Chapter 5 #2
“Not me.” Mallory shrugged. “But oh well. I wasn’t anticipating finding a bunch of skeletons in her closet today, anyway.” She closed the laptop and leaned back into her chair. “Taylor and Erica are the ones with the real connections. If there’s information to be found, they’ll uncover it.”
“Fingers crossed.” James swirled around the last bit of his coffee. “Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. I was really hoping to impress you with my whiz-kid computer skills.”
Mallory snorted. “You did help! Honestly, just the fact that you aren’t judging me for looking so deeply into this is a huge help.
Besides Taylor, it seems like everyone else in my family thinks I’m overreacting.
Sasha has my parents completely wrapped around her finger and my sister seems to have absolved herself of any responsibility if things go South.
Granted, Ariel has a good excuse. She’s got three kids to worry about.
What I don’t understand is how my parents can be so disinterested in learning the truth about Sasha’s past. If I had someone living under my roof like that, I’d want to at least make sure they weren’t, like, a murderer or something. ”
“I think we can cross that off the list,” he said. “A warrant for someone’s arrest would’ve definitely come up in our search.”
“Not if she’s using a fake name.”
James furrowed his brow. “Wait, so you’re not even sure that Sasha Sommers is her real name?”
Mallory shook her head.
“So… your parents really didn’t do any research? That’s kind of wild.”
“Right?” she said excitedly. “That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time.
My mom got a call from a woman claiming to work at a women’s shelter that she used to donate to—a shelter she doesn’t even remember the name of—and they said they had a young single mother looking to be sponsored.
Next thing you know, Sasha and Dot show up on my parents’ doorstep and we’re just all expected not to ask any questions. It’s crazy!”
“Really.” He ran his hand through his hair thoughtfully. “Not to overstep, but it kind of makes you think whether or not there’s something else going on.”
“With Sasha? I already think that. Why do you think I’m working so hard to find more info on her?”
“No, I meant with your parents.”
Mallory frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, just that this kind of rash decision is unusual for your mom and dad, right?” He shrugged. “I obviously don’t know them very well, but this just seems really random and like it was a situation thrown together at the last minute.”
“Yeah, I think that’s exactly what happened.”
“I guess, what I’m getting at is that if my aunt did something like this,” he went on. “My first assumption wouldn’t necessarily be that she’s been scammed. I’d probably think that she was doing this out of some sort of—I don’t know—emotional distress? Loneliness maybe?”
The word “loneliness” hit Mallory like a punch to the gut.
How could her parents be lonely? They had each other.
They had three kids who visited on a somewhat regular basis…
right? Sure, it’d been nearly a year since Mallory had visited, and Ariel didn’t make the drive nearly as much as their parents would’ve liked, but it wasn’t like her parents didn’t have friends.
Her dad got along with a lot of his coworkers, and her mom knew practically every woman over fifty in town.
“Or maybe I’m wrong,” James added in the interim silence. “Really, I don’t want to make assumptions about people I’ve only met a handful of times. I was just musing, but there’s probably no credence to what I said.”
“It’s okay,” she said with a smile. “I understand where you’re coming from.
I just don’t think that’s the case with my parents.
” She started to put the laptop back in her bag when her stomach growled so loud that she knew James had heard it—as if she hadn’t embarrassed herself enough in front of this man.
“You hungry?”
“Apparently,” she said sheepishly, “I skipped breakfast.”
“Want to go grab a bite to eat?” he asked. “There’s a great pub that opened up a few years ago across town. They’re doing a Thanksgiving week celebration with a bunch of food and drink specials. They’ve got great sliders and even better beer.”
It was only one in the afternoon, but Mallory had to admit that a cold beer and a hamburger sounded like heaven. “Sure,” she said. “Why not? It’s a holiday after all. We’re supposed to be eating, drinking, and being merry.”
“Absolutely, we are,” he said, getting up.
He held his hand out to help Mallory stand.
Since she was weighed down by a heavy shoulder bag, she accepted his help.
When his fingers curled around her wrist, she was pulled up so quickly and effortlessly that she became acutely aware of his strong form.
Blushing at the thought, she turned away before he could notice, taking her hand back.
“I walked from my parents’ house,” she said.
“I’ll drive us.”
“Okay, cool. Well, uh, lead the way then.”