Cynthia’s brow furrowed. “Why come to visit if you knew no one would be home?”
Mac pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, and handed them to his mother, even as she tried to refuse them. “Because, Ma, I was coming to visit you.”
It took Cynthia a good minute or two of staring between Mac’s grin and the keys in her hand before an understanding began to dawn on her features. Her eyes watered.
“Welcome home, Ma.”
“Oh, Mac.”
Mac smiled widely. He was always James to his mother no matter what, so to hear her use his nickname with such affection was more than enough thanks for him.
“Unlock the door,” he said. “Let’s have a look inside.”
Cynthia unlocked the front door with trembling hands as she shook her head at the same time. “You shouldn’t have done this. It’s too much and—”
“Nothing is too much for you, Ma.”
Soon, she had the door wide open and they stepped inside, standing in a large foyer painted the welcoming, warm beige his mother favored. Cynthia didn’t stay still for long, dropping her purse and the keys to a side table and waiting glass bowl. She was off with a smile, exploring and chattering, even as Mac kept a few feet of distance behind her to let her enjoy her new home.
Her favorite spot?
The kitchen, of course.
And that’s where Mac found himself, watching his beaming mother dig through the cupboards for mugs as a kettle whistled on the stainless steel, flattop stove.
“Well?” Mac asked. “Do you like it?”
“You don’t really have to ask, do you?”
“I figured I should, Ma.”
“I love it,” his mother said softly, still happy and smiling. “It’s a bit to take in, though.”
“We knew it would be, and that’s why I brought you alone. We’ll have a dinner or something to celebrate, when you’re not as high-strung and can find everything in the cupboards.”
Cynthia laughed lightly. “We?”
“Me, Vic, and Melina. They helped a bit.”
His mother seemed overwhelmed, but Mac figured that was to be expected.
She sighed, glancing around her kitchen as she stirred Mac’s coffee. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Ma.”
“I know, but I should.”
Mac didn’t argue. “No one else knew but us.”
Cynthia didn’t look at him a she pushed his cup across the island. “No one?”
“No.”
“Huh. Well, that’s good, I suppose.”
Mac didn’t like the lilt coloring his mother’s tone. “Would it matter if someone had known?”
Cynthia waved his question off like it didn’t matter. “No, no. I was just thinking out loud, James.”
“Sure. But why?”
His mother wouldn’t meet his gaze, and it was at that point Mac knew that she was trying to keep something from him. Cynthia Maccari was not a liar. She couldn’t tell a lie to save her life, and made it a habit to correct her children when they were caught in lies.
Cynthia was about to lie to him.
Mac knew it.
“Ma,” he said quieter.
“It’s nothing,” she replied carefully. “But having a new home will certainly save me some headaches.”
Now, Mac really didn’t like the sound of that. “Keep going, Ma.”
Cynthia sighed and rubbed at her temple—a sure sign of her distress. “Your father has been coming around more often, and when he does come around, he asks about things.”
Rage simmered through Mac’s blood, but he managed to keep calm. Somehow. “This is beginning to feel like pulling teeth.”
“The house—the deed. His name is on it, too. It always was. He just never cared.”
Mac chose his next words carefully. “Did you tell him to leave?”
“Asked,” his mother corrected. “And he did.”
“But?”
“He came back. It’s not as though I can kick the man out of his own house.”
Right.
A house James Maccari Sr. had never paid for, taken care of, or anything else for that matter. Cynthia had done all of that, including raising her children without a husband and father to help them through life because he was too busy fucking himself up on drugs and street women.
Mac counted backwards from ten in his head to chill the hell out. He couldn’t be angry at his mother, even if she should have told him that James was giving her problems. Besides, this was intended to be a happy day. One for his mother to enjoy. He wouldn’t ruin that with nonsense.
“Give him the house—we’ll get your name off the mortgage and deed as soon as we can,” Mac finally said once he was calm enough to talk without anger heating his words. “It’ll be one less problem for us all.”
Cynthia frowned. “I have a feeling that if your father wants to cause problems, I will be the last person he goes through to cause them.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Ma?”
Again, Cynthia’s gaze shifted away. “Nothing.”
“Ma.”
“He might have mentioned the last time he came around that he happened to bump into Melina. It sounded a lot like he meant to do it, and that it was not accidental.”