Page 20 of Comeback
He smiled. “Right.”
“Bye, Jack,” I said.
“Bye, Emma.” But Jack wasn’t going to let us go just yet. He tapped Mackenzie on the back. “Bye-bye, Mackenzie.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder and stared at him.
“Remember my name?” he prodded.
She sniffled. “You’re a hockey player,” she said quietly.
My jaw opened. She’d done itagain.
“Yeah,” Jack said, his eyes catching mine. “Apparently, that’s what people say I am.”
“His name isJack,sweetheart.”
“Rhymes with Mack,” Jack said. “Jack and Mack. That’s easy to remember, right?”
“Jack and Mack,” Mackenzie repeated.
“Yeah, good job!” Jack offered his palm. “Hit me with a low five?”
Mackenzie swatted his palm.
“Hey, alright!” he cheered.
I was stunned. I could only shake my head in disbelief.
“I don’t know how you do it,” I said. “Lately, she won’t talk to anyone else but me.”
“Don’t ask me,” Jack chuckled. “I’m not exactly good with kids.”
Clearly, that’s not true,I thought.
Something made me want to invite Jack with us … but I knew it wasn’t appropriate. I’d only just met him. Instead, I said goodbye again, and I headed for the exit.
But as I walked away, Mackenzie reached out for Jack and cried. “Jaaaaaaack!”
“Shhh, it’s going to be okay,” I said as I bounced her in my arms.
I leaned against the door and hurried out the cafe.
Chapter 10
Jack
“Jaaaaaaack!” the little girl cried, her outstretched hand reaching towards me.
Argh. That little hand might as well have been jammed right in my chest, tugging at all my heart-strings.
I barely evenknewthe girl. But beyond the heart-wrenching pain in my chest was a furious rage. Thethoughtthat a guy could walk away from a beautiful little girl like that—unbelievable. It pissed me off so goddamn bad.
No onehad any loyalty anymore.
And he didn’t just leave his daughter, he left a babe like her,I thought, my eyes following Emma through the cafe window, her cute butt wiggling as she hurried down the sidewalk.
Even worse, the loser didn’t help Emma out. He’d left her to struggle, forced her to move in with her cousin. She waswaiting tablesto try to make ends meet, for God’s sake. And things apparently weren’t going well.
