Page 22 of Aaron (Dresden Pride #1)

Mac liked LouCinda Dresden. She was soft spoken, but she got her point across.

She also loved the house that she was staying in.

Her room was large and comfortable, clean, and the prettiest shades of blue that she’d ever seen.

She called it the blue guest room. After the men who’d brought her home had left, she settled into the bed and looked around. It really was a nice room she was in.

“I have lunch at noonish. I can’t remember the last time I had it on time.

Then, about three, I have tea and a snack.

I’m to understand that you don’t much care for it hot.

Or that’s what Aaron told me.” She said that she didn’t care for tea at all but would drink water.

“That’s what Aaron said, too. I’m sorry, do you wish to be called Mac? ”

“Yes. My name is Mackenzie Troff, but I’ve been going by Mac for so long that I don’t remember that my first name is Mackenzie.

” They both laughed though LouCinda seemed to think it was less funny than she did.

“My brothers called me Mac when they couldn’t pronounce my first name.

It just stuck. I’m all right with it now.

I don’t think of myself as anything other than Mac. ”

She was babbling, and she felt stupid for it.

Putting her hands under her legs, she bit her lip, trying to keep herself from doing it more.

Emptying out her head was no way to make a first impression.

And she desperately wanted to make a good one.

She decided to speak when spoken to, and that was it.

Aaron joined her in the room just as LouCinda was asking her if she wanted anything to tide her over until lunch.

“I’d love a glass of water. I’ve been talking all morning to groups of kids about keeping safe and letting your parents know where you are at all times.

I guess someone called into the police station to have it done, and I was the only one available.

” His mom said she’d have it brought right up.

“Thanks, Mom. I have to go back around lunch time, so I won’t be getting anything to eat unless you have something that I can take with me. That would be great if you do.”

“You know that I always have things that you can take back to work with you. I have to do it for Reagan once in a while, too, when he stops by to help out your dad. I think they’re both trying to figure out if they can work together as a practice.

That’s what it seems like to me.” Aaron asked what it would be like for her, having two doctors in the same building.

“I’d work for them both when needed, but it wouldn’t be for a while yet.

I like having my own time to do things that I enjoy. ”

“And your club meetings.” Aaron nodded when he said that, and then he looked at her.

“My mom goes to a monthly book reading club. They read different books and talk to each other about how they’d recommend the book to others or not.

I’ve seen my mom tear a book up if she didn’t like it or something. ”

“You’re making me sound like a monster, Aaron.

I’d like to have a good relationship with Mac if you don’t mind.

” He took her hand into his, and she felt calmed by it.

It amazed her that he could do so much to her with just a touch.

She wondered if all mates were like that.

If so, it’s no wonder that they got along so well.

“I do have a couple of things to do today. I have to run to the dry cleaners before five, and I have to go to the post office too. I don’t get there often, but I have a box to pick up.

Then I have to go and get my hair done too. ”

“As soon as I’m able, I need to get my hair done as well.

It’s been like this since I broke my ankle the first time.

” She ran her fingers through her hair and couldn’t believe how much it curled now that it was longer.

“I usually have it back in a bun at the back of my head so it looks professional. That’s one of the rules that Gravestone had about women’s hair.

He had all kinds of rules about women that I thought were out of this world.

Like we couldn’t wear flat shoes. I think wearing heels was something that kept us from running when we might need to.

Not that any of us ever got to go out on a call. We just—like you care. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s all right. I knew Peter when he was younger than he is now.

He always struck me as a man who didn’t live in this century.

Or any even close to this one. His wife, Sharon, is a mousey sort of woman who doesn’t talk all that much.

I think she caters to him a great deal.” LouCinda smiled at her.

“I remember once when we were out to a gala or something like that, I was pregnant with Aaron at the time. She wouldn’t even look at my belly, and I was sticking out there.

I don’t believe she thought that I should have been out in public the way that I was. ”

“I believe that Peter thinks that’s all women are good for.

Breeding and catering to their men’s needs.

” She laughed with the other two before continuing.

“He told us that when we were hired. That he’d have no breeding women in his office, or he’d make sure we didn’t see the light of day again.

When one of the other women confessed that she was pregnant, the next day she was in another department. ”

“He sounds like a nice person to work for.” Mac told LouCinda that she had no idea what kind of stuff he pulled all the time.

“Well, you don’t have to work for him anymore.

He took his retirement. Not without a fuss, but he’s now retired from the FBI.

Franklin got a call from someone yesterday who told him he was no longer going to be a threat to work for or have a job. ”

“That’s wonderful news. I wasn’t sure I was going to go back anyway, not after the way he treated me in the hospital, but it’s good to know that no one else has to put up with his bullshit.

” Mac looked at Aaron when he cleared his throat.

“You called his boss yesterday, didn’t you?

I mean, you said you were, so I’m assuming that you did. ”

“I called John to tell him what he said to you and that I didn’t much like it.

He said that he’d talk to him, and I guess he figured out that he wasn’t a great guy to have around.

I know that some of the things that I learned about him were scary.

Not in a national security sort of way, but just to have a man in a profession like he’s in to be spouting off the things that he was.

” She thanked him. “No need for that. I would have done it for anyone. But I’m glad that I could help you out. ”

After Aaron left, she had a sandwich as well.

It was really good, tuna fish on rye, and she loved how cold the water was.

But after being brought home, all she could think about was a nap.

And she snuggled down in the blankets she was under and closed her eyes. She was asleep in no time, she thought.

When she woke up, she was afraid that she’d slept until dinner.

But the maid who came in to clear away some of the blankets that she had that had fallen to the floor told her that there was a huge storm coming and that they were bracing for it.

She loved to be out on a porch when a storm came into the area where she was, and was hoping that she could see the weather changing before dinner time.

Then she remembered that Aaron was going to be coming home about then, and she got excited for that too.

She and Aaron had been talking a great deal about the life they planned to have.

They talked about everything from what sort of house they wanted to how many children they wished to have.

She didn’t think that four was all that many; he had five brothers, and she had two, so they were kind of thinking someplace in the middle.

She’d been talking to him about her job, too.

How she loved being an agent in name, but she’d never gotten to use any of her training.

While she knew that research was needed, she wanted to go out and try her hand at bringing in the bad guys.

She didn’t sign on for being a coffee maker either, but that was something that she and the other women in their department did all the time for the men who worked there.

She wanted to do something that gave her an edge in life and something she could do that would make her proud of herself.

Something that made a difference in someone’s life.

When LouCinda came up to talk to her around three, she had a tea set brought up with a bottle of water for her.

They had cheese and crackers with a little ham and turkey with their drinks, and it was a good thing to have that was light for luncheon.

She was looking forward to dinner too, as she had been told they were having chili for the meal with cornbread and sliced tomatoes.

“Aaron has asked to spend the night here, and I have no trouble with that if you don’t mind.

” She said that they’d been talking about it, but he did want to ask her first. “Yes, that was nice of him. I suppose you’ll be sleeping in the same bed too.

Again, I have no trouble with that, but I do want to warn you that there are others who might think that it’s wrong because you’ve only just met.

I love it, to be honest with you. Knowing that my son has finally found someone makes me beyond happy.

I just hope that now that it’s started, the other boys will find someone to love them as well. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for my boys.”