Jack instantly looked regretful, his eyes searching mine for a way to save himself. “Maggie, Maggie, hang on–”
“No, just let me say this.” My teeth were grinding against each other. “I love my father more than anything in this world. He raised me on his fucking own. An alcoholic, who had just been left by his wife, pushed aside his problems and took care ofme.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that he was a bad father. All I’m saying is, you deserve the world. You didn’t deserve to lose your mother at such a young age. That was a shit thing for her to do and I hope she regrets that decision for the rest of her life. It’s better than pretending she wants to be there when she never shows up.” A glimmer of a tear appeared in his right eye, and I laced my hand with his.
Shit. I knew he hated that I felt the same abandonment his mother had left him with. I hated that we were both put in this position by people who were supposed to stay.
“I want to give you everything you deserve and more. You and this baby are all I have in my life. Dealing with my father will be a shitshow too, but we’re going to get through it together. We’re going to take care of each other. We have to, or we’ll never make it.”
My heart softened. Leave it to Jack Hennicke to have me writhing one moment and boiling with anger the next, then falling for his sweet words to assure me we would get through everything hand-in-hand. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled his body to mine. It was all I could do to express my gratitude. He didn’t believe he was good enough for me yet, but I hoped with my whole heart he would realize it was me who didn’t deserve him.
Chapter twenty-four
Jack
Beer. The sweet beverage that usually rewarded me after a long day. Basically, the alternative to water back in my college days. I drank so many cheap, American lagers that I had to move to the heavier, German beers when I moved back home because of how easily I would down a bottle with my dad. Lenz didn’t need to see how comfortable I was chugging the liquid when I was expected to act like a full-blown adult post-graduation.
I hadn’t had a drink in months. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but the fact that Maggie hadn’t sipped a drop of alcohol since I’d met her made me hesitant to drink in her presence. Plus, my body had never felt better.
The question was, did I buy a case for myself to aid my mood for the alcoholic coming into town today? Sure, I had discovered the liquor cabinet in the dining room that housed some incredibly overpriced whiskey and tequila, but I hadn’t so much as touched it since finding it. Richard Rynne was a good man…mostly. I had spent the last two days trying to convince myself of that. I respected that alcoholism was a brutal disease todeal with on top of becoming a single parent, butfuck,did I want to deck him for what he put Maggie through. I had no idea how to take care of a kid with Maggie, let alone do it on my own. He still didn’t gain any respect from me.
Blatantly passing through the beer aisle, I decided it was best if alcohol wasn’t so easily accessible in our house. If Richard asked for beer, he would have to admit that he wasn’t working toward getting better. He needed to hear himself say it.
I stocked up on Maggie’s favorite snacks. Bugles, blueberries, the tangerine flavor of Topo Chico. She was going to be stressed as hell for the next few days, dealing with her father and admitting to what the two of us had been doing for the last few months. There was no doubt he would call my father, and they both would throw a fit over it. My only response would be to ask them what they would have done, and call them out on whatever bullshit excuse they came up with.
I knew I was going to get an earful from Richard. He was protective of his daughter, and I wasn’t exactly husband material in the years he’d known me. In fact, I wasn’t close to it even when Maggie confessed her pregnancy. But things were different now. Maggie and I were dominating the consequences of our accidental situation. We were thriving in our new lives here. No one could call us irresponsible children.
Maggie worked almost full-time at the club’s polo and riding school while helping me with my horses. I was playing for an incredibly successful patron, who had provided us with unmatched living quarters: a house twice the size of our homes in Pennsylvania, a fourteen-stall barn, and seven acres of pastures. Our lives were together. I wasn’t taking shit from anyone.
Upon opening the front door with my bags of groceries, I found Maggie sitting on the couch, writing in her lesson binder. She had developed a detailed system that measured herstudents’ progress and how far along they stood in the program. It was adorable, and only something someone as passionate as Maggie would do. I touched her shoulder to let her know I was home before heading to the kitchen to unpack the groceries.
“Hey,” she took an AirPod out of her ear. “What’d you get?”
“Just stocked up on the usual. Snacks, water, dinner, dish soap. Even picked up some lipstick to treat myself.” I hid my smile, taking the packaged steak filets to the refrigerator.
Just because I didn’t like my father-in-law didn’t mean I couldn’t impress him with my grilling skills. And I took steak to the next damn level.
Maggie laughed and padded into the kitchen. She began taking a carton of eggs out of the reusable bag and opened it. “Jack! You’re supposed to make sure none of the eggs are broken. There’s a cracked one in here.” Her playful whine made me want to grab her neck and kiss her senseless. I loved that smirky smile on her face. I loved that we were in a place where we could joke with each other.
“Sorry, baby. Guess I forgot.” She flinched at the pet name I had begun calling her.
A soft elbow punched my side as she made her way to open the fridge. She scavenged through it like she was looking for something, then turned back to grab more items to put away. “Thank you for doing this,” she whispered softly. “And for all of my delicious stress snacks.”
I smiled, and a blush crept up my neck. Maggie’s appreciation always punctured my heart in a way that made me so damn grateful that I had her as my baby mama. My hand moved to grab her forearm before she could turn away. Her brows lowered in confusion, and her breath caught as I leaned in and kissed her cheek.
Nothing more. Don’t even think about it.
I pulled away and avoided her steady gaze on me.
“I’m nervous, Jack.”
As much as I wanted to hug her and rid her of every worry clouding her mind, I felt it better to keep my distance. Hence, my aversion to looking at the beauty.
“You have nothing to be worried about. I promise. However he takes it, he’s still your dad. He’s still going to love you. He always will.” She took a deep breath, and I still couldn’t turn to face her. Instead, I busied myself by washing and chopping some of the fruit I bought.
“But I want him to love you, too,” her whisper barely traveled across the kitchen.
It was my turn to take a deep breath, letting my face fall into a frown. “As ideal as that sounds, you know he’s going to hate me even more than he already does. I knocked up his only daughter and screwed up her life.”
