“Damn it,” he muttered and scrolled through the photos he’d saved on his phone. They were pictures of Lucas that Natasha had sent to Dylan periodically and Dylan had shared on their brothers’ group chat. Mack had saved every single one of them, because it was the only way he could watch Lucas grow without running the risk of screwing up Natasha’s life again.
Until this opportunity arose.
He wasn’t sure how things would go while he was here. What’d happened in the past had created too many scars. But now that Natasha’s life had already been disrupted, he wasn’t leaving until he learned about Lucas.
And if it was what he thought it was, he was definitely going to be part of his son’s life.
Four
Lucas woke up at seven. Of course. Natasha groaned when she heard his voice. She wasn’t ready to get up and face the day, but just when she thought she had no other choice—like every other morning since she’d become a single parent—she heard a much deeper voice coming through her bedroom door.
“You can sleep a little longer, Tash. I got Lucas.”
Mack. The man she’d dreamed about all night. She’d almost convinced herself that having him with her the past three days was merely a dream, too.
“It’s okay.” The rasp in her voice forced her to clear her throat so she could speak clearly. “I’ll get up. We have a lot to do.”
“There’s no rush to unpack. You have a whole week before you start work. We’ll be done by then.”
But they needed to return the truck before they incurred yet another charge. And she hated living out of boxes, not knowing where anything was. For her own peace of mind, she had to get organized as soon as possible. That was the only thing that might make her feel as though she’d regained control of her life. “No, Lucas will be hungry,” she said. “I need to get him something to eat.”
“I’m sure I can manage to feed him while you grab a couple more hours.”
She was tired enough to attempt a trade. “If you’ll feed him breakfast, I’ll make us all a nice dinner. Does that sound fair?”
“You don’t have to pay me back for every little thing I do,” he grumbled.
In her mind, she did. She didn’t want to feel indebted to him. That would only undermine her strength and determination where he was concerned, and she needed to maintain her position, remain on guard, now more than ever.
Otherwise, she might wind up making another catastrophic mistake—like allowing herself to get hurt yet again.
Letting her eyelids slide closed, she retreated from the light slanting into her room. She’d get out of bed in fifteen minutes, she told herself.
She could hear Lucas, down in the kitchen. “Can I have some Fruity Pebbles?”
“Fruity Pebbles!” Mack replied, as though her son had suggested eating worms for breakfast. “Why would you ever want to eat those?”
“Because they taste good,” Lucas said.
“They’re fine for wimps, I guess. But you don’t want to be a wimp, do you?”
“No, I want to have big muscles, like you!”
“Then you should eat a better breakfast. How about some oatmeal with bananas?”
“Oatmeal?” her son repeated, clearly not excited by that suggestion.
“With bananas,” Mack reiterated, as if that should change everything. “Surely you like bananas.”
There was a slight pause, as though Lucas was thinking it over. “How many bites do I have to take?” he asked at length.
“Ten, to be exact. You need to take ten big bites a day. Can you count that high?”
To be exact? If she wasn’t so tired, Natasha would’ve chuckled at the bullshit Mack was selling her son. But he was doing it for a good reason, and she was glad that he was taking the job of caring for Lucas so seriously. She knew Luke would be safe in Mack’s hands, and that made it even harder to drag her butt out of bed.
“Of course I can count that high,” Lucas said, slightly affronted that Mack wasn’t more aware of his capabilities. “I’m six. I can read, you know.”
“I had no idea you were so smart,” Mack told him, acting shocked.
“Want me to show you?”
That was the last thing Natasha remembered. She couldn’t say if Mack agreed to hear Lucas read or whether Lucas showed him.
The next thing she knew, Mack was knocking on the door. “Tash? Someone’s here to see you.”
Startled, she sat up so quickly she felt dizzy for a moment. She’d dropped off in spite of her decision to get up. How long had she been out?
She grabbed her phone from where it was charging on a box next to the bed to check the time. It was after noon. She’d slept for five hours since Lucas had gotten up this morning. “Shit!” she whispered and sprang out of bed. “I’m sorry, Mack,” she said, louder. “I never meant to go back to sleep, let alone zonk out until lunchtime.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “You needed the rest.”
“Where’s Lucas?” she asked, slightly alarmed that she couldn’t hear him.
“He’s in the kitchen, having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” He raised his voice so that Lucas could hear, too. “Or he will be after he finishes his carrots, right, buddy?”
“All done!” her son cried out. “Can I eat my sandwich now?”
She should never have left Mack babysitting all morning. But she couldn’t dwell on that right now. He’d told her that someone was at the door. Was it the internet company? She didn’t think they were scheduled until tomorrow.
“I’ll be right out,” she said and pulled on some cutoffs and a fresh Namaste T-shirt from her overnight bag before pulling her hair into a ponytail.
A draft of warm air, coming in from outside, hit her as she approached the door, which Mack had left standing open.
“Hello,” she said when she saw a redheaded woman, about ten years older, through the screen.
“You must be Dr. Gray,” the woman responded.
Natasha opened the screen door and noticed a picnic basket at the woman’s feet. “Yes.”
“I’m Camilla Ricci. I own Da Nonna, the Italian restaurant down the street. Aiyana Turner—Buchanon since she got married; I always forget that—planned to visit and welcome you in person, but something has come up that means she won’t be able to get away today. She asked me to bring you dinner, so that you wouldn’t feel so alone in your new house.” She lifted the basket to hand it over. “Welcome to Silver Springs.”