Page 41 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

Maria walked away and Janie turned towards Mac. She wanted to know what changed because he had been around a lot more recently. She hadn’t thought much about it until now. What had changed?

“Mac?” she gently said.

She didn’t know if he didn’t want to answer or if it was because the waitress came back. Should she press a little more for it or should she let it go?

Mac popped a fry into his mouth. “Yes?” he asked.

“What changed? You’ve been at your house a lot more than normal,” she said.

He gave her a small smile.

“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I just was wondering,” she said. “I didn’t give it much thought, but you have been home a lot more in the past year.”

“I was looking out for you two,” he replied before he popped another fry into his mouth.

Janie’s mouth fell open. He was looking out for them?

“What do you mean?” she whispered, not believing he had just said that.

“I did some work from home so I could make sure that you and Eleanor were safe,” he replied. “My job can be done from home, but I chose to go to the club so I don’t have to answer so many phone calls. People can just come into my office and ask the questions or see if something is okay.”

Janie didn’t know what to say. She was still shocked that he said he was looking out for her and Eleanor. She didn’t even think he cared that much about them before. But she wanted to know the reasoning behind it. Why did he want to make sure that they were safe? Who was going to hurt them?

She picked up her burger and took a bite. She didn’t know if she should ask him the reason behind it. Did he want to keep it a secret or was he okay telling it?

“Did your ex-husband ever bother you or has he recently?” Mac asked.

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen him since the lawn incident that you saw. I told him I didn’t want to talk to him ever again and he said that was fine.”

“Good.”

“He signed over his rights to Eleanor. Didn’t want anything to do with her. I’m okay with that because it just means I don’t have to worry about him. I’m a good mother and he never wanted kids, apparently.”

Janie felt so stupid about that. When they first had met, she had talked about wanting to have kids and he hadn’t said anything. So, she assumed he wanted kids, but that was wrong.

Why hadn’t he said anything? Why did he decide after she had Eleanor to tell her that? Donald hadn’t even talked to her about protection. He knew that she could get pregnant since she wasn’t taking birth control. It was weird.

“What a bastard,” Mac said.

“I agree,” Janie replied. “Eleanor and I are both happy without him.”

Though, Janie didn’t know how Eleanor was going to feel when she got older. She hadn’t said anything because she was two years old and she didn’t think Eleanor would understand much.

Janie turned her body so she was staring at Mac. She really wanted to know the reason why he wanted to make sure both of them were safe.

“I can feel you dying to ask me a question,” Mac said. “What’s your question?”

“You don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to,” she softly said. “I understand if it’s too personal.”

He placed his finger across her lips to silence her.

“It’s okay. Just ask the question.” She nodded her head and he pulled his finger away.

“Why did you stay home sometimes to keep us safe? Keep us safe from what?” Janie asked.

He cupped her cheeks with his hands, every once in a while moving his thumb across her cheek. “I wanted to make sure yourex-husband didn’t come back and do anything to you guys,” he gently said. “Some divorces can get nasty, and I didn’t want that to happen to you. So I told the guys I needed to work from home one or two times a week so I could keep an eye on you two.”

Her heart started to beat faster. He wanted to make sure that Donald didn’t do anything to them. That was sweet.

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