Page 25 of Comeback
“That’s the thing. You’re the first person she’s said a word to since we’ve moved. For some reason, she feels comfortable around you.”
I watched Mackenzie plummet down the slide again, her arms raised in the air, squealing and giggling out loud.
“Wow,” I whispered. “I’m touched.”
“I’m glad you say that. Because this is averybigdeal to me, Jack. My daughter is my life. And while I’m happy that she’s taken an instant liking to you, and even happier that she’s starting to talk more—I have to be cautious. It’s my job to protect her. I can’t risk having her get hurt again. So if you’re only spending time with us because you’re playing mind games, and only trying to get laid or something—”
I shook my head. “It’s not that.”
“Well, what is it? Who are you? Every time I try to ask, I can’t get a straight answer. You told me you don’t work. You told me you don’t know anybody. So what are you doinghere in Bayfield?”
I paused.
“The truth is,” I said, my heart banging in my chest, “two years ago, I was engaged to a girl. It fell through in a pretty bad way. And I needed to change things up afterward. So I took my savings and moved out here. That’s why I’m not working right now. I’m trying to figure out what I wanna do next.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She looked at me with a sympathetic frown. “Can I ask what happened with your engagement?”
“I found out she was having an affair. Just months before the wedding.”
She touched my hand. “I’m sorry. Believe me, I know the pain.”
“Is that why it didn’t work out between you and Mackenzie’s father?”
“One of many reasons.” She chuckled, but I could hear the pain in her laugh, still fresh. “Oh, if only Trevor’s worst transgression was that he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants …” she mused.
So the bozo had a name. Trevor.
“Sorry,” she said suddenly. “I just realized that might sound rude. I didn’t say that to trivialize what you’ve been through. Getting cheated on sucks.”
“No offense taken.” I paused. “You said he’s not in the picture anymore. Can I ask what happened?”
She stretched, soaking up the last of the setting sun’s amber rays. “Ah, God.”
“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”
“No, it’s just … I don’t know where to begin. I was way too young and way too dumb when I met him, and I moved in with himwaytoo fast.”
“How fast?”
“Oh, after a month of dating?” She stifled a laugh. “If you can even call it ‘dating.’ See, he was in the Army, and his base was an hour and a half drive from Toronto. So I only saw him a handful of times during that month.”
“Why’d you move in with him, then?”
“I was absolutely desperate to get away from home. And unlike a lot of guys my age, Trevor had a decent job. He grew up on a cattle farm in Alberta, so he had this rough around the edges, ‘I’m a real man, I can do anything’ type demeanor. I guess that’s what attracted me—his strength, his confidence that things would work out. I really thought he was the strong, silent type.” She looked at me. “Kind of like you, in a way.”
I frowned. I didn’t want to be compared to that guy at all.
“I fell for it,” she said, shaking her head. “He was strong, alright. But he wasn’t silent at all,especiallywhen he drank. But I was always making excuses for all his faults, even when all my friends, like Nicole, tried to warn me that he didn’t treat me right. But in my mind, he wasn’t a jealous asshole—he wasprotective,because he loved me! He wasn’t controlling—he just didn’t want me to go to college, because he wanted to provide for me instead!”
I rubbed my chin. “Did he keep you from going to school?”
“No. He hated it, but I finished my freshman year.” She sighed. “But then I got pregnant. That’s whatkept me from going back.”
“I see.”
“Shortly after I found out I was carrying, he got discharged from the Army because they were sick of all his constant drinking and fighting. I wanted to raise our kids on his family farm in Alberta—but he had some fight with them and they told him not to come back. Another red flag I ignored, right? Anyway, we moved to Toronto together. I was so naive—I was actuallyhappyabout his discharge, because I had some fantasy about us starting anew and starting a family together. But that was when the real problems began. He didn’t evenlookfor a job. I waited tables while he sat at home, drinking all day. He wasn’t the strong and silent type at all—he was lazy, a coward, a bully. A mean, abusive drunk.”
My heart sank. I was sure she’d think I was a coward if she knew the truth about me, too.
