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I shrugged. How could I tell Scott how serious I was about her? I’d never felt this way around anyone, and Mackenzie brought out a side of me I’d never known. When I was around her, everything looked different, like I looked at life through different eyes. She changed everything for me, and that made me feel like she was the one I wanted to be with—nothing was the same anymore, and I wanted that. I needed the change. I wanted to see life differently, to see life the way she saw it.
“I can’t explain to you. She’s just…everything.I think together, we could reach for the stars. I can already see what our life together would look like, and I like it.”
“That’s what you should hold on to,” Scott said. “That, and how you feel about her.”
“I just don’t think she’ll want anything to do with me ever again. I’ve tried talking to her, but she won’t hear it.”
“And you’re just going to let it slide?”
I shrugged. “I can’t force her to be with me if that’s not what she wants. I guess I’ll just work on the project. I’d thought I was winning when I got it, but it turns out I’m ending last. Still, it’s better than nothing, right?”
Scott sighed. “I guess it’s all in the way you see it.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t agree with me, but what else was I supposed to do?
Scott glanced at the whiskey bottle. “Maybe I’ll have that drink after all,” Scott said without giving me an answer, and I took another tumbler from the cabinet and poured my brother a glass of whiskey, too.
28
MACKENZIE
“Easy,”Isaid,helpingRachel out of the car. “Let’s just take it one step at a time, okay?”
Rachel winced when she straightened and pressed her hand to her chest. Underneath her shirt were bandages, and underneath that were her stitches. She’d been released from hospital but the doctors weren’t happy. She’d insisted she wanted to be home with her kids, and I understood. I knew what they meant to her.
They needed to see her happy and on her feet, too.
“Mommy!” Tammy cried out, and the three of them barreled through the door.
“Hey, guys, careful,” Tom said, coming out behind them. “Remember what we talked about.”
“My babies,” Rachel said and carefully kneeled, pulling Tammy and Benjamin against her before letting go of Tammy to hug Rory, too.
“I’m not a baby,” Benjamin said. “Uncle Tommy said I’m big!”
“Of course you are,” Rachel said with a smile. “I can see how much you’ve grown just in the short while I’ve been gone!”
Benjamin beamed, looking up at Tom, who ruffled his blond hair.
“Kids, go help Auntie Lydia, quickly!” Tom said. “We can’t forget the surprise!”
“Oh!” Tammy cried out and ushered the other two inside.
“A surprise?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah, Lydia and the kids put something together for you,” Tom said with a grin. “Let’s get you settled. Straight to bed.”
“I’m sick of beds,” Rachel said.
“At least it’s your own,” Tom said, not buckling, and I was relieved he was being firm with her. Rachel still had some healing up to do after her operation, but as long as she took her medication, did her breathing exercises, and took care of herself, she was going to be okay.
This was the road my mom had never been able to walk. My heart constricted at the thought, and I was so grateful I hadn’t lost Rachel through all of this. I didn’t know what I would have done.
When Rachel was tucked into her own bed, Lydia came in with the kids, carrying a cake.
“Oh, what a nice cake!” Rachel cried out. “It’s so beautifully decorated, too!”
“We made it,” Rory said.
