Page 4 of Forever to Fall
Shaking his head, Beckett feared the old man had lost it. “I don’t have a girl, Gramps.” Beckett hadn’t even had a date in over two years. From Gramps’s diagnosis and treatments to working overtime to pay all the bills, he barely had time to catch up with friends let alone find a girlfriend. Well, and there was the other reason, but he wasn’t dwelling on that now.
“Don’t play coy with your old grandfather,” he’d chided. “We all know you do.”
Forcing out a laugh, Beckett tried to lighten the mood. “I want to know what new meds Nurse Flannery is giving you, because I want some. It doesn’t seem fair that you get all the fun.” He winked, feeling anything but playful.
“I’m talking about the Lawson girl,” Gramps said with more force than Beckett had heard in months.
Color drained from Beckett’s face at the mention of Mallory. To say he hadn’t thought about her in a while was a lie; a lie so big it threatened to consume him. But he wouldn’t stew on that now. Barely able to speak, he asked, “What do you mean?”
Emerald eyes staring into his soul, his grandfather confirmed Beckett’s suspicions. “Mallory, of course. I want you to find her and figure it out.”
“Figure it out?”
Gramps nodded vehemently.
“Gramps, Mallory is a friend, not theNew York TimesSunday crosswords.” The term friend did not fit Mallory. For starters, they hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in ages, not since his grandmother’s funeral when he’d mucked it all up.
When college was done, both went in search of their own futures. The biggest reason they hadn’t seen each other was because of who Mallory was—his best friend’s sister. He would never do anything to jeopardize his friendship with Evan, even if it did break his heart. But that didn’t mean Beckett didn’t screw things up when he had the chance, a reality he was still trying to avoid.
What didn’t make sense now was Gramps’s insistence that he find Mallory. To his knowledge, he’d never shared his true feelings about her to anyone, least of all his grandfather. Pulling himself to standing, Beckett stepped back toward the door. “I’m going to find your afternoon pills, okay?”
“You can find all you want, but you must listen to me. I don’t have a lot of time left, but I need to know you’re taken care of.”
Misunderstanding, Beckett gestured over his shoulder to his grandfather’s desk. Stacked neatly in the center of the desktop were stacks of legal documents. Everything from his will to his bank statements were morbidly stacked and filed, ready for the old man’s demise. “I have everything sorted out with your attorney. Remember, Gramps?”
Raising his hand and slapping the top of his mattress, his grandfather grew agitated. “I’m dying, I’m not senile. I know all the legal stuff is sorted. What I’m talking about, son, is love. You need to follow your heart and get your girl.”
“Gramps, I—” Beckett’s voice faltered. He had no idea how long his grandfather had known his feelings for Mallory. Worse yet, he didn’t know if that meant everyone knew.
“Your grandmother saw it first, back when you were children.” Resting his head back on his pillows, Gramps stared up at the ceiling as if watching a movie, his eyes darting all over the exposed beams. “I remember she found you two playing out back, holding hands and singing a little song. She told me you’d met your soulmate, and I wasn’t going to argue.”
His grandfather’s story shook Beckett, who stumbled back to his perch on the edge of the bed. “Soulmate?”
Cutting his hand through the air, the older man continued. “Your Gram, bless that woman, was a romantic. When we met after the war, she said she knew we were meant to be.” He stopped his story long enough to shake his head and smile. “That woman knew more about me in five minutes of meeting than I did about myself in the first twenty years of my life. Here I was, back from Vietnam and ready to live again. I didn’t want a wife and kids, but bless her, she knew we were meant to be.”
“You and Gram were amazing together,” Beckett said, trying to keep the subject on track. But it was no use. Gramps was on a mission.
“So as I was saying, you need to ask your friend Evan for Mallory’s number. Cut the crap and get your girl. Life is short, son. I want to die knowing you are taken care of, and she is the one who will do the best job.”
“This isn’t an interview, it’s real life. And I’m not even sure she wants to see me.” That statement made Beckett’s skin crawl; worse than the time he’d walked through a massive spider’s web in the barn. Mindlessly, he’d pawed at his skin to shake the sensation.
As Gramps closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, he muttered, “Life is only sweet because you share it with your person.”
Those words rang through Beckett’s head on a loop for a month until Gramps finally passed. They clanged around his skull now, too, as he sat with Evan in his new apartment. Lost in his musings, Beckett had missed something Evan had said.
“I’m sorry, man. What did you say?”
Evan drained his beer then placed the bottle on a stack of boxes. “I said, I want to ask a favor.”
Beckett snorted. “Considering you just spent your day off helping me unload a moving truck, I can’t really say no.”
Evan grinned, one of Beckett’s favorite sights. His buddy was like a golden retriever in human form, always happy and always willing to help. If he had a tail, it would doubtlessly wag every minute of every day. He loved the guy like a brother, like family. “I’m going to ask CeCe to marry me, and I’d like you to be my best man.”
His beer forgotten, Beckett leaned over to clap his friend on the back. “Oh, wow, congratulations. Of course, I’ll be your best man. When are you popping the question?”
Evan slumped with relief at his friend’s eager agreement. “Not sure, but soon. I’ve been talking to Mal about it, but I haven’t decided on the perfect proposal yet.”
The mention of Mallory spiked Beckett’s blood pressure, and he had to look away. His cheeks flushed so hot, the wall paper threatened to melt off the walls. Damn his pasty Irish ancestors for blessing him with fiery red hair and skin as white as Wonder Bread. Surely Evan could see what mentions of Mallory did to him. He might as well wear a neon sign professing his love for his best friend’s sister.Nothing to see here, folks. I’m just drowning in my love for Mallory Lawson.
