Page 27 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

MAC

Mac sighed and grabbed his dishrag. He started to clean the counter where he made a mess. His mind wasn't there with him but worried about Janie.

He wanted to be with her, take her out. Mac also had a feeling she was trying to do everything on her own. Well, it wasn't necessarily a feeling. He knew she was trying to do everything on her own. He could see the bags under her eyes when he talked to her earlier. She was exhausted. How much sleep did she get? Why was she running herself to the ground?

Several people had made sure she knew she could go to them for help. But she was stubborn and never called or texted them. He had told her several times that he was there for her. At least this time she said she would try to call him. But he knew that it wasn't going to happen.

She was an independent woman. And he loved that, but he also wanted her to know that if she needed to lean on someone, he was there for her. How he was going to get that across to where she understood, he didn't know. He had tried several things but nothing seemed to work.

Mac had partially lied to her. Janie's sister, Joann, had texted him several months ago that she normally took Eleanor onThursdays. So Mac made sure that his one day off a week was on a Thursday.

Joann had also texted him yesterday that she was picking up Eleanor. She knew he was interested in her and trying to make a move. Joann was on board with it and said she could tell how much he cared for her.

Mac cared for Janie a lot.

He sighed and moved his way towards the sink. He had a cup from this morning he still needed to wash.

Mac's phone went off and he slowly made his way over and checked it. The guys knew he was off today and wouldn't even be working from home. It was his one day off to completely relax and not do anything work related. He tried to give himself time off so he wouldn't get burnt out from work.

Looking at the screen, he saw Janie was calling him. What was wrong? Why was she calling him?

"Hello?" he asked. "Have you reconsidered my offer?"

He wanted to play it off and not panic her if anything was off. Who knows why she was calling him.

Mac heard sniffles through the phone and his whole body went rigid. Shit. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Where are you? Are you okay, Pinky?" The only thing he could hear was her sniffles and small cries through the phone. His heart started to beat faster and she wouldn't respond. What was wrong? Was someone holding a gun to her?

"Janie," he gently but firmly said. "Where are you? What's wrong?"

Janie took a deep breath in.

"I'm o-on the s-side of the r-road on th-the high-highway," she cried through the phone.

"Janie, where on the highway? Are you in your car?" he asked.

He grabbed his car keys and headed towards the front door.

"I d-din't want to call you and b-bother you but my s-sister can't be h-here for another hour," she said. "I'm n-nervous."

"It's okay, Pinky. Everything is going to be okay," he gently said. He could hear her crying even harder after he finished talking. Did something else happen that made her cry?

"I-I'm sorry," Janie whispered. "I don't wa-want to bother you."

"Janie, I want you to listen to me," he said. "Are you listening?"

"Y-yes."

Mac unlocked his car door and hopped in. He so badly wanted to leave and find her, but he didn't want to head in the wrong direction and it took longer to get to her.

"You aren't bothering me one bit," he said. "I'm glad you called me." Janie didn't reply to him but he didn't expect that. "Can you tell me where you are? I'll come get you," he said.

"No," she replied. "I d-don't know why I called you. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to c-call you."

"Stop," he commanded. He didn't need her panicking and spiraling out of control. He needed her to be calm and collected.

"I really can wait for my sister," she whispered.

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