The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 3)

Marnie continued to sip her coffee in a calm manner. “Call it what you like, Mackenzie, but the cold truth is that you’ll be gone. You’ll be gone, out of her life and out of the life of a child you created with her. Lily is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, and I’m telling you right now, she won’t be alone forever.”

Mac’s chest tightened, and he gripped the coffee mug between his hands as he thought about that.

“Are you okay with another man raising your child? Are you okay knowing another man will be sharing Lily’s bed—”

“Okay, Marnie. I know you mean well, but fu—shit…I can’t do this with you.”

For a few seconds he heard nothing but the gentle lap of water against the dock.

“When Jesse died and Jake left, I didn’t think he’d ever be whole again.” She turned to him, and Mac winced at the pain in her eyes. “You were there. You know how broken he was. Lily helped him get through, and she helped bring him back to us—to Steven and I, and to Raine. She’s like an angel put on this earth to heal and to comfort, and she needs you now more than ever.”

Emotion tightened his chest some more and for a few seconds, he wasn’t able to speak.

“I don’t deserve her.”

Marnie looked surprised at that.

“I call bullshit.”

Mac’s eyebrow shot up. “Excuse me?”

“I call bullshit,” she repeated firmly, her eyes on him so intense, so much like Jake’s, that it was eerie.

A little chunk of something loosened inside him, and for the first time in a forever, it seemed, he cracked a smile.

“You would,” he said roughly.

“I’m just calling it as I see it.”

Marnie glanced down into her mug and tapped her toe along the dock. “You’ve had a raw deal, Mackenzie, there’s no two ways about it. But don’t let the sins of your parents mark you like this. Just don’t. Not all of us get the chance to love or live. Some people go their whole lives without experiencing real love and some…” She took a moment and he thought of Jesse. “Well, some people have it snatched from them. Don’t take that away from Lily,” she said softly.

She stood abruptly and held out her hand, a gentle smile curving her mouth as she gazed down at him.

“You need to come with me,” she said.

“Ah, okay.” Mac got to his feet, towering over the slight woman.

“You look awful, and I’m not letting you go anywhere until you shower.”

She tugged on his hand, and he hand no choice but to follow her.

“Steven is making scrambled eggs and toast, and we can sit down and have a nice breakfast together.” She glanced over her shower. “Once you’re clean.”

He smiled. He liked bossy Marnie.

“And then you can go and fix things with Lily.”

Mackenzie stepped off the dock, and as he followed the small woman up the path to their house, he felt hope for the first time. It was a warm feeling. Light and airy.

Hope was good.

He’d take it.

***

By late afternoon he’d called Lily several times, and each time that he did, his call went straight to voice mail.

He wasn’t surprised, though he was anxious as hell to get to her place and to make things right. He’d gone there straight from the Edwardses’, but she wasn’t home and now he was starting to get a little worried.