Sophie arrived with thermoses of coffee and pastries. "Fuel for the workers! Also, I'm here to make sure no one breaks Rachel's things."
"Why does everyone assume we'll break things?" Mac asked.
Mac grabbed coffee and a pastry, looking around at his team crammed into his apartment, ready to help him and Rachel.
"Alright," Mac said, his voice taking on a team-captain edge even though Cole was actual captain. "Fair warning before we start: Rachel's mother and sister arrive at noon. Her mom is intense. Her sister Leah is apparently planning to flirt with all of you."
"I'm taken," Cole said, pulling Ellie closer.
"I'm emotionally unavailable," Tyler added.
"I'm married but I can appreciate flirtation as a social construct," Luke announced.
Jamie looked up with interest. "What's she like?"
"Chaos," Rachel said. "Pure chaos."
"I like chaos," Jamie said.
"We know," everyone said in unison. “So you can organize it.”
Mac grinned, grabbed his keys, and headed toward the door.
46
Rachel
Halft the Eagles descended on Rachel's apartment like an organized tornado. Jamie directed traffic with a color-coded spreadsheet. Cole and Mac hauled furniture. Sophie and Ellie packed her books while Tyler provided unhelpful commentary. The rest of the team was at Mac’s place, reorganizing and making space.
Rachel stood in the middle of it all, looking at her life packed into boxes. This apartment had been her refuge after Burlington. The place where she'd rebuilt herself.
"You okay?" Sophie asked, squeezing her hand.
"Yeah. Just strange to leave it."
"You're not leaving it broken," Sophie said. "You're graduating from it. That's progress."
Mac appeared with Mr. Darcy in his arms, the cat looking deeply offended about the whole situation. "Your cat has opinions about moving day."
Rachel smiled despite her nerves. In a few hours, her mother would arrive.
Mac
Mac was carrying a box of Rachel's kitchen supplies down to his truck when a car pulled up.
Two women got out: one in her fifties with the same dark hair as Rachel and an expression that screamed "protective mother," and one younger, looking like a more dramatic version of Rachel with blonde highlights and oversized sunglasses.
"That's my mom and sister," Rachel said, appearing beside Mac, her voice tight. "Brace yourself."
Linda Morrison immediately zeroed in on Mac with laser focus.
"You must be Mac," Linda said, her tone assessing rather than warm. "I'm Linda. Rachel's mother. We need to talk."
"Mom, we just got here," Leah protested, pulling off her sunglasses. "Let the man breathe. Also—" She looked past Mac at the team carrying furniture. "—wow. You weren't kidding about the attractive teammates."
"Leah, no," Rachel said firmly.
"I'm not doing anything! I'm observing!"
