Page 51 of Cougar

I’ll never forget the day I broke the news to my parents that Marcus and I eloped. They didn’t even know I was seeing him, or anyone for that matter. I talked to them daily. They thought I was spending my summers lying on the beach under the California sun with my cousin Lilly. Because that’s what I told them. And Lilly covered for me. Less than twenty-four hours after I broke the news that I’d eloped, my parents, my brothers, and Jessica with little Dylan in tow all flew to California.

It was the first time I’d ever seen my father cry. My mother was angry, dropping F-bombs left and right. My brothers were too star-struck to care, and Jessica—God love her—gave me a conspiratorial wink. She was always on my side. Marcus took the blows from my family like a champ, and by the time they boarded their flight back to Heritage Bay, they had approved of my new husband.

My father takes a swig of his beer and sets it down with a soft thud. “Don’t apologize. Yes, you hurt us. Not just your mom and me, but your brothers, too. But we all forgave you a long time ago. It helped that you married a good man. It hurts my heart that he was taken away from you, and my granddaughter. Hell, all of us.”

“Did you… have you ever… hurt Mom?” I start, but I can’t bring myself to ask the real question. I pick at the label on my beer.

“You mean have I ever cheated?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you met your mother?” he asks through a chuckle as he leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Did your mother ever tell you about Sally Taylor?”

I tilt my head. “I don’t think so. If she did, I don’t remember.”

“If she told you, you’d remember.” He winks. “I was a bit of player back when I was in high school,” he starts, and I roll my eyes. Of course he was, and every Mackenzie male after him. “I was the captain of the football team, and Sally Taylor was a cheerleader. Sally was a pretty girl and she liked me a lot, but I had my eye on this smart-mouthed socialite named Ella Elizabeth Edwards.” He grins. “I finally got up the nerve to ask her out on a date and she said yes. I spent all day Saturday cleaning my dad’s Chevy. I took her to Steak ’n Shake, and I remember she had on a short pink dress and silver shoes. She still has the outfit, and every so often she pulls it out to remind me that I’m a lucky sonofabitch.” He wiggles his eyebrows.

My brows furrow. “Daddy.”

He shrugs unapologetically and continues. “Back then, Steak ’n Shake was the place to go.”

“I remember it. You should take Jayla there sometime and show her where you and Mom had your first date.”

“I’d love to.”

“Tell me more about Sally Taylor,” I prompt before taking a swig of my beer.

“Your mom and I had the perfect date. Afterward, I drove her home, walked her to the door and kissed her on the cheek. At school, she let me carry her books and walk her to class. Everything was perfect. The following weekend, my parents called me into the living room. When I walked in, Sally Taylor was sitting on the sofa with her parents. I didn’t even know our parents knew each other. Turned out, Sally’s father was my father’s boss, and my parents had invited them over for dinner.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yep.” He nods. “Anyway, after dinner, my father strongly insisted that I take Sally to Steak ’n Shake for ice cream.”

“This is bad,” I chime in.

“You have no idea.” He chuckles. “And as luck would have it, your mother was there with Kate having a girls’ night. I could see them through the window, but I didn’t think she saw me. Sally and I placed our orders, and a few minutes later the girl arrived at my window with two milkshakes. Except it wasn’t the same girl who took our orders. It was your mother. Without a word, she reached in the window, dumped the milkshakes in my lap and walked off.”

My eyes widen and I bring my hand to my mouth. “What did you do?”

“I drove home with a shocked Sally sitting in the passenger seat. My parents were furious and forbade me from ever seeing your mother again. I told my father it was his fault for sending me off with Sally in the first place, because I was dating Ella Edwards and he’d made me look like a cheater. Everyone knew you didn’t disrespect Laurence Edwards’s daughter. Your grandfather was a very powerful man, and he owned more than half the land in Heritage Bay. I was sick to my stomach all weekend, and the following week at school, she wouldn’t even look at me.”

“How’d you get her to forgive you?”

“My mother called and asked if she’d come for dinner, and she graciously accepted. At dinner, my parents explained that they had sent me out with Sally. Ella was embarrassed, and she apologized for the way she reacted. By the time dinner was over, she forgave me and we were back together.”

“That’s why Mom says we shouldn’t make assumptions because things aren’t always as they seem.”

“Exactly. She’s speaking from experience.”

Emerson

I’m officially bored.

Now that we’re all settled here in Heritage Bay and Jay is in school for most of the day, Bass and I are both going a little stir-crazy. Nothing has changed for Grace other than our address; she still spends her days either shopping, cooking or watching Lifetime movies.

With the extra security around the house, Bass has too much free time on his hands, so he spends his days either playing games on his phone, hanging out with Max at the restaurant or on the golf course with my father.

And me? Here I am, a forty-year-old woman sitting at my mother’s table at eight in the morning, drinking coffee and counting down the hours until my daughter gets home from school. This is now my life. I have a degree in public relations, yet my only clients were Marcus, Royal Mayhem, Lucas, and Jay. Now it’s just Jay. Ever since her interview withRhythm & Riffs, the calls and emails have been nonstop. However, her career has been put on hold for now. Lucas and I have our weekly chats, but I think it’s because he misses us more than anything. Especially since I’ve turned over his PR stuff to Lilly. My life has gone from 60 to 0 in a matter of days.

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