Mack shrugged. “I’ve talked to Drew about it several times. He says that Adam can’t stand to see me happy.”
“And his last wife, Charlene?”
“That’s on him. She was Natalie’s third cousin. He met her at the wedding, and he divorced Natalie six months after they were married. He and Charlene got married a few months after that,” Mack said. “He’s always been the good-lookin’ twin, the one that could get any woman he wanted. I’ll never understand why he had to take away my happiness.”
“How can you even stand to be in the same room with him?” Lily asked.
“He’s my brother, and he has a problem. I can’t fix it, but I can’t seem to cut ties with him, either,” Mack replied.
“My sister and I got along well before she died, but then we were both really young. Sometimes I wonder if we’d have bickered like Braden and Holly if she’d lived longer than eight years. I was only five that year and just remember being lost without her. I admire you for continuing to be a brother to him after the way—” She stopped and stammered, “Do you think he was flirting with me because he thinks we are . . .”
“Probably, but then, you are a beautiful woman, Lily, and more likely, he simply couldn’t help himself,” Mack said.
“Well, I don’t like him, never have, not even in high school. I’m sorry to say that about your brother, but I don’t,” she said.
“I don’t like him most of the time, either, but I love him because he’s my brother. When I was so mad at him for what he did with Brenda and then again with Natalie, it brought on a guilt trip because we’re supposed to love our siblings. I’ve come to realize that you can love someone but not like them,” Mack said.
“Was Adam like that as a little boy? Did he always want your toys?” Lily immediately felt like a therapist again.
“Oh, yeah”—Mack nodded—“and our mother’s attention. He had to be number one, no matter what it took. He couldn’t stand it because I was close to Dad. He thought he’d won another feather for his cap when our folks moved to San Antonio to be close to Dad’s Alzheimer’s doctor. I guess Adam thought since Dad wasn’t in the goat business anymore that he would finally be number one with him, too.” Mack paused. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. You’ll think I’m a big pushover.”
Lily’s heart went out to Mack. “I don’t think that at all, but why didn’t you stand up to him?”
“I got tired of the constant fighting. Besides, what did a toy matter? It wasn’t until Brenda and Natalie that I realized he had this uncontrollable urge to take everything from me. The crazy thing was that I thought he deserved it. After all, he was the pretty one. He was the athletic son and the charismatic twin,” Mack answered. “When he took away not one but two of my girlfriends, that’s when I stopped giving in. It’s when I figured out that in my own right I’m equal to him, and I got comfortable in my own skin. It’s been tough on him ever since.”
“Sounds to me like Adam has NPD, but until he realizes that he has a problem and gets some help, it’s not going to go away,” Lily said.
“I’d forgotten that you were a therapist.” Mack grinned and asked, “What exactly does that mean?”
“School counselor to begin with, and then a therapist. I’m not a psychologist or psychiatrist,” she replied, “and NPD stands for narcissistic personality disorder. It means that he’s got exaggerated feelings of self-importance, a need for self-admiration, and a lack of empathy. People with that problem spend too much time worrying about success in everything, as well as their personal appearance. They tend to take advantage of the people around them. The problem usually starts early in childhood. He should’ve had some kind of therapy when he was a little boy.”
“How do I help him now?” Mack asked.
Lily just shook her head. Mack was truly a good brother if he’d taken that kind of abuse all those years and still wanted to help his twin.
“He’d have to agree to therapy and be willing to admit he had a problem, and then he could work on making changes,” Lily answered.
“I don’t see that happening. What causes this disorder anyway?” Mack asked.