The hairstylist at Lacey’s back jumped in. “No, you got it wrong. She loved him, but he didn’t know.”
“See? A marriage of convenience.”
Lacey’s phone pinged, and Lacey ignored the dark look her mother sent her way when she pulled it out.
Mack:We’re outside. Want us to visit? I’d love to meet the woman who raised the girl of my dreams.
Her fingers typedas quickly as she could.
Lacey:Don’t you dare.
Lacey’s headsnapped up to see Mack and Bridger strolling toward the salon. She prayed he’d get the message before they actually entered. He paused, then looked at his phone with a smirk. His eyes lifted, and she could have sworn he saw her through the glass. Then he turned to his phone and typed out a response.
Mack:Okay, but you owe me.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh, my goodness. Don’t look now, but isn’t that Mack Reese?”
Just like that, Lacey’s whole body grew taut. She didn’t dare lift her eyes to the window. She didn’t want to draw any more attention to the fact that her boyfriend was outside with her son.
“And he’s got that adorable little boy with him again.”
The voices swirled around her, making her dizzy.
She prayed her mother wouldn’t say anything. She already knew Angela wouldn’t.
Please ignore them. Don’t talk about him. Gossip about someone else.
For the life of her, she didn’t know why they hadn’t connected the dots that the little boy in Mack’s care was her own. Granted, no one seemed to know much about Lacey besides what they saw at the restaurant. She was a private person, and she preferred her life to remain as such. Apparently, these women had nothing better to do than to gossip about the bachelors in this town.
And just like that, these women started up again.
“It’s so nice to see that he isn’t a lost cause.”
“What do you mean?” That question came from a woman who must not have grown up in this area. Lacey herself hadn’t known Mack when she was younger, and her eyes drifted to Angela, who had moved to the other side of the room to get her hair dried beneath one of those blowers.
But Lacey’s mother? Her gaze was a searing, hot stare that drilled right into the side of Lacey’s face. She’d seen Bridger. She’d likely put two and two together. The man Bridger hadbeen in the company of could be none other than Lacey’s new boyfriend.
Lacey didn’t bother glancing in her mother’s direction. She was intent on hearing what it was that hairdresser thought she knew about Mack.
The woman lowered her voice as if she thought that would do her any good at keeping anyone else from overhearing. “When he was in high school, he had to spend a year here. Apparently, he got in with the wrong crowd back home.”
Once again, Lacey glanced to Angela. Was this what her sister had been keeping from her?
The second woman lifted her brows. “It must have been pretty bad for his parents to send him away for a year.”
Nodding, the woman continued. “I heard it directly from the Reeses’ neighbor. Turns out he started dating…” Her features scrunched, and she bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes before continuing. “Now I can’t remember her name.” Then she waved a dismissive hand. “It doesn’t matter. She moved away after she got pregnant.”
A gasp tore from the second woman’s throat. “Was it his?”
The look that passed between them made it clear that was what had been assumed.
“What happened?”
Lacey’s blood ran cold. This couldn’t be the same Mack that she knew. Obviously, accidents happened. She was proof of that. But he hadn’t said a single thing. Did he have some child out in the world that he’d refused to take care of? Had he abandoned that girl to raise her child on her own?
Her skin flushed hot and uncomfortable as she felt her mother’s searing gaze even more than before. This couldn’t be happening. If Mack was capable of abandoning his own child… then what would that mean for Lacey and Bridger?
