AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She glanced at me. “This shouldn’t be your problem. They’re not your kids, and it’s not your sister.” She scoffed. “I’m not even yourfriend, I’m your rival.”
I shook my head. “It’s just work. In the grand scheme of things, work doesn’t matter.”
Mackenzie didn’t answer me, but I’d started to realize how serious that statement was. I’d started to understand that I’d had it wrong all these years.
I wished I could talk to her about the project. I wanted to get it off my chest as soon as I could but now wasn’t the time.
Mackenzie flipped down the visor to check herself in the mirror.
“Oh, God, I look like crap,” she said, scrubbing her cheeks to get rid of the trails of mascara, proof that she’d been crying a lot. “If the kids see me like this, they’ll panic and think the worst.”
“There are tissues in the glove compartment."
Mackenzie opened it and found the tissues. She cleaned herself up as best she could, and a short while later, we pulled up in front of the school.
“I’ll be right back with the kids,” she said, opening the door but she turned to me before getting out. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Of course,” I said. “Go on, I’ll be right here.” I didn’t just mean physically waiting in the car. I would be here for her in any way she needed me.
She nodded and slid out of the car. I watched her walk to the school where she would collect the kids. She was beautiful in so many ways. Her walk was elegant and graceful, and she oozed self-confidence, but today her shoulders rounded like she carried the weight of the world on them, and I wished I could do more to help her through this tough time.
I willed her sister to get through this and not die. I didn’t want Mackenzie to lose the one person more important to her than anything else in the world. I wasn’t a stranger to pain, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, least of all Mackenzie, who had a heart of gold and a mind I envied.
I just wanted to see her smile again.
20
MACKENZIE
Gettingthekidshomeand calmed down enough so they weren’t emotional all the time was a juggling act. If one of them started crying, they all got worked up, and I didn’t want that. Tammy was old enough to try to control her emotions. I didn’t want that for her—I always wanted them to know it was okay to feel whatever they felt—but she was trying for the sake of her siblings.
The oldest one always took the fall for the others, willing to carry them. A pang shot into my chest. Tammy was so much like Rachel in so many ways, doing what needed to be done for her brother and sister rather than putting herself first.
Benjamin was emotional, and Rory was just a mess all the time.
I ended up sitting with her on my lap for most of the afternoon while Troy kicked a ball back and forth on the lawn with Tammy and Benjamin.
I watched him as I cuddled Rory.
I didn’t know what I would have done without him. I was always on top of everything in my life, in control of my world. I managed my home, I got one promotion after the next, and I always knew what was coming and where I was headed.
Now, with Rachel in the hospital and no certainty that she was going to make it through, I felt like my control over everything was slipping. I hated not knowing what the future held; I hated not being able to keep a handle on things because they were just out of my control.
Without Troy here to help me with the kids, I would have been a blubbering mess, and the kids would have been even more upset.
I hadn’t known I would find such a kind and caring man in Troy. When we’d met that first night, he’d been nothing more than a source of pleasure and attraction for the night. After that, he’d become my enemy.
He was so much more than that now.
Troy looked at me watching them, and flashed me a grin. I blushed, feeling stupid that he caught me staring at him.
“When’s Mommy coming home?” Rory asked.
“I’m not sure, sweetheart,” I said, stroking her hair. “But she’ll be home soon. The doctors are just making sure she’s okay.”
“I don’t like it when she’s sick,” Rory said.
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t like it, either. But Mommy is strong. She’ll always fight the hardest she can to get back to you guys. You know that, right?”
