Grid Iron Bad Boy: A Football Romance (34 page)

T
his has been
the longest day I’ve ever had. I’ve been riding a roller coaster of emotions for hours and it’s making me nauseous. It feels like this morning, in the supply closet with Mack, was weeks ago.

I’m starting to feel numb now. I’ve gone from dripping wet with desire to paralyzed with fear to utter disbelief as I watched Mack make good on his word and pack up his bags.

By the time he walked out the door, Dr. Galt was practically begging him to stay. Only Mack could get caught breaking rules and have people apologize to him for inconveniencing him with them in the first place.

That was about four hours ago. Ever since I’ve been trying to lay low and look busy, but I can’t stop agonizing over what Mack is doing. He hasn’t been answering my texts or calls. I have no idea where he went, or where he plans to stay.

It’s such a mess.

In twenty minutes I’ll be off for the night and hopefully we can figure it out together. A light tap on my shoulder makes me jump from my thoughts.

“I need to talk to you in my office, Ms. Taylor,” my chief gives me a scalding glance and jerks his head as he hands out his orders.

Damn it.

“Uh, sure,” I follow him as he marches down the corridor. My stomach feels like I ate lead for lunch. I’m so fired. There’s no way I’m not getting fired. Now what am I going to do? How am I going to look after Chris? Pay the mortgage? My thoughts spin around in a cyclone of panic as I approach Dr. Galt’s office.

He opens the door and storms into the room reserved for the chief of medical staff. I scurry in behind him.

“Sit down there, please,” he points to the chair in front of his imposing desk and doesn’t wait for me to respond before sitting down on the other side.

His desk looks comically large for him, is he sitting on a couple of phone books back there? I fight the smile trying to take over my lips, but he looks like a cartoon.

Be serious, I scold myself silently. What is going on with you? Maybe my mother was right all those years ago, when I was eleven and got caught dropping balloons full of ketchup on cars from the overpass with Mack. She said then that he was a bad influence on me. There’s just something about him that makes me relax and stop trying to make everything perfect. Something that makes being bad feel so damned good.

“You know I can’t let you leave for the day without addressing some issues.” Galt looks across his desk at me, snapping me back into the present.

“Yes, I understand.” My heart picks up the pace, pumping like a little drummer boy.

“I don’t think I need to explain to you the awkward position you’ve put me in here,” he rubs his thumb and forefinger over his wedding ring. For a second, I try to imagine the woman who decided that this man was the one for her. All I can picture are arranged marriages, mail-order brides and robot sex dolls. My money is on the sex doll.

“As you can imagine, it’s important that we maintain our reputation as a world class rehabilitation center,” he continues. Waves of guilt begin to wash up over me. “People come from all around the globe to receive care here, they do that because we’re known for our cutting edge clinics, but also because we’re known for our highly professional, top of the line staff.” My boss rolls his ring around his finger and the guilt rises like a tide.

“I know that, sir. And I don’t believe that what happened today needs to change any of that.” I hope I can plead my case.

“You don’t? How do you expect our facility to remain internationally respected when,” he clears his throat and every muscle in my body tightens? Here it comes. The pink slip and a walk to the front door. Tears spring to the corners of my eyes and I try to think of what I can possibly say to save my job. “When one of the biggest war heroes that America has ever known decides to cut his rehabilitation here early?”

Huh?

“I, um, I’m not sure?” I blink in surprise. My mind is trying to sift through his words like a gold panner in the Klondike, searching for a tiny glint of something familiar.

“It doesn’t look good at all.” He looks up at me with his eyebrows climbing skyward, worry clouds his eyes.

“I don’t think anyone would really notice that Mack, er, that Captain Forrester isn’t a patient here anymore.” I try to reassure him. “It’s not like they knew his program here or had a timeline of how long he was expected to stay.”

“Yes they did, I gave them one when we had the media conference,” he answers glumly.

Of course he did.

“Ok, but still, people discharge early for all kinds of reasons all of the time. I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.” I reassure him.

Galt’s eyebrows settle back down and the corners of his mouth twinge, almost imperceptibly. I can’t be sure, but I think he’s happy. “That’s true, as long as he doesn’t bad mouth our facility during his upcoming interviews.” His mouth turns back down. It was fun while it lasted.

“He won’t. I’ve known Mack since I was a child. He was just blowing smoke. He won’t say anything that will damage the hospital.” My mom heart twinges for him and I almost want to reach across his overcompensating desk and hold his hand.

Almost. I mean, let’s not get crazy here.

Galt nods slowly, digesting my words. “He said the same thing when I called him earlier,” he confides.

Wait just one hot second, Mack answered his calls but couldn’t return a single text from me?

“He did make a request that you be awarded a few days off to give you time to deal with personal issues you’ve been having. It’s no problem, of course, especially since your sole patient left today and also left a hole in your schedule.”

“I’m sorry, you were talking to Mack? And he told you what, exactly?” I drop the “Captain Forrester” routine and cut to the chase. I think it’s safe to say that the cat is out of the bag anyway.

“He mentioned the troubles you’ve been having with your son, and now with this adjustment you’ll need to make to your program, I don’t see a problem with you having a few days leave. I just wish you would’ve let me know that you were having issues. That’s what I’m here for.” He catches my eye quickly, but I can’t see any sincerity in him.

“Well, that’s very kind of you,” I answer through clenched teeth. Who the fuck does Mack think he is? First he follows me into the medical closet and almost gets me fired, then he tries to fix it by spilling secrets about my family? I’m fucking unimpressed. “However, I won’t be needing any time off. I have everything under control, I can assure you.” I hiss out my words.

“No need to thank me,” Dr. Galt steamrolls over me. Did he actually listen to anything I just said? “I’m hoping that on your extra days off that I’m granting, you’ll be able to speak with Captain Forrester and remind him of how well he was treated here? Just in case he has any hard feelings from our little outburst this morning.” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. Instead, he rolls his chair back and pulls out a drawer on his desk, clearly searching for something.

“I can assure you that I’ll definitely be speaking to Captain Forrester.” I nod. I won’t tell him that I will most certainly be giving Mack a piece of my mind, but that I have no intention of being a walking infomercial for Spalding.

“That would be appreciated,” he reaches into his drawer and shuffles around, pulling out a pink piece of construction paper. “Here, do you mind giving this to him? It’s from my daughter. I was supposed to give it to him the day he arrived, but I must have forgotten.” He slides the homemade card across the desk to my fingertips.

I pick it up and look at the sprawling message written by a child’s hand. It has a picture of what I assume is Mack on the front with hearts around him. Inside she wrote, “Thank u. My hero!” My hand trembles a little as my throat feels like it’s closing down. I struggle to dam up the flood of tears threatening to fall.

I’m not sure what’s sadder, the fact that my boss didn’t care enough about the card his daughter made to do anything but stuff it in a drawer, or the fact that he’s only now trying to have it delivered so he can try to manipulate Mack into caring about this stupid hospital. My heart breaks for a little girl I’ve never met.

“Sure, I’ll pass it along,” I mumble, never taking my eyes off the card.

“Fantastic, ok, well enjoy your days off!” He dismisses me and I stand up, making my way to the door. “And, Ms. Brickman?”

“Yes?” I turn and look back at him.

“Just remember how very differently this meeting could have gone today when you’re talking to him. Ok?” His eyes narrow and my skin prickles with rage.

“I will.” I answer simply and walk out into the hall.

What a fucking douche.

I
know
I should head straight to mom’s and pick up Chris. However, I turn up my street instead. I just need some down time to figure everything out. Nothing crazy. Just, like, an hour to get my head on straight about everything that’s happened today. I slow to a crawl as I drive up to my house. Chelsea’s silver SUV is parked in my driveway.

So much for that idea.

I could just keep driving. I could go until the car runs out of gas, or my heart runs out of rage, or I finally figure this mess out.

I pull in at my house and throw the car in park. Running away never solves anything. I’ve learned that the hard way. Reaching over to the passenger seat, I grab my purse and look at the pink paper card I tossed on there when I left Spalding. There’s no real point in giving it to Mack, he’ll see through Galt’s pathetic attempts at manipulation a mile away.

I sigh as my eyes travel over the drawing on the front. The effort and detail her young hands put into drawing each shaky heart. No, screw that. I will give it to him. Not because I care about my boss and his games, but because someone needs to care about the little girl who worked so hard to make this for Mack.

Grabbing the card, I head into the house to see why Chelsea’s here. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.

“She’s here! She’s here!” My son’s cries can be heard through my living room window as I walk by it.

Stepping inside, I can see Chris hopping around with excitement. Chelsea is on the couch sipping a coffee. If she only knew what Mack and I were doing on that couch last night, she wouldn’t be sitting there. She’d probably go shower in some Lysol.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I look at my sister.

“We’re going to Elitch Gardens! And a hotel! It’s gonna be awesome!” Chris practically vibrates in his skin.

“What?” I raise my eyebrows at Chelsea, but she just sips her coffee in response. Her eyes are twinkling at me. She’s up to something.

“Good afternoon, beautiful.” Mack struts in from the kitchen holding a mug that says “Supermom” on it. He’s not the only one who gets to have a comic book alias. Although, I don’t think kids will be saving up their allowance to buy the latest supermom editions any time soon.

What is he doing here? Just walking around my house like he’s been there all his life. He holds out the mug to me. “Here you go, with a dash of milk. Just like you like it.” His signature smirk is pasted to his face.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet?” Chelsea chimes in. “Lauren, why don’t you pour that in a travel mug so we can get this show on the road. I don’t want to get stuck in rush hour traffic.” My big sister bosses me around in her signature style.

“Where are you driving? What’s going on?” I wrap my fingers around the warmth of the mug, ignoring Mack for the time being.

“Elitch Gardens! We’re gonna go on all the rides, and sleep in a hotel, and get room service too! Right Mack?” Chris jumps around like a kid on Christmas morning. If that kid was on meth.

“Whoa? What?” My eyes flicker from my hyper child to his hot-headed father. “Mack, can I talk to you for a sec?” I put the coffee down on my mantle and walk through the kitchen and out the sliding door into the backyard. I don’t check to see if he’s following. I know he’s not stupid enough to stay behind.

“Aww! Why are they talking?” Chris whines inside.

“Just give them a minute, honey.” My sister consoles him as Mack slides the door shut behind us.

Suddenly, his arms slide around me and he hugs me from behind. “I wanted to surprise you with a little treat.” He murmurs in my ear and I instinctively rest my head back against his chest. “I know today was pretty stressful for you, so I booked us a couple rooms at the Four Seasons and got us some passes at Elitch. I figure a little R & R will be good for you. Chelsea is going to share a room with Chris, so I’m going to have two days in a hotel with you to do whatever I want.” His voice grows thick with desire.

I flutter my eyes closed for a moment and feel the tension ease from my shoulders. Dr. Galt’s stupid face pops into my head and my tendons practically snap as the stress winds me back up. “Mack, you can’t just spring things like this on me and call my boss and demand he give me days off.” I pull away from him and turn to face him. “Today was ridiculous, I could’ve gotten fired you know. And you taking off and not answering my texts or calls was a pretty shitty thing to do to me. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking, I was reacting. I wasn’t going to let that asshole threaten your job because of me. I know I didn’t handle it the best.”

“Didn’t handle it the best? Mack you can’t just do whatever pops into your mind. We’re adults now, you have to act like one sometimes. I’m not sure what’s going on with you. And then you just make plans with Chris and Chelsea without even talking to me? How did you think that was gonna go over?” My teeth are clenched together so tight that my jaw hurts.

Mack stands straighter as he squares off his shoulders and looks into my eyes. “I know today was a shit show, Lauren. I fucked up.”

I can feel the anger begin to drain from my body along with my energy. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. The truth is, I’m worried about you. Chris told me about what happened at the grave the other night,” I lower my voice and touch his hand gently.

Anger flashes in his eyes. Mack pulls his hand away. “I’m fine.” he answers tersely.

“Are you sure? Cause you know it would be understandable if you needed a little help. You’ve been through a lot. More than any of us can imagine. Chris has only been going to his group therapy sessions twice now and look how much it’s helped him. Maybe you can find a group …”

“I said I’m fine.” He juts out his chin and clenches his fists at his side. I can see him struggling with his demons and his temper. I’m not sure if he can win this battle though. Mack takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. When he opens them, the rage has passed and sorrow has crept into it’s place.

“I know that I haven’t always dealt with everything the best, ok? But I’m fine. Just let me deal with things the best way for me. Anyway, I wanted to say sorry for the way things happened today. That’s why I wanted to make it right and treat you guys to a few days of fun. I thought it would be nice to spend time together as a family.” His crystal blue eyes scan my face as my anger and my forgiveness battle it out.

“A family?” I mumble, his eyes holding me in place.

“Yeah, you, me, Chris. Our family. I asked Chelsea to come because I don’t have a car and still need to learn to drive with my leg,” he looks down at his prosthetic wearily. “And she agreed to come along and help look after Chris. Now we can start making up for some lost time together. We don’t have to hide our relationship anymore, since I left Spalding. It’s all good.”

My mind keeps dancing around the word “family”. It’s something I’ve always dreamt of, sharing my life with Mack.

“What’s in your hand?” He reaches over gently plucking the card from my fingers.

“It’s a card. The chief’s daughter made it for you.” I don’t bother telling him why he gave it to me. It doesn’t matter.

A smile creeps across Mack’s face as he looks down at the pink paper. “That’s nice,” he looks up at me, “I can’t wait to get cute little homemade cards from our daughter.”

“Our daughter?” My breath hitches in my throat. Mack steps toward me and wraps his arms around me.

“Of course. We make beautiful children. It’d be a damned shame to stop with one.” His voice rumbles in my ear and I can feel my resistance melting away. “Why don’t we go to Elitch? Let me make today up to you? I’d like to take Chris somewhere fun and then, once it’s just you and me in the hotel room, I can really make things right.” His eyes twinkle.

“Well,” I press up against him, “I guess I do have the time off now.”

“You do.”

“And Chris is pretty excited to go.”

“He is.”

“So, I guess we can do that.” I agree.

Mack kisses me and I melt into his arms. I love how the same man that can drag so much chaos into my life can also make me feel so protected from it. How does he do that?

I pull away and look back into his eyes, “But Mack?”

“Yes.”

“You have to promise that you won’t have anymore outbursts or anything else for that matter. Ok? I don’t want Chris seeing you get like that; it’s too upsetting for him.”

“Cross my heart,” he smiles and crosses a x over his chest.

I can’t help but laugh. Mack will never really grow up, but that’s what makes him so much fun to be around. A few days together as a family will be nice. Family. That word just fits so well. We’re finally all together again.

As a family.