“He said if I wanted to pay him back, help somebody smaller than me when they couldn’t pay.”
Jenna looked toward Nora playing with Eli near Rebecca.
“He said smaller?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“He said if he told me ‘help someone someday,’ I’d turn it into a tax deduction.”
Jenna laughed harder.
Mack did too.
Then the laughter faded.
“I never knew.”
“I think that was part of who he wanted to be with you.”
“What?”
“Not a hero.”
Jenna looked toward him.
Mack continued:
“He hated when people made him into one.”
“For years, everybody in the club called him the guy who saved Bear.”
“He hated it.”
“Said he did what anybody should’ve done.”
“He wanted his house to be somewhere he could just forget all that.”
Jenna stared toward the lake.
“He should have trusted me.”
“Yes.”
No defense.
Again.
She appreciated that.
“He made the decision for me.”
“Yes.”
“He thought he was protecting me from a version of himself he was ashamed of.”
“Probably.”
“You said no guesses.”
Mack smiled faintly.
“You’re right.”
They sat quietly.
After a while Jenna asked:
“Why did you stop talking?”
Mack breathed slowly.
Harder story.
“Aaron left the club.”
“I know.”
“He didn’t leave because he got married.”
“Not exactly.”
Jenna looked toward him.
Mack continued:
“We had a president then named Wade Larkin.”
“Not a good man.”
“Not all the time.”
“Drank too much.”
“Liked fighting.”
“Used the club’s charity rides to make himself look respectable.”
“Aaron hated him.”
“One night Wade hit a prospect hard enough to put him in the hospital.”
“Aaron wanted him out.”
“I said we needed proof and a vote.”
“Aaron said a man unconscious on concrete was proof.”
Jenna’s jaw tightened.
“He was right.”
“Yes.”
Mack looked down.
“I was vice president.”
“I thought loyalty meant protecting the club from scandal.”
“Aaron thought loyalty meant stopping the person causing it.”
“He resigned.”
“I called him a coward.”
Jenna closed her eyes.
Mack continued:
“He called me worse.”
“Wade was removed six months later after another incident.”
“By then Aaron was done.”
“Did you apologize?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Pride.”
Jenna stared.
“You’re fifty-four.”
“I’m aware.”
“You wasted six years because of pride.”
“Yes.”
She became angry on Aaron’s behalf.
Then remembered her own six months refusing to ask anyone for help while Nora searched vending machines for coins.
Pride had many costumes.
Mack said:
“I kept thinking there would be a better time.”
“Then I found out he was dead.”
The lake moved behind them.
Jenna whispered:
“He called you once.”
“I know.”
“Maybe he was trying to fix it.”
“Maybe.”
“No guesses.”
Mack smiled sadly.
“Right.”
Nora ran toward them holding a dandelion.
She stopped when she saw her mother crying.
“Mom?”
Jenna wiped her face.
“I’m okay.”
Nora looked toward Mack suspiciously.
“Did you make her sad?”
Mack answered honestly.
“Some.”
Nora frowned.
Jenna pulled her close.
“He also told me about Dad.”
Nora looked toward Mack.
“The fire?”
“Yeah.”
The girl sat beside him.
“Dad saved you.”