“You really think that Lacey’s parents are that… controlling?” Caleb murmured quietly.
“Lacey does.” He sighed again and raked a hand through his hair. “And it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t. The fact of the matter is that she thinks I lied to her.” He could feel the stares of his brothers like their eyes were high-powered lasers. Questions hung in the air, demanding to be answered. They wanted to know what Mack meant.
His whole family knew about his problems. Heck, apparently the town did, too. No one had corrected the narrative when it had come out. And Mack had been too stubborn to bother with it, either. He’d let Kayla spin her web of lies mostly because she wasn’t worth a second thought.
She grew up in this town. She had to contend with the nose, busy-bodies of Rocky Ridge. Mack had only had to move back home, and the lies hadn’t followed him.
“Mack…” Noah murmured.
Lifting his head, Mack scrubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “What?”
“What do you mean?”
He shook his head.
“Don’t make him talk about it if he doesn’t want to,” Caleb chided.
Mack shot Caleb a thankful look, but he knew he wasn’t going to keep this sort of thing from his brothers. Keeping it bottled up wouldn’t do any good, just like ranting and raving wouldn’t. But talking things over seemed to be helping him keep his head. “Remember that year I spent here for school? That girl I dated?”
Both of his brothers scowled, and Noah growled, “You mean that cheater who blamed her pregnancy on you?”
Mack nodded. “The very one.” He leaned back in his chair. “Turns out, people in this town don’t ever forget a story like that. Turns out… when you have that hanging over your head, and people see you walking around with a kid…” He shrugged.
“You told her the truth, right? You told her that Kayla was a liar and a manipulator, right?” Noah insisted.
He didn’t meet his brother’s eyes. “That’s the thing. She never confirmed that she heard the story. All she said was that I had a sordid past, and that she couldn’t be with me if it threatened her life with Bridger.”
Caleb muttered a quiet curse under his breath.
Noah’s face turned red. “If she’s tossing you out on the curb because you were a stupid teenager, then maybe you should just give up on her. I don’t care if she’s doing this for what she feels are good reasons, clearly, she needs to pull the stick out of?—”
Mack shot him a dark glare and launched from his seat, his palms slamming on the table. “No. And don’t you dare talk about her that way. She’s been through more in her life than any of us. I don’t know if her fears have any merit, but I’m going to do everything in my power to protect her from it.” He kept his brother pinned with his stare for a moment longer then dropped into his seat. “If she wants to confront me about Kayla, then she can. Whatever she wants to talk about—I’ll do it. I’m not going to abandon her just because she’s scared. She doesn’t need another enemy in her life.”
Both of his brothers watched him with concern in their eyes. They didn’t think he’d be able to change anything, and knowingthat only pushed the dagger deeper into his heart. No one believed in him. Not his parents. Not his brothers. And not Lacey.
Well, he was going to prove them wrong.
He’d prove them all wrong.
Mack was worthy of love—Lacey’slove. And he wasn’t going to back down until he proved it to everyone.
Including himself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Lacey looked around her small apartment, her eyes snagging on Bridger where he sat on the couch watching Saturday morning cartoons. Even with the television on, it felt like the silence was crushing her.
Bridger clung to one of the many stuffed animals Mack had given him. He had only asked about Mack a couple times since that morning Mack stopped by with breakfast. Lacey could tell that he wanted more information. His young mind was likely whirling with everything that had happened over the last couple of months.
And he looked about as sad as she felt. It had taken a lot of energy for Lacey to hide just how lonely she’d been feeling lately.
Despite her relationship with Angela being on the mend, her sister wasn’t hanging around as much. The shop had a soft opening today, and the grand opening was next week. Angela was understandably busy.
Mack wasn’t coming around for obvious reasons.
