Free Hometown Love by Christina Tetreault Page A

here?” Jessie asked.
    “Saturday night is movie night. Grace and I get take-out, usually pizza, make popcorn, and watch a movie together.” Other single guys might find that a horrible way to spend a Saturday night, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. “If she’s at my mom’s or it’s a weekend that she’s with Bethany, I might go out with friends or sometimes I just chill at home. Try to unwind from work.”
    “Grace must love doing that with you. She talked a lot about you when she stayed with me.” Jessie reached for her iced tea as she spoke. “She really is a great kid.”
    “That’s funny because she hasn’t stopped talking about you. She keeps asking when she can stay with you again. Grace said you were the best babysitter she ever had.”
    At the compliment, Jessie shifted in her seat. “Whenever you need a babysitter, she’s more than welcome at my place.”
    As they finished up their meals, they talked about general things, never again touching on anything personal. After he paid the bill, they headed back to his house where Jessie had left her car.
    “Thanks again for the help today. Grace is going to love it.”
    Jessie gave him a warm smile that transformed her whole face. For a moment, it was like he was seeing Jessie Quinn for the first time, and he wondered why Tony or another guy in town didn’t just ask her out regardless of Sean’s objections.
    “Glad to do it. And if you need help with anything else, just call or stop by the store.”
    Mack remained outside until Jessie pulled out and then went inside. With the painting done and a whole empty house to himself, he grabbed a beer from the kitchen and switched on the baseball game. Tomorrow, he’d put Grace’s room back in order before she came home. Tonight, he planned to just relax.
     
    ***
     
    “Mrs. Mitchell told your grandmother you spent the day at Mack Ellsbury’s house yesterday.”
    Her father’s words stopped Jessie in her tracks as she carried the dirty dinner plates to the sink. Her dad had stopped by for their weekly father-daughter meal and so far they’d talked about general things going on in town. Not once had either of them brought up her personal life. In fact, they didn’t discuss her personal life much ever, not that it bothered her. In many ways, she’d always felt a closer connection to her grandparents than her dad and who could blame her? Her grandparents had been like parents to her. Her grandfather had taken her to all but one father-daughter dance in school. Her grandmother had attended every one of her soccer games and taught her to cook and sew. Her grandfather even taught her to drive. Her dad had been on the road too much to do any of those things. Since his change in jobs, he’d been trying to strengthen their relationship, and while they were much closer now, she doubted they’d ever have the same tight father-daughter bond as Mack and Grace. From the little she’d seen, it appeared as if he put Grace first all the time. He seemed to go out of his way to make sure the little girl was happy.
    “He needed some help with a painting project.” Jessie wished the image of him working alongside her on Saturday would disappear. “I wasn’t there all day, just for a few hours.” She grabbed the Boston cream pie she’d made. It had always been one of her dad’s favorites and something she enjoyed as well.
    “She said she saw the two of you leave together.” Her father didn’t wait for her; instead he cut the pie while she went for clean plates.
    With her back to her father, she rolled her eyes. Mrs. Mitchell was a sweet lady, but she loved to gossip. “We went out to eat. We were both hungry after painting.”
    Her father took the plates she held out. “Just telling you what I heard, Jessie.” He dropped a huge slice of pie on one plate. “If you want to see Mack, that’s fine with me. He always seemed like a good guy.” He cut another slice, this one much smaller. “He’s a