Cruise

Mackenzie Montgomery rolled out of bed, pulled on a pair of Pink sweatpants and headed downstairs to make some breakfast. She still couldn’t help but grin form time to time when she thought of her encounter at Ropers two weeks ago – also the last time she went out and allowed herself to let go. Before she dropped blueberries into the pancake batter in the bowl on her counter, she drew her light blonde hair up into a messy bun and tied it off on top of her head.

It was fun to go out to a place like Ropers where for a split second she felt like she was home again. She had moved to Philadelphia for a job straight from Kingstree, South Carolina three years ago and more often than not, she desperately missed the south.

Mackenzie worked as a court reporter for Philadelphia’s central court. It wasn’t exactly her dream job but it paid well and it got her out of her hometown where everyone stayed their entire life and never left. She didn’t want to be another Kingstree girl who got pregnant after graduation and became a townie. At least, not the townie part.

“Mama.” She looked down over her shoulder to see her a little clone of herself wander into the kitchen, rubbing at her big blue eyes.

“Well good mornin’ baby.” Mackenzie smiled, setting down the bowl of pancake batter to pick up her almost-four-year-old who was donning her favorite Disney Princess nightgown.

“Mama I’m hungry.” She all but slammed her face into her mother’s neck.

“I know baby, Mama’s makin’ pancakes, does that sound good?” She asked, bouncing her daughter softly on her hip, running a hand over her white blonde hair. “Blueberry pancakes for my princess and what else? What sounds good?” She turned back to her fridge where she found both sausage and bacon thawing from overnight. “Bacon or sausage, peapod?” She asked.

“Sussage.” She replied. “Mama, we go to the park.” She reminded her mother of her promise from earlier in the week. One thing that Lilliana – or Lulu – Montgomery looked forward to every weekend was going to their neighborhood park to play on the swings and the giant turnstile where her mother would swing her around for as long as she liked.

“I know Lulu, we’re going to eat breakfast, we’re going to go and get our nails painted, and then we’ll go to the park. Maybe we’ll even get somethin’ for lunch, huh? How does that sound, Lulu-bell?” She asked, setting the little girl down on the countertop.

“Nails painted.” Lulu grinned, swinging her feet as she watched her mother make her breakfast.

Life in Philadelphia is all Lulu had ever known. They moved away from Kingstree just after she learned how to walk and they had only been back to the small town twice since they left. Mackenzie had gotten pregnant during her senior year of high school and shortly after graduation, she knew she was going to have to leave. If she didn’t leave, she would have ended up married by force to her high school boyfriend who would work at the high school in town as a football coach where she would spend every weekend at football games.

There was nothing wrong with that lifestyle, and she knew that, hell, most of her friends from high school were doing just that, but it wasn’t what she wanted for herself. It was what her Mama did and what her Grammy did before her. She knew the kind of life Lulu would have had growing up in Kingstree, and she didn’t want that for her.

Now, Lulu went to Adventure Club when Mackenzie went to work. Court reporting was one of the highest paid jobs that didn’t require a college degree and she enjoyed her work. Plus, her supervisor was very flexible with her hours and adored Lulu, so she could bring her daughter in whenever she needed to.

She made enough to afford them a safe, nice apartment and to make sure their nails stayed maintained in a nice manicure. You can take a girl out of the south but you can’t take the South out of the girl.

“Mama, I’m gonna get pink!” Lulu grinned as Mackenzie plated up her breakfast on her special Mickey Mouse shaped plate that was bought especially for the fact that she didn’t like her foods to touch on her plate.

“You’re gonna get pink, well what color am I going to get?” Mackenzie asked as she sat down beside her daughter, excited to dig into her breakfast. Sunday morning breakfast was one of their favorite parts of the weekend.

After breakfast, Mackenzie got Lulu into the tub and all cleaned up, setting her on her day bed in her bedroom and turning on cartoons before hopping into the shower herself. She didn’t know why, but more often than not, she found herself drifting back to her encounter with Max.

He was sweet and wasn’t skeezy like a lot of the guys who tried to pick her up at Ropers. It was one of the few bars she actually went to when she could find a babysitter for Lulu because it made her feel a little bit at home. That, and she could dress however she wanted and no one thought it was weird. She shook her head of the thought and finished up in the shower. It was time for a special day with her little peapod.

- - -

Max Talbot didn’t usually wake up before noon on Sundays, but when there was incessant pawing and whimpering in his bed, he knew he was done for – and he wasn’t even talking about a woman. Somehow he got talked into watching the Briere’s dogs, Zoey and Zora for the weekend as they all went up to Canada to visit his family. He loved dogs and had a chocolate lab and a pug growing up, but these two where always whining, scratching and needing an obscene amount of attention.

He much preferred dogs who could curl and sleep for most of the day and would only wake up to go outside or maybe eat some kibble. If Danny didn’t live on the opposite side of town, he would have just visited their place, but that was not the case, they were bunking at his apartment for the weekend.

Max dressed in a pair of chino shorts, a Lulu Lemon polo, brown leather flip flips and pair of sunglasses as he wrapped their leashes around his wrists and set off in direction of the nearest park. A quick look at his iPhone proved that there wasn’t exactly nearby park, so it was a bit of a brisk walk to the closest park. He grinned at the women who cooed and smiled at the dogs as he made his way to the park.

He was glad to see upon arriving at the park that there was a fenced in portion where he could let the bulldog and the boston terrier off of their leashes to run around for a bit. He set them free and sat down at a nearby bench, looking over to see them running around and playing with each other. He took out his phone and spent about twenty minutes playing Temple Run before looking around at the park around him.

Turning on the bench, he took in the little playground behind him and slid his sunglasses off of his face and letting them hang from the collar of his shirt. Was that Mack? The girl he hooked up with from Ropers?

She was sitting on another bench perpendicular to his and he checked his appearance in his iPhone before leashing up Zoey and Zora and walking over.

“May I share this bench with you?” He asked with a full on grin. Mackenzie looked up at him and she could swear she did a double take.

“Max,” she smiled. “Take a seat.” She crossed her legs and he took a moment to thoroughly enjoy her legs in the soft blue sundress and white sandals she wore. Max turned to ask her how he was when an earsplitting scream interrupted them

“Puppies!” A little blonde girl came running over, pouncing on Zoey who took the affection like a champ, sitting patiently as she crawled all over the dog that most likely weighed more than the little girl.

“Lulu, be nice, okay? They’re friendly, right?” Mack asked, looking to Max whose eyes were transfixed on the little blonde. He broke his gaze to look back to Mackenzie.

“Not at all, vicious killers.” He grinned at Mackenzie. “And what is your name ma petite?” He looked down at the little blonde who was giggling her head off at Zora’s cold nose pressing into her cheek.

“Lulu! Who are you?” She asked, making Max smile that ladykiller smile.

“Lu, this is my… friend Max.” Mackenzie smiled at her little girl who crawled up beside Max on the bench, swinging her feet in her little white sandals as the dogs sniffed and snuffed their snouts at her. “These your puppies?” She asked, stroking Zoey’s face. The dog’s tongue lolled out of it’s mouth happily.

“I’m watching ‘dem for a friend, actually. They seem to really like you.” Max encouraged, making the little blonde smile. Another woman who fell for Max’s charm.

“Mama!” She squealed as the bulldog began to lick up her little leg. Mackenzie flushed pink as Max looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, but a smile on his face nonetheless.

“Lulubell, no shouting, okay?” She asked. It was then that Max noticed that he wasn’t the only person on that bench who had an accent.

“Where are you from again?” He asked, fairly confident that he had asked her that question before but under much different circumstances.

“South Carolina.” She grinned, “a little more obvious in the daylight, huh?” She asked, the both of them laughing at her response. Max leaned back against the bench as he felt little hands on his thighs, Lulu was more than fine with crawling over him and settling herself between he and Mackenzie.

“Hi.” She giggled. Max cracked up into laughter and Mackenzie flushed pink at her daughter’s behavior. She was always interested in meeting people and making friends.

“Lulu, do you like ice cream?” Max asked, watching as her big blue eyes snapped up to Mackenzie.

“Yes.” She nodded enthusiastically. “My nails are pink.” She held up her tiny hands to Max who inspected her even tinier fingers.

“’Dose nails are quite pink. Did your Mama paint them?” He asked. Lulu shook her head in the negative.

“No, we went today to get our nails done, didn’t we, peapod?” She asked, fixing Lulu’s little blonde bangs. Lulu hopped off of the bench before running towards the slide.

“She’s fuckin’… I mean, sorry – I mean she’s really cute.” Max blushed, looking over to Mack. “Sorry for swearing.” He ducked his head.

“She’s pretty cute.” Mack nodded her head.

“Wish you woulda stuck around for a bit.” Max winked his blue eyes at Mack who instantly flushed red, his confidence gaining when he saw that her left ring finger was bare. “Could I buy you and your Lulu an ice cream perhaps?” He asked.

“Is that a good idea?” She asked, crossing her legs on the bench. “I mean, we essentially just met, wouldn’t it be a little – or really weird for you to buy my daughter and I some ice cream?” She asked.

“Well maybe I’ll just buy some ice cream for her then, no?” He asked, slipping on his sunglasses and standing from the bench. “Come on, I don’t want to have to guess at what flavor you want.” He'd done less for a phone number.

“Lulu bell, come on, Max is going to take us for a treat!” Mack called. The little blonde bounced over and asked Max if she could hold one of the dog’s leashes. Max grinned down at her as she took the leash in her hand and Zoey slowly walked alongside the toddler.

He’d thank Danny for letting him borrow the dogs later.