CHAPTER 20
A week into their sneaking around, Mallory pulled up to her apartment with just enough time to shower and change before work. She really needed to remember to bring more than a hairbrush and pajamas to Beckett’s place. The notion brought a goofy grin to her mouth.
Striding up the pathway to her apartment, Mallory was so lost in her musings that she didn’t see the figure leaning against the entryway. “I take it you two talked?”
Mallory yelped, dropping her purse to the ground. Her keys, phone, and a set of lipsticks scattered around them. “Good Lord, Alice. You scared the crap out of me.”
“I did?” she asked, squatting down to retrieve a rogue pack of gum. “Lady, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for days. I’m literally here for a proof of life call.”
Mallory held out her bag for Alice to dump everything in. “That seems a bit dramatic.” She pushed past her bestie into her apartment.
Alice raised an eyebrow. Mallory was so busted. “Oh? I’m dramatic. I’ll remember that the next time you swing by my place at ten o’clock at night.”
Once inside, Mallory tossed her bag onto the coffee table and flopped down on the couch. “I have five minutes before I need to get to work. Please, do your worst.”
Alice dutifully took her perch on the other end of the sofa and chuckled. “Start by answering my initial question.”
“I’m still recovering from my heart attack to remember what that was.” Mallory winked.
“Yeah, nice try. I asked if you guys talked.”
“Among other things,” Mallory retorted, unable to hide her satisfied grin.
Alice tossed a throw pillow at Mallory’s head and squealed. “Start. Talking. Now. I have to be at the library in ten minutes, and I need as much gossip as possible. Or at least enough to compete with the busy bodies of Buckeye Falls.”
Mallory paused, her post-Beckett flush fading to a green pallor. “What do you mean, the busy bodies?”
Alice scoffed. “Mal, need I remind you about my own dating history in this town? There are no secrets.”
“Beckett and I are friends,” she started, hating the lie on her tongue.
“No, honey. You and I are friends. You two are clearly more.” Alice toyed with the edge of a throw pillow before continuing. “At the library last night, Lynn mentioned that Mrs. Sanders saw you leaving his place in the”—she held up her hands to do air quotes—“wee hours of the morning.”
Mallory groaned, covering her face to hide from the news. “What are the odds the gossip doesn’t make it to the diner?” Not only was the diner the best restaurant in town, but it was also the hub of the town’s gossip mill. The only competition might be Alice’s sister-in-law’s house, but she wasn’t going to bring Natalie into this. While the nicest woman, she loved to delve into the gossip—as long as she wasn’t the focus.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” Alice asked, a frown marring her lovely face. Mallory loved her friend, truly.
“How is Evan and CeCe’s wedding not the talk of the town?”
“Pfft.” Alice flapped a hand, her trademark smirk in place. “Everyone is excited, but that’s not news. They’ve been in love for a while, and unless one of them runs off to Elm River with someone else, no one will bat an eye. Now you know what is hot gossip? The maid of honor and the best man shacking up.”
“We are not shacking up.” Mallory countered, the flush back in her cheeks. Why was she such a bad liar?
“Um, do I need to pick up a dictionary at the library for you? You’re literally doing a walk of shame.” Her friend gestured to her crumpled clothes from the night before, and Mallory conceded the point.
“I’m going to need to tell Evan, aren’t I?”
Alice cocked her head and examined Mallory’s pinched expression. “The engagement party is this weekend, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I think you need to tell him, both of you, after that. The guy is in love, let him have his moment with his lady, but then you need to fess up.”
“Remember the good old days?” Mallory asked, head tossed back and staring at the ceiling.
Alice shook her head. “What good old days?”
“When you’d barge into the hospital ranting and raving about your love life.” That statement earned Mallory another pillow toss to the head. “Hey.” She batted away the offending cushion and laughed. “I should have saved the security footage. Then I could remind you that you’re not always right.”
Alice pulled herself to her feet, holding out a hand for Mallory. “C’mon, honey. You need to get ready for work, and I’m running late. Just remember, for once I’m right, and you need to talk to Beckett. Buckeye Falls is about to burst your bubble.”
Mallory walked Alice to the door and gave her a hug. Just a year ago, this woman was a stranger, and now she couldn’t imagine her life without her. “I miss you, Alice. Once this is settled, I’d love for you and James to double date with us.”
“I’d love nothing more.” Alice pulled back and sighed. “But first, work and real life. Then the four of us will do something fabulous.”
“It’s a date.”
Once Alice was ushered back outside, Mallory ran into the bathroom for quite possibly the fastest shower in recorded history. She was in the middle of braiding her hair when her phone rang. Using her elbow, she answered the call and put it on speaker.
“Hey, Em. I’m getting ready for work. Is everything okay?”
Through the line, she heard her sister snort. “Oh yeah, peachy. I was just calling about a few odds and ends for the engagement party.”
At the sound of another voice, Fernando sauntered into the bathroom to investigate. He jumped up onto the sink and tiptoed around her phone, makeup bag, and collection of hairbrushes. With her hands occupied with her hair, Mallory didn’t have a chance to pet the beast before he grew agitated.
“Don’t even think about it.” Mallory warned as Fernando’s paw went in the air to strike. Only a week ago, she was fishing some of her favorite lipsticks out of the toilet when he went on a spree. Using her foot, she flipped down the toilet seat.
“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 from Wonder 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?