Page 37 of Forever to Fall
“We need to find you guys good people. It kills me that my two favorite people are so unlucky in love.”
You don’t know the half of it,Beckett wanted to scream. “Yeah, I guess.”
Evan wasn’t done with his argument. A man so clearly in love he wanted to share the joy with everyone. Any other time Beckett would enjoy it, but now it felt as cloying as a peanut butter sandwich without milk. “No, I mean it. We need to find you someone, Foxy. You’re a catch, and I’m sure there’s a girl who will treat you right.”
“Yeah,” Beckett sighed.
“Now that the cat’s out of the bag, let me check with CeCe. She’s got some single friends out there.” He paused a moment and added, “Well, not in town but out in the world.”
Repeating their familiar dating conversation before coffee knocked the wind from Beckett’s sails. “Lawless, don’t worry about it.”
“You say that, but I hate to see you by yourself.” Evan’s words were like a shove to the chest, and he knew his friend didn’t know how true his words really were.
“I’m not alone.”
“I thought you weren’t seeing anyone?” Evan persisted; his normal golden retriever personality morphed into a German shepherd on the case.
“No, I’m not seeing anyone. But that doesn’t mean I’m looking. When I’m ready to start dating, you’ll be the first person I tell. Okay?”
“Fine, I’ll drop it for now. But you need to bring a date to the wedding festivities. CeCe and I want a short engagement, so chop chop, Foxy.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Beckett disconnected and tossed the phone onto the table. It landed with a sad thud, but he didn’t care.
Just as he pulled himself to his feet, he caught the reflection of Mallory in the kitchen window. The happy, rosy demeanor from the night before was replaced with an ashen expression. “Not seeing anyone?” she asked, hands balled into fists at her sides.
Beckett blanched, feeling caught in a trap like a hunted rabbit. “Mal, come on. What was I supposed to say?”
“How about the truth?”
“What? ‘Sorry Lawless, your sister’s been here nursing me back to health. I hope you don’t mind us fooling around behind your back for the last decade.”
Mallory’s gaze fell to the floor. “That’s all this is to you, a little fooling around?”
“What? No, look, you didn’t hear me right.” He was blowing this, and somehow worse than he ever had before. “I just mean that I’m not going to break the news to Evan over the phone. I need to come up with a plan.”
Mallory tossed her hands in the air and groaned. “We, Beckett.Weshould tell him together. There doesn’t need to be a grand plan. Why does this need to be so complicated?”
“Because I don’t want to lose my best friend, okay?”
Stumbling back, Mallory gripped the edge of the counter to steady herself. He took a step toward her, but she shook her head. “Don’t touch me,” she warned, and Beckett froze.
“Mal, I—”
“No, I’m done.”
White-hot fear surged through Beckett as bile crept up his throat. The last time he’d felt this level of panic was their last day in the orchard, and he wasn’t sure he could survive it twice. He forced himself to ask the question he didn’t want to ask. “Done with what?”
“With this,” she said on a sigh. It was a tired sigh, the sigh of a woman who’d been passed through the wringer one too many times. He hated that he’d been the man to make her this tired. “I’m going to go.” She spun on her heels and ran upstairs. He heard the bathroom door shut before he’d made it to the base of the stairs.
Just as he started the climb on his good foot, she appeared in her rumpled scrubs. Her blue eyes shone with tears and her chin trembled.
“Mal, please wait.”
His request was obviously the wrong one, as she pushed past him to the living room. She grabbed her purse and phone and shook her head. “I’m done waiting, Beckett. I’m done being your dirty secret when you have nothing better to do. I literally cannot take this anymore.”
“I just need a little more time,” he pleaded, running to her as fast as his ankle would allow. Pain shot up his leg, but Beckett didn’t care. All that mattered at that moment was getting Mallory to stay, to hear him out.
“More time for what?” she countered.
