8. Harrison #2
Reconciling the quiet strength and compassion of the online presence he knew as MalloryBakes with the irrepressible young woman he was getting to know in person felt almost impossible.
“Hey,” he said, turning back to her.
“Come on back,” she said with a smile. “I need your help with something, if you have a sec.”
“Oh, okay,” he replied, completely unsurprised to find himself instantly following her like a giant puppy, even though he had just reminded himself that he should let her be.
“Where’s Katie?” she asked.
“She’s at the center with Amelia,” he told her, still in awe about it. “They’re watching a movie.”
“Very nice,” she said, looking really pleased, like she knew what a big deal that was. “I’m trying out some new scone recipes and I need a tiebreaker vote on the winner.”
Her voice was so light and happy that he couldn’t help but feel a little brighter just being in her orbit.
“A signature scone,” he said, nodding. A holiday scone would be a great calling card for the bakery.
“We’ll see you later,” the girl with the bob cut said, winking at Mallory and not sparing even a glance at Harrison as she headed out of the bakery.
“See you tomorrow,” the girl with the long, dark hair added with a shy smile, following.
“You guys don’t have to go,” Mallory said, her eyes widening. “He’s just here to try the samples.”
“Mm-hm,” the bob girl said, a little smile on her pressed-together lips as she continued down the block.
“Really, Valerie,” Mallory said. But her friend didn’t even turn around.
It surprised Harrison that a down-to-earth person like Mallory would be friends with someone who seemed so standoffish.
“My mom’s waiting with Theo,” the dark-haired girl said apologetically, as she headed off in the other direction.
“Bye, Ana,” Mallory said to her.
Mallory stepped back inside and Harrison followed, enjoying the warmth and the delicious smells as much as he had the first time. He wondered if Mallory ever got used to it.
“I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly. “I didn’t meant to run your friends off.”
“I think they want us to be alone together,” Mallory said with a crooked smile. “Or they don’t.”
“You don’t know which?” he asked her, frowning. They were her friends, shouldn’t they feel free to tell her their opinion?
“It’s… complicated,” she said, her eyes dancing.
“Okay,” he said, trying to focus on what she was saying instead of getting lost in those dancing green eyes.
“I mean, it’s not that complicated,” she sighed, lowering herself into a seat at the table where they’d all been sitting before he came along.
He sat opposite her, keeping his mouth shut and hoping she would share more. Those friendships were obviously important to her. She had mentioned her friends so many times in their chats online. He would have to understand the two women and somehow secure their approval, if he wanted…
If you wanted what? a little voice in the back of his head demanded. What could someone like you want from her?
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Listen,” she said, leaning forward. “I guess you’ll hear it someplace else if you haven’t already. There was this guy… that I liked.”
“Okay,” Harrison said, nodding and leaning forward to show he was listening, though the mere mention of a guy she liked made his stomach twist.
“He’s my brother’s best friend,” she said, looking miserable. “I guess it was just a childhood crush. He never saw me as anything but Dean’s baby sister. But I guess I always hoped he would wake up and notice me one day.”
Harrison nodded. He couldn’t believe any man alive wouldn’t notice her, but he certainly couldn’t say that without giving his own thoughts away.
“Anyway,” she said, shaking her head. “That obviously didn’t happen. He asked another girl to marry him this week.”
“Oh,” Harrison said. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”
And he was sorry for anything that might make Mallory sad.
Though he couldn’t seem to repress a zing of satisfaction in his chest at knowing this other man was off the market.
“Do you want to know the worst part?” she said sadly.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m making their wedding cake,” she said, shaking her head and looking down at her hands. “And Julie’s got really good taste. It’s probably going to be the most beautiful, delicious cake I’ve ever baked.”
“Wow,” Harrison said. “That’s rough.”
“I took it pretty hard at first,” Mallory said, nodding.
“But then, I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like he and I ever dated.
I’m not actually in love with him. It really was just a crush.
And it does mean a lot that they want me to make the cake.
I’m still just his best friend’s baby sister.
But he’s trusting me to make something that’s really important to them. ”
Harrison nodded, impressed with her perspective. This was more like the wise soul he’d been getting to know online.
“I was thinking about it last night, and I think what’s really painful is that everyone knows I liked him and he didn’t choose me,” she said, shrugging. “But I can’t change that. So, yes, I’m humiliated. But I’m not heartbroken. And as soon as I put that together I knew I would be okay.”
“I’m so glad, Mallory,” Harrison said softly.
His hand moved across the table to take hers without him making a conscious decision to do it.
Her hand was so soft and warm in his. A funny little tingle rushed from the place where they touched all the way up his arm and danced in his heart.
He wanted to crush her whole body to his chest, bury his fingers in her fiery hair, and whisper to her how beautiful she was and how deserving of love and happiness.
“Thank you,” she said softly, her eyes on their hands.
They were silent for a moment and it took everything he had not to do or say something that would give him away. The poor girl was getting over something. He had no idea why his own broken heart was suddenly doing cartwheels in his chest after years in hibernation.
“So your friends are feeling protective over you now?” he offered softly, hoping to get her talking again so he could get out of his own head.
“Yeah,” she said with a smile. “They definitely are. So when they saw you the other day…”
She trailed off, her cheeks going pink.
So her friends thought he was attractive and had said as much to her. Normally, he found that kind of thing annoying.
But if Mallory thought he was attractive, that would be very different. And right now he really, really wanted to know if that was the case.
“When they saw me, what?” he asked, squeezing her hand a little.
“I, um, I guess they thought maybe something would happen between us,” she admitted, looking up at him. “Because, you know, you’re…”
“I’m what?” he asked, hope rising in his chest.
She squirmed in her seat, looking like she wanted to disappear.
Adorable.
“I’m what, Mallory?” he pressed, leaning forward.
“Uh, not a senior citizen,” she said, dropping her eyes again.
Her meaning landed on him and suddenly he was laughing, not a light chuckle, but a real, full-bellied laugh.
What is she doing to me? I feel like a different man.
She looked up at him, smiling, her pretty eyes dancing again.
“It was a fair mistake,” she said, lifting her hands. “I mean what thirty-year-old is named Harrison?”
“First of all, I’m thirty-four,” he said, still chuckling. “I hope that doesn’t mean you’re going to march me back to senior yoga.”
She laughed and shook her head, her eyes twinkling.
“And I was named after my father’s father,” he told her. “My dad always wished he’d been called Harrison after him too, and then I would have been Harrison Law, the third.”
She covered her mouth with her other hand, as if trying not to laugh.
“But maybe you would have thought a guy with that name would already be down at the cemetery,” he teased her.
Giggles escaped from under her hand and he had to smile too.
None of this was really all that funny. It just felt good to relax and chat with someone who was so naturally joyful.
He had begun getting to know her when she was at her lowest, in the early weeks of mourning her mother. Seeing her now, healing and making her own happiness in a simple day-to-day life, he realized how far she had come.
Why can’t I do the same?
“You okay?” she asked.
He realized that his emotions were probably written right on his face. What was it about this girl that made him let down his guard so easily?
Or was it her own compassionate heart that let her see in him what others didn’t?
“It’s just that you’re doing so well,” he said. “I love seeing you shine like this.”
“But?” she said after a second.
“Well, it also makes me wonder why I can’t seem to do the same,” he heard himself say, giving voice to the question that had been in his head for so long.
“What you lost was different,” she said, placing her other hand over his. “You lost the love of your life and your child’s mother. On top of that, you can’t really even focus on healing yourself. You have to put Katie’s loss first.”
“I’m not doing so great at that either,” he admitted.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You’ve seen Katie,” he sighed. “How reserved she is.”
“Do you want to know what I see?” she asked thoughtfully.
He nodded.
“I see a man giving his daughter time and space to come out of her shell,” she said. “I see a father offering opportunities, instead of commanding her to act a certain way. It can’t be easy to be patient, but that’s your gift to her, Harrison, a gift she’ll always remember.”
Her words landed hard. More so because he hoped with all his heart that they might be true.
He couldn’t even manage to thank her aloud—his throat ached and his eyes burned with unshed tears.
When was the last time I cried?
“It’s true, isn’t it?” she asked softly.
He nodded.
“Well, I think she’s going to be just fine,” she told him. “She’s got a great sense of humor. And baking seems like such a positive way to feel close with her mom.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I guess from where I’m standing it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.”