Texas Dad. Roz Fox Denny

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      Chapter Two

      Mack felt as if he’d gone back in time. He shut his eyes and opened them again slowly to see if he’d lost his mind. His heart was beating so fast that he wondered if he was about to suffer the same fate as his father—a stroke.

      Nope, he wasn’t living a nightmare. There sat Jill Walker, looking more gorgeous than she had at twenty-one. Pulling himself together, Mack snarled at her out of renewed anger—how dared she waltz back into his life when she’d treated him so abominably? “Jilly,” he said icily. “What brings you to La Mesa? And why in hell are you with my daughter?”

      Handing him a business card, Jill stared coolly at Mack. “I go by J.J. now...J. J. Walker. Believe me when I say I’m not here by choice. I’m on assignment. I assume you’re familiar with Her Own Woman magazine, since Zoey nominated you and you were selected to be our featured man of August.” She noticed then how the girls were frantically trying to signal her. She stopped talking, unsure what they were trying to convey.

      “If that’s not total bullshit, I don’t know what is.” Mack crushed her card in his hand.

      The girls swooped around him at the same time the librarian hurried over to shush them. “You four need to take your noisy discussion outside,” she ordered. “There are people here trying to concentrate.”

      Giving J.J. another angry glance, Mack collected the girls’ books and bags, and hustled Zoey and Brandy out.

      J.J. gathered her folder and camera bag, slower to follow. No matter how prepared she thought she’d be to see Mack, he was far more potent in person than in those photographs.

      Mack and the girls stood at the base of the library steps when J.J. descended. He was waving his hands, and as she got closer she heard him demanding answers from Zoey. Huge tears rolled down the girl’s face while her friend stood to one side biting her lower lip. J.J. might not want to be here, but she felt sorry for Mack’s daughter.

      “Girls.” She broke in. “I suspect you haven’t been up front with Zoey’s father regarding my magazine’s contest. The truth is we can’t feature anyone who objects. In fact, Zoey, the magazine mailed you a release you were instructed to have your dad sign.”

      “I, uh, we... Brandy and me thought he could sign it later.”

      “I’ve got no intention of signing anything,” Mack said, glaring down his nose at J.J. as he hooked his thumbs over his belt. “Release for what? What’s going on? I didn’t enter any contest.”

      “Nothing,” Zoey wailed. “Everything’s ruined. I didn’t think you’d win, but if you did I planned to surprise you.”

      “That you have succeeded in doing,” Mack said, drawing out a long sigh.

      Brandy slid in next to Zoey. “Zoey did it for your steak-fry, Mr. B. Every winner gets a check from the magazine for his favorite charity.”

      Zoey scrubbed her wet cheeks. “The magazine people choose a reader to bring the check. And they send you and the reader to a nice restaurant...kind of like a date. Oh,” she sobbed, “it’s hopeless. Now you’ll never go out with someone nice who can help me dress like a girl,” she cried. “Next year Heather Reed and all the boys will keep laughing at me.”

      Mack stood in stunned silence a moment, unable to process the bulk of Zoey’s ramblings. She was more upset than he’d ever seen her, and her sadness cooled his anger the way nothing else could. He used his thumbs to wipe away her lingering tears. Kneeling, he pulled her close.

      J.J. noticed how his demeanor changed and his face softened when he gently tugged one of Zoey’s braids.

      “You look like a girl,” he murmured. “Who says you don’t? Help me understand, Bug. What check? What reader? Why do you think that girl laughs at you? And why does it matter if I date or not?”

      “Don’t call me Bug. Boys are bugs. Brandy’s mom and dad call her honey.”

      Slanting J.J. an embarrassed little smile before he cradled Zoey’s splotchy face in his big hands, Mack murmured, “I’ve called you Bug since you were born, because you were cute as a bug. If you don’t like it, I’ll stop. But the rest, especially the dating part, isn’t a subject to be discussed in public.”

      Brandy interrupted again. “Mr. B., how come you know a magazine photographer from New York?”

      He didn’t answer, still peeved as he switched his focus to J.J. “I swear this is the first I’ve heard of any of this. I have no idea what’s going on. I probably should have asked Zoey why she was stalking me with a camera a few weeks ago. But tell me how any reputable magazine can encourage children to invade a person’s life without obtaining that person’s permission?”

      Beginning to steam at Mack’s holier-than-thou attitude, J.J. flipped her folder open and yanked out a blank sheet of paper. “Like I said, the rules state that candidates must sign a release. The girls followed the rules. Our staff found Zoey’s essay compelling, and the photos, well, intriguing. I was on a shoot out of the country when the decision was made to put you in the lineup. But no problem, Mackenzie, we can end this ASAP and I’ll be on my way home. All I need is for you to jot a brief note declining to be included in our promo.” She shoved the folder and pen toward him as he knelt in front of Zoey.

      He reached up for the folder. Zoey looked stricken.

      Gesturing with the pen, J.J. said, “By declining, you will forfeit the five-thousand-dollar donation to your charity. I imagine that’s the biggest shame, especially if you’re forced to cancel your steak-fry. I admit I was impressed by your charity.”

      “Forced to...? I’m baffled as to why you’d think there’s some doubt about me underwriting our annual steak-fry.” His expression even more confused, Mack rose to frown first at J.J., then Zoey. “Zoey, please stop crying. I’ve left Erma in the E.R. and we need to go see about her.”

      “Do you mean Erma Fairweather?” J.J. asked.

      “Yes.”

      “I’d love to see her. Oh, but she probably won’t remember me. I always liked Erma. I hope she’s okay.”

      “You liked her, yet you had no trouble dropping out of her life and mine?”

      J.J. flared at his unfair assessment, but rather than strike back in front of the girls, who were clearly hanging on everything passing between her and Mack, she bit back her comment.

      Following another uncomfortable silence, punctuated by Zoey’s sniffling, Mack threw up a hand. “Enough! Let’s take a minute and get to the bottom of this. I hate seeing you so upset, Zoey.” He knew he’d never handled her tears well. And Jill Walker seemed far too anxious to be rid of him. The way she’d stomped on his heart before blithely abandoning Texas still rankled. Having her here felt like unfinished business to Mack and he disliked leaving things undone. Maybe he’d reconsider this stupid contest for no reason other than to annoy the hell out of Jill—or at least put himself in a position to finally extract a bit of revenge.

      “Don’t everyone rush to explain,” he said. СКАЧАТЬ