Page 27 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Then

‘I ’ve gathered you here today to discuss an important matter,’ Mac said, glancing from his mom to his dad. He hadn’t actually gathered them anywhere. He’d waylaid them at the dinner table.

‘Mac, what is this about?’ his dad said, already looking impatient. His father was not a man who liked to be waylaid. Mac rarely ever even saw him sit down.

Mac folded his hands on the table in front of him and then unfolded them and then folded them again. His palms were damp. He’d had a whole speech planned but now, with his mother 's worried face and his father already looking antsy, Mac’s preparedness went right out the window.

‘But first, a gift!’ He was totally stalling but he and Annie had finally tracked down the perfect gift for his mom and now felt like the right time to give it to her. He set the gift bag on the table.

‘An early Christmas present?’ his mom asked. She looked skeptical which, after the gifts he'd given her over the years, she had every right to be.

‘Yep. For you.’ He pushed the bag toward her.

She pulled out the tissue paper that Annie had insisted he put in, saying it didn’t count as wrapping without it, until she got to the hand-carved Nativity scene he’d found at a craft fair.

It was Annie who’d noticed that his mom had several scenes around the house, and when he saw this one, he knew it was the perfect gift.

‘Mac, it’s lovely,’ his mom said. ‘Thank you.’

Mac breathed a sigh of relief. He’d nailed it, which was good because now was the hard part.

‘I also wanted to talk to you about… you know… the future. Uh… my future, specifically.’

His mom looked hopeful at that. ‘Have you finally decided to enroll at the community college? They have a great nursing program.’

Mac sighed. He was positive he would be a terrible nurse. He didn’t have his mother's patience or her iron stomach.

‘No, that’s not really what I was thinking…’

‘Well, we could use you for more hours down at the pub,’ his dad said, and the suffocating feeling in Mac’s chest grew.

He knew his dad would love it if he worked more hours pouring pints or serving food and eventually take over more of the business side of things, but the pub was his dad’s dream.

Not his. At least he didn't think it was.

Mac shook his head. That was the whole problem.

Hestill didn't know what he wanted and, faced with the expectations of his parents, he already felt himself slipping into old habits. It would be easy to make his mom happy and enroll in school or to take some of the workload off his dad. Mac liked easy. He liked being liked. He liked it when his parents were happy with him, and his teammates were cheering for him, and his buddies were congratulating him on a game well-played. But this wasn’t some stupid lacrosse game and Mac couldn’t keep picking the easy thing.

He thought of Annie and how hard she was working on getting her business started, how she told him she was taking classes and trying out new recipes and setting up a table at every farmers’ market, festival and fair in the county on the weekends.

Mac had never worked that hard on anything in his life.

‘No, that's not what I was thinking, either,’ he said and now he really had both parents’ attention.

‘What did you have in mind?’ his mom asked.

And he knew he owed her an explanation. He owed her a plan.

He owed her everything, really, for raising him, taking care of him and making his life incredibly easy for nineteen years.

His dad, too. He’d given Mac his first job.

He would have given him a job for the rest of his life if Mac wanted it.

But Mac didn’t want it. Not yet anyway. He needed to go somewhere else, anywhere else.

He would never grow into the person he was meant to be if he continued to let his parents do everything for him.

He needed to grow up. And he couldn’t do that here.

Not with his kindergarten teacher still watching his behavior or his mom’s friends reporting back to her on who he was dating.

Or girls like Annie thinking he was just some dumb jock.

He was pretty sure he’d changed her mind about that, but still.

The town already thought they knew who Macaulay Sullivan was but he’d kinda like to figure it out for himself.

‘Actually, I am going to do some traveling.’

His father scoffed like Mac had suggested space exploration. ‘Traveling?’

‘What do you mean? You’re going on a trip with some friends?’ his mom asked.

‘No.’ Mac squirmed in his seat. No was not a word he liked to say to his mother. ‘No, I plan on traveling for a while across the country. I need to figure some things out. I have money saved up and…’

‘What the hell do you need to figure out?’ his father barked.

‘I need to figure out what I want. What I’m doing with my life.’

‘College is a great place to figure things out,’ his mom chimed in, and Mac felt like his head might explode. They’d had this conversation so many times.

Mac shook his head. ‘College isn’t for me, Mom. I need to get out in the world, you know?’

‘Everything you have here isn’t enough for you?’ his dad said, his voice rising.

‘That’s not what I’m saying.’

‘It sure sounds like it’s what you’re saying. After everything your mother and I do for you, it’s not enough.’

‘That’s not it! I just need to be on my own.’

‘And you need to travel across the country to do that? There are plenty of apartments right here in town. Youcould stay close and work at the pub and be here for your mother.’

‘Mom doesn't need me!’

‘The hell she doesn't!’

They were both standing and yelling now. Mac’s plan for a rational discussion was long gone.

‘I need to get the hell out of this town!’

‘Running away doesn't make you an adult.’

‘I’m not running away,’ Mac said, the fight going out of him. Was his dad right? Was he running away? Should he stay? Is that how he became an adult? He didn’t know anymore but, when he took a breath and looked down at his mom, the tears in her eyes had him ready to scrap the whole idea.

He dropped back down to his seat and put his head in his hands. ‘I just thought it would be good for me to be out on my own for a while. That’s all. Mom?’

She gave him a weak smile, wiping the tears quickly from her face. ‘Okay, baby,’ she said. ‘We’ll talk about it more later. I need to get to mass.’

And with that she got up from the table and left Mac alone with his father. The older man let out a long sigh. ‘She’s going to miss you like crazy if you go,’ he said.

‘I’ll miss you guys, too. But I feel like it's what I need to do.’

His dad gave a brusque nod. ‘If that’s what you feel like you need to do, I can't stop you.’

He gave Mac a rough pat on the back before heading out to work, leaving Mac drained and confused about whether his parents were angry with him or just sad to see him go. He didn't know anymore if this plan was worth it.

He took the torn piece of paper from his pocket that he and Annie had scribbled some ideas on at the diner that first day they hung out.

He’d felt hopeful that day, like maybe this was something he could actually do, but maybe he'd been wrong.

Maybe he should stay here in Dream Harbor.

There were worse places to be stuck. He knew that he should be grateful.

But at the moment he only felt confined.

Trapped.

And more lost than ever.

* * *

Annie found herself on his doorstep that night full of nerves and excitement and uncertainty.

She was certain about only one thing.

‘Mac,’ she breathed when he opened the door, looking surprised and a little rumpled.

His hair was messy like he'd been running his fingers through it.

He had on a pair of old sweats and a stained lacrosse T-shirt which should have been good payback for him seeing her in her reindeer onesie, but of course he still looked far too hot and not at all ridiculous.

‘Hey, Annie.’ He winced a little. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’

‘Yeah, sorry, I probably should have texted you. I just…’ She paused, sucking in a deep breath of cold night air, stealing herself with what little courage she had left. ‘I just really wanted to see you.’

His face softened and he didn’t say a word, just stepped out onto his cold front porch barefoot and messy, and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground. Henuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, his breath warm on her skin.

‘I really wanted to see you, too,’ he said.

He held her like that for a long time like he needed to be close to her.

‘Is something wrong?’ she asked after a while, not wanting to break the moment but starting to get worried.

Mac sighed, setting her down. ‘Not really. But I finally told my parents I’m leaving.’

‘How did it go?’

He laughed a little, though there was no humor in it. ‘Not great. My mother basically told me I was breaking her heart, and now she’s at church, probably praying for me to change my mind.’

Annie winced. ‘Yikes.’

‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘but I’m really glad you're here.’

‘You’re not mad at me?’

‘Should I be?’

‘I kind of ditched you today.’

Mac shrugged. ‘I guess we’re even. I ditched you at the Christmas market.’

‘True,’ Annie said with a smile. ‘So… Can I come in or are you going to make me stand out in the cold all night?’

Mac grinned ‘You can come in. I've been thinking about your idea.’

‘My idea?’

‘Don't pretend you already forgot, Annabelle. You propositioned me for sex this morning.’

Annie's face got hot. ‘That’s not why I came. I really did just want to see you.’

She followed Mac into the house through the kitchen and down to his basement bedroom.

‘So, the offer is off the table?’ he asked, turning to face her.

‘I didn't say that.’ Her voice lowered to a whisper. ‘I still want to do that with you.’

Mac blew out a sigh of relief. ‘That’s good.’

‘It is?’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day.’ He stepped closer, putting a hand on her cheek, his thumb sweeping across her cheekbone. ‘I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you at all.’

‘That sounds very time-consuming.’

Mac’s lips curved into a smile. ‘It is, but there are worse ways to spend my time.’

‘And better ways,’ Annie said, tipping her face up to his.

‘Much, much better ways,’ Mac agreed, lowering his lips to hers. ‘Are you sure about this, Annie?’ he asked.

She didn't know what would happen after this. She didn’t have a plan for how to handle Mac or her feelings for him or him leaving. She didn’t know about any of that.

But she was sure about this.

‘Yes,’ she whispered, and Mac kissed her again.