Jordan sat back. “Wait a minute...you mean...Hope Hope? As in, your daughter, Hope?”
Mackenzie nodded silently.
“But...I thought Hope’s father was your boyfriend from college...the one with all the Star Wars toys...”
“Star Trek,” Mackenzie corrected. “He was a Trekkie...”
Jordan rolled her eyes. “Whatever...same difference.”
“Not to a Trekkie,” Ian said. “They’re completely different.”
Jordan twisted around to look at Ian. “Really? Now you decide to chime in?”
“He’s right,” Dylan agreed. “Two completely different things.”
“Can we get back to the important part of this conversation, please?” Jordan looked at everyone questioningly. “I mean...how do the two of you even know each other?”
The conversation that followed took longer than Mackenzie had originally anticipated. She was hoping for a more “drive-by” kind of deal that didn’t require much emotional energy. That didn’t happen. While Ian remained quiet for the entire conversation, he appeared to be listening intently to every word. Jordan, on the other hand, decided to earn her junior Perry Mason badge.
“Look...” Mackenzie finally said, exasperated. “I wasn’t signing up for the Spanish Inquisition here, okay? I was young and I thought I was doing the right thing for all of us. Would I do it this way again?” Mackenzie caught Dylan’s eye and held it. “No. I wouldn’t.” Mackenzie broke the gaze. To her cousin, she said, “But I can’t go back. All I can do is say that I’m sorry for lying to you. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. I was just trying to do the best I could for Hope. That’s what I’m still trying to do...”
“Oh...hey...” Jordan crossed the short distance to Mackenzie’s seat and wrapped her arms around her cousin’s shoulders. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just surprised, that’s all. I love you, Mackenzie. And I love Hope...no matter what. Okay?”
Jordan knelt down beside Mackenzie. “Hey...let me give you the five-cent tour of this place. I want to show you all the finishes I’ve picked...hand-scraped wide-plank hardwood...new custom cabinets throughout...”
“Hey—I heard that,” Ian told his fiancée. “I still have excellent hearing.”
Jordan laughed and returned to Ian’s side. She leaned down, took his gorgeous face into her hands and kissed him on the lips. “I love you, my handsome man...”
“I love you more.” Ian squeezed her hand, kissed it affectionately before letting it go.
Dylan watched Mackenzie and Jordan leave the room. He waited several seconds to make certain they were out of earshot before he said to Ian, “You haven’t had much to say.”
“Not much to say, I don’t think.” Ian pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He pulled a card out of the wallet, brought the card close to the side of his face so he could use his still-intact peripheral vision to read the name, then he held it out to Dylan. “Here. You might need this.”
Ben Levine, Attorney-at-Law.
After looking at it, Dylan slipped the card into his wallet.
“You have a child.” Ian twisted the cap off his bottle of water. “How do you feel about that?”
“Terrified.” Dylan could be honest with Ian.
“You need to know your rights. We have the photography business to think of...we’re launching the modeling agency in a couple of months...”
“I know. Mackenzie doesn’t want child support, but...”
“People change their minds all the time. Call Ben.”
“I will.” Dylan nodded pensively. “You know...I spent the whole morning with her today. Hope. She’s a great kid. Looks just like Aunt Gerri.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah...” Dylan smiled when an image of Hope’s sweet, expectant face popped into his head. “Do you want to meet her?”
“Of course I do. She’s your daughter.” Ian finished off his water. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t get involved...I’m just saying that you should cover your bases. That’s all.”
“Expect the best...” Dylan said.
Ian finished their motto. “But prepare for the worst.”
* * *
After their visit with Jordan and Ian, Mackenzie and Dylan rode the elevator down to the ground floor together. Through the lobby of the building and out onto the city sidewalk, they paused for a moment just outside the front door. Noticing a large group of tourists heading their way, Dylan put his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the left. Then he put his body between hers and the group so she wouldn’t get bumped.
Once the boisterous group passed them by, Mackenzie said, “You didn’t have to leave when I did. You could have stayed.”
Dylan had his hands in his front pockets, his blazer thrown over his arm. “It was time for me to head out, too. Did you walk here from the bakery?”
Mackenzie nodded.
“I’ll walk you back,” he said. Even though downtown San Diego was a pretty safe place, even at dusk, he didn’t like the idea of her walking back to the bakery alone.
“It’s not that far...” She looked over her shoulder toward the direction of her business.
But once she saw that Dylan was going to insist on seeing her safely back to Nothin’ But Cupcakes, Mackenzie stopped protesting and started walking. At a crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn, she asked, “What does your girlfriend think of all this?”
The light turned and Dylan stepped into the crosswalk at her side. “Actually, Jenna and I had an amicable parting of the ways...”
“Not because of Hope?” She stepped up onto the curb.
“No. Not because of Hope.” He reassured her. “She decided to finally make the move to LA, and I support her decision. It’s what’s best for her career. The breakup was inevitable.”
“Well...I’m still sorry. She seemed really—” she searched her brain for a positive comment that she could say truthfully “—energetic.”
Dylan shot her a quizzical look before he laughed. “Yes...you’re right. She is very energetic.”
They reached her storefront and Mackenzie pulled the keys out of her tote bag. “Well...this is me. Thanks for walking me back.”
“Are you heading home or sticking around here?”
She slipped the key into the lock. “I have some work to do before I head home.”
Mackenzie opened the door and walked quickly to the alarm keypad. She punched in the code and the beeping sound stopped. The only light in the front of the bakery was from the cases that had been emptied the night before by Molly.
“Thank you again for making sure I got here safely,” she said to Dylan, who had followed her in and locked the door behind them. “But I’m sure you’ve got things to do. I’ll be fine here by myself.”
Sometimes she liked to come to the bakery after hours just to have some time alone—Ray and Charlie were always happy to watch Hope for her. She liked the bakery when it was quiet and dark the way it was now. She could be by herself with her thoughts while she baked. It was therapeutic, especially when she had something worrisome on her mind.
He knew she was politely trying to send him on his way, but he wasn’t ready to leave just yet. He was enjoying