CHAPTER TEN – THE REVEAL Part B
"Did you decide what you want to do about dinner tonight?" Mack asked as he buckled his belt. Coming home for lunch with Jamie the past few days had been a nice treat—in more ways than one he thought watching her as she shook her hair back after pulling her shirt back on. They both seemed to determine to make the most of their few days together. It was Wednesday, her last day here and his night to get Lissy and Jen for dinner. He'd first suggested Jamie accompany him to pick up the girls. Mack felt they didn't need to hide them being together but Jamie didn't want to risk a confrontation with Tiffy in front of the girls. "Do you want me to bring them back here? You could cook or I could pick something up."
"I'm afraid the girls might be uncomfortable if they realize I'm staying here. I thought it might be best if I met you at the restaurant for dinner. That way you could talk to the girls on the way home, in case this thing between us freaks them out."
Mack laughed at the way she phrased it. "This thing between us, huh?" He reached out and took her wrist, pulling her to him and looking in her eyes. They hadn't discussed anything beyond their few days together and Jamie had to return to Texas tomorrow. Part of him didn't want to admit to the fact she'd be leaving, another part of him still dealing with the depth of these new feelings. For months after he and Tiffy had separated, he'd held on to the belief that they could work things out. Then he'd tried to move on. He'd gone out with a few women. With them it had been someone to be with, a little companionship; a little physical release. But with Jamie things were different. He enjoyed her company, being with her, not just being in bed with her, though that side of their relationship was a definite bonus. What kept coming to mind, however, was how she put the girls first. Like tonight, what mattered most to Jamie was protecting the girls. "Well, I for one, don't want 'this thing' to end tomorrow because you have to go back to Texas. Between the distance, work and your sister, I know it'll be complicated."
Jamie laughed at the understatement. "My sister? Your ex-wife."
"You've known her longer."
"But you can't pick your family." Mack gave a pained expression at the reminder of his choice. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," her expression reassured him that she truly meant it.
"I know." Mack ran his fingers through her hair and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I'm not going to let her ruin things between us this time. I promise."
Jamie's eyes shone with hope. "Let's see how things go with the girls tonight and we can decide our next step from there."
"The girls love you."
"They love me as their Aunt Jamie. They might feel differently about me being with you like this."
Mack nodded, realizing she had a good point. Man, he hoped the girls didn't react badly. He lowered his face to kiss her thoroughly before she made him go eat a sandwich before heading back to work.
"What's the surprise, Daddy?" Jen asked for the third time, tugging on Mack's hand as they crossed the parking lot to the main entrance of the restaurant.
"I told you you'll see when we got here."
"We are here," she persisted to Mack's amusement.
"Inside," he clarified good-naturedly, opening the door for the girls. Based on Tiffy's greeting when he picked the girls up, she didn't know that Jamie was still here. He hadn't specifically said anything to Annie but had hoped that she hadn't said anything to Tiffy since he didn't want a hassle when he picked the girls up. Fortunately, Tiffy had been pleasant, suspiciously so, in offering him a drink and making small talk but not mentioning Jamie.
Mack hadn't hung around though and when they got to the truck he'd told the girls he had a surprise for them tonight. He felt it best to prep them at least a little before Jamie joined them.
"Table for four," Mack informed the hostess who led them to a booth where Mack slid in facing the front door. The hostess handed out the menus, setting one on the table at the empty place next to Mack.
"Who's coming, Daddy? Is it Mr. Charlie?"
"Nope. Do you girls want to split some cheese sticks?"
"Come on. Tell us. And, yes, I want cheese sticks." Lissy couldn't figure out what the surprise was but she could tell her dad was in a good mood and seemed happier than he'd been in a really long time.
Mack held up a hand to flag down the waitress a minute later only it wasn't the waitress that arrived at the table.
"Aunt Jamie!" Jenny saw her first and quickly rose to hug Jamie, bringing a relieved smile to her face.
Lissy eased out of the booth to hug her as well. "I thought you were back in Texas," she stated innocently, unaware of the meaning of Jamie's presence.
"Well I didn't have to get back right away for work and your dad invited me to stick around. How could I pass up an invitation to get to see you again?" Jamie hugged them both tighter before releasing them to slide back into the booth.
Jamie relaxed and smiled at Mack before taking her seat.
"Aunt Jamie, C.J. and Grace totally loved my room. They couldn't believe that my aunt did it. They said it looked like something in a magazine."
Jamie didn't tell them that her work had been featured in magazines several times, though usually for something more elaborate. "Thanks for the compliment. I love happy customers. And since we're talking about decorating, how did your math test go?"
Mack didn't follow her train of logic but saw his daughter's beaming smile at the question.
"I got an A minus." She high-fived Jamie's extended hand at the news.
"Whoa. My daughter got an A in math? How'd that happen?"
"Aunt Jamie helped me."
"What? Did she take the test for you?" he teased.
"Dad," Lissy groaned. "No, I took the test. She just helped me understand it and made me see why it was important."
Mack raised his eyebrows at Jamie. "Really?"
"Yeah. I explained that I use a room's square footage to determine how much paint or wallpaper I need to buy and how I price a job to make sure I get paid for the time I work."
"So when money's involved, suddenly math has value, huh?"
"Well, she made it fun too," Lissy stated.
The girls had no qualms with Jamie joining them and the rest of dinner went well. Mack touched her shoulder and hand a few times but otherwise neither said anything about them being together. They lingered over dessert until Mack had to take the girls home. In the parking lot, Jenny hugged Jamie goodbye.
"Please come see us again soon, Aunt Jamie," Jenny pleaded.
"I hope I'll be back real soon, honey," Jamie stroked her hair.
"Will you stay with us?" Lissy asked, looking slightly skeptical. She was old enough to have picked up on the tension between her mom and Jamie.
Jamie took a deep breath. "Well, I'll probably come up on a weekend when you're with your dad and stay in a hotel but hang with y'all during the day. But that way I can save you from your dad's cooking," Jamie teased, hoping that explanation would satisfy the girls. "Keep working on your math, okay? I love you girls." Jamie hugged Lissy and then the girls clambered into Mack's truck.
"I'll see you back at the apartment in a little bit." Mack leaned in and kissed Jamie. It was just a brief kiss, lasting only two seconds, but on her mouth and it caught her by surprise, especially that he would do so in front of the girls. She realized he was putting their relationship out there for the girls and it set off butterflies in her stomach.
"Daddy, you kissed Aunt Jamie!" Jenny stated in surprise while Lissy was looking at him with curious eyes as Mack slid casually into the driver's seat and reached to stick the key in the ignition.
"Yes, I did."
"But it was like a boy girl kiss. Right on the mouth."
Mack couldn't suppress a chuckle. "I kiss you on the mouth. I kinda thought that men and women were supposed to kiss that way."
"That's 'cuz you're my dad. But grownups kiss like that when they're in love or married."
"Or if they're very good friends. So what do you think about it?"
Lissy worried her bottom lip, lost in thought as she processed the idea of her dad with Jamie. It had been a rough past two years for her, keeping the secret of her mom with Colonel Ryan. The sight of that picture was still burned in her memory. It still made her stomach constrict into knots making her feel sick. For a while she thought that everything would be okay between her mom and dad. Then they'd separated and she still didn't know exactly why. She'd so hoped they'd get back together and while it seemed for a while like they might, it hadn't happened. Then her hopes had been dashed when she'd overheard her mom talking on the phone, whispering secretively. Later Tiffy had said they needed her to waitress at the bar and had gone out, but not before changing into a new fuchsia bra and panties set. That sickening feeling had come back and wouldn't go away. She'd finally worked up the nerve the next day to sneak Tiffy's cell phone from her purse and check the call log, then redialed the number that had called her mom. The voice mail message confirmed what Lissy feared. Her mom had been calling and been call by Colonel Ryan—a lot.
Tiffy hadn't said where she was going when she went out of town last week but Lissy had seen what her mom had packed for the trip. It didn't take a genius to know she was going to be spending time with a man. Obviously it hadn't been her dad. She saw him staring at her now, asking what she thought of him giving their aunt a kiss. Like what she thought actually mattered to him. The dinner tonight made more sense, Jamie still being here in town, her dad's good mood. Unconsciously, a small smile turned up the corners of her mouth. If her parents weren't going to be together, and it didn't look like they were, her dad being with Jamie wouldn't be a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.
Mack walked into the apartment where Jamie was vacuuming under the couch cushions. The carpet pattern showing it had just been vacuumed as well. He caught her attention and she turned the noisy machine off.
"What are you doing?" he asked in amusement.
"Waiting for you to get back." Jamie wrung her hands together. The butterflies in her stomach had taken flight again. "Did the girls say anything?"
"About the kiss? Or about the fact that we're very good friends who will probably be spending more time together? And that time may include more kissing?" Mack teased as he closed in on her.
"You told them that?" A hopeful smile played across her face.
"Yeah, I did. And they were actually very okay with that."
"Really?"
Mack nodded in reply, feeling her relax in his arms as he held her against him.
Their lovemaking that night was different. It was more than just the physically satisfying sexual act. There was an element of connecting emotionally as they touched and caressed and enjoyed one another. Afterward, they stayed up talking, making plans to see each other.