Page 29 of Stone Promises

I nod regretfully. I remember every promise I ever made to her. “I also promised I’d never leave you.”

“Yeah, well in your defense, you couldn’t help breaking that promise. You were only sixteen when your parents moved. It’s not like you had a choice in the matter.”

“No, I didn’t,” I say. “But just because I left you geographically, didn’t mean I had to leave you emotionally.”But I couldn’t bear for you to see me like that.“Do you remember the other promise? The one we made at your aunt’s wedding?”

She laughs. “I had forgotten about that one,” she says, bashfully.

Mallory was fourteen and I was fifteen when we went to her Aunt Marie’s wedding reception. There were a lot of single middle-aged people there getting drunk and hitting on each other. We thought it was pathetic and we promised we’d never let it happen to us. We made a pact to get married if both of us were still single when she turned thirty. I pretend to check my watch. “If I’m correct, I have about six more years to fulfill that promise.”

“You can’t say things like that, Chad,” she says, getting up and walking back to the railing. “I’m not even sure we qualify as friends anymore.” She waves her hand around at our surroundings. “This is all just a favor.”

“Do you want to know why I wouldn’t tell the Santa Monica Pier story in there?”

She stares blankly at me and then shrugs a shoulder.

“I wouldn’t tell the story because Icouldn’ttell it. I don’t remember it. I was cranked out of my mind. All I know is what Kyle has told me. And it involves something about a Ferris wheel and me sneaking in after closing to scale it. So if you don’t mind, I’d like not to ruin what has been a pretty great night by telling you other stories about how badly I fucked up back then and the other people I hurt.”

She looks down at the ground. “Fair enough,” she says. “Maybe we’ve shared enough for one night.”

“You look like you’re freezing.” I stand up and offer her my hand. “Let’s get you inside.”

Mallory looks appalled when we join the others. “I’m a terrible guest,” she says to Charlie, eyeing the cleaned up table. “I’m sorry for not helping you clear the dishes.”

“Don’t be,” Charlie says. “The guys took care of it.” She pours Mallory another glass of wine. “So you teach fourth grade. That sounds very rewarding.”

Mallory’s eyes light up. “Oh, yes. It is. I love teaching. But my most rewarding job is the one I don’t get paid for. I volunteer at a place called Hope For Life.”

I ignore my brothers as I listen intently to the conversation the girls are having. Mallory tells her all about her charity work. Not that I’m surprised. Mal was always helping people when we were kids. She would run a lemonade stand and give all the profits—all twenty dollars of it—to some cause benefitting underprivileged kids.

“Would you mind if I tag along with you one night?” Charlie asks her. “I’d love to see what kind of work you do there.”

“Really?” Mallory asks, surprised. “I mean, yes, of course they’d love to have you.” She pulls a piece of paper out of her purse and scribbles something on it. “I volunteer every Tuesday night. Call me if you want to go sometime.”

I look at the clock on the wall, disappointed because I know the night must come to an end. Mallory has to get up early for her job. “I’d better get the teacher home,” I tell the group. “It is a school night, you know.”

I pull out my phone to text Cole. Mallory questions me with her eyes. “I’m asking Cole to bring the car around.”

“Does he go everywhere with you?” she asks. “Will he accompany you to Vancouver?”

I’m amused she knows where I’m headed after New York City. Maybe she follows my career after all. Or maybe she just heard Kendra talking about it. “No, he doesn’t go everywhere with me, but Kendra thought I’d need him here in the city. She wants me to hire him permanently.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” she says.

“Why?”

“I like knowing you’re safe.”

I can’t help the smile that overtakes my face. She knows where I’m going next. She wants me safe. I feel like I’ve won the fucking lottery and Mallory is the grand prize.

We say our goodbyes and then Kendra joins us in the elevator for the ride down to brief me on tomorrow’s schedule, reminding me of my meeting with my manager first thing in the morning. The elevator doors open and we walk out, only to find said manager standing in the building lobby. “It looks like someone can’t wait that long,” I say to Kendra. “What brings you here this late, Paul?”

He looks at Mallory as if she’s an annoyance. “What brings me here?” He pulls out his iPad and shows me a picture.Shit. It’s a picture of me leaving Mallory’s school today. The school name is clearly visible in the background. “Care to explain this?”

Kendra takes the iPad and examines the picture, reading the article underneath that says something about me making a surprise visit. “You visited a school today?”

“Doesshehave anything to do with this?” Paul asks, finally acknowledging Mallory.

“She has a name, Paul.” I turn to Mallory. “Mallory Schaffer, this is my manager, Paul Quinn.”

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