Page 23 of Comeback
Suddenly, I had arealhard time believing this guy could possibly be “lonely” in Bayfield.
Yeah, okay—I’d be lying if I said those girls didn’t make me feel slightly jealous. And the thought that they were obviously tourists—the kind of no-strings-attached girls Jack apparently went for—only made the pangs of jealousy worse.
The host dropped us off at our table. I slid into the booth and Jack set the child seat down.
Jack made airplane noises as he landed Mackenzie into her seat. “Here we go—neeeeeaow!” She giggled with delight, turning her attention to her kid’s menu. She grabbed a handful of crayons and quickly busied herself.
“Oh, you’re making the elephant pink, huh?” Jack asked as she colored in her kid’s menu.
“Yep,” she answered, not taking her eyes off her work.
“Why?”
“Because it’s her birthday!” she answered.
My heart sank. I knew exactly why she’d colored her birthday elephant pink, but it wasn’t the time or the place to explain it to Jack.
“Oh, it’s her birthday. I should’ve known that,” Jack said, chuckling. He looked at me. “She’s awesome. So much for being hangry, eh?”
Of course I thought my daughter was awesome, too. But I still couldn’t believe thisstrangerhad managed to quell Mackenzie’s tantrum and was getting her to speak. And deep down, something about this felt wrong.Would a good mom really let some random, mysterious man that she barely knew get this close to her daughter? Then again, if it weren’tfor the fact that he’d gotten Mackenzie to say a few words here and there, we wouldn’t be here with him.
I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t understand him, either. But, once again, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel slightly jealous at how simple he made it look.
“Trust me, it’s not always this easy,” I said.
“I don’t doubt it,” he said. He turned his attention to the menu. “Hey, order whatever you want, okay? I’m serious.”
I was conflicted. I’d made it clear I didn’t want him spending his money on us, but he’d worn me down. I didn’t know why I couldn’t let myself enjoythis. But something about the dream guy who’d appeared out of nowhere left me deeply suspicious …
With a breathy exhale, I picked up my menu. “Okay.”
***
Seeing Mack act so natural and happy helped me ease over the course of dinner. Our small talk revolved mostly around Mackenzie. I explained to Jack why I couldn’t cook meat for Mackenzie at home—because Nicole and Jeff were vegans, and the smell of cooking meat made them sick.
I saw the look in his eye.“I know what you’re thinking,” I said. “You think it sounds like BS.”
He chuckled. “Sure does.”
“I know, but it’s not. They’ve both been vegan for almost ten years. When you go that long without eating meat, it can be really hard to be around the smell of it. If they eat it, they’ll get sick. If they smell it, they’ll feel nauseous. And after all they’ve done for me, I don’t want to make them nauseous in their own house.”
His head bobbed as he considered that bit of information. “Yeah, okay. I can see that. That makes sense.”
“But like I said, Mackenzie doesn’t like to eat vegan. She’s akid;she likes meat, you know? Nuggets, tenders, ribs, fish sticks—standard kid fare, and all things I can’t cook at home. And that means I have to take her out to eat basically every day.”
“Eating out all the time adds up,” he said.
“Exactly.”
Not that Jack seemed concerned about the cost of eating out; he orderedtwoentire entrees to himself. He also ordered two appetizers for the table, and I learned that I could add fried calamari to the list of foods Mackenzie loved.
I was sure Jack wouldn’t be able to eat it all—but alas, twenty minutes later, he was stabbing the last hunk of his flat iron steak onto his fork.
“Do you always eat like this?” I asked.
A hint of embarrassment sparkled in his eye. “Oh. Er. Yeah, I do. Sorry, I should’ve warned you—hope you don’t think I’m some glutton.”
“I don’t think that. I’m just wondering how you stay so …” I trailed off, my eyes sweeping over his thick chest and rippled arms, “… fit?”
