SWNOVELS Irresistible: Chapter 13
At the reception desk the next morning, I braced myself every time someone came in the front door of the inn, but Mack never showed up for work. Around noon, I casually asked my dad where he was, and he informed me that Mack had taken the day off.
Even though I should have been glad I didn’t have to see him, I found myself wandering past his empty office anyway, feeling sad and lonely and torn. Had I made a mistake telling him how I really felt? Had that only made things worse? What if I’d ruined things between us forever and we could never look each other in the eye again?
Later that evening, he texted me.
Carla is coming to visit the kids on Friday. Can you still cover tomorrow?
There were so many other things I wanted to say to him, but in the end I replied with only one word.
Yes.
Three dots appeared on my screen, as if he were typing another message, but a few seconds later they disappeared, and no additional texts came through. Disappointed, I set my phone aside.
Then I opened my laptop to do a little digging around about small business loans and read whatever advice I could find about being a young female entrepreneur. It felt good to spend my energy on something other than obsessing over Mack, but he was always there at the back of my mind.
I spent the night hugging my pillow and trying not to cry into it.
Thursday I picked up Winnie from school and went through the usual afternoon routine with the girls. I helped Millie with her bun for ballet class and waved her off when her carpool ride picked her up. She’d seemed a little melancholy today, but her forehead didn’t feel hot, and she said she was fine.
At about quarter after five, I was standing at the counter helping Felicity with her spelling words when I heard the back door open. My heart jumped into my throat.
“Hi, Daddy,” Felicity called.
“Hi, everyone.” A moment later, Mack entered the kitchen. My back was to him, but I felt short of breath, as if he’d sucked up all the oxygen in the room.
“How was school?” he asked.
“Good. I lost another tooth.” Felicity grinned, proudly displaying the new hole in her smile.
Mack examined her teeth closely. “Good job. Where is it?”
“I put it in a little baggie on her dresser.” I faced him, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eye. Instead I looked at his chest. “Millie’s at ballet. Winnie is in her room.”
“Okay.”
Quickly I turned and headed for the back hall, shoved my feet into my boots, and threw on my coat. Without even bothering with gloves or a hat, I called a fake-cheerful “see you tomorrow” and rushed out.
I couldn’t even breathe until I was in my car, engine running.
Later, I got a text from Mack.
You left so fast I didn’t get a chance to pay you. I’ll bring you a check tomorrow and leave it at the desk.
I didn’t usually work at reception on Fridays. If I had orders for macarons for a weekend event, I got up early and spent the morning baking before picking up Winnie. However, there was no event scheduled at Cloverleigh that weekend and I didn’t even have to get Winnie, so my time would be totally free. I could easily go down to pick up a check from Mack.
But that would necessitate a face-to-face conversation, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it.
That’s fine.
He didn’t write back.
I used Friday to clean, do laundry, catch up on social media work, make some soup, and check in with April regarding the wedding schedule for the next few weeks. Ryan Woods’s wedding was coming up, and originally I’d been looking forward to the event—all the family on staff were invited since Ryan used to work for us—but now I found myself dreading it, since I knew Mack was the best man. I’d probably spend the entire night staring at him across the room.
April confirmed that they did want macarons as favors, and Stella’s wedding colors were navy, cranberry, ivory and gold. “She trusts you with the flavors and asked for velvet ribbons on the boxes that complement her color palette.”
“That sounds beautiful. I’m on it.”
I was looking through recipes and trying to decide on flavors when my mom called to ask if I’d mind taking the evening shift as hostess at the restaurant, since someone had called in sick. I said I’d be glad to. What else did I have to do besides sit around and mope?
The thought annoyed me. I was only twenty-seven years old. Why didn’t I have a more interesting social life? Or at least somewhere to go on a Friday night? Valentine’s Day was coming up next week. The inn would be full of romantic couples, which normally made me happy, but I found myself dreading it. I stayed good and aggravated as I showered and got ready for work. As I made my way down to the restaurant, I noticed it was snowing again. For fuck’s sake, even snow reminded me of Mack now. Would winter never end?
I checked in with the floor manager at the restaurant and assumed my post at the hostess stand, trying not to frown at all the couples coming in for a romantic dinner. Evidently, I wasn’t doing a very good job at it, because after a while my mother hurried across the lobby from the reception desk with creases in her forehead.
“Frannie, would you mind taking that sour expression off your face? It’s very off-putting.”
“I don’t have a sour expression,” I snapped.
She folded her arms. “I can see it clear across the room. We want people to feel welcome when they come in. Look a little warmer, please.”
“Sorry.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “I’ll try.”
Suddenly her annoyance turned into concern. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m feeling fine,” I said through my teeth, plastering on a smile as a few guests approached. “And I have to seat these people, so excuse me.”
I made a better effort to be warm and welcoming after that, and I was doing okay until I heard Mack’s voice. Looking up from the stack of menus in front of me, I locked eyes with him as he and Henry DeSantis crossed the lobby. My heart beat faster as they approached.
“Hey, Frannie,” Henry said. “They’ve got you out here tonight, huh?”
“Yes.” I offered Henry a smile, tearing my gaze from Mack. “Working late tonight?”
“We were, but we just decided to knock off for the night and grab a drink at the bar.”
Mack spoke up. “I left a check for you at the desk, Frannie.”
My smile faded as I forced myself to meet his eyes again. “Thanks.”
“We’ll just grab a couple seats at the bar if that’s okay,” Henry said. “No need to seat us.”
“Okay.” I tried hard to sound cheerful. “Enjoy.”
They moved past me, and I caught a whiff of Mack’s scent—it nearly made my knees buckle. And he looked so good in that shade of blue. It matched his eyes. Why’d he have to be so handsome?
Several times over the next hour, I peeked into the bar area and spied on them. It wasn’t easy since they’d taken two seats at the far end of the bar, but twice I was able to make up an excuse to go into the kitchen. That meant I had to walk by them four times. The first time, I was careful to make no eye contact whatsoever. The second time, Mack happened to notice me, and our eyes met. Neither of us smiled. The third time, I noticed they’d decided to eat at the bar, and both had ordered steaks. The final time, Henry must have gone to the bathroom or something, because Mack was sitting by himself. He looked at me as I passed him, and I refused to make eye contact. Then he said my name.
I pretended like I hadn’t heard him and walked faster, my heels clacking on the wood floor. Next thing I knew, a hand was on my shoulder.
“Frannie,” he said again. “Stop a minute.”
I turned to face him, reluctantly meeting his eyes. “Yes?”
“Are you—I mean, how are you?” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Fine.” I crossed my arms. “Are the girls with their mom?”
He grimaced and shook his head. “She didn’t show.”
I gasped, although it didn’t surprise me. “She didn’t?”
“No, she texted me this morning to tell me she wasn’t coming because of the weather. She didn’t want to fly into a snowstorm.”
“Were the girls upset?”
“They didn’t even know she was coming. Well, Millie knew it was a possibility, but she’s getting to the point where she knows she can’t believe anything her mother says.”
“That’s tough.” I felt myself softening. “Poor Millie.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I felt so bad I picked them up from school and drove them all the way to my sister’s in Petoskey to hang out with their cousins. Then Jodie invited them to stay the night, so I came back here to get some work done because I’m so behind, but … I couldn’t concentrate.”
“Why not?”
He lowered his voice. “Because you’re upset with me.”
“No, I’m not,” I said, glancing around at the other patrons in the bar.
“Then why are you avoiding me? You’ve hardly said two words to me since Tuesday. Yesterday at the house you wouldn’t even look at me.”
I took a breath and squared my shoulders. “I’m not upset with you. I’m just trying to get over my stupid feelings. Talking to you doesn’t help.”
He nodded slowly. “Does that mean you don’t want to nanny for me anymore?”
“No.” I sighed, feeling embarrassed that I’d turned this into a thing that was making us both feel awkward. “I’ll be fine, Mack. Don’t worry about it. I should get back to work.”
“Okay.” He opened his mouth like he might say something else, and I could have thought of any number of things I wanted to hear. Don’t go. I’m sorry. I changed my mind.
But a second later, he closed it again, and I walked away.
What else could I do?
The inn’s dinner crowd was a pretty early one in the winter, so the floor manager let me go by nine-thirty. Mack and Henry still hadn’t come out of the bar, and I was glad I didn’t have to see him again before I left.
After finishing up the hostess’s side work, I said goodnight to my mom at reception, picked up Mack’s check, and went up to my suite. Tossing the check onto my dresser, I changed from my work clothes into flannel pajama pants, a giant gray sweatshirt with a sherpa-lined hood, and fuzzy socks. After throwing my hair into a sloppy bun on the top of my head, I went into the kitchen to warm up a bowl of the squash soup I’d made earlier. But I wasn’t very hungry and only ended up eating about half of it.
I was rinsing out the bowl when I heard a knock at my door.
That’s weird, I thought, checking my phone to see what time it was—after ten—and whether someone in my family had tried to get ahold of me. No one had.
My heart tripped a little faster as I made my way to the door, and I held my breath as I pulled it open.
Mack stood in the hall, his hands fisted at his sides, his expression tense. He was breathing hard, as if he’d just run up a steep flight of stairs.
Suddenly I was mad at him. How dare he show up here? He knew I was trying to avoid him. This just felt mean. “What do you want?” I asked, not bothering to disguise my anger.
“I want you to tell me to leave.” He spoke quietly, but firmly.
“Leave,” I told him, folding my arms over my chest.
Without another word, he rushed toward me and crushed his lips to mine.