by D. R. Grady
His dad raised an impressed brow at him, and Nick shrugged. He’d been told off, and if he knew what was best for him, he better remain quiet.
The sofa cushion beside him compressed and he turned to see Macy seat herself. “I’ve been told off.” He was happy to see her, even though they’d only been apart for three minutes. He must have it bad.
“What did you do?”
“Tried to wheedle Granddad into letting me use his tools.”
Macy looked horrified. “Shame on you.” She shook her head sadly. “You know better,” she said in a good parental voice.
He curled his lips between his teeth. “You’d think I’d know better. But I really like Granddad’s toolbox, too.”
She used her head to indicate Starla. “How are her negotiations going?”
“She’s convinced him she should be allowed to whack the nail that caused her wound.”
“Tough negotiator.”
“Oh, yeah. I’m glad I’m not across the desk from her.”
Macy grinned as Starla folded her hands and batted her eyelashes at his dad. Who looked besotted. Which is exactly what the little manipulator aimed for.
“He’s done,” Macy predicted.
“Yep. Gone down like a skinny linebacker.” Nick shook his head. “It’s sad. Her own grandfather can’t even tell her no.”
“This isn’t going to end, you know.”
“I know.” Nick stared at his daughter’s victory and knew a small tinge of terror. “I need to build up better defenses.”
“Yes, that might help matters. Your dad barely put up a fight.” She watched him rise from the sofa and from the corner of her mouth said, “Wimp.”
His dad’s cheeks tinged with red. “It’d take a stronger man than me to tell her no.”
“You’ve had six years to work on your defenses,” she said, no sympathy in her voice.
“I’d like to see you tell her no,” he defended himself.
Nick snorted. “Macy has no problem with that. Starla doesn’t seem to have the same effect on her or Savannah. Both of them say no and mean it.”
“We’ve learned,” Macy said. “And I did it in two months.” If she wore glasses, she’d be staring at him balefully over the rims. Since she didn’t wear glasses, the effect was muted as she gazed at his dad in semi-disgust.
“She does deserve to hit the nail that cut open her foot.” His dad seemed to be losing ground, fast.
Nick decided to save his dad. “Dad, you might as well give it up. You’re not going to win against my girls.”
“Doesn’t look that way,” his dad said. His stomach rumbled and he patted it consolingly. “I’d better go seek refreshment. I obviously need to recalibrate.”
“He’s easily distracted, isn’t he? How did he manage to raise you four?”
Nick sent her a sardonic glance. “You think he didn’t know exactly what he was doing?”
Revelation dawned in her eyes. “Ah, he wanted out of the conversation so he used his stomach to help him.” She grinned.
“Exactly. Dad’s learned survival tactics we can only envy.”
“Your poor mother,” Macy decided.
“Poor mother? Why do you think he needed to learn those tactics?”
Macy sent him a sardonic look of her own. “If you believe that, you’re as pliable as he is in a certain young lady’s hands,” she said and indicated his six-year-old queen holding court again. She appeared to be enthralling her audience with how she intended to whap the nail that bit her with none other than Granddad’s hammer.
“I’m so done,” he said and covered his face with his hands.
Macy patted him consolingly. “For the record, your dad caved in two minutes. I’ve seen you hold out for three.”
Chapter 21
Hefting the last suitcase, Macy nearly groaned under its weight. What had Savannah packed? She staggered into the laundry room, hoping her back didn’t give out, because her motivation was close to deserting her. It might have already walked out on her without telling her, in fact.
She tugged the suitcase the last distance and paused in the doorway. Surveying the other cases packed willy nilly on the floor, Macy decided to leave this one on the floor in the hall. Even stepping into the laundry room could prove disastrous and she dreaded unpacking Brandt’s bag.
They left for the lake without reminding him he shouldn’t wander off alone. Their lack of foresight seemed to have spurred his zealousness in the pursuit of things with claws, venom, fangs, and poison. Thinking of poison reminded her of the rash spread across her arms and stomach. With an irritable growl, Macy tried not to scratch because it only hurt the sunburn underneath the rash.
At least the mosquito after-bite stuff Nick offered actually worked. Her legs, although dotted with more bites than she cared to count, didn’t itch. The peeling pink Calamine lotion, while smelling the same as her youth, didn’t appear to help much with her rash. And no calming, cooling spray helped the sunburn.
After looking at herself in the mirror this morning, Macy realized that as usual she’d peel after all this and be whiter than when she started. She remembered growling at Nick this morning after putting the kids on the bus because he made her go camping. The least he could have done was carry all the suitcases into the laundry room. But no, he forgot the teenager’s case.
She watched Brandt’s suitcase, hoping the wriggle she saw in it was her imagination. The case wriggled again and she grabbed the handle and hefted the bag through the laundry room and garage to the lawn before she opened it with a stick. She left his suitcase open and prodded the soggy contents. Then she left it, deciding to come back to it after empting the others.
Starla’s would have blood through it. Because her foot had bled during the night. Macy had worked to coax the blood stains out of her sheets. But knew the Mini-Marilyn would not tolerate blood on her favorite pajamas. Thankful for her prudence in removing the other pairs, now Macy scooped the pair she’d left in the bag and placed them in a bucket with hydrogen peroxide. If all went well, the solution would remove most of the blood stains.
Starla had not been thrilled with the crutches Nick unearthed for her, but his will had been stronger in this battle and he won. Once he reminded her he couldn’t go to school with her and carry her around she finally consented to learning to use the crutches. It shattered her queenly visions of being carried everywhere, but she did learn. The little diva held it against them for the rest of the night.
Macy had reveled in the quiet.
She moved on to Bryce’s bag. Other than a few books he forgot to remove and his toothbrush, (how had he brushed his teeth last night?) she didn’t find anything unusual.
Nick’s bag didn’t surprise her, and Savannah’s while extra full of clothing, fortunately didn’t contain anything she hadn’t encountered before. That left her bag and Brandt’s. Macy quickly sorted her stuff, and then with a sigh of resignation, retraced her steps from the laundry, through the garage and gingerly made her way over to Brandt’s still open case.
Using the same stick she employed to open the case, she extracted each item of clothing. After laying everything out, Macy prodded the case lining before she tipped it over. No sense taking extra wildlife into the house. Riley had come home with several ticks. Lexus wouldn’t let her close, so she persuaded Nick to check over the cat.
Macy decided upon further reflection, she didn’t want to know if anything lurked in Brandt’s suitcase. She poked and prodded all the clothing lying on the grass. Then she upended each item and encouraged anything hiding in the pockets to escape.
After she was satisfied everything was empty, she threw the things back into his case. Sorting his things took moments and soon the washer clicked on. It was a soothing sound, if a never ending one. While she loved this family, she wouldn’t miss the endless mounds of laundry, food, and cleaning required to keep them satisfied.
Vet school looked better and better all the time. Of course, today she was ext
ra irritable. No doubt due to the poison ivy, mosquito bites, and sunburn she returned home with. The rest of the family all came home with the start of a nice tan and nary a rash or bug bite in sight. The trip had not inclined her to enjoy camping, although meeting Nick’s family had been fun.
Still.
This was not an experience she looked forward to repeating. At least she should have a four year reprieve once she started school. Vet school would provide a wonderful excuse to uninvite herself.
Her phone rang and glancing at the face, saw the caller was her mother. Macy scooped up the device and made for the stairs. “How was your cruise, which you told none of us about?” she accused before even saying hello. When she reached her room she crawled onto the bed.
Her mother laughed. “Sorry! We got good tickets at the last minute, so we took them. I did call you a few days ago, but you didn’t answer.”
“I’m glad you let us know where you were. I’m surprised Mariah didn’t put out a police report on you.”
“Your sister has better sense than that. And I did tell Rob.”
“Mom, Rob spent the entire weekend with us and failed to mention your cruise.”
“Well, he does tend to be a little closed-mouthed.”
She could picture her mom biting her lip.
“Yeah, like you didn’t tell him and only him on purpose.” Macy wasn’t ready to forgive yet.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” her mother answered. It signaled to her children the conversation had just ended. “You said there was something you wanted to talk to me about?”
Her mom sounded so polite and interested. “Yeah.” This time Macy bit her lip. How to ask this?
“Well, honey?”
“Do you ever regret giving up your dreams of becoming a medical researcher for your husband and family?”
“What?” Her mom sounded confused, not angry at her nosy question.
“You married dad and had me, so you couldn’t continue with your schooling, right?”
“Right.”
“So you had a husband and child. You couldn’t have your dream of becoming a medical researcher because Dad and I stood in your way.”
“Is that how you see the situation?”
“Well, yeah, isn’t that how it was?”
“No, actually, sweetheart, it wasn’t.”
Macy frowned at the ceiling. Okay, so she’d been wrong all these years? “Then what’s the truth?” She was more confused now than before her mom called. Not a good sign.
“Macy, I had been diagnosed long before your dad and I met. I struggled through college, but I’d already begun to realize then that I wouldn’t be likely to hold down a job like I’d dreamed.”
“Why not?”
“It took them a long time to diagnose my lupus, but already I had some pretty bad days. I couldn’t have been trusted in a research lab on one of those days. And with my illness, I never know if I’m going to have a good or bad day. It’s always so hard to predict.”
“You didn’t give up your dreams for Daddy and me. But because you were sick,” Macy whispered, her heart lodged in her tight throat.
“Yes. I actually sank into a pretty deep depression around that time, and it was only meeting your father and through his encouragement that I believed I could have something else.”
Macy didn’t follow. “What does that mean?”
“He showed me even if I couldn’t be a medical researcher, that I could be a wife and mother, like so many women around me at the time. I don’t think I could have been anyone else’s wife.”
“So you decided to marry him?”
“Yes. He gave me something else I needed at that time.”
“Me?”
Her mom laughed. “Well, yes, you. But also he assured me that if there were any medical breakthroughs with my illness, he’d do everything he could to help me attain my dream.”
“He wanted you to go to work?”
“Yes. Your dad promised me that if it ever became possible for me to land a job in a research facility, he’d move to wherever with me.”
“I had no idea. I always thought you gave up your dream of a career for him and me.”
“No, love, I received hope and courage and support from him. That’s why I married him. He still tells me that if I want to go back to school for my masters, he’ll pay my way.” Her mom spoke with a smile in her voice.
Macy blinked back tears. She’d known her parents had a good marriage, but she’d never known that. She swallowed, awed all over again by this pair who had given her life.
“I can’t believe how supportive Daddy’s been,” she murmured. Reeling a bit from the shock. She expected him to support her and her siblings, but hadn’t thought about the same for her other parent.
“He still is. That’s why I like to go on last minute cruises with him,” her mom said in an impish tone.
“Ha ha, Mom.” Macy frowned at the ceiling. This didn’t help her. What was she supposed to do now?
“So what’s your problem?”
How did she begin to explain this to her mom? “It’s complicated.”
“Well, I’ve got time. Your dad is still lugging our bags inside.”
“Oh, Mom,” Macy said and poured out her situation. How she wanted Nick and his children, but how she needed to attend vet school. Her desire for that hadn’t changed.
When she stopped talking, her mom’s end of the line was silent. “Hello? Did I put to sleep?”
“No, I’m just thinking. You’ve landed yourself in a real pickle, didn’t you, kiddo?”
“There doesn’t seem to be an easy way out, either.”
“What are you thinking?”
“If, and that’s a big if, another school offers me a slot, I could maybe commute from here, but I still can’t run this house, manage the kids, and complete all my school work.” Macy let out a frustrated sigh. She scratched at the rash on her arm, and nearly went through the roof when she grazed part of the sunburn.
She hated camping.
“Oh, honey, I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Why don’t I give you time to think it over?”
“Has that helped you?” Her mother’s voice held interest.
“No.”
“Yes, that’s what I figured. I’ll see if your dad has some ideas. He’s a pretty smart guy.”
“I know. I wish there was a magical solution to this.”
“How does Nick feel?”
“He’s frustrated too. But then I don’t know if he only wants me to stay because he’s finally sleeping through the night and doesn’t have to worry about the household stuff...”
Another sigh encroached and Macy swallowed and scratched her rash again.
“He doesn’t sound like the type to take advantage of you. But I would say that if your relationship means enough to him, he’ll wait until you’re finished with school.”
“That’s what I told him,” Macy said.
“Do you believe that?”
“I do and I don’t.”
“Why?”
“He’s still got the responsibility of four kids and this house. How is he going to do that without me?”
“The nanny agencies in town have blacklisted him?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me think about it,” her mom finally said.
Macy closed her eyes as despair washed over her. There was no solution to this. Either way she lost. Either decision would bring a no win situation.
Camping wasn’t the only thing she hated at the moment.
***
The sunburned quality of Macy’s cheeks should have detracted from her beauty, but it didn’t. The mosquito bites and poison ivy didn’t make a difference, either. Nick knew he could stare at her for hours. Of course, then his children would figure out there was something going on, and that wasn’t in the game plan.
“Savannah, can I have the iced tea?”
His daughter passed him th
e pitcher and he stared at his plate, trying to remember what he’d eaten. He saw Macy push the contents of hers around and thought about the three letters that had arrived for her in the mail today.
Not that he was nosy, but he’d noticed one of them had a University of Pennsylvania return address. He’d been dying to corner her and ask about that letter. Although in retrospect, dying might not be the appropriate word.
Thinking of her leaving in the fall slowly stifled and suffocated parts of him inside. The thought of Macy not living with them filled him with rage, fear, and loneliness. How could he cope without her?
But to ask her to give up her placement at the school of her dreams didn’t seem like the best way to start a lasting relationship, either. Could he wait four years for her? If he had to. Nick knew he could. But what about his kids? Could they take the upheaval?
This wasn’t all about him and Macy. They had four other people to consider. He watched as she steered her corn into her mashed potatoes, and realized she hadn’t directed much of dinner to her mouth. Instead, it appeared she’d buried much of the contents under other food.
He frowned when she jumped up and started collecting plates. She passed dessert around to everyone but didn’t take a sliver of the pie for herself. Something was bothering her. Had she not been accepted by the University of Pennsylvania?
When she cleared the table of supper dishes, appearing more automaton than human, Nick set his napkin on his unfinished pie. “Why don’t you kids go work on homework?” he suggested, and amidst grumbles and griping, they left the table.
Hopefully that would buy him some time to talk to Macy. “What’s wrong with you?” He hadn’t intended that to come out so gruffly.
She flinched. Visibly. Like he’d hit her. Nick swallowed and took a step away from her. Trying to appear less threatening. Less unforgiving.
“I got my acceptance to vet school today,” she said, and wouldn’t meet his eyes.
Her statement was like a sucker punch in the stomach. It was everything he could do to resist clutching his middle and gasping for air. Breathing was hard, and he groped for a chair.
He needed to be happy for her. Not panicked and heart sore. This is what she wanted. Right?