Page 56 of Homecoming Heartbreaker

He was so done with this cold war.

“I have a few things to say,” Mack stated, determined. When Travis didn’t turn around, Mack sighed. “Travis, look at me, dammit.”

His brother resumed his place behind Jameson’s shoulder, his scowl telling him he didn’t appreciate his barked order. Mack didn’t much care. “About our conversation last night, we were wrong to even consider that possibility.”

“What are you talking about?” Jameson demanded.

He wouldn’t explain but Grey and Travis knew that he was referring to Molly’s innocence. “Are you sure?” Grey asked.

“Very,” Mack emphatically stated. Grey nodded, accepting his word, but on seeing Travis’s hesitance, Mack spoke again. “I need you to trust me on this, Trav. Please.”

Travis nodded and Mack released a sigh of relief. On his word, his brothers accepted Molly’s innocence. The realization both humbled and touched him.

But there was more to say and Mack spoke before Jameson could demand another explanation for their obscure conversation.

“I’m done with this cold war between us. I miss my family,” Mack told his siblings. “I’m so sorry I lost control of the vehicle. I’m still gutted that you were injured, Trav. I’m also gutted that you lost your football scholarship and that you never got to play pro ball. I fully accept all responsibility for the accident.”

Grey looked like he was about to speak but Mack’s hard look stopped whatever he’d been planning to say. “I’m also sorry for running instead of sticking and staying. But it’s been fifteen years, dammit.”

Mack rubbed the back of his neck, tasting tears in the back of his throat. “Fifteen years of not being able to grab a beer, a late-night chat, of not being able to tease you, talk you down or talk you up. Fifteen years of not talking and I’m goddamn sick of it!” Mack shouted, the dam bursting on his carefully held back emotions. “You’re my brothers and I don’t care what I have to do but wewillbe a family again.”

Travis shook his head. “We can’t just go back, Mack. It doesn’t work like that.”

“I don’t want to go back, Travis. I want to go forward,” Mack told him. “Give me a chance. Give us a chance.”

Travis lifted and dropped his massive shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

From his stubborn-ass brother, amaybewas a very good place to start and more than he expected. Mack smiled at him. “I’m gonna wear you down.”

A smile touched his eyes. “You can try.”

Mack, feeling lighter, just managed to stop himself from doing an air punch.

“So does this mean I can host a Sunday lunch this weekend?” Jameson demanded.

On cue, Mack and his brothers shuddered and groaned. Jameson wasn’t a great cook and his roast duck was always burned on the outside and raw on the inside.

They exchanged anxious looks and Mack finally nodded. “I’ll be around.”

“I can fly back on Saturday, stay over and fly back on Sunday evening,” Grey said.

Travis rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure I can make it. I have a lot on my plate. I can try.”

Mack knew that there was little chance of Travis breaking bread with them on Sunday. He wasn’t, he knew, ready to bury the past or to revive family traditions.

“I’ll make my famous roast duck.” Jameson looked excited. Oh, God. It sounded really awful but he’d eat a hundred awful ducks if it meant having his family back together again.

“You are not nearly well enough to cook,” Giada told Jameson, her tone suggesting he not argue. “I will cook. Lunch will be served at one. If you are going to join us, do not be late. Asparagus salad with parmigiana, seafood pasta, tiramisu. Yes?”

“Yes!” Mack and Grey chimed in unison while Travis remained silent.

It would be wonderful, Mack admitted, to spend some time with Grey, but let’s be honest here. Sunday lunches wouldn’t be the same until all three of them were back in their chairs, eating at their father’s table.

Molly knew that Mack would join her at the treehouse, so his sinking into one of the huge cushions on the deck wasn’t a surprise.

The fact that he just sat quietly, waiting for her to speak, was. Mack didn’t usually hold back; he was in-your-face assertive. But she refused to look at him, refused to try and work out what he was thinking. Along with her family, she was done with him.

Or, more honestly, shewantedto be done with him.

---