“Um . . .” Katie clears her throat. “You’re welcome. Thank you for coming.” She looks around the table. “Would anyone like dessert?” she asks, setting down her wineglass and standing up.
“I’d like some.” Mackenzie’s dad rubs her hand.
She nods once, then gets up and wanders from the dining room toward the kitchen.
“I’m going to go help my mom,” Mackenzie says.
“Sure.” I kiss the side of her head, and she smiles.
She scoots back from the table and gets up. Both Fawn and Libby follow her. Sitting back in my chair, I put my beer to my mouth and take a pull. Things are not at all uncomfortable, but Mackenzie’s dad hasn’t been his happy, talkative self since we got here. I can feel his strange energy coursing through the room like an exposed live wire. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I think that Levi can feel it, too.
“I’m going to go have a smoke,” my mom says.
I look at her and lift my chin.
“I’ll go with you,” Miss Ina says, pushing back her chair.
My mom looks at her with a surprised look on her face. “You smoke?”
“Not anymore, but I did years ago. You can blow it in my direction for old time’s sake,” she says.
Mom laughs as she and Miss Ina leave the room.
“That old lady is crazy,” Peter mutters.
Levi and I both laugh, but Aiden doesn’t. He crosses his arms over his chest and glares at Levi.
“You and I have some talking to do, boy,” he says.
Levi holds up his hand in front of him. “I know. I didn’t ask you in person about marrying her, but I swear there was no time. I had it in my head that I would ask her later on today, but when I woke up this morning I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit with the ring in my pocket all day. That’s why I called instead.”
“You should have asked me in person,” Aiden says, looking disappointed.
“I know, and I’m sorry.” Levi runs his good hand through his hair. “You’re right. I should have asked you in person.”
Aiden looks at me, and I shift in my chair.
“If you’re planning on asking Mac to marry you, you better heed my warning. Come ask me in person. I better not get a phone call from you at one in the morning,” he says, looking back at Levi. “I wasn’t happy about that call. When you guys have daughters, you’ll understand how important it is.”
I make a mental note to tell him about my intent to propose to Mac in advance.
“I’ll remember that,” I say.
He grunts, glaring at Levi once more. Then he smiles at the girls as they come back into the dining room carrying pies and plates.
“Is everything okay?” Mac whispers as she takes her seat next to me.
“Everything is fine,” I assure her as her eyes take in the empty chairs across the table.
“What happened to your mom and Miss Ina?”
“They went out to smoke.”
“Miss Ina smokes?” Libby asks as she takes her seat once more.
“No, but she wanted my mom to blow the smoke in her face for old time’s sake,” I say.
She shakes her head. “That lady is crazy.”
“I heard that, girl,” Miss Ina says as she comes back into the room followed by my mom.
Libby rolls her eyes. “Good,” she mutters under her breath.
“I also heard that.”
“I think Lib just found a new best friend,” Mac whispers.
I laugh as Libby grouches something else under her breath that I can’t make out.
Taking a bite of pie, I sit back and enjoy the quiet hum of conversation and laughter.
When it’s time to go, I wish I didn’t have to.
“Well, today was fun,” Mom says as the town car pulls to a stop outside my apartment to let her and Peter off. Since Libby decided to stay out on Long Island with her parents, she suggested Mac take her bed and I take Mackenzie’s so I won’t have to sleep on the couch again at my place. I’ve learned the hard way over the last few days that it’s less comfortable than I thought it was when I purchased it after moving here. I would much rather sleep in my bed with Mac, but I’ll take what I can get.
“It was fun.” Mac gets out to hug my mom on the sidewalk. “We will be back in the morning for breakfast.”
“Sure thing.” Mom kisses her cheek, then gives me a hug and a kiss.
Peter gives Mac a hug.
Watching them head toward my apartment and disappear down the steps, I wait until I see a beam of light appear inside, then disappear behind them as the door closes. I get back into the car with Mac.
“You two better not keep me up all night, banging around,” Miss Ina blurts into the quiet of the car. I fight back a laugh. I almost forgot that the old woman was still with us.
“Miss Ina, we’re only going to sleep. You don’t need to worry about us disturbing your slumber.”
Mac sighs, so I give her knee a squeeze.
“Good. This world is going to hell in a handbag,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest as she looks out the window.
“Maybe we should find you a boyfriend, Miss Ina,” Mackenzie suggests, pulling out her phone. “They have a dating app for older people.”
“Have you lost your mind, child? Does it look like I would ever need to find male companionship with the help of a telephone?” She crosses her arms over her chest again.
“Put like that, I guess not!” Mackenzie laughs.
“The day the portable phone was invented, the human IQ must have dropped ten points,” Miss Ina mutters.
“Hey, that’s not very nice.”
“No, it’s not nice. But it’s the truth,” she replies as the car pulls to a stop in front of Mackenzie’s building.
“Whatever . . . ,” Mackenzie grumbles back.
Shaking my head at the two of them, I open the door. I get out, then help both women out of the backseat. I take Miss Ina’s arm and help her up the steps to the front door. She refused to bring her walker with her today. Even though she’s been getting around pretty well, I did notice that later on in the evening she started favoring her right leg more than her left—showing that she’s in pain, even if she would never admit it. Once we’re inside the house, Mackenzie takes over helping the older woman. I open the door to Miss Ina’s apartment and let both women in.
“Thank you. Even though you didn’t exactly give me much of a choice, I had a very nice time today,” Miss Ina says.
Mackenzie kisses her wrinkled cheek and helps her get settled on the couch.
“You’re welcome to come with us tomorrow for breakfast,” I invite her, knowing that she’s alone.
“No, you two enjoy yourselves. I’m going to spend the day at home, resting.”
“Are you sure?” Mackenzie asks, taking her walker over to the couch and setting it up right in front of her.
“Yes, dear.” Miss Ina pats her cheek.
“All right, Miss Ina,” Mackenzie agrees.
She takes my hand and leads me toward the door.
“Have a good night.”
“You too!” Miss Ina calls out as we leave.
Heading up the stairs to Mackenzie’s place, I watch her ass move in the high-waisted slacks she has on. Slacks that are molded to the dip of her waist and the flare of her hips and ass that I wouldn’t mind biting.
“Did you have fun tonight?” she asks.
I pull my eyes from her ass to catch her smiling at me from the top step.
“It was nice,” I say.
She laughs, putting her hand against my chest. “We are not having sex, mister. Did you not hear Miss Ina? She doesn’t want to listen to us getting it on, and believe me, she would hear it. You can’t be quiet enough to get it past her.”
“What about in the shower?” I ask, pressing against her back as she unlocks the door to her apartment.
She looks at me over her shoulder. I watch her pupils dilate, then her tongue comes out, touching he
r bottom lip.
“I don’t think my shower is big enough for the two of us,” she says before looking away from me, pushing the door open, and stepping inside.
She takes off her coat, and I shut the door before I take off my own jacket and toss it on the back of the couch. I take just a second to glance around.
“The walls seem solid.”
“She’d still hear us.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, feeling jealousy curl around my middle at the idea of her in here with another man and making the sounds I’ve come to crave from her.
“I know because Libby and I can hear the people upstairs from us getting it on all the time. We can hear them no matter where they are—in bed, in the shower, in the kitchen. We hear it all. So I know Miss Ina would hear us. Since she is just now starting to like me, I’m not going to jeopardize that for some penis.”
“It’s a big penis,” I remind her, taking a step in her direction.
She takes a step back.
“It is a big penis, but until your mom and Peter leave, he and I are going to have to be penis pals,” she says, making me chuckle as I back her up against the wall next to the front door.
“Penis pals? What kind of relationship is that?”
“Friends from afar.” She rests her hand against my chest.
“I don’t want to be friends from afar. What if I just use my mouth and leave my penis out of it?”
“I’d still want the penis at the end, so the answer is no.”