Read Online His Best Friend's Baby by Molly O'Keefe - Free Book Online

over his shoulder. He walked past Jesse, through the small mudroom and into the kitchen.
    The nine-year-old Mac referred to was him. Jesse had used the trick to dog Rachel and Mac’s every step.
    Jesse shut the door with his foot and followed his old friend to dump the groceries onto the counter. He yanked opened the refrigerator door and began shoving the bags’ contents into the nearly empty fridge.
    “Just as we suspected, you’re living on road trip food.” Mac reached around Jesse to hold up a turkey sandwich Jesse had gotten from the gas station out by the highway. “Not fit for human consumption.”
    “Works fine by me,” Jesse said. He’d been avoiding the grocery store and all of the good citizens of New Springs.
    “Good to see you, man.” Mac pulled Jesse into a hug before he could say two words. “It’sreally good to see you.” Mac thumped him on the back, which hurt but, for some reason, Jesse didn’t say anything. He stood motionless, like a scared animal in the hard grip of Mac’s arms. Emotion leaped in him.
    I missed you , he thought.
    “It’s good to see you, too,” he finally managed to say. He squeezed Mac tight across the shoulders and then pushed away.
    They both laughed awkwardly and Mac held Jesse out at arm’s length. It had been three years since they’d seen each other at his mother’s funeral and Jesse had kept his distance that day.
    The moment stretched and Jesse took in the changes time had made in his old friend. Mac was big, thick across the chest and through the arms. His work in the sun had turned his skin brown and given him wrinkles and creases at the corners of his mouth and eyes. But his smile was still quick and his eyes sharper than ever.
    “You look old,” Jesse joked.
    “You look like roadkill,” Mac shot back and Jesse felt as though he were soaking up the warmth of the sun.
    “I see you’ve made yourself at home.” Mac pointed at the broken front window.
    Stupidly, excuses came to Jesse’s lips but he stopped himself in time. He didn’t have to explain anything to anyone. Not to Rachel and not to Mac.
    Even though he did owe Mac a lot.
    “Well—” he grinned like the old troublemaker he’d been “—she did leave the house to me.”
    Mac laughed and scratched at the day-old whiskers on his face. “Man, you know, that’s what I always remembered about you.” He pointed at Jesse. “Every time you got into trouble and I had to go down to the police station, you’d be sitting in lockup with this sly grin on your face like everything was going according to plan.”
    “What else was I supposed to do?” he asked. “I was so scared half the time I could barely see straight. Which is why I called you instead of the old man.”
    “I was too good to you. I should have left you there, might have scared some sense into you.”
    “Probably,” Jesse agreed. “But you were always a sucker for strays.”
    They both smiled, but the rosy reunion scene soon faded away. They were two men with only the past and his sister in common—both of which Jesse was trying to forget.
    “What are you doing here, Mac?”
    “I would think that was obvious.” Mac’s laughter was gone, replaced by a sad earnestness in his eyes. “You come back into town after all these years, and you think I’m not going to come by and say hello? Come on, Jesse, you’re smarter than that.”
    Jesse shrugged. “I’m leaving in a—”
    Mac walked into the small living room before Jesse could finish. He had to follow. What else could he do? This was Mac. He couldn’t hit him.
    “Amanda’s in the truck. I practically had to tie her down to keep her from following me.” Mac pointed out the broken window at a gorgeous teenager staring at them from the passenger seat of a truck.
    Amanda lifted her hand in a slight wave.
    “Wave to her,” Mac insisted, lifting his own arm in a big salute.
    Jesse raised one finger. “She sure grew up,” he whispered.
    “You’re telling me.