Page 35 of Mack

T.J. had other ideas. He launched himself at Mack without warning and Mallory gasped. Mack caught him with one arm like he’d been expecting it, and T.J. immediately began telling him something about the dinosaur rankings that apparently couldn’t wait.

She looked at her father. He was watching Mack hold her son.

His arms were still crossed. But something had shifted almost imperceptibly in his face.

Dinner was quiet at first. Ed asked Mack questions as if he was conducting an interview and didn’t particularly care if you knew it. Where he was from. How long he’d been with the Marshals. Why he’d left. Mack answered everything directly, without deflecting, and Mallory watched her father’s eyes for the small tells she’d learned to read over a lifetime.

T.J. helped. He’d claimed the chair next to Mack and spent the meal offering dinosaur facts and requesting confirmation that pot roast was in fact better than fried chicken, a question that divided the table.

“It depends on who’s cooking,” Mack said diplomatically.

“Good answer,” Ed said, and it was the first thing he’d said that wasn’t a question.

By the time Georgia brought out the pie T.J. was fading, his head drooping toward his plate, and Mallory excused herself to put him down in his room at the end of the hall. She tucked him in with Rex and Blue, then stood in the doorway for a moment listening to the low murmur of voices from the dining room.

Her father’s and Mack’s.

She walked back slowly.

When she reached the doorway, she stopped. Georgia was in the kitchen with the coffee, and her father and Mack were alone at the table. Ed had his hands folded in front of him and was looking at Mack with an appearance she hadn’t seen him use since Shane had announced he was dropping out of college to play music.

“I’m going to ask you something,” Ed said, “and I’d like a straight answer.”

“Yes, sir,” Mack said.

“My daughter has been through something that no person should have to go through. She came home to us and rebuilt herself from the ground up and she did it mostly alone.” Ed’s jaw tightened. “I’m not going to watch her go through anything like that again. So, I want to know what your intentions are.”

Mallory held her breath in the doorway.

Mack looked at her father steadily. “I care about your daughter, sir. And I care about T.J. I’m not looking for anything casual and I’m not going anywhere. I can’t promise you I won’t make mistakes because I will. But I can promise you I will never raise my hand or voice to her. That I can give you my word on.”

Ed looked at him for a long moment, the silence had weight to it. Then he unfolded his hands and reached across the table.

“Alright,” he said. “That’s all I needed.”

They shook hands, and Mallory stepped back from the doorway before either of them saw her, pressed her back against the hall wall, and closed her eyes. She stayed there until she trusted herself to walk back in without her face giving everything away. It took a while.

Chapter Six

As Mack drove them home, he glanced in the rearview mirror to see nothing but darkness behind them. He looked at Mallory. She had her head back against the headrest, eyes open, watching the dark road ahead.

“Tired?” he asked.

She turned to look at him. “Yes. Yesterday was busy and Ruth said today was the same.”

“I’m glad you take time off.”

“That time is for T.J.”

“Good.” He looked back at the road. “He needs that.”

“I need it too,” she said quietly, then shook her head. “I can’t believe I let my mother talk me into leaving him there tonight.” Mallory looked at Mack. “You know she’s matchmaking.”

“Darlin’, she doesn’t need to matchmake. We’re already matched.”

She laughed softly. “She’ll be happy to hear that.”

“What about you? Are you happy to hear it?”