“You owe me this,” Daniel insisted. “You lied to me growing up, then I had to hear it from my mother. She didn’t bother to sugarcoat her thoughts on it, either, Dad. You’re an abomination. Soiled and dirty and you used her.”
Used her? Mack was confused. He’d never used Meredith. Granted, he’d done his best to love her, but he’d never been able to do it. Not because she wasn’t worthy but because … because Mack had always known deep down he couldn’t love a woman. He wasn’t built that way. And yes, he had failed her epically, but he’d done right by his son. Truth was, he loved Daniel more than he loved himself, and the only thing he’d ever wanted was for his son to be happy.
“If you don’t end it with him, you’ll never see me again,” Daniel seethed.
“Daniel, please don’t—”
“I mean it. End it with him so this town stops thinkin’ you’re some sort of deviant, Dad. You owe me that much.”
Inhaling deeply, Mack tried to relax even as his heart constricted in his chest. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was having a heart attack. But this wasn’t a cardiac event that could be detected on a machine. After all, broken hearts couldn’t be seen on an X-ray or an MRI or whatever machine they used to check out that vital organ.
Daniel took a step closer, locked eyes with Mack. “Prove to me that I mean more to you than anyone else.”
“Okay,” he said softly.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll break it off with him?”
“Yes.”
“Tonight. I don’t want to find out you’ve spent another night with him, understand?”
Mack nodded.
“But don’t think for a second this makes up for the hell you’ve put me through,” Daniel said, his voice rough with his anger.
“I don’t,” he assured his boy. “And I’m sorry.”
“You should be. But I promise, you’ll be making this up to me for a long damn time.”
It would be years before Mack truly understood how sincere Daniel was about that promise.
Chapter One
Friday, January 17, 2020
“Please tell me you’ve given it somethought.”
Mack swiped a rag over the bar top as he glanced at his son beneath lowered lashes. Funny, he’d never paid much attention to the many grooves and ridges that had formed in the wood over the years, but they stood out today, felt almost familiar. A small comfort in an otherwise awkward situation, which pretty much summed up all the conversations he’d had with Daniel for the past four years.
“I’ve been a little busy,” he told his son, not bothering to make eye contact.
The boy sighed. “Father, we’ve talked about this. You know how I feel about you running a bar. It’s beneath you, honestly.”
Mack did his best not to flinch. He hadn’t figured out what was with the whole “father” bit. The kid had called him Dad up until the last couple of years. Then again, Daniel had seemed a relatively normal kid until he’d learned the truth about Mack. After Daniel had suspected Mack was gay, he’d confronted his mother only to learn the cold, hard truth. For the past seventeen years—nearly half Daniel’s life—the boy had been harboring a hatred borne of that lie and used it to punish Mack at every turn. As though that hadn’t been bad enough, somewhere along the line, Daniel had shed all semblance of normalcy and acted as though he was some high-bred snob.
“You can’t even fathom how this reflects on me,” Daniel continued. “I can’t even tell people about you and I want to, I really do.”
Mack sincerely doubted that.
“I think it’s time you shed this cowboy crap and moved to the city.” The kid added a smile as though that would be the clincher. “I know a great apartment complex right down the street from my work. I’ll feel better knowing you’re close. That way I can keep an eye on you, help you.”
By help, Mack knew his boy meant turn him into someone he wasn’t. If Daniel had his way, Mack would be sporting fancy duds with some oblivious woman dangling on his arm.
“My house is paid for,” he countered, tucking the rag on a metal hook before flipping on the faucet to wash his hands.
“Exactly my point. You can sell it. I’m not sure you’ll get much for it, but what you do get, you can use to pay your rent. Until we find you something else to do. It’ll take effort, but I know a guy who can manipulate a resume, make it look like you have worthy skills.”
Cut right through the bone, that boy.
