Page 6 of Half Baked

“Mallory says she has an appointment at one.”

My chest tightened. “Is Mallory going with her?”

“Nope,” he said in a breezy tone. “She took off yesterday, so Maddie refused to let her ask for more hours off today.”

“What about Margarete?” She’d been Deidre’s next-door neighbor for decades and was more like family. She often took care of Deidre when Maddie needed help.

He turned serious. “She’s going alone.”

That was like an arrow to my heart, but I also knew there was a purpose to this discussion other than an FYI. “Are you suggesting I go on the tour with her?”

He jutted back his head and lifted his hands. “I never said that.”

“That’s what you’re hinting at.”

He turned to me, all joking gone. “Look, I know your family did a number on you at Christmas, and it messed you up again.” He tilted his head toward me. “But by distancing yourself from Maddie, don’t you see that you’re letting them win?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” But his suggestion hit closer to home than I would have liked. “She can do better than me.”

“Yeah,” he said, back to his amused tone. “Iknowshe can. But for some damn reason, she wantsyou. And seeing how she’s a grown woman, perhaps you should let her decide what’s good for her, notyou.”

I sat back in my seat, mulling over his words.

“You can make it on time, you know,” he said, lifting a foot and propping it on my dashboard. “You have about an hour to get there on time.”

I shot him an irritated look, for both the foot and the suggestion. “I’m the last person she wants to see.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

“She’s got to be pissed at me.” Not that I could blame her.

He sighed and dropped his foot. “Not pissed, Noah. Disappointed. Hurt, but not pissed.” He grinned. “If anyone’s pissed at you, it’s Mallory. The next time you see her, I can’t promise you’ll leave with all your parts.”

A lump filled my throat, not because I was terrified of Mallory’s rage—which I was, by the way, any smart man would be. I found myself saying something I never would have admitted to him two months ago. “I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have.”

He turned to me and gave me a sad smile. “Dude, you’re your own worst enemy. Quit overthinking it and just be with her.”

“We still have things we need to work out. Like having kids. I’m still not sure I want them, and she definitely does.”

“So work them out as you go. You admitted that you’re open to reconsidering that.” He paused. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do—”

I snorted.

He held up his hands. “Okay, I guess I am. But it comes from a place of love. For both of you.”

He sat back in this seat and stared out the window again.

We watched the building in silence for several seconds before I said, “Seems like you need to take your own advice.”

He burst out laughing. “Are you talking about Mallory?”

“Who else?” The two of them had spent New Year’s Eve together, and they’d promptly stopped talking. I wasn’t sure what had happened, only that something had. “I thought you two weren’t speaking. How’d this conversation about Maddie take place?”

He shrugged, looking nonchalant. “She keeps me informed about important things.”

“So there’s nothing between you two?” I didn’t usually get involved like this, but I figured it was fair game since he wasn’t going easy on me either.

He shrugged and said lightheartedly, “I’m ready for a relationship with her. The next move is hers.”

---