He was right! Noah hadn’t gone to college. And yet Mack hadn’t seen any indication that Noah was judged as harshly by their parents. His eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to tell me, though.”
Noah’s focus dipped to Mack. “Nope. But I will point out something. You need to find a purpose that will fulfill you. And this thing you have with Lacey and her kid does that.”
“Yeah, so what? I already know that.”
His brother straightened before setting a steely stare on him. “What’s standing in your way, then? Why aren’t you with her right now?”
“Because she won’t give me the time of day,” he muttered with exasperation.
Noah inched closer. “And what are her reasons for that?”
“Her parents won’t…” Mack’s voice trailed off, and he launched from his chair. Her parents were in the way. They’d made her fearful of doing anything they wouldn’t approve of, despite her living on her own and cities away. His eyes shot to Noah’s. “It’s her parents. If I can get them to drop this whole thing, then she wouldn’t have any excuses.”
His brother gave him a knowing grin. “Then I guess you know what you have to do next.”
Mack’s expression faltered, and he snorted. “What? You think I can just track them down and go talk to them? Convincethem that I’m not some psycho stalker? You realize we’ve never spoken before. I don’t have their information.”
“But you could get it.”
“Lacey would never?—”
“Angela would. And I would guess that the daycare that Bridger goes to has their information in his emergency contact file—though that might be more difficult to get. If I were you, I’d call Angela and swear her to secrecy. She and Lacey are still at odds with each other, right?”
Mack scratched at his jaw. “I think they’re getting better. But Angela was pretty mad about us. I don’t know if she would help me.”
“All you can do is ask,” Noah pointed out. How did he get to be so smart? There was a lot about his brother that he didn’t know, and it made him want to get to know him better.
“Fine. You’re right. I’ll see if Angela can help me. If not, then you’re going to have to help me at the daycare center. Maybe you’ll be a distraction while I go in there all secret agent style.”
They both chuckled, and the tension in the air eased up a little bit.
Mack picked up his phone.
He couldn’t believe he was actually going to do this.
He was really doing this.
Mack stared up at a beautiful two-story home in one of the nicer subdivisions of the city. Based on the perfection of the lawn to the immaculately sparkling windows, it wasn’t a surprise that Lacey had issues with overbearing parents. They were perfectionists. Their expectations must have been horrendous when she was younger.
And knowing that made him connect with her on a much deeper level.
They’d both dealt with overbearing parents. They’d both suffered at the hands of adults who wanted to control them—though the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how loving his own parents had been.
Mack straightened his shoulders. It was ten in the morning. He’d waited as long as he could before making the drive, but he’d gotten antsy, and he couldn’t wait a moment longer. At least it was a Saturday.
Angela had answered the phone with a hushed tone the other day. She’d demanded to know why he wanted the address, and when he’d explained, she’d gone quiet—so quiet he’d thought that she’d for sure tell him to leave her alone and never call her again.
But she didn’t.
She’d given over the address and wished him luck—that he was going to need it.
Staring at this house, he knew in his bones that she was right. He’d had a hard time standing up to his own parents over the years. Every time he’d told them he’d wanted to be in the rodeo, and they’d told him it wasn’t going to work, he’d let them knockhim down and make him believe that he wasn’t cut out for what he’d wanted most.
But he didn’t want the rodeo most anymore.
He wanted Lacey. And Bridger. And a life with both of them.
Heat billowed in his chest as he strode forward and knocked firmly on the door. The scuffling of footsteps inside was the only indication that they were here, and if he hadn’t heard it, he might have left for how long it took them to answer the door.
