Tipping Point (25 page)

“I’ll keep that in mind. I don’t suppose pulling up the blankets would help?” Mac shook her head, wiping the hopeful look from his face.

“Not in the least. That makes it worse actually. They go under the sheets, thinking they’re being sneaky...which of course they are. It’s usually the feet they go for then, and they love it when you move your legs around. Makes it more of a challenge for them. It’s their favourite form of entertainment, I think. They laugh. I swear they do.”

Neil put Squeaker through a bout of hand-wrestling, and then plopped him on top of Mac’s feet. She yelped when Squeaker nipped her ankle and then slid off the bed to head for the water dish.

“You did that on purpose!”

“Sure did. That’ll teach ya for not protecting your future husband from the local beasts. You might respect me in the morning, but they sure as hell don’t.”

“Nope. They’re spoiled rotten, and that’ll never change. In fact, I need to go get more.”

“More what? Ferrets?”

“Yeah. It’ll take a couple of days, but I have to do it. I was always planning to. I dropped off food at the shelter near Toronto about a week before we left, but there are two more in Ontario that I know about. They have no idea what’s coming, and those ferrets are going to starve to death. The shelters are all in the city.

“Which brings me to Mitch, actually. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I have to go back to the Toronto area shelter anyway. I should go there first and pick up Mitch. He can make it that far, even if he has to steal a bike. I can go to Ottawa and the Sault right after.”

“You never called him back after he left his message, did you?”

“No. There wasn’t any point in calling him. I hadn’t come up with a solution yet. He annoyed me, so I kind of put his problems out of my mind for the time being. It irritates the fuck out of me when I try to help someone, they ignore me, and then they end up calling me again for help. This wouldn’t be the first time his life has been in danger because of it. Or mine.”

“Yours. He’s put
your
life in danger? Explain.”

18

D
RUM
R
OLLS AND
F
ANFARE

Mackenzie wasn’t surprised by Neil’s reaction. She wasn’t going to hide things from him, but her revelations wouldn’t always be pleasant and she’d have to deal with the fallout.

“He ran with a rough crowd. It was stupid for me to get involved with him. When we met he lied and said he had a friend who was friendly with some bikers. He said the other guys were bad news, so he stayed away, but this guy was someone he’d gone to high school with.”

“And you thought his loyalty was an admirable trait,” he concluded.

“Maybe. I guess. I haven’t led a blameless life myself, so I didn’t want to judge anyone else, but maybe the loyalty thing had something to do with it. Of course, none of it was true. He wanted to join. Our relationship got serious enough that we began to live together, and then he started disappearing. At first I thought it was another woman, but I was wrong.

“I gave him an ultimatum when he came home with a leather vest and a patch. He surprised me by choosing me over the club, but by then it was too late. Thankfully it was a puppet club for the big boys, and it was so full of idiots that the whole thing fell apart. He disappeared quietly from the scene then.

“It doesn’t end there, sadly. Multiple times he got into drugs. Selling and taking. I lost count of the number of times he needed to be bailed out of a jam, owing money to the wrong people. I’d get calls from scum while I was at work, and even then I didn’t put up with shit. I told them not to call me ever again, and hung up. Yet I still helped him.”

“And you’re still going to help him? You’re risking your life for someone who doesn’t think twice about you doing so. Are you out of your fucking mind?” Mac closed her eyes, her temper warring with her sense of fair play. He was right, and she knew it. Compromise might be the only option here. She sure as hell wasn’t going to fight with Neil over her ex-husband. The price she was willing to pay to help him only went so high these days.

“Okay. Believe me, I see your point. I agree with you. The best I can come up with is this, because anything else might be something I couldn’t live with.

“I go down there...”

“You mean ‘we,’ don’t you?” She raised her hands to stave off further argument, and nodded her agreement.

“Okay.
We
go down there, but only as far as the shelter. If he’s not there by the time we’ve loaded the ferrets, he gets left behind. I have to get the ferrets anyway. I can’t leave them to die. I may not be able to help all of the animals in the world, but I can save some, and I’m willing to risk my life for them. It might seem stupid, but I have to do it.”

Neil relaxed and pulled her into his arms.

“It’s not stupid. Scary, but not stupid. Alright, you’ve got a deal. We can go tomorrow. I’ve got a sign on the store saying it’s closed for a family emergency and will reopen next week. I doubt it will, but I didn’t want people thinking it would be empty for long stretches.

“I gave Samantha a paid, two-week vacation and grabbed all the stock from the back already. At some point I need to go back and get the display stock, though. I don’t need anyone coming after me with my own inventory one day.”

“Wouldn’t make you the sharpest knife in the drawer, no.”

“That was bad, Mac. You’re usually funnier than that.” She poked him in retaliation. Then she heard the kids coming in.

“That’s our cue,” she said. Neil grinned at her.

“Think Cameron’s gonna lose her shit?” Mac returned his grin.

“She very well could, though she’ll probably wait until she’s alone with me before she has her say. It’s one thing for her to tease me about sex and try to embarrass me, but this is something that might worry her. Or she could just shrug her shoulders at me. Of course, that’ll mean she’s pissed off.”

“Guess we’d better get dressed and find out.” Mac took a deep, cleansing breath and let it out. She hoped Cameron wasn’t upset, but it wasn’t up to her daughter. Mackenzie loved her kid, but her decisions had never been controlled by her. She’d made her choices based on what she thought was best for her child when she was young, but Cam was an adult now and would just have to deal.

It turned out that the four of them were getting food at the moment, which was good. That way they wouldn’t have to compete with the sounds of a game.

“Hey, guys. We’ve got something to talk to you about.” Mac barely managed to get the words out. Her mouth went dry as they all turned around to look at her. She’d never made a personal announcement in quite this way before. She usually just told her daughter stuff in private. Doing it this way made it seem huge and life altering. Which, of course, it was. Thankfully Neil took over the next bit.

“In fact, we’ve got more than one piece of news to deliver, but we’ll start with the happy stuff.”

“We’re getting married on Monday,” Mac blurted.

“Uh, okay, right.” Cameron rolled her eyes and assumed it was all a joke. Billy, however, was smiling.

“She already said yes, huh? Didn’t you say something about waiting to ask her later, dad?” Now it was Neil’s turn to look a little awkward.

“Well, she made me!” Mac started laughing, and poked him in the ribs again.

“I did not! I just said I wouldn’t try on the ring until you were really asking me. It’s bad luck, after all.”

“And you don’t even believe that, so tell them another one.” Cameron was looking back and forth between Neil and her mother.

“You’re not kidding? You’re actually getting married on Monday?” Mackenzie nodded at her and held her breath.

“Holy shit. What the fuck, mom? You suffer a recent blow to the head? Hell of a way to go off the deep end.” Finally she relented with a smirk.

“At least you’ve got some company, since he’s obviously just as crazy as you are.” She shook her head at both of them. Mac let out her breath in a rush of relief.

Neil looked at her in question, and she smiled at him to indicate it would be fine. He put an arm around her and squeezed.

Kirk and Leigh took the whole thing in stride, since they probably didn’t really care. They didn’t see how it would affect them. Billy, on the other hand, was keenly aware of what it could mean for him when a parent got married.

“So, what’s going to happen then? You guys get married, and then does that mean you’re going to want to be alone and stuff?” Mac knew what he was getting at.

“Billy, we want you around now, and that won’t change. I like you quite a bit. We won’t shuffle you around like unwanted baggage. It doesn’t matter how old you are. I didn’t get rid of Cam just because she was an adult.” Neil looked at Cameron.

“You know that goes for me, too, right Cameron?” Cameron smirked.

“My mother would kick your ass if you tried.” Mac grinned. At least she’d never made her daughter feel insecure about her living situation. She
wanted
her kid around. Especially now.

“Alright, that’s the happy stuff. Then there’s the not-so-happy stuff. Neil and I are going back to the city tomorrow. For two reasons. First the ferrets at the shelter there need to be removed from the situation. They’ve got some food for the time being, but it won’t last.”

“Let me guess. The other reason is Mitch.” When Mac nodded at Cameron, she could see that her daughter really was pissed now. She didn’t blame her.

“Before you blow a gasket, we’re only going as far as the shelter. I’m going to tell him to meet us there. If he’s not there by the time we have the ferrets loaded up, he’s lost his ride. I won’t risk anything more for him than I’m already risking for the ferrets, okay?

“There’s as much chance that he won’t show up this time, as there was when I told him to get his ass up here. He left a message today when my phone’s battery was dead. I didn’t get it until a couple hours later. I might not even be able to reach him now. I’ll try once we’ve all finished yapping.

“There are two other shelters we have to go to later, but they’re not in a complete blackout yet. We can hit them both in a two-day span with no trouble.

“Of course, this means more work. We need to create a space for that many ferrets, and some will need to be separated from the others. There will be some that are already used to one another, but that won’t be true in all cases.” Neil nudged her.

“It would help if we settled the living arrangements, honey. Then we’ll know what space is available where, and how to divide them up.” Mac considered it.

“I totally let that slip my mind. The two of you have been coming over here. Hell, I haven’t even seen your house. I guess I just pictured you both living here. We’re crowded right now, but that other building will be huge.

“This is meant to be a garage and workshop, so nothing was done to make it look decent. I’ve always had totally different plans for the other building. This can’t be just my decision or my way of doing things, though. At this point we all need to have a say. Whatever bedroom I’m sleeping in, though, the ferrets come with me. Well, and Neil too I suppose.”

This time Neil dug his finger into
her
ribs.

“You suppose? I’m pretty sure I’m a little more useful to you than that.”

“Cocky, ain’t ya cowboy?” He squeezed the back of her neck in a mild threat.

“I have reason to be. Anyway, I’ve got some ideas about housing, but there will be some shifting while things are being dealt with. Billy and I built a pretty small cabin and the two bedrooms are more the size of kids’ rooms. Not really meant for more than a couple of bachelors. I don’t think either one of us figured on something like this happening.”

“Bah. You had women crawling all over you both, I’m sure. Didn’t you Billy?” Mac’s teasing question had him turning red and stammering a bit before answering.

“N-no. Dad wasn’t exactly Mr. Smooth with the ladies. Didn’t get out much. And I’ve never even had a girlfriend.” He looked like he was hoping for the ground to swallow him up after saying that, and he refused to glance anywhere near Cameron.

“Well, it just goes to show. You never know what will happen. Now your dad’s getting married, and one day I’m sure you’ll have lots of women to choose from. You’ve got your dad’s looks.” When Billy’s face turned scarlet at that, Mac relented and moved on.

“Anyway, it sounds like you’ve got some thoughts on all this, cowboy, so let’s hear ‘em.”

“Does anyone want to take over the cabin maybe? I’ll stay here with you, if we can make that work. A couple of weeks and we can get the other building up. If you walk me through the plans for it, I can help you carry them through. I’m curious how you intend to make a steel building look like a home, but logs don’t make a comfortable place either, without something being done to the inside.”

Mac saw Kirk glance at Leigh. She already knew where this was going. They had no privacy here, and even if they didn’t stay at the cabin permanently, they could at least have some privacy while the new place was set up.

“You’ve got animals at the other place, don’t you?” Neil nodded in answer to Kirk’s question.

“Well, if you can show us what to do, we can take care of them for now. If that’s okay.” He looked uncertain.

“That’s alright with me. What about you, Billy? Where do you want to be?” Of course, Billy glanced first at Cameron, but Mac knew what his answer would be without him doing that.

“I’m fine on the futon for a while. Dad said something about this place maybe joining up with ours. Do you know if it does?”

“It does. I got maps from the land registry office, and the properties are connected, which makes it easy no matter what happens in the rest of the world.”

“So, basically we’re not really moving anyway. It’s more like we just have a bunch of different places. Like outbuildings on a farm.”

“That’s a good point, Billy. We also have the option of using the river to get back and forth, which may end up being very useful.