The Secret Life of Mac

by Melinda Metz

  She gingerly slid her foot into the water.

  “You spent hours helping me babysit my niece and nephew. How come I can’t help with your foot?”

  “You helped. You’re helping.”

  “If I hurt my foot, I’d be having you fetch the remote, snacks, a pillow, beverages—”

  Briony laughed. “I just don’t like to feel helpless.” Unlike his mom and his sister, who seemed to thrive on it.

  “Well, try to endure it long enough for me to sweep up the glass,” Nate told her.

  “I can do that later,” she protested.

  He ignored her. “Hanging out with you and the kids in the fort?” she said as he swept. “That was more fun than I’ve had in months. More than months.”

  “I had fun, too.” Although sitting so close to her, breathing in the subtle scent of her perfume, all he’d wanted was to touch her. It was almost all he’d been able to think about as he pretended he was all into LEGO Batman.

  He sat down next to her and immediately started getting those thoughts again. This wasn’t a date, he reminded himself. It was being neighborly to someone from out of town. Neighborly. Suddenly, Mr. Rogers appeared in his mind, putting on his sweater. No, not neighborly exactly. Friendly, maybe.

  “Do you have any volunteers at The Gardens?” Briony asked. “Because I was thinking I need to do some volunteer work. Put some good out into the world. I know I’m only going to be here for a few weeks, but is there something?”

  “Sure. Tomorrow is Family Night. The residents’ families are welcome for meals anytime, but once a month we do a special event. If you could spend a little time with the people who don’t have family coming, that would be great.” He reached out and brushed a loose lock of her hair away from her face. Shouldn’t have done that. Friendly. He was supposed to be friendly. Although she didn’t seem to mind . . . “And there you are helping me again. You are definitely not a helpless kind of person.”

  Her dark blue eyes were serious as she looked back at him. He couldn’t read her expression. What was she thinking about? He leaned a little closer. Friendly, he reminded himself. “I know Gib won’t have family tomorrow. Most of them live in the Bay Area, and it’s too far for them to drive every month. Although I might not be able to get him to Family Night at all.” There. That was a nice, safe topic. You didn’t start kissing in the middle of a conversation about senior citizens. Not that he would start kissing her in the middle of some other conversation.

  “Why not?”

  For a crazy second, Nate thought he’d said that thing about kissing out loud. Then he realized she was asking why Gib might not be at Family Night. “He’s been avoiding all the group activities, even meals, since a new resident moved in, Archie. You saw him the other day, the one posing with MacGyver.”

  “With the bow tie and the Paul Newman eyes.”

  “Definitely don’t say that around Gib. All the ladies are half in love with Archie,” Nate said. “He flirts with them all, including Peggy, who Gib has a thing for. He’s been into her since they were in high school, but I’m pretty sure he never talked to her back in the day.”

  “What does Peggy think of him?”

  “I think she enjoys his company. I also think that she probably hasn’t thought about him as a potential—I don’t know what to call it. Can you call a septuagenarian a boyfriend?”

  “He seemed like a guy who says what he thinks.” Briony swished her foot around in the water. “Has he let her know how he feels at all?”

  “Nope. I try to lecture him about it. But he always throws it in my face that I’m not going out with anyone right now.” Yeah, go ahead, make it sound like you’re a loser, Nate thought.

  “I could write you a recommendation. You’re a fun date.” Their eyes locked for a moment, then they both looked away.

  “I think you can take it out now. Let me get a towel.” He went back into the kitchen, found a dish towel, and returned to her. He sat on the coffee table again. She took her foot out of the water, and he dried it off for her. He really did need to get out more. Drying off a woman’s foot so he could do some first aid was the most sensual experience he’d had in way too long.

  He studied the spot where the glass was dug in, then gently squeezed it. “It’s starting to work its way out. I think I can get it now.” This time he got the shard on the first try. “And now a Band-Aid.” He found one in the kit and put it on. “You’re all set.” He gave her foot a friendly pat. “You have cute feet.”

  Had he actually just said she had cute feet?

  “My toes are all pruney,” she protested.

  “My grandmother always bragged that a stream of water could run under her foot and that was the sign of a lady. You have high arches like that.” Since he still held her foot, he ran his hand along the curve of the arch.

  Briony gave a sharp intake of breath. And with that sound all his intentions to be friendly shattered. Slowly, he ran his hand higher, exploring the curve of her calf. Her lips parted.

  And they were kissing, her mouth so sweet and slick and warm. He heard a groan, and it took him a few seconds to realize he had made the sound.

  CHAPTER 9

  The sunlight was coming from the wrong direction, and Nate was on the wrong side of the bed. It took him a moment to realize why. He wasn’t home. He’d stayed at Briony’s last night. After they had sex.

  What the hell happened to friendly? Had he gone without sex for so long that he’d lost all self-control?

  He cautiously turned his head so he could look at her—and found her looking back at him.

  “Um, hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” he answered, feeling like he should have said more.

  They stared at each other.

  “So,” she said.

  “So,” he said. “How’s your foot?”

  How’s your foot? That’s what he came up with?

  “Good.” She smiled at him.

  And that smile made him realize it wasn’t that he hadn’t had sex in a long time. Or it wasn’t just that he hadn’t had sex in a long time. They’d had fun last night. Not just here in her bed or drinking on the rooftop, but hanging out with Lyle and Lyla in the fort.

  “Maybe we should check it.” Nate rubbed his hand over his chin, smiling back at her. “How does this feel?” He ran one of his feet over hers.

  She giggled, her cheeks turning pink. “Really good.”

  “Maybe you should stay off it, just in case.” Nate grabbed her around the waist and rolled her on top of him.

  “That’s probably wise,” Briony whispered, her mouth a breath away from his.

  Then his cell rang.

  “Dancing Queen” started to play. Amelia’s ringtone. If he tried to change it, she always managed to change it back. Nate groaned. “I’m sorry. I have to get it. It’s my night manager. There might be a problem.”

  “Absolutely. You have to answer.” Briony eased herself off him. It took him a moment to find his cell, because first he had to find his pants. “Amelia, what’s going on?” he said, instead of “hello.”

  “Archie’s not really hurt,” she began, and Nate went into crisis management mode.

  “What happened?” He managed to keep his voice calm.

  “Archie was on the treadmill. He said the machine went crazy, that the speed kicked up all of a sudden,” she began to explain, fast and a little breathless. “He fell off. I got Young Doc over there.” Amelia refused to use the names of coworkers until they’d been at The Gardens for five years. “He says it’s just a sprained ankle.”

  “Where is Archie now?”

  “We got him home. I already called his granddaughter.”

  Nate wished he’d been there to make the call to Eliza himself. She’d gotten in knots over the possibility of toxins after the ventilation system was hacked. Now that her grandfather had actually been injured, he was sure she’d need a lot of reassurance. “I’ll be there in ten.”

  He ended the call and pulled on
his pants. “Is there anything I can do?” Briony asked. She was sitting up in bed, holding the comforter around her.

  “Nothing. But thanks,” Nate told her. “I have to get over there.” He jammed his feet into his shoes without bothering to find his socks, then looked around for his shirt.

  “Be safe.” Briony leaned down, grabbed the shirt from the floor by the bed, and tossed it to him. He put it on as he rushed to the front door. His oxfords weren’t great to run in, but running was faster than getting his car.

  When he got close to Archie’s street, he forced himself to stop. He buttoned his shirt and tucked it in, combed his hair with his fingers. Walking in looking like he was panic-stricken wouldn’t help him get the situation under control. He pulled in a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and continued on.

  Amelia opened the door as he was coming up the front walk. “Eliza’s already here,” she said softly.

  Nate nodded. “How’s the patient?” he called out as he stepped inside.

  “If you could convince my granddaughter to give me some giggle water, I’d be fine,” Archie answered from the sofa. The foot with the bandaged ankle was resting on a pillow on top of the coffee table. For a second, Nate couldn’t keep his thoughts from going to Briony. Without her injury, he doubted they’d have ended up in bed last night. But once he was touching her, even only enough to deal with the glass, it was hard to stop.

  Eliza came in with a glass of water. “This and some aspirin will have to do,” she told Archie. She handed him the water and pills and watched until he swallowed them; then she turned to Nate. “I should have taken my grandfather out of here when your ventilation system contaminated the air in the community center. If I had, he’d never have been injured. He got very lucky. He could have broken a hip when he fell. He could have hit his head and be in a coma right now.”

  “Don’t be such a Mrs. Grundy,” Archie told her. “I’m fine. I’d be even finer if I could have a drink. That’s how my father treated everything from a toothache to an ingrown toenail.”

  “I’m not being a Mrs. Grundy, whatever that is, just because I want you in a place where the safety of the residents is a priority.” Eliza’s usual soft, sweet tone was gone.

  “The residents—”

  Eliza didn’t let him finish. “Don’t bother,” she told him. “I believed the excellent ratings I found for this place, but in the short time my grandfather has been here he’s been put in danger several times by your mismanagement. I want his contract voided, and I want a refund of what we’ve already paid. I’m moving him out as soon as possible.”

  “Now, Eliza,” Archie protested. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

  At least Archie was willing to let Nate find out what was going on. “I’d like to have the chance to get the gym equipment—” he began.

  Eliza interrupted him again. “Checking the equipment is something you should do routinely,” she snapped. “Not in response to an injury.”

  “I agree, which is why we have regularly scheduled maintenance and inspections.”

  “Done by incompetents,” Eliza shot back.

  “I understand why you feel that way.” Nate could tell reasoning with her wasn’t going to work, at least not until she had time to recover and take in the fact that her grandfather was really fine.

  “This place is berries,” Archie said. “Great food, great company. I’m staying.”

  Eliza sat down next to her grandfather and put her hand on his knee and squeezed. “I understand you like it here, Grandpa, but your safety is what’s most important to me.”

  “Why don’t you and Archie talk, and let me know your decision about staying,” Nate suggested. “The contract and the refund won’t be a problem if that’s the way you want to go.”

  Eliza sighed. “All right. Obviously, my grandfather and I have things to discuss.”

  It was clear he was dismissed. He left the bungalow, Amelia right behind him. “Did Henry see what happened in the gym?” Nate asked.

  “He was wiping up some water in the women’s changing room,” she answered.

  “Water? Where did it come from?” The last thing he needed right now was a leak.

  “I don’t know,” Amelia admitted. “I thought just from one of the ladies coming in from the pool. Henry heard Archie cry out and got there pretty much immediately. No one else was using the gym, but Archie insists the treadmill jumped from a walking pace to a full-out run.” She scrubbed her face with her fingers. “Eliza’s right about Archie’s injury. It could have been so much worse.”

  Nate nodded. He couldn’t remember the last time Amelia went that many words without making one of her terrible jokes. She knew what they were dealing with—another act of sabotage. The equipment was only about a year and a half old, and Henry, the trainer at The Gardens, was great with upkeep.

  The sabotage was escalating. Rigging the ventilation system to make it spew dead skunk smell was a practical joke compared to what had happened this morning. The person who had tampered with the treadmill obviously didn’t care about hurting one of the residents. What were they planning next? Somehow, he had to get a step ahead of whoever it was, because he had no reason to believe they were through.

  * * *

  When Briony heard the door close behind Nate, the sense of euphoria slowly drained out of her. It was Thursday. She’d left her fiancé at the altar on Saturday. Yes, maybe he wasn’t really the right person for her. Maybe her body had been trying to tell her that by erupting into a panic attack. But still. She’d had a fiancé six days ago, and she’d just slept with someone else, someone she barely knew.

  She needed to talk to Vi. Except it was way too early in Wisconsin. Besides, Vi knew Caleb. Vi liked Caleb. Could Briony really admit, even to her best friend, what she’d done now?

  Ruby! Briony could talk to Ruby. It was almost seven forty. Too early to call her, except in an emergency, and even though this felt like an emergency to Briony, she knew it wasn’t one. She was pulled away from her thoughts by the sound of Mac giving a long, demanding meow from downstairs. He’d be in the kitchen, stationed by his food bowl. He was off his schedule this morning. He must have slept in. Or maybe the matchmaking kitty decided to let her enjoy a few more minutes with Nate. She shook her head at the goofy idea.

  “I’m coming, Mac.”

  Once she had His Highness fed—wild salmon and venison, along with bits of organic fruits and veggies—she decided to take Diogee for a walk. Maybe a walk that took them past Ruby’s. And if her light happened to be on . . .

  About four minutes later, assisted by some yanking by Diogee, Briony was in front of Ruby’s. The light was on. Now that she knew Ruby was up, probably, maybe she should go back home and call. No one wanted to be barged in on first thing in the a.m. Although Ruby had come by to get Briony for breakfast yesterday. That was later, though.

  Her thoughts were driving her insane. This was why she needed someone to tell her what to do. She couldn’t make up her mind—about anything.

  No. Not true. That was the old me, the me that was going to marry Caleb, Briony told herself. The new me is changing, maybe not fast, but it’s happening. I’m going to make my own decisions, and—

  Diogee started barking like a maniac. “Shhh! Please, shhh!” Briony hissed at him. He kept on barking. The dog clearly made his own decisions.

  The front door of the witch’s cottage swung open, and Ruby poked her head out. Diogee’s barks got faster and higher as he dragged Briony up the front walk. When they reached Ruby, the dog flung himself at her feet and rolled onto his back, tail wagging like crazy.

  “He wants his belly rubbed,” Ruby explained to Briony as she crouched down next to Diogee and began the rub he’d asked for.

  “You feel like going out for coffee? Or breakfast?” Briony asked. “My treat!”

  “Actually, I have company,” Ruby answered.

  “Oh, too bad.” Then Briony got it. “Oh! Sorry! Go back.” She was surprised Ruby
was wearing My Little Pony pj’s when she’d had an overnight guest. Caleb liked what Briony thought of as classy lingerie.

  “No, no, no! It’s Riley. The little girl I told you about, the one Mac arranged for me to meet. I’m taking her to a dentist appointment later, and since she’s skipping preschool, her mom said she could sleep over. We’re about to have pancakes shaped like ponies,” Ruby explained, switching from rubbing Diogee’s belly to scratching it. “You’re welcome to join us.”

  “Uh, actually I wanted to talk to you about something not rated G,” Briony confessed.

  “Well, then you have to come in.” Ruby straightened up, said, “Diogee, treat!” and walked inside. Briony had no choice. Diogee hauled her after Ruby into the kitchen.

  “DiDi! My huckleberry.” A little girl in pony pajamas that matched Ruby’s flung herself at Diogee, and he began licking her face.

  “Riley, this is my friend Briony. She’s going to eat breakfast with us,” Ruby told her.

  “Pleased to meet ya,” Riley drawled, before Briony could say hello. Then she clambered onto Diogee’s back, grabbing one of his ears in each little hand. He didn’t seem to mind, not if his thrashing tail was any indication, but Briony tightened her grip on his leash.

  “Is that safe?” she asked Ruby. Riley’s toes were barely scraping the floor. “It doesn’t look safe.”

  “She does it all the time,” Ruby reassured her as she turned on the stove.

  “DiDi’s my horse, and I have a pony named Paula. Also, ones named Patricia, Paisley, and Elvis. Do you like ponies?”

  “I love ponies.” She’d begged her parents for riding lessons for about a solid year. They’d responded by giving her piano lessons and painting lessons that they’d insisted were just as fun. It was one of the few times Briony had whined and begged. Until her mother explained if she fell off a horse she could be badly injured, paralyzed even.

  “All right, buckaroo,” Ruby said to Riley. “I’m about to get the flapjacks started. That means you need to get off that there animal and get those hands washed lickety-split.”