Stef Ann Holm by Lucy Back (books to read in your 30s TXT) 📗

with her boys and was now used to having sons. Even so, holding this soft-skinned young lady who smelled like a woman brought unexpected tears to Lucy’s eyes.

“I think you should stay,” she whispered, wondering if Mackenzie would stiffen at her touch. She didn’t. “Talk to Drew if you’re having a problem.”

“I don’t know how to talk to him. All he does is act nice to me, and I’m going to scream if he doesn’t tell me to cut it out when I do something I shouldn’t.”

Pulling slightly back, Lucy gazed into Mackenzie’s eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Lately I’ve been doing stuff to make him mad, but he hasn’t taken the bait. If he were a crawfish, he would have snapped on to my line by now, but Drew doesn’t feel anything.”

“Oh, that’s not true, Mackenzie.”

“Yes, it is. I accidentally busted out the light on his Hummer and he didn’t say diddly about it. Now if I’d’ve done that with my momma’s car, she would have given me holy heck.”

“Well, maybe Drew didn’t care.”

“He cared. When we got home, I heard him on the phone with the dealership, making an appointment to have it fixed. In case you haven’t noticed, Drew’s a neat freak. Nothing’s out of place in this house. It’s not lived in. I walk around and I feel like I’m in the middle of a museum. It ain’t right.” Mackenzie’s voice cracked. “I miss my bedroom, my things, treasures and stuff that I have. I hate this house. It’s nice and everything, but it’s like we’re all glass inside it and we’re going to break. I mean…look at this kitchen. You don’t think it looks plain? There’s nothing on the counter, there’s nothing personal. Nothing stuck on the refrigerator with magnets. All that’s personal in this house are the baseball things. I don’t see any pictures of anyone.”

Lucy had thought about that as well. Drew did seem to isolate himself from everyday details that didn’t have to do with his former baseball career. There weren’t any photographs of his parents, nor of Mackenzie.

The timer for the portabellos went off. Mackenzie sat taller and Lucy slowly released her to go to the oven. As she set the mushrooms on a pad to cool, her mind went a few different ways.

Knowing both sides, Lucy thought maybe Drew and Mackenzie needed to get real with one another and lay all their cards out on the table.

This young girl was hurting and Drew held the key to a lot of answers for her. He was keeping quiet, unsure how to unlock the mystery that was Mackenzie. They were at a stalemate.

Unless…

“Where’s Drew?” Lucy asked, feeling a hot spark of something leap into her pulse with a lively punch. She had an idea that might backfire, but she was going to do it—even if Drew came unglued.

“He’s in town at some meeting for the Park and Rec committee because of the baseball play-offs coming up. We had lunch at Opal’s, and I almost kicked him under the table—he kept asking me if I was okay, if I wanted dessert, if I wanted to go to the lake, if I wanted to take a ride on the four-wheelers, if I wanted to hit some baseballs in the batting cage.” Mackenzie’s eyes grew large. “I wanted to hit him…”

Tears shimmered in her hazel eyes, and Mackenzie pressed her full lips together. “He’s not really a family friend,” she began.

Lucy shook her head, not wanting to put Mackenzie through that. In a flash decision, she simply said, “I know.”

“I guess everybody knew but him. My grandpa Earl knew it, my momma knew it and my aunt Lynette knew it and…well, now that Drew accepts it… I…”

The tears began to fall, and Lucy saw Mackenzie’s frustration on her face. She held her close, tightly, and didn’t let go.

Mackenzie was a soft crier. She didn’t make noise, didn’t shudder. Probably the time for that had passed, and now it was just a lonely release of pent-up sadness.

“When’s Drew coming home?” Lucy asked, brushing her lips over Mackenzie’s silky hair, then letting her go.

“We’re supposed to go to a movie in Hailey tonight. He said it started at six.” Mackenzie wiped her cheeks, then glanced around. “See what I mean? This house is a mausoleum. He doesn’t even have a box of Kleenex anywhere. Toilet paper just ain’t the same.”

In spite of the somber mood, Lucy laughed. “Oh, Mackenzie. You are so wonderful. When my ex-husband left, I went through every box and had to resort to TP a couples of times. I agree with you on the toilet paper—although the two-ply is a lot better than the single.”

“Drew’s got two ply. He only buys the best.”

They both burst into laughter.

“I heard about your husband. Jason told me.”

Lucy nodded. “It hasn’t been easy for my boys.”

“And you.” Mackenzie talked while walking down the long kitchen hall. Her voice carried from the bathroom and she came back with a long streamer of tissue to blow her nose. “Ya’ll seem like you’re doing a good job.”

“I’m doing okay.”

Mackenzie was smart beyond her years. What they said about girls maturing faster than boys was true.

Disregarding the unfinished side dish, Lucy took in a firm and deep breath, her heartbeat racing. “Drew won’t be back for hours. I have an idea. I don’t think he’s going to like it, but that’s the whole point.”

Drew turned into his half-circle drive, the radio blaring. His mind was places other than Margaritaville and wasting away. He had a mind-blowing headache. The school board was on a rampage about funding sports equipment for next year’s season; Drew said he would take a cut in pay to keep the boys in gear. The powers that be were “considering” it—but no guarantee. They had to vote on it.

The other meeting he had today ran longer than expected. The city budget for next year had been cut by twenty percent—Little League would be affected. And he’d just found