Family Bonds- Mac and Sidney (Amore Island Book 3)

by Natalie Ann

“Nothing.”

  “But you keep turning your head like you are looking for someone, or waiting for someone,” Amanda said.

  “Sorry. There are just so many people around and I feel like there are eyes on me.”

  “There probably are with as stunning as you three are,” Helena said.

  Sidney just laughed and brushed it off. She hadn’t gotten any more letters or emails from Rod and had no reason to feel this way. He must have gotten the hint and went away.

  “How is your book coming?” Helena asked. “What is this one about?”

  “I’m starting one about a new baby in the family. Kayla is working with me on it. I’m using Ben and his antics as my character.”

  “I can’t wait to read it,” Helena said.

  They’d talked about baby Ben the entire flight over, but Helena was very good about not once mentioning she couldn’t wait for grandkids since she was aware of what Amanda had gone through as a teen.

  “The story is almost done. It’s just drawing all the pictures now, but once I finalize things enough and get them scanned, it goes faster.”

  “What happened to the policeman one?” Amanda asked. “I’ve been checking and haven’t seen it up for preorder yet?”

  “Soon,” she said, not wanting to mention that she sent it to a few agents and publishing houses weeks ago. She really couldn’t put it up for preorder until she heard back and many said it could be up to two months. For now she just had to push it from her mind and work on her next book.

  “I’m not sure how you can manage to get it all done,” Kayla said. “I feel like I can barely function half the time and I’m home all day. I don’t know what happened to my endless energy. I think Ben sucked it all out of me.”

  Sidney laughed. “I’m sure you do plenty, but it’s probably tiring just being a mom and you are still recovering too. Did I tell you guys that last week Mac had a bunch of sketchpads at the house and pencils and markers and pens for me? Guess he looked at what I used and found them all online. Wasn’t that so sweet?”

  “Very sweet,” Amanda said. “He wants you to spend more time with him, doesn’t he? And you’re home working so he wants you working there too?”

  “Yeah. It’s hard because when we are together I just want to do things with him, but he is so encouraging with my books too.”

  “Sounds like you two are getting nice and cozy,” Helena said with a wink.

  Sidney chose not to comment on that because she felt that way too and didn’t want to jinx a good thing.

  35

  To Be A Dream

  A few days later, Sidney was getting ready for work when her phone went off with an email. She didn’t often get emails and pulled it up hoping it wasn’t something from Rod. It was horrible that that was the first thing that jumped in her head now when she needed to put it behind her.

  It’d been years, and though for some reason he’d reached out twice, as far as she knew, he finally got the hint and went away for good.

  And when she opened her email up, she knew her jaw had to be picked up off the floor with a crane.

  She moved a few steps to the end of the bed and sat down, then said, no, she had to read this on her computer.

  Once she had her laptop open to her email she read the response from an agent on her book that she’d submitted. She really hadn’t expected to hear from anyone at all, least of all this soon. Most times if you were denied you didn’t hear from them, you just assumed they didn’t like what was sent.

  She read the email over three times before it finally registered that not only did an agent want to talk with her, but they also had a publishing house already interested in her book. They even listed the publishing house and it was one she’d heard of. A bigger one that had a lot of children’s books.

  This couldn’t be happening. It had to be a dream.

  But she pinched herself and found out that she was wide awake sitting on her bed in her underwear since she’d been looking for what jeans to wear when she stopped to check her phone.

  They wanted a response from her by Monday but part of her needed to reply back now. Or process it. Maybe get information.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then composed an email that she was very excited and would be interested in talking and seeing their contract.

  There, that wasn’t so bad. That still wasn’t a commitment. She’d need a lawyer to look over the contract, maybe? She was smart enough to understand it, but maybe she could see if Hailey would check it out for her anyway once she read it herself.

  It’s not like she should get too excited at this point. For all she knew it’d be a shitty deal. Maybe not with the agent, but the publishing house. Either way, she put it from her mind and finished getting ready for work.

  All the excitement she had was waning now because she really didn’t have much information other than someone was interested in her.

  She finished getting ready and left for work. Things weren’t as busy as they would be soon, but with the nicer weather they were picking up.

  By ten, she’d pocketed quite a bit of tips and was talking with plenty at the bar.

  “Hey there,” a woman called to her. She had an accent that Sidney couldn’t quite place. She wanted to say an English accent, but it was almost like the woman was trying to hide it too, making it harder to figure out.

  “What can I get you?” she asked. The woman had been sitting at a table in the restaurant but then moved out by the bar with her friends an hour ago.

  “My friends and I are celebrating and wanted to get a bottle of wine. What do you have that’s good back here?”

  “Red, white, chardonnay, pinot grigio, merlot. The list goes on and on. We’ve got a lot. What are you looking for? That will help me narrow it down.”

  The woman frowned at her as if Sidney said something insulting. They had been drinking mixed drinks so it seemed odd to switch to wine now, but who was she to judge.

  “A good white,” the woman said. “I like something dry and crisp. Does that help you out?”

  Sidney kept her smile in place even when the woman was acting bitchy now. Every once in a while they’d get a few in the bar that talked down to staff. “Perfect,” she said then listed off three bottles and their prices.

  Once she had the wine, she went to the back to get it, brought it out and poured four glasses for the table and punched it into their tab, setting them on the bar.

  “You aren’t going to bring them to our table?” the woman asked.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t leave the bar unmanned.” She flagged over one of the waitresses. “Could you help this customer out and bring her drinks to her table for her?”

  “Sure thing,” Amber said, putting the drinks on her tray.

  That was a weird exchange, but not completely unheard of either.

  When she looked up again, Mac was walking into the bar. She’d had no idea he was coming in and she planned on going to his place after too.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, leaning over the bar to give him a kiss. Most were used to seeing it now and the sly comments and looks were less.

  “Thought I’d come down and keep you company until you got out.”

  “Did you just leave your parents?” she asked. She knew he was going over and he and Alex were helping their father get the garage in the back ready.

  “No. I was done there and went to Alex’s place to help him move his old couch out as he’s got a new one coming tomorrow.”

  “I’m shocked he didn’t come down here with you for a drink.” The minute the words were out of her mouth, Alex moved toward the bar. Looked like he was over talking to someone bending at a table close to the front.

  “There is one of my favorite ladies,” Alex said. “How about a beer?”

  “Same,” Mac said.

  She got them both their drinks knowing they’d entertain themselves, then went back to work.

  Thirty minutes later that woman with the f
orced accent came back to the bar. That was what it was. Forced. Like she was trying to be someone she wasn’t. What was it with people? It wasn’t someone trying to cover an accent, but more like trying to create one.

  “Back again?” she asked.

  “It looks it, doesn’t it? Can we get a bottle of something else? You listed three before, just give us one of those other ones.”

  “Sure will,” she said, moving away to get it and biting her tongue. This time she called Amber over beforehand to bring the drinks when they were poured. The woman lifted her head and moved off while Sidney finished the order.

  “What’s her problem?” Amber asked. “I’ve walked by and asked them a few times if they needed something and they say no, yet she comes to the bar and bugs you?”

  “No clue,” she said. “Some people are like that. Hope she doesn’t stiff you a tip. That’s my concern.”

  Amber snorted. “I thought that too. Prissy woman. They’re all over there trying to talk in different accents and laughing over it.”

  “Not sure I’ve ever seen grown adults do that before, but hey, whatever floats their boat. Here you go.” She put the four glasses of wine on the tray and then went to get another order from someone else.

  When Sidney made her way back down to where Mac and Alex were sitting she’d noticed one of the women from that table Amber was complaining about next to Alex, all but rubbing against him and hanging on his every word. She’d never be able to figure out people like that.

  Butch came out from the kitchen and announced last call with thirty minutes left before closing, giving everyone a heads up to get their last drink, finish what they had, and get ready to settle their tabs.

  When it was just about midnight, the table of four women were still sitting there and not moving. Butch was good about dealing with that and not putting it on his staff.

  He walked over. “Closing time, ladies.”

  “Oh, can’t you just stay open a little bit longer for us?” the one that’d been a little snotty at the bar asked.

  “Sorry. Laws are laws,” Butch said. “I’m not about to get any fines or my license revoked.”

  The four women got up and pouted but made their way out the door stumbling. Mac was still there and she fully expected him to go after them. He did get up to walk to the front window, but then returned.

  “They got in an Uber,” he’d told Butch. “They obviously already had it ordered.”

  “Bunch of rich girls having fun on the island. Looks like Alex could have had his pick of one yet he left here empty handed. What was that about?”

  “I try to stay out of my brother’s love life and he stays out of mine,” Mac said.

  Sidney just grinned and winked. “I think your brother is jealous of you and wants what we’ve got.”

  “I’m not sure Alex has ever been jealous of me,” he said.

  “Don’t be so sure of that,” she said back, then finished closing up and walked out with Mac following her. He was parked next to her car in the back.

  “See you home in a few minutes.”

  Home. Yeah she was starting to think of Mac’s house as that too.

  36

  Measure Up To People

  Mac hadn’t really planned on going to McKay’s last night, but by the time he was done helping Alex, which was after helping their father, he was ready for a drink.

  He’d sat there and watched Sidney work. She was flirted with, she was talked down to, she was dismissed and one of the women at the bar was snotty to her.

  Through it all she held her smile in place, she waited on people, and she did her job well.

  Normally Alex would have taken the woman up on her offer to go back to his place, but for once his younger brother was a little disgusted over those women’s behavior.

  The four of them mimicking others in the bar. Laughing at people, pointing at others. And when he and Sidney got back to his place, she’d said how though that table had drunk a lot of expensive wine they left little to no tip on their tab.

  “I’m used to people like that,” she said over a yawn.

  “Why do it?”

  “Because it’s my job. For every person like that, there is someone else who makes up for it. I’ve found in life there is a balance when it comes to those things.”

  “If you say so,” he said.

  “I do,” she said, winding her arms around his neck. “You’re too cynical about a lot of things in life. Why is that? Because you loved someone and they wouldn’t come here with you?”

  “Where is this coming from?” he asked. They were in his room getting ready for bed and he had a feeling she was going to fall asleep face down. That was fine, she never did but it meant she was tired.

  “Don’t know. I guess I’ve thought of things in the past few weeks after I went to New York with Amanda and Kayla.”

  “What have you thought of?” he asked.

  “Just that they are so different than Drew and Hunter, yet they are so perfect for each other. Aside from the personal chopper ride there and the fact Helena purchased Amanda’s dress with no one seeing the price tag, it’s like all you guys are the same.”

  He snorted. “I don’t think many think of us the same.”

  “You don’t, but they don’t think like you do. Why is that?”

  It’s not the first time she’d said that to him, forcing him to take a bigger look in the mirror. “They’ve never felt they had to measure up to people.”

  She started to laugh. “Mac, we all feel we have to measure up to someone and you know it. Even your cousins do, admit it.”

  She was right. He knew Hunter struggled with measuring up to his father and grandfather and proving himself. Drew never felt he was good enough to find the right woman.

  Personally, Mac always wondered if he was good enough. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “I am. And your brother Alex is jealous of you, regardless of if you think so.”

  “I don’t think so. He’s living life large right now. No responsibilities, nothing. Loves his job and goes out to get the pick of any woman he wants.”

  “Yet he didn’t go home with one tonight and she was pretty hot. As much as she was petty and I disliked her on principle alone, she was still smoking.”

  He wasn’t about to jump into that Venus flytrap and admit the same thing. “That doesn’t mean he is jealous of me because he turned her down.”

  “Maybe he’s jealous of what we’ve got?” she asked. She walked into the bathroom and he let her go, knowing she was getting ready for bed. When the toilet flushed and the door opened he walked into the hall to see her brushing her teeth and nodding her head for him to come in to get ready too.

  Normally they did it separately and he wondered what might be going through her mind.

  When they were done and back in his room, he crawled in bed and lifted his arm for her to snuggle under. “What are you thinking tonight?”

  “Not sure,” she said. “Lots of things. I’m glad you stopped in. I like seeing you there when I work, but I know it’s a long day for you too.”

  “Never too long to spend it with you,” he said kissing her on the forehead.

  “Always the sweet words when you say you don’t have many of them.”

  “I guess I’ve been told it enough.”

  “Which was another thing that I’ve been thinking of. Amanda and Kayla both said that they plan on staying on the island because they know Hunter and Drew wanted to, but would follow them anywhere.”

  “That’s nice. I guess you know you’ve got the right person when they do that.”

  “So you’re thinking of the one you had that didn’t follow you?” she asked.

  “Not sure where this is coming from, but it’s old news. Do you want to know about her? Is that what this is about?”

  “I don’t know if I do or not. I just wonder if that affects a lot of how or why you do things.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “I can’t even remember, to
tell you the truth. Not like you think. Honestly, we didn’t want the same things. No use sticking around if that is the case.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “I’m glad you left and came back here and I’m glad I got to know you and fall in love with you.”

  She was yawning again, her eyes drooping. He let her snuggle in more and just held her. “I’m glad too, Sidney.”

  The next morning he’d slid out of bed and showered, then went downstairs to start the coffee. Even if he was tired, he wasn’t someone to stay in bed all morning long.

  “Any plans today?” Sidney asked a few hours later. It was just after ten and he’d had a few cups of coffee, breakfast, and even worked out.

  “We are wide open. Anything you want to do?”

  “Food,” she said. “That is what I need first.”

  “You always need to eat,” he said. “I never know where you put it all either.”

  “I don’t sit still unless I’m working on my books and even then I tend to forget to eat.”

  “That’s not healthy,” he said, getting up and pulling out a pan to make some eggs for her.

  “Nope, it’s not. But it’s life. Speaking of life. I got a little bit of exciting news yesterday.”

  “You did?” he said. “What’s that?”

  “So I never told anyone and I’m not sure why I’m telling you, but if I can’t tell the man I love, who can I trust to tell?”

  He turned to look at her. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you can’t tell me something. Good or bad.”

  She paused and he didn’t care for the look on her face, but then she smiled. “Same goes for you.”

  “I think I tell you a lot,” he said. More than he told a lot of people in his life. And when he normally felt as if admitting something was like choking on his last breath, with Sidney it didn’t feel that way.

  “I submitted my policeman book to a few agents and publishing houses. I didn’t really expect anything to come of it. I did it a few weeks ago and it could take months to hear something if you even do.”

  “And you did?” he asked.