Page 9 of Forever to Fall
Glancing back down to his breakfast, Beckett struggled to stay in the moment. He wanted to engage with Evan, but his thoughts kept going back to Mallory. Even the chocolate in the pancakes reminded him of her sweet tooth, and how her chocolatey hair always curled in the summer humidity. He used to keep a stash of hair bands in his car for when they’d hang out. Within ten minutes of leaving the house, she’d begin fumbling for something to keep her hair off her neck. In a matter of moments, she’d braid her hair or twist it into an intricate pattern. He didn’t know if she never noticed he had them at the ready, but he hoped she did.
“So how was breakfast?” Evan asked, finally drawing him back to the moment. He dropped a paper bag on the table, the smell made Beckett drool.
Beckett wiped at his face again, fruitlessly trying to get at the chocolate clinging to his stubbled cheek. “Delicious. You’ve got yourself a keeper, Lawless.”
Evan’s smile lit up the whole diner. “Don’t I know it.” Ah, the look of a man in love. Beckett hoped to someday have a smile like that on his face, but he wasn’t going there now. “Take these muffins with you. CeCe is experimenting again.”
“Twist my arm.” Beckett snickered, knowing those muffins would be gone in no time. “Where’s a good place to grab some groceries? As much as I love living off muffins and pancakes, I need real food too.”
“You’ll want to swing by the corner market,” Evan offered. He gestured toward the exit and added, “Turn right out of the lot and follow Main Street for about a half mile. You can’t miss it.”
After pulling out his wallet, Beckett tossed a few bills on the table and snatched his to-go bag. “Thank CeCe for a wonderful breakfast and these muffins.”
Evan came out from behind the counter and they shared a one-armed hug before Beckett stepped back outside. Seeing his friend had shaken him from his stupor, and he was glad to have him so close again. After Gramps, Evan was one of his favorite people.
As he pulled his car into the market’s parking lot, he tried not to think about his other favorite person. But it was no use, Mallory was never far from his thoughts. In fact, she was so entrenched in his head that he thought he saw her walking out of the market, but that couldn’t be. Was Buckeye Falls really that small? What were the odds they’d see each other now?
Apparently pretty good, he surmised as she headed toward the same car from the diner’s parking lot. She stalked forward with purpose, steering a small shopping cart. Beckett had a choice to make. He could duck behind another car and hide like a coward, or he could man up and walk over to her. Taking a deep breath, Beckett took one small step toward his future.
CHAPTER 3
––––––––
If Mallory had a greatguilty pleasure in her life, it would probably be celebrity gossip magazines. She could not get enough of them, and yet she hated herself for loving them. If her time binge reading Prince Harry’s memoir was any indication, people like her were definitely a problem. But as she stood in the market’s checkout line, she couldn’t help but smile at all the fanciful headlines in front of her.
Reaching out, she snagged her favorite titles and tossed them onto the belt. While she was at it, she added a Three Musketeers bar for good measure. No reason to deprive herself when she was feeling a little lost. Mallory wouldn’t say she was depressed, but she was certainly listless. Evan’s pending engagement was simultaneously exciting and devastating. She wanted nothing but a happily ever after for Evan and CeCe, but she flinched when she thought of never getting Nana’s ring.
Flexing her hand, she missed the weight of something that had truly never been hers. Why was she moping around about that when there were real problems in the world? Like the fact that Billboard’s top performer just got divorced from her bodybuilding husband? Surely that warranted more sympathy than Mallory’s circumstances?
After thanking the clerk, Mallory pushed her cart into the parking lot, keeping her gaze down. Running errands after work wasn’t ideal, especially when she was this tired. But the notion of going home to change and then having to leave the comfort of her place felt just as draining. So when she finished with her Alice time, she’d decided to forgo vanity in the name of grocery shopping. It wasn’t like she would see anyone else she knew. Even Buckeye Falls wasn’t that small.
Yet as she opened her trunk and started putting her bags inside, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She was being watched. Standing up too quickly, her head hit the back of the trunk and she let out a muffled profanity. “Geez,” she muttered as she rubbed the tender spot. A tiny welt had already formed, and she chastised her carelessness.
Before she turned around, a hand patted her shoulder and time stood still. That was a familiar touch, a touch weighed down with memories, a touch she thought she’d never feel again.
Beckett.
