Page 24 of Forever to Fall
“So who is she?” Evan raised an eyebrow, eager for the answer.
“What? No, I’m not seeing anyone. But...”
“Good. If you’re not seeing anyone, CeCe and I have some options.”
“Options?” Anxiety swirled through his core, his mouth going dry.
Evan ran a hand through his blond hair, a rogue curl falling back over his forehead. He always managed to look boyish and perfectly disheveled. It was probably one of the reasons he dated a lot more in high school than Beckett. The broad-chested blond guy on the baseball team was a lot hotter than a gangly ginger with glasses who tended to hide in the library or play video games and could never get beyond being the team’s bench warmer. But he wasn’t complaining. Beckett knew who he was and rolled with it. Besides, he could tell tonight that Mallory wasn’t complaining either.
Mallory. Just thinking about her brought heat to his cheeks. Beckett was grateful for the evening lighting, otherwise, Evan would grow suspicious. He turned into a walking carrot when he blushed. If he had a nickel for every Carrot Top comparison he’d received over the years, he could have retired before graduating from college.
Evan continued, completely unaware of his inner turmoil. “CeCe has a few friends that might be good wedding dates, but of course, I haven’t asked her yet since I...”
Beckett gleefully interrupted, “Since you still need to pop the question?”
“Haha. I need to find the right time. I want it all to be perfect.”
This was it—Beckett’s chance to say something about the ring, or at least get Evan off his back with setting him up. “It will be perfect, Lawless. You’ll find the perfect moment.”
Evan scratched his chin, brow furrowed in concentration. “I think I need to propose in Buckeye Falls. This is our home. It’s where all our memories are. It feels right.”
“Then I think you have yourself a plan.”
“I do, and we’ll find you a date, Foxy.” Evan unlocked the door and shot his friend a thumbs-up. “This may be a small town, but there’s some cute girls.”
The words burned the tip of his tongue,I don’t need to find cute girls—I’ve foundthegirl.But apparently, he was a coward, because Beckett shrugged and pulled himself out of the car.
“Pop the question first, then we’ll worry about the rest.” He winked at his friend before closing the door. Evan honked the horn before driving back down the road, leaving Beckett with a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He needed to figure out a few things, and they all had to do with Mallory. They’d wasted so much time, and Beckett was ready to make a move and put the past behind them. But he needed to figure out the best way to tell Evan.
Having lost Gramps, Beckett couldn’t handle losing the other two people that meant the most to him. Certainly a good friend would be happy for him if he and Mallory finally got together, or this could blow up in his face and he’d be no one’s best man—no one’s anything.
Beckett hardly slept that night, competing thoughts of the Lawson clan zipping through his head. On one hand, he wanted Mallory more than he wanted his next breath. The older he got, the more he wanted a partner by his side. Coming home to an empty place grew tiresome, and he didn’t want to miss the best years of his life—the potential best years oftheirlives. Throw in Gramps’s confession and dying wish, and he was about to go out of his mind.
But then there was Evan. The guy had been his best friend forever, and he couldn’t stand the notion of a life without his buddy. Evan would understand, right? The man was a walking advertisement for love, so maybe this was the right time to share the truth.
Morning came with no solutions to his problems, so Beckett decided a change of scenery was in order. Sliding behind the wheel, he drove the forty minutes to the farm house. Maybe a day of manual labor would put his head straight. Perhaps strolling through the rows of trees he’d known since boyhood would shift his perspective? Or he could finally fix some of the loose boards and planks on the house? No matter what he’d do at the house, he knew he needed to be there. The memories would be painful, but the pain reminded him he was alive.
Frankly, something had to give. Beckett didn’t know how much more he could take.
