Page 65 of Forever to Fall
“Huh?” Emily asked, completely unaware of her sister’s predicament.
“Sorry, it’s Fernando. We’re having a battle of wills, and I think he’s winning.”
Her sister laughed. “I don’t know why you keep that animal in your house. He’s a menace.”
“He’s a sweetheart, and if I wouldn’t have taken him they were going to put him down.”
Emily muttered, “Still could,” before changing the subject. “Anyway, back to this weekend and the engagement party.”
Mallory tied off her braid and dusted her face with powder while Emily droned on with logistics of how certain relatives were getting to the party. By the time she was walking to her car, she had a mug of coffee in one hand, her purse in the other, and her phone wedged between her ear and shoulder. She’d probably require another visit to the chiropractor, but that was a problem that would have to wait.
When the car turned on, Mallory set up Bluetooth and pulled into traffic. “What else do you need for the weekend? I’ll be at work soon.” Deftly avoiding a cyclist, Mallory groaned when she saw she was running late.
“I’ll be quick. My first question, have you told Evan about Nana’s ring?”
The question caused Mallory’s foot to slip on the pedal and the car lurched forward. After spewing her favorite profanities into the world, Mallory rallied. “Are you trying to cause an accident? God, Em. No, I haven’t. The ring is a non-issue. It’s on CeCe’s finger, end of story.”
“Pfft, hardly. Evan needs to know how you feel.”
Mallory rolled her eyes, delighting that her sister couldn’t flick her for her rudeness. “Oh yeah, great idea. Let me just upset him right before his engagement dinner.”
Not skipping a beat, Emily soldiered on. “Speaking of upsetting Evan, I heard you’re bringing Beckett as your date.”
This time Mallory narrowly avoided hitting a pickup truck as she merged onto the highway. The other driver slowed down long enough to flip her the bird before speeding away. She couldn’t blame him. “Yeah, I’m not going there now. We’re going as friends.”
Emily was incredulous, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Really? Then I’ll also drop my fifteen pounds of baby weight by Saturday. Easy peasy.”
“You look lovely, let’s not start that conversation again.” Emily had the body of a super model, and since giving birth to Tyson she’d filled out and looked like one of the Amazonian women fromWonder Woman. Somehow those genes completely skipped over Mallory, stupid heredity.
Finally, Mallory arrived at the hospital and parked close to the entrance. “I’m at work and really have to go. I’ll be sure to text Aunt Lucy the directions to the diner, don’t worry about that.”
“You’re the best,” Emily quipped. “And I’ll make sure to remind you to tell Evan the truth. Love you.” And with that, her very unhelpful sister hung up on her.
Mallory threw her head back and blinked back frustrated tears. Perhaps if she just centered herself, she wouldn’t explode in the middle of the hospital parking garage?
Her musings were interrupted by a knock on the door that caused her to jump and hit the horn. Janis sprang backward, covering her chest with her hand. “Sorry, Mallory. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
Mallory grabbed her bags and joined her coworker on the way inside. “No worries, Jan. Sorry to scare you. I’m in my own head this morning.”
This was what she needed, a neutral party who didn’t know a damn thing about her family, Beckett, or the ring. Yet no sooner were they inside when Janis burst her bubble. “No worries, Hun. I heard from Harold Meyer that the engagement party is this weekend. He mentioned you’re bringing that cute redhead from the ladder accident?”
Mallory’s feet skittered on the tiled floor, and she almost knocked over a patient’s IV pole. “What?”
Janis frowned. “I might have misunderstood.”
Mallory led the way to the break room where they stashed their purses and washed their hands. “No, you heard correctly. I just didn’t realize the party’s host’s father-in-law would be giving a play-by-play of my dating life.”
Janis held the door open with her elbow and scoffed. “Oh, come on, we all saw how Mr. Fox looked at you. He’s smitten.”
The earth tilted under Mallory, and she had to focus on breathing. If a random acquaintance knew of her and Beckett, then what hope did they have of keeping it a secret any longer? She needed to find Beckett and change their plan. They couldn’t wait until after the party. It was too risky.
But all her plans of making this right evaporated at the first code red of the shift. Fourteen hours later Mallory pulled out of the parking garage weighed down with fatigue. When she arrived at home and found Beckett inside playing with Fernando and a pair of French bread pizzas in the oven, she didn’t have the energy to plan. All Mallory wanted was a night of peace with the man she loved. Was that too much to ask?
