for myself, how to survive, how to stand up for what I believed in. They looked out for me, and Rachel took the role of my mom, making sure I was dressed and fed and educated. If it wasn’t for all of them, I don’t know what would have become of me.”
“They sound really great,” I said. “Family is everything.”
