by Natalie Ann
But he wouldn’t be deterred and only sent back a sad face with what looked to be fried eggs. Guess he wanted breakfast? Rather than text back she dialed his number.
“I’m trying to sleep,” she grumbled, fighting through a yawn.
“It’s too spectacular of a day out to be sleeping. Come on, let’s get breakfast,” he said, trying to coax her. It sounded tempting, but not enough to get out of bed.
“Maybe tomorrow. I’m really tired. I was up most of the night writing. I seriously just laid my head down about ten minutes ago.”
“You can sleep after breakfast. Please,” he said, and it reminded her of when he was younger and trying to charm her to go for a walk with him around the neighborhood even though she was leery about leaving her mother alone.
“Nick,” she said, groaning when the sunlight hit her smack in the eye. “After I sleep.”
“Fine, get some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”
She thought that was the end of it and hung up the phone, pulled the covers over her head, and shut her eyes.
That is, until she was woken up by the knocking at her door. When she looked at her clock she realized it had been less than an hour since she’d talked to Nick. There was no doubt in her mind who was knocking at her door right now either.
She could just ignore it and hope he went away, but she knew deep down he wouldn’t. He was like taking a chew toy away from a Great Dane during play time.
Her feet hit the floor with a thump. She briefly glanced at her tank top and tiny underwear and thought, screw it, she wasn’t dressing. So she stomped down the stairs and over to the front door where she saw his smiling face through the peephole.
“I guess you can’t take no for an—” She stopped midsentence when she recognized the silver dome-covered plate in his hand. The one she’d bought for Trixie years ago as a comical thank you for all the times Trixie brought her food when she was locked away in her room writing.
He pushed right past her into her house, then looked over his shoulder. “Are you going to shut the door or give your neighbors a view of your cute ass? I was hoping that was just for my benefit.”
She cut off the growl. As much as she wanted to be mad, she really couldn’t.
“Did you cook me breakfast?”
“I don’t think either of our stomachs would appreciate that mess. I bribed my grandmother into making it for us in return for going out to dinner tonight. The three of us.”
Mallory sniffed the air and groaned after all. “She made blueberry pancakes.”
Nick smiled, leaned in, and kissed her on the lips. “I was craving them something fierce this morning for some reason. She took pity on me when I said I couldn’t convince you to go to breakfast with me.”
“So the pancakes were your idea, not hers?”
“Yes,” he said and walked over to get plates from her cabinet, along with forks while she grabbed the maple syrup. “Why?”
“No reason,” she said as nonchalantly as she could.
There was no reason to say that Trixie always made her that breakfast when she was having a rotten day. When she’d had bad memories or reminders of home. The special breakfast her father used to cook for her as a child.
Just another example that maybe her nightmares weren’t so bad after all. Maybe there was more going on in her mind than she was aware of. Her subconscious telling her it was truly time to come out of hiding.
Close
Nick swiveled in his chair and reached for his phone on the other desk. “Yeah,” he said without looking at the caller.
“When the hell are you coming back?”
“Nice to talk to you too, Zach. Do you miss me?”
He heard Zach laugh on the other end. “Not as much as you wish. Don’t worry, your father is filling your gap.”
Nick snorted. “That’s funny. Just yesterday he asked when I was coming home too, but not for the same reason you’re calling, I’m sure.”
His father had only been joking, maybe, but Zach must be getting on his nerves. John Buchanan couldn’t stand twitchy people, and if you looked up hyperactive in the dictionary, there’d be a picture of Zach smiling back at you.
“Your father loves me, no matter how much he might complain that I never shut up.”
Nick leaned back in his chair and looked around Rene’s old room—actually Mallory’s old room—his new makeshift office. He’d brought in another desk and set up his monitors and had been busy at work for several days.
It still amazed him at how much he was able to get accomplished without all the interruptions of his office and staff. His biggest distraction of late was the wind at the window or some rain on the lake.
“He loves you like he loves getting a colonoscopy every few years.”
“You know, I was calling to give you good news, but maybe I’ll just sit on it for a bit and let you stew. What do you think of that?”
“I think you wouldn’t last two minutes after I hung up the phone before you called me back to tell me. You’d most likely wet yourself in an attempt to not speak.”
“Sad but true. Okay, here goes, I’ve got an email address for Caleb Ryder.”
“How do you know it’s him?”
“Because I emailed him and he responded.”
Nick sat up straighter. “Seriously? He’s actually interested?”
“I don’t know about that. I said he responded back, not that he was interested.”
“What exactly did you say to him?” Nick asked suspiciously. “And what did he say back?”
“I just introduced myself and told him what we were looking for.” Zach cleared his throat, then said, “I may have sent him more than a few emails when I hadn’t heard back from him.”
“How many is a few?”
“Ten.”
“Great, Zach. What did he have to say?”
“He asked me to stop emailing him. But he could have just ignored them all, and he didn’t. He responded back, so that’s progress,” Zach said cheerfully.
“I’ll have to take your word for it. Send me the emails you sent him. All ten of them, and his response. I’ll try to do damage control and reach out myself in a few days. No reason to attack him now.”
“Sounds good. I’ve got all the faith in the world in you. So back to my original question, when are you coming home? When you flew back I just figured it’d be another few days and you’d drive back. It’s been over two weeks and your father hinted that you weren’t looking to return anytime soon. What gives?”
His father had been trying to get Nick to pin a date down, but Nick wasn’t budging. He wasn’t about to leave when he was being so productive. Not only with work, but also with Mallory. Things were going smoothly with them. She was less cautious around him, he could see, and she was talking about her past more. Just memories of the two of them before she’d left, so far. Time she spent with his parents and Rene. So no matter what, he wasn’t leaving just yet.
“You’ve seen what I’ve been doing. The developers are all but drooling over this product.”
“True. And that is probably why I’m not hopping on a plane to check on you personally. Still, do you have any idea of when you’re coming back? Is there something wrong with your grandmother?”
“No, everything is fine here with my grandmother.”
“I’d ask if you were trying to find yourself, but that would be too much of a stretch. So the only other thing I can think of is…is there a woman there?”
Crap, he didn’t expect anyone to figure that out. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you didn’t just deny it and came back with a question instead. I knew it! I’ve known you for over ten years. It’s a woman. You flew back there because you met someone. Is she worth it? You know what they say about the rebound. Enjoy it while you can,” Zach said, laughing.
Nick wanted to defend his relationship with Mallory, but he couldn’t. Not without it getting back to his father, then his mother, who would call
his grandmother. No, as much as he hated to lie, he had to deny it.
“There’s nothing to enjoy. There’s no woman either. I’m working. I’ve had this idea in my head for years and it’s coming together. I would have thought you’d understand with as superstitious as you are to not stop a good thing while it’s flowing.”
“There’s really no one?” Zach asked, not sounding too convinced.
“Not unless you count my grandmother’s friends. Then again, they all go to yoga on Wednesday, so hey, what do you think?”
“I think you just made me throw up in my mouth.”
“Serves you right. Now let me get back to work. Send me over everything in regards to Caleb and I’ll let you know if I get anywhere.”
“Will do.”
Nick placed his phone down and turned back to his computer, only to be brought up short by his grandmother knocking on his open door frame.
“Some of my friends would love to get you alone for some one on one.”
Nick groaned and blushed, then tried not to gag. “That’s not funny, Grandma.”
“The truth often isn’t.” She walked into the room and sat on the bed. “You’re struggling with this situation, aren’t you?”
“I’d think it’s pretty obvious. I hate lying to anyone and I haven’t until now. No one has even thought for a minute there was a woman in my life. I must be losing my touch that Zach figured it out.”
“I don’t think so. I just think those closest to you know you better than you think.”
“So tell me, what are your thoughts on this?”
Maybe she could help him figure out the next step. He couldn’t go on forever hiding Mallory, nor did he want to.
“I think Mallory is getting close.”
“Close to what? Me? Coming out of hiding? What?”
“All of the above. I’d say give her time, but I know you are. You’ve been back in her life almost two months now. Since you’ve returned you’ve spent some part of every day together. Before you left, you were pretty inseparable. I’ve never known her to spend this much time with anyone before.”
“Maybe it’s something new to her?”
Nick hoped not, but didn’t know what else to say. It was the first time his grandmother had really talked to him about Mallory, and he was hoping to learn more.
“I’m sure it is all new to her, but you aren’t. You personally aren’t new to her. There are parts of the old Mallory coming forth. Parts I’d never thought I’d see again. For what it’s worth, you’ve been the best thing in her life in the last several years whether she wants to admit it or not.”
“So you don’t think she feels that way, even though you’re saying it?”
It hurt to voice that concern, because part of him felt this last month was the best month he’d had since Mallory disappeared.
“I think she probably does, but doesn’t want to say so. If she does, then she has to admit that the last twelve years haven’t been so great. That’s a hard pill for anyone to swallow.”
“I get the feeling she wouldn’t have a problem with that admission. She’s been hiding for years. Living like a hermit, lying to everyone but you. How can she think that’s good? How can she think any of it is good?”
“It’s hard for you to understand, Nick. No, she wouldn’t say any of that is good at all. That isn’t what I meant.” His grandmother stood up. “I’ve said enough. More than I should have said. Keep giving her time. She’s getting there. Why don’t you go get some fresh air?”
“That’s your answer for everything, isn’t it?” he said, standing up and stretching his legs. He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll take your advice and see where that fresh air takes me.”
“I’m pretty sure we both know where you’ll end up.”
Seem Real
His grandmother was too smart for her own good. His walk led him right to Mallory. Right to her back deck where she was sitting in the shade, typing away with a frown on her face. “Problem?”
She jumped slightly. “What? No, just thinking.”
“My grandmother kicked me out of the house and told me to get some fresh air. Want to join me? Maybe it’ll help you think.”
“Trixie always kicked me out when she felt I was struggling with something too. Fresh air, she’d say. ‘Go on the lake, take a walk, do something to change your train of thought.’ So yeah, lets go for a walk.”
They were quietly walking together, holding hands down the road when he changed directions and pulled her along a hiking path. She didn’t protest, so he continued on until they came to a clearing where they stopped and looked out over the mountains in the distance.
She let go of his hand and put her arm around his back, leaning her head against him. “You’ve got something on your mind. Go ahead and say it.”
He liked that she knew him so well. That she felt comfortable in exposing that vulnerable side of herself just now too.
“I’ve never told you about Zach, have I?”
“No. Is he a friend of yours?”
“Yes. My right-hand man at work too. I’d be lost without him for sure. Drives me insane half the time with his nonstop chatter and cheery good mood, but he’s loyal to a fault and works just as hard as I do, if not harder at times.”
“That’s always nice. Having someone you can rely on and depend on like that.”
She was right about Zach. He’d never let Nick down before, even when he ran his mouth more than he should.
“It is. He knows me better than anyone else too,” Nick said, starting to hedge.
“And…”
“He called me a little while ago and wants to know when I’m coming back.”
She stiffened next to him and turned her head sharply. “You were just home. Are you leaving again?”
“No, I’m not. At least not at the moment.”
As horrible as it was, he was glad to see her reaction. Glad to see that she looked upset over the possibility that he might be leaving again.
They hadn’t talked much about the future, and he’d been reluctant to bring it up, but now he was glad he was having this conversation.
“The thing is, he was joking and wanted to know what was keeping me here. He didn’t buy my explanation about work.”
“There is no way he guessed about me,” she said, snorting.
“Not you in general, but a woman. I laughed and told him that there were plenty of my grandmother’s friends here.” He looked down at her face and tried to smile, but couldn’t quite pull it off.
“You hated lying, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t sit well with me. But the thing is, I made a promise to you not to let anyone know you were here.”
“Thank you for that. I know it’s hard for you. I know you don’t like to lie.”
He detested dishonesty. He’d always tried to be upfront and honest. It’s just the way he was.
“So anyway, my grandmother overheard the conversation, came in and made some funny remarks about how her friends would love to have a chance with me.” Mallory grimaced like she was going to be ill. “I know, I had the same reaction, but you know sometimes my grandmother thinks she’s being funny.”
“I guess it is funny, at least in her eyes.”
“She’s always had a warped sense of humor. Still, she knew I was bothered, so she sent me for air, and well, here I am with you.”
“I wish I could tell you what to do, Nick. I appreciate you holding on to my secret. I want to tell you you don’t need to, but I can’t. Not yet.” She stopped talking and leaned back, grabbed his hand again and just started to walk. He gave her the time to think, and he could tell she was processing something. “Would you like to read what I’m writing?”
“What?” He didn’t know where that came from, but wasn’t going to say no. “I’d love to.”
“We can head back to my place. If you don’t have plans, I’ll hand over my laptop and you can give me your opinion on my latest stor
y.”
He knew what she was doing, he knew she was trying. Trying to come out of hiding, putting more of herself out there for him. It was a small gesture to some people, but a big one to him. One that made him realize that by giving her space to handle this at her own pace, it was going to work out in the end for both of them.
***
Mallory was in the kitchen opening and closing cabinets at random, trying to figure out what to make for dinner. She’d handed her laptop over to Nick and said, “Here, start at the beginning. It’s really rough so just try to overlook the grammatical errors. Focus on the story itself.”
“How much can I read of it?” he’d asked.
“As much as you want. There’s only about a third of the book there. I guess I’ll go look around and try to figure out dinner if you want to stay.”
That was thirty minutes ago and she was still trying to focus on dinner and not doing a very good job of it. Instead she was stressing over Nick reading her story.
With as much time as she’d put into this manuscript, she’d normally be much further along, but in the last two days she’d deleted and rewrote most of the story line. She’d never done that before, but after the flashback from the other night, she knew she had to do it. She knew it would be better in the long run.
Focusing on dinner, she decided on spaghetti and meatballs, got to work, then sat down at the table and read a book while dinner was cooking, trying to push any anxiety of Nick in the other room away.
“I’m so proud of you.” She turned with a start to see Nick standing in the doorway with a massive grin on his face. He walked over and pulled her up, then hugged her tight. “You have an amazing talent.”
“Really?” she asked. “You liked it? It flows well?”
“I loved it. I want to know more. I want to know how Cynthia died. She seemed so real to me. Rich, spoiled, pampered, the world at her fingertips. I wanted to hate her, but couldn’t. People will be jealous of her, no doubt, but they won’t hate her, and then they’ll feel sorry for her, sad even. So beautiful and found dead in her bed, not a scratch on her. Was she poisoned? That’s my guess. Will you tell me how she died? Do you know who killed her? Will you tell me that?”