“Aw, come on now, Hudson. You’re an intelligent man. I’m quite certain you can figure it out.”
No doubt his momma wasn’t suggesting he give Kenna orgasms, but he couldn’t deny that was the first thought that’d popped into his head. Orgasms, he could do. He’d give her five a day if she’d stick around long enough to receive them.
But Kenna needed more than that. He racked his brain for any mention of things she’d said casually since he’d been there—small tasks he could do that might make her life a little bit easier to handle while she dove into this new role. That was when inspiration struck, and he leaned forward to kiss his mom on the cheek.
“You’re a genius, Momma.” He stood and strode toward the back door. “Can I use your kitchen a little later? I’ve got a few things to do, then I have some pies to finish up.”
“Of course, sweetheart. I’ll be home.”
With a nod, he let himself out and headed to his truck. He typed out a quick text to Caleb as he walked.
Change of plans. Bring CB and meet me at Kenna’s place.
He texted Caleb the address, then tossed his phone on the passenger’s seat and started up his truck. The day during which he’d planned to spend shingling the cabin had suddenly taken a detour, though he couldn’t find it in himself to care.
Kenna needed him, whether she vocalized that or not, and he’d be damned if he was going to let her down. While Kenna was busy taking care of everyone else, he’d make sure to take care of her.
Mac didn’t know how the hell she was supposed to get anything done and take over for her daddy when everyone kept kicking her out of her damn office. Avery had stormed in a little after seven and demanded Mac stop working at once.
Naturally, Mac had bestowed upon her friend the only gesture that seemed appropriate—she’d flipped her off and continued sorting through the piles that she couldn’t make heads or tails of.
“You’re doing a lot better than you’re giving yourself credit for. And you’ve done more work in a week than your daddy usually does in a month,” Avery had said. “And when have you ever known me to blow smoke up your ass?”
True, that’d been never, but still, Mac hadn’t believed her. Eventually, they’d come to an agreement—Avery would sit with Mac and help her work through everything, while at the same time giving some impromptu and much-needed training.
While, true, her daddy had been the mayor most of her life—ironically, taking the seat after his daddy had died of a heart attack—Mac had no idea what that truly entailed.
After her crash course, she’d just been getting the hang of it and had really started to make some progress. And then Will had begged Mac to head to the hospital and bring Momma what she’d been asking for because Will didn’t have a break in her schedule for hours.
Mac had tried—and failed—not to dwell on the fact that her momma hadn’t reached out to her to ask for it. The events of the past few weeks had shone a light on how her family saw her and what they thought—or didn’t think—of her.
And she was getting really fucking sick of it.
She ground her teeth together as she sped down the interstate toward Memphis. Frustrated that no one seemed to think of her for anything and irritated that she didn’t automatically know how to do the job she’d been tasked with, she’d taken off without a word to anyone.
She probably should’ve told Hudson, but that would mean she’d have to talk to him, and she wasn’t in the right headspace to do so. She had too much else on her mind to dissect what last night with him had meant. How, while he’d been inside her, she’d wished, more than anything, that he could be there to love on her every time she needed a little extra push to fall asleep.
But that was nothing but a futile hope, and allowing her thoughts down that path of make-believe wasn’t good for anyone, least of all her.
Shaking her head, she gripped the steering wheel as she turned into the hospital parking lot. She’d have preferred she come here again on her terms and when she was ready to walk into the lion’s den—not knowing how her daddy was gonna react to her being gone while he’d been taken in,orher taking over for him while he was off for many weeks. No doubt, he’d find some way to take her absence as a sign she wasn’t ready for the job she’d been reluctantly given.
But, dammit, she could do this. If only everyone would start taking her seriously.
With a bag in hand, she strode down the ICU corridor toward her daddy’s room, psyching herself up for whatever awaited her behind the door. She knocked once and waited for her momma’s soft, “Come in,” before she stepped foot into the room.
Her momma sat in the chair next to the bed—it looked like it belonged across the room beneath the window, but Mac had no doubt Caroline Haven had rearranged things until they were to her liking. And after the talk she’d given all of them last night, Mac figured that meant she’d slept in that chair all night, holding her husband’s hand.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Momma said, her voice not much more than a whisper.
She shot her mom a smile, then darted her eyes to her daddy. Even though she knew he was in the ICU and that he’d had major surgery…even though she’d prepared herself for what he might look like, none of that helped the reality of what was in front of her.
Her proud and boisterous father was reduced to a pale, fragile-looking man hooked up to all kinds of machines. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and steady, and she felt a knot form in her throat.
God, they’d almost lost him. He was a stubborn pain in her ass, and they’d never seen eye to eye for as long as Mac could remember. But hell if the thought of never being able to argue with him again didn’t send a wave of panic through her.
“Will said you needed some things?” She held up the bag before setting it on the windowsill.
“I did, thank you for bringin’ that stuff up. Nat forgot this mornin’. I swear that girl would leave her head behind if it wasn’t attached.”
