Chapter One – Mallory
CHAPTER ONE
Mallory
Chicago, One Week Ago
I sighed as I stepped onto the elevator. Another job interview that didn’t go well.
“Rough day?”
Turning, I gave a weak smile to the woman slightly behind me.
“Yes,” I said as I pushed the button for the first floor. “Job hunting.”
“Ahh, that’s never a fun thing.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Nope, definitely not.”
The elevator stopped on the third floor, and I stepped out of the way for her to get off when she announced it was her stop.
“Good luck. I hope you find a job soon.”
“Thank you,” I said as I returned her smile. Once the doors closed, I stepped back and leaned against the wall. Speaking quietly to the walls of the elevator, I reminded myself, “If I don’t find a job soon, I’ll have to return to Arcola and work at Yoder’s Kitchen.”
The elevator dinged, and I stepped off and headed out of the building.
Tomorrow I was going to the employment agency to see if I could at least find some temporary work.
I couldn’t keep staying at the motel. I had the rest of the money from selling my grandmother’s house, but not enough that would allow me to keep paying for a motel room.
I needed to find a studio apartment or find a roommate or something soon.
“What would you say, Granny, if you saw me now? I’m following my dreams of leaving Arcola and making something of myself in the big city of Chicago. And it’s going amazingly well, if I do say so myself.” The sarcasm in my voice wasn’t even lost on me.
I chuckled as I walked down the street to the bus stop.
My grandmother, Elenore Wilson, raised me after my mother and father died in a car accident when I was five.
I loved her more than anything. She was the only family I had.
My father was adopted, so he hadn’t known his biological family, and my mom was an only child.
My parents had moved to Chicago after marriage, leaving my grandmother back in Arcola.
She’d refused to leave the small town, so I had no choice but to go to her.
By the time I had moved in with Granny, her oldest sister was the only one left alive.
Nora had never married and didn’t have any kids.
Once she passed away, a year before Granny, there was no family left—just the two of us.
So when my grandmother passed in her sleep nearly ten months ago, I knew I had to go and start my life. I sold the house, everything inside, and the few personal items I wanted to keep, I packed away and put them in storage nearly four weeks ago and moved to Chicago.
I had no one now. Even my best friend, Laura, had moved four years ago. She’d met someone, and we slowly lost contact with one another. She didn’t even know Granny had died and that I had moved.
The bus came, and I waited in line to board and take a seat. Dropping my head back, I closed my eyes and silently prayed tomorrow went well with the employment agency. I really needed a job.
“Good evening, Mallory.”
I walked up to the counter of the small deli where I had been eating practically every day and smiled at Jack, the owner.
He was older, maybe in his early sixties, with salt-and-pepper hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a smile that made you all warm inside.
He ran the deli with his wife, Jen, and their kids.
They had one daughter, Sheila, and two sons, Adam and Lou—both of whom had asked me out at least once.
“Hey, Jack. How’s it going?”
He laughed. “It’s going. The usual?”
I nodded. “Yes, please, and can you make it to go? I’ve had a long day of unsuccessful job hunting and want to relax.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your job hunt, but that’s no problem at all to make it to go.”
I stood off to the side and noticed a guy staring at me. When I looked at him, he blushed and turned away.
He was cute—tall, with dark hair and what seemed to be dark eyes. He was built, but wasn’t too built.
When he glanced my way again, I offered a polite smile, and he returned the gesture.
He also made no secret about looking my body up and down.
I was wearing my black pencil skirt with a light blue button-down shirt.
I’d only purchased a few business outfits, since I wasn’t sure if I would have to start waiting tables again, my fallback if I couldn’t find a more professional job.
I looked down at my phone, hoping he got the hint that I wasn’t interested in anything more than being polite. The last thing I wanted to do was get involved with anyone. My focus was purely on finding a job and then an apartment.
“Mallory!” Jen called out from the counter. I rushed over and took the bag and can of Diet Coke from her.
“Thanks, Jen. See you around.”
“Bye, sweetheart. Good luck with the job hunting.”
I quickly left the deli without looking at the cute guy and walked the four blocks to the motel where I was staying. At least it wasn’t in a bad area of town. That I’d made sure of.
Once inside, I locked the door, kicked off my heels, peeled off my clothes, and put on sweats and a T-shirt that said ‘I Love Disney World’. I’d bought it at a secondhand store when I first got here. Disney World was on my bucket list of places I wanted to see when I had the funds to do so.
I crawled onto the bed, sat crisscrossed, and turned on the TV.
Friends was on, so I watched it while I ate my early dinner, a familiar and comforting habit.
I had fallen into a routine of being the most boring person on the planet and knew I needed to change things.
I vowed that tomorrow, I would start over fresh.
Reaching over, I picked up the phone and called the front desk.
“Front desk, Carol here.”
“Hi, Carol, it’s Mallory Wilson. I’m going to check out tomorrow. Can you recommend a motel in a safe neighborhood, closer to the city center?”
“Sure! And I show that you’re all paid up through tonight, so that makes it easier.”
“Great. Even better.”
I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the three places she recommended. She said, “My cousin is looking for a roommate. She works for a law firm downtown, and I was actually telling her about you. I can give you her number if you want, and you two can chat.”
My heart nearly flipped in my chest. “Yes! That would be amazing. I’ll call her first thing tomorrow.”
“Wonderful! I think you two would get along great.”
After Carol gave me her cousin’s number, I set it on the side table, finished eating, and headed to the bathroom to turn on the shower. Realizing I’d forgotten my pajamas, I turned and walked back out to my suitcase.
Immediately, I came to an abrupt halt.
“What…how did you get into my room?”