Page 97 of Stone Promises

“I looked at the apartment online. I’ll send you a link to it as soon as we hang up. Charlie said she would go down and walk through it with you today if you have time. The best part is that it’s a quick sale. The owner doesn’t even live there and wanted to unload it fast. We can even keep whatever furniture you want and replace the rest. He said we could move in right away and close at the end of the month.”

I smile from ear to ear. I know the apartment will be great, but I couldn’t care less what it looks like. I could live in a cardboard box with this man if it meant we’d be together. “We can move in next weekend?”

“I’ll fly in Friday. How does Friday night sound?”

Being without him is like missing a part of myself. I haven’t felt quite right. I feel like I’m a clock that has a broken second hand, and it just keeps ticking away in the same spot over and over. Nothing is the same when he’s not with me. I look down at the ring on my finger. The ring that says he’s mine. “I think Friday just might be my favorite day ever,” I say.

“I think we’re going to make so many favorite days you won’t be able to pick just one.”

God, this man.

“I love you, Chad Christopher.”

“I love you, Mallory Kate.”

~ ~ ~

I stand in the foyer and look around at the open-floorplan apartment. If I could put two words together, I might be able to thank Charlie for meeting me here. But I can’t. I thought Chad might feel inferior to his brother not being in the penthouse like Ethan is. But I can already see, the penthouse has nothing on this place.

“There are two bedrooms and an office down that hall,” says the manager who let us in. Then he points to another hallway off the living room. “The master suite is over there.” He hands me two Post-It note pads, one green and one red. “Put the green stickers on the furniture you want to keep and the red tags on the furniture you want gone. You can return the key to the concierge desk when you’re finished.”

I still can’t speak. I’m too busy taking in the twelve-foot ceilings, the quartz countertops, the incredible view.

“Thank you,” Charlie says to the manager before he closes the door behind us. She walks around in front of me, laughing. “Would it surprise you to know I had the same reaction when I first saw Ethan’s place? I believe I called him Richie Rich.”

I finally put my eyes back into my head and stare at her in confusion. “But you grew up with a famous mom, didn’t you live in places like this?”

She shakes her head sadly. “Besides her Oscars, my mother won the award for crappiest mom to ever live. And she pretty much snorted most of her earnings up her nose. So, no, I never knew what it was like to live like this. It’s one of the reasons I was eager to help out over at Hope.”

“Thank you for that,” I say. “I’m so relieved they didn’t have to find a replacement for me over the summer.”

“I’ll be happy to do it anytime. In fact, Piper and I liked it so much, we’re going to keep volunteering. And she’s been in contact with Mason’s people over at the Giants organization to see if they’ll sponsor a fundraiser.”

“Why would she do that for me? We don’t even know each other all that well.”

“She’s not doing it foryou, Mallory.”

The way Charlie looks at me makes me understand that maybe Piper has some deep dark secrets in her past, too. I’m beginning to think one way or another, we all do.

Charlie spends the next three hours going through all the rooms with me. I end up keeping most of the furniture with the exception of the master bedroom. I want our bed to be ours and only ours. The people who lived here have good taste. Modern-contemporary. I think it suits us.

“I can’t believe we’ll be neighbors,” I tell Charlie. “You know, I’ll babysit whenever you and Ethan need a break. I love kids. And Eli is adorable.”

“Thanks,” she says. “I might just take you up on that. Have you and Chad talked about kids yet?”

I shake my head, not wanting to reveal we’d talked about my teen pregnancy. “Not really. But I know he loves kids. He’s always holding babies of people he works with, and he can’t say enough about his nephew.”

“What about you?” Charlie asks. “Do you want them?”

I think about her question. “Oh, yes,” I say. “But until earlier this year, I never thought I’d have to even consider that possibility. I’d sworn off men.” I look down at my ring and twist it around on my finger. “And now here I am, engaged and moving in with Chad. I’m twenty-four years old, so I have plenty of time. But I guess when I really think about it, I would like to be a young mom like you. Maybe it’s because I lost my mother when I was seventeen and I would just want as much time with my kids as possible. So the earlier I have them . . . But I think Chad will probably want to wait because of his hectic schedule.”

“I think you will make a great mom, Mallory. No matter when you decide to have kids.”

“Thank you. I certainly have you as a role model.”

Charlie hugs me before we part ways. Then she goes back up to the penthouse, and I go down to return the key before going home to Kyle’s.

The walk back is about four blocks. Along the way, I realize that despite my earlier concerns, living in the city may just be the best place for us. New York is crowded and busy. People are always in a hurry and they rarely look at you much less make eye contact. It really is the best place to be anonymous, and that’s exactly what Chad needs.

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