Undefeated (Unexpected Book 5) (26 page)

“Are you going to punish me for that?” He wiggles his eyebrows.

“We’re ready,” Harper yells from the top of the stairs.

“I heard my aunt is planning on replacing you for some Costa Rican hottie.” Mac snuggles closer to me. We’re watching Never End Seven. The worst Never End movie made in the history of the franchise. What the hell was Gabe thinking? He plays Joe Quinton, the main character of the series. Like Gabe, Joe isn’t as young as he used to be and I don’t buy for one second that he can jump out a building without a scratch. “Are you okay with that?”

“Your aunt is something else,” I laugh with her. “Of course, I’m going to miss her, she boosts my self-esteem on a daily basis, but I’ll survive a few weeks without her. Have you talked to your boss?”

“Yes, she’s thinking about it.” Her voice tone lowers and so does her happiness. “I think she wants someone younger, thinner, and prettier for the position.”

“Twenty-eight is young, you’re beautiful, and I love your body.” I bring her closer to me, fitting her curves to my body. “She’ll give you the position, Mac. Maybe with that new gig you can go back to school. Find your passion.”

“I love plants.” Her voice deflates. “Nature. The farm is never going to happen, is it?”

“Afraid not, babe, but you’ll find something better,” I assure her, taking her lips.

She doesn’t want to look deeper into our relationship, but she hasn’t stopped me from kissing her whenever I want. As long as the kids aren’t around. She doesn’t want them to get the wrong idea. At least not until she can work through her internal conflict. The sweet throaty moan she makes when my hands make contact with her bare skin turns me on. As my hand trails towards her torso, the doorbell rings.

Fuck, damn it.

Kissing her one more time, I rise from the couch and fix my jeans. “I’ll get it. It might be your aunt reminding me that we don’t have much time left together.”

On the other side of the door, there’s an older woman. Light brown hair, wearing glasses, a winter jacket that covers her entire body and a scowl.

“Evening, can I help you?” I stare at the luggage she carries.

“Mackenzie Brooke,” she snarls. “I’m looking for my daughter-in-law.”

“Virginia?” Mac’s shrilly voice scares the shit out of me. “What? Why are you here?”

Virginia pushes me aside and enters the house without giving me a second glance. She sets her luggage on the floor and looks around. I follow her eyes and make a few notes because it’s time to paint the walls and maybe buy some toy boxes for the new stuff that Santa brought.

“New furniture?” She straightens her back. “I thought you said you didn’t have any money.”

The furniture isn’t new. Fuck. AJ and I bought the shit years ago. I was what? Twenty-one? She was right, this shit was going to last. Twelve years and it’s still looking classy and pristine.

“The furniture came with the house,” Mac defends herself. “It’s his furniture; we’re just borrowing it while we find a place to stay.”

“Leo worked hard to give you a home.” The lady ignores Mac. “You threw everything away and came . . .” she scrunches her nose, “here.”

“Sorry to interrupt, but the kids are already asleep and it’s midnight.” I point at the wall clock. “If you want, I can drive you to your hotel and you can visit tomorrow.”

“Hotel?” She glances at me from head to toe. “Who are you?”

“Porter Kendrick,” I extend a hand, which she barely shakes.

“Well, I’m staying here, not in a hotel,” she huffs. “I’m family. You shouldn’t be here. Are you bringing men into your house, Mackenzie?”

I take the bag, open the door, and tilt my head toward the exit. “You can stay with us, next door. Molly will be happy to show you to the guest room. Mackenzie and the children don’t have space for visitors.”

Gently I take her by the elbow and guide her to my room, where I change the bed sheets while she freshens herself. Taking my shit out of the room, I decide to stay on the couch. Tomorrow is going to be hell if that woman doesn’t change her attitude.

What a bitch!

“W
hat do you mean he doesn’t talk?” Virginia’s shriek makes me jump out of my body, while Finn runs towards Porter’s arms.

Thank you, Harper, for bringing your grandmother up to date on what she’s been missing.

The entire morning, this woman has been criticizing me about everything. From what I wear, to the house I live in and how I dress my children. Reminding me how great I had it while I was with Leo. How Leo would die all over again if he saw the conditions I lived under, the way I am treating my children.

“Can we go now?” Harper’s pouts. “Porter promised.”

“Mac, I’ll go next door, get them ready, you don’t have to come,” he assures me. “I think it’s best for everyone.”

Virginia’s scowl intensifies and I nod. My kids don’t need to listen to their adorable grandma’s rants. Maybe after they leave the house I can defend myself, because she’s starting to cross the line. Where the hell is Molly when I need her snarky comments? Buying swimsuits for her trip.

“You’re not coming, Mommy?” Harper pulls my arm.

“No, grandma needs some company, sweetheart,” I explain, bending down and kissing her forehead. “Be nice to Porter.”

Finn waves at me from the door and Harper skips toward them. They disappear within seconds and the door shuts right behind.

“That man has tattoos,” she sneers, stating the obvious. “What are you thinking, Mackenzie?”

“I’ll tell you.” She walks around the living room and stops in front of me. “You’re not thinking at all about your children, or the consequences that being involved with a man like that will bring. What happened to the marriage vows you made to my son? A married woman doesn’t behave the way you’re acting. My son is dead and you’re behaving like a slut in front of your children! Is that what you want to teach Harper?

“He bought you a house with his hard work and you sold it like it meant nothing to you. My son loved you since you two were children and you’ve already forgotten about him. I don’t think you’re a fit mother, Mackenzie.” She pulls out her phone. “I’m going to send a message to my lawyer. You’re putting the children in danger. What did you do to Finn? He used to talk. You must have done something bad to him. That’s why he’s like that, he’s scared of you.”

“Please, don’t!” A sob catches in my throat. I’m trying to be strong, ignore her rant. But my kids. “I love them. How dare you tell me that I caused Finn’s issues! We don’t know what’s wrong with him. I’m trying to do what’s best for them; you can’t take them away from me. They’re all I have left.”

There’s a lump of tears in my throat and I push them down because crying won’t fix anything.

“If you loved them, you would stop flirting with that man. If you loved my son, you wouldn’t be considering spending his birthday with another man.” She lowers her tone. “No one can replace my Leo. That man less than anyone, look at him, Mackenzie. Wake up and stop thinking with what’s between your legs. Your children come first; Leo comes first. There’s no place for anyone else.”

“Out,” I hear the door slam shut and find Aunt Molly approaching us. “Pick up your shit and get out of my house. You’re not allowed to yell at my niece.”

“I have this,” I cut off my aunt, but she shakes her head.

“Go back to your place, I’ll handle Virginia,” she orders and I don’t fight her, because every word that Virginia said is starting to make sense.

I need home, I need my bed. I need Porter. No. I should need Leo.

Molly is a godsend, my savior and so much more. I want to kiss her feet for being such a great support system. In the morning she came over to my house making sure that I dragged my ass out of bed, that I ate some breakfast before heading to work and that I remembered the good things.

Like my first attempt at baking a cake. I learned an important lesson, when the recipe calls for baking powder, you don’t replace it with baking soda. Still, Leo ate the chewy cake with droopy frosting, and said that he loved his birthday. Each year I became better at baking and a couple of years ago I even decorated it with fondant. Because every December twenty-seventh I made sure that we celebrated his day with love, and a cake baked by me.

The entire holiday season had been a family affair. The chilly weather invited us to stay at home with the kids. Movies, hot cocoa, family games and love. Always love. We went all out when it came time to decorate for the holidays. I let out a big breath, remembering the big inflatables that we set outside the house. A black cat with a witch hat and a friendly ghost for Halloween. A turkey during Thanksgiving and for Christmas we had our snow globe. Each year Leo would design a fancy twinkling light setup and synchronized it with music. The engineer had a soft side for the holidays and he planned and executed everything perfectly.