Page 47 of Until Waverly

Sadly, she was.

“She’s sleeping.” Her father sat beside Waverly. Going by the look on his face, he wasn’t any more pleased with her than I was. “Girl...” His gruff voice filled with so much damn emotion I could empathize with. “I don’t know if I should hug you or send you to your room for a month or two on Sundays.”

I leaned back against the countertop, legs crossed at my ankles and arms crossed over my chest. I didn’t miss the confusion when Waverly’s eyes darted to mine, then back to her father.

“Daddy—”

Mack Sr. held up his hand. “How could you do that, huh? Did you run away and not tell us and cut Jackson off because you were worried about how I’d handle it?”

Waverly shook her head.

“Then tell me. Explain to me so I get it. Why did you cut me and the rest of our family out of your life, and hide something so big?” Her father swallowed hard as he touched his chest. “You kept us away from that sweet baby girl sleeping in the other room. Why?”

“You don’t understand, Daddy.” Waverly choked out.

“Then make me understand, Waverly. Because I don’t get it. Don’t understand why you felt you needed to do what you did.” He shook his head. “We all would have helped you. Jackson too.”

Waverly cleared her throat and picked at the nonexistent fuzz on the leg of her sweats again. “When Jackson leaves, we’ll talk. I promise.”

Mack Sr. and I both laughed.

“What?”

Before I could get it out, Mack Sr. replied, “I know you heard and understood your mama yesterday. Don’t you dare try to tell me you didn’t!” Her father gestured to me. “Jackson is here. He’s going to stay. Help with Alandria and take care of you until the doctor gives you an all-clear.”

He leaned over, kissed his daughter on her forehead, and then stood. “Maybe during your recovery, you’ll learn to take responsibility for your ill begotten actions and tell him the reason you decided it was necessary to keep him away from his daughter.”

“Daddy—”

Mack Sr. held up his finger. “Your mother and I, Waverly, went through a lot of work, raising our kids with manners. To stand up, look yourself in the mirror, and admit you’re wrong. It’s pretty damn obvious to me you haven’t starred at yourself in the mirror in about thirteen or so months and been happy what you’re seeing.” He then turned his attention to me. “Walk me out.”

Pushing myself off the counter, I warned Waverly, “Don’t get up. If Alandria wakes, I’ll grab her when I get back.” I followed Mack Sr. out the door and to the stairs.

The other man stopped and stared at me. Like his son, he was an intimidating fucker, but I knew if I let him run all over me now, he’d do it every time. So, I held his gaze, not backing down. He pointed toward the hallway. “I don’t recognize that girl in Waverly’s apartment.”

Defending Waverly would always be something I did. Even if we never got back together. I wouldn’t stop doing so now “She’s had a rough go of it, Mack. Maybe we all need to back off her for a while. Let her take a breath and catch her bearings.”

“While I agree with you to a point, don’t be afraid to give her some tough love.” Mack Sr. sighed. “Never had to do it often with our kids. Felt like it was always Mack Jr.—” I snickered at that tidbit of information “—he was hardheaded. Determined. He came into the world knowing exactly what he wanted and how to get it. Nothing was going to stop him. Reining that type of personality in was hard. The girls though both are daddy’s girls to their core. Neither of them wanted to disappoint me or make me mad at them. Can’t help but feel her actions and how she handled it has a lot to do with me and her fear of upsetting me. We failed her somehow.”

The concern, worry, and more importantly the dread I saw in the other man’s eyes just about killed me. In the last year, I’d seen the type of parents Mack Sr. and Sarah Jane were. They were the parents everyone wanted but weren’t lucky enough to have growing up. I had parents like them.

I missed my mom and dad.

Honestly, I didn’t even know what to say to her father. Deep down though, I felt like I needed to reassure him that the fault didn’t lay with either him or his wife. “It wasn’t you, Mack. You didn’t fail her. Whatever happened to make her do what she did, had everything to do with us—me and her. I’m sure of it.” I patted him on the back as he started for the stairs. “I’ll find out, and once I do, I promise I’ll let you know.”

He nodded. “Thanks, Jackson.” The made his way back to the parking lot.

I’d taken longer than I’d wanted to, but things needed to be said. The air had to be cleared between Mack Sr. and me. When I stepped into the apartment, I could hear Alandria crying.

She was working herself up when my gaze landed on Waverly, and she’d been in the process of attempting to get up. I pointed at her. “What the hell did I tell you? Sit your ass back down.” I sure hoped my tone let her know I’d wasn’t going to argue with her.

I stepped into the bedroom and found Alandria kicking and grabbing at the air while she cried. Even with as irritated as I was at her mother, I slapped a smile on my face as I got Alandria out of her crib. “There’s my beautiful girl.” I changed her diaper while telling her about my morning, then took her out to Waverly.

Alandria waved her hands in the air, squealing in delight at seeing her mother. I deposited her in Waverly’s open arms before I went into the kitchen to prepare her bottle.

Watching Waverly with Alandria did something to me mentally. Made me more determined to find out what happened to cause all this strife, both for her father and me. And since my initial gameplan wasn’t working, maybe it was time to switch up the game.

Chapter16

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