Page 57 of Forever to Fall
CeCe jumped up to help with cleanup, but Evan stayed behind with Beckett. Slowly, he turned to see if his friend saw that interaction, but he was too busy frowning at his beer bottle. “Did you see they no longer brew this in Ohio? They’ve moved the brewery up to Michigan. That’s blasphemy.”
Beckett chuckled, both relieved and shocked at his friend’s lack of awareness. Maybe he and Mallory had nothing to worry about with the secret dating. If Evan missed his sister manhandling his best friendandfeeding him, they would probably be all right. Wouldn’t they?
CHAPTER 18
Good Lord, why didshe just hand-feed Beckett cheese and crackers? Was she insane? And then she decided to cover by spilling wine all over the table. Not only was that a waste of really good wine, but she knew CeCe was suspicious.
“Let me get a wet rag,” CeCe said as she fumbled with the sink’s faucet. “At least it’s white wine and won’t stain.”
“Thanks. I’m such a klutz.” And an idiot, but Mallory wouldn’t provide CeCe with more ammo.
CeCe raised an eyebrow, and Mallory wilted under her scrutiny. “Uh-huh.” The other woman wasn’t known for holding her tongue, and that was one of the reasons she loved her future sister-in-law. Evan didn’t get away with his nonsense. Unfortunately, it appeared that attitude translated to all Lawsons. “You want to tell me anything?” she asked, voice hushed.
“No.” Mallory flinched; her lie came too quickly to be genuine. To distract herself, she tidied a stack of already tidied napkins.
“Uh-huh,” CeCe repeated, her lips pressed in a suppressed smile. “You know what I love about you, Mal?”
“My ability to make a good cheese tray?”
CeCe nudged her with her elbow while she cleaned up the wine. Thankfully Beckett and Evan had migrated to the couch and were currently watching a baseball game. “Okay, I guess there’s two things.”
Mallory collected the dirty dishes and strode back in the kitchen, head held high like she wasn’t weighed down with secrets and lies. Why did she think she could handle this? They’d been in the presence of other people for less than thirty minutes before the secrets were exposed.
Struggling to distract CeCe, Mallory attempted a change in topic. “My ability to save lives under stressful situations?”
CeCe wrung out the towel in the sink before draping it over the spigot. “That’s worth an honorable mention.” Her lips quirked. “What I meant was that you’re the worst liar in the world. Like, it’s impressive how bad you are.” She turned to face Mallory, arms crossed over her chest. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing.” Mallory flinched again. She really was bad at this. “Just, uh, tired after a crazy stretch at work.” She flapped her hands in front of her, as if batting away the wildness of the week.
“Hmmm, are you sure it’s not from...” Her voice trailed off as she motioned toward the living room. True to form, Evan was yammering on about something that Beckett listened to intently, his head tipped in concentration.
“Beckett and I are just friends.” The statement landed with a thud between them, and Mallory knew the conversation was far from over.
CeCe picked up the bottle of wine and held it up to the light. “You boys don’t mind if I borrow Mallory? I’ve got some wedding stuff to discuss, and this wine is begging for some fresh air.” Not bothering to wait on a reply, CeCe looped her arm through Mallory’s and yanked her out onto the tiny balcony.
Mallory grabbed their glasses on the way past, shooting Beckett an expression she hoped wasn’t terrified. As soon as they were outside, CeCe pulled the door closed and topped off both glasses.
