Marrying Mallory (14 page)

***

Mallory stared at Josh curled up on the blue sofa. He’d gone
to sleep watching television, but she wasn’t surprised. He’d already had a busy
day with getting up early to go to church and driving to brunch. She gently
moved a lock of blond hair off his forehead. It wouldn’t hurt for her little
boy to take a Sunday afternoon nap. She’d love to have ten more children just
like Josh. Well, maybe not ten but she’d definitely never expected to have an
only child. Growing up, she’d always wanted a sibling. And more than a visiting
father a few times a year.

They’d gotten out of church later than usual because a
missionary had showed slides from his recent trip to Africa. Instead of waiting
to be seated at the crowded IHOP, Heather had suggested they go to the higher
priced restaurant for their brunch.

After they ordered, Josh saw his father eating at a nearby
table with Samantha. He’d asked, “Mommy, why is Daddy always with Samantha?”

“Because he likes her.”

She didn’t add what she’d seen after leaving Toby’s house in
the morning. She’d just picked up Josh for church when she’d glanced in her rear
view mirror as she drove away. She saw Samantha’s car pulling into the
driveway. Apparently, she’d been waiting for them to leave so she could see
Toby. Had Toby told Samantha to wait until they left, so his ex-wife and son
wouldn’t see his girlfriend arriving early Sunday morning? What did this mean…that
Samantha was more important than making an effort to go with them to church?

Then seeing Samantha again at the restaurant had bothered
her. She agreed with Josh’s comment, “I’d like Daddy to eat with us.” Since
Toby missed their family night, he could’ve eaten brunch with them. 

Fortunately, a few minutes later, Toby and Samantha finished
eating. On their way out of the restaurant, they stopped briefly to say hello.

She exhaled a deep breath, remembering how Josh’s lower lip
trembled when Toby had said good-bye. How would Josh survive for weeks without
seeing Toby in June? Plus he’d be out of school, so would have more free time
except for the days spent at the lake house. She wished Jeff didn’t need Toby’s
legal help. Maybe Toby would cancel his trip to Las Vegas if she told him that
Josh needed him to stay.
Get real, Mallory. Toby’s not going to let a
fraternity brother down even if Josh’s heartbroken at his father’s absence.

When the phone rang, she ran to answer it quickly, so it
wouldn’t wake Josh. It was Seth.

“Seth, I can’t cash your check. Two hundred dollars for my
grandmother’s vase is too much.” She’d expected to see the check made out for
around fifty dollars and might have accepted that amount.

“But I took the jar too. If I had to buy hand painted
glassware in the store, I’d have to pay a lot. This gift will mean more to my
mother knowing your grandmother did the art work.”

She laughed. “Why would that make a difference to your
mother? My grandmother wasn’t a famous artist.”

“Well, she’ll still be impressed that your grandmother did
such beautiful work. I feel like I’m getting off cheap here and should’ve given
you more, so to make it up to you, I’ll pick up something for us to eat.” When
she didn’t say anything, he continued, “I’ll even bring the vase and jar, so
you can wrap them.”

“Hey, I offered to gift wrap last night.”

“So I’m a guy and realize now I can’t wrap.”

She walked to the doorway so she could see Josh.
Good, he
was still sleeping
. “That’s sweet of you but probably not a good idea right
now. We saw Toby today with his girlfriend when we stopped to eat after church,
and it upset Josh. I’m afraid that Josh doesn’t like it that Toby’s with
someone other than us. It might be too much for him to have you visit.”

“I’m sorry that happened but I can—”

“No, I think Josh might get upset if he saw me with another
guy. I’ve never dated since the divorce.” She cleared her throat. “I know it’s
not the same thing with us as it is with Toby and Samantha, but Josh won’t
understand that.”

“I liked my birthday kiss.”

She was afraid he’d bring up her kiss. She’d play it casual
and blow it off as not being a big deal. “I’m impulsive sometimes. I don’t want
you to get the wrong idea that the kiss meant something. It won’t happen
again.”

“I like impulsive women.”

“Once I accidentally kissed Josh’s pediatrician. I leaned
down to kiss my baby on his cheek, and at the same moment, the doctor leaned
closer to Josh. Instead of kissing Josh, I planted a kiss on the doctor’s face.
I was so embarrassed.”

“But it wasn’t an accident you kissing me. I think you
enjoyed it as much as I did.”

He was right. The kiss was wonderful, but had left her
feeling weak and confused. It reminded her of the dream where she’d kissed Seth
while on the operating table. Dreaming of kissing Seth was one thing, but now
that it had actually happened, socializing with him had to stop. “I’m glad you
came last night, but it’s best we don’t see each other again until the surgery.
I have a lot to focus on right now… the end of school is coming up soon, Josh’s
leaving for the lake, I need to make arrangements for Las Vegas, and of course,
my surgery.”

“How many students do you have?”

“Seventy-five. I teach sixth through eighth grade.”

“They’re lucky to have such a dedicated teacher. If you
think of any questions about the surgery, please call me. Or if you decide not
to have the surgery, let me know. I respect your wish to have it, but if you
decide not to, that’s fine too.” He gave a little laugh. “Definitely call me if
you want to talk about kissing.”

She sighed. “You aren’t making this easy on me. After the
surgery, maybe we can have coffee again.”

After they said good-bye, she leaned against the wall for
support. She didn’t feel good about her decision. Wasn’t it for the best not to
see Seth before the surgery? If it was, then why did she feel sad?

Chapter Fourteen

The following Friday evening, Mallory joined Elizabeth and
Heather at Olive Garden.

Mallory looked directly at her friends eating their salads,
and then saw a basket of breadsticks on the table. “Don’t let me eat more than
one breadstick. I’m going to eat it as slowly as possible to savor each morsel
of bread.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Oh please. You look great.”

Mallory grinned. “I think you want to tempt me by picking my
favorite place.”

“Hey, I love their food too. Derek never wants to eat here.
He says it’s too expensive for just pasta.”

“We also pick it frequently because you’re always running
late, and Olive Garden happens to be the closest to your house.” Heather patted
Mallory’s arm.

“I’m sorry I’m late. Thanks for going ahead and ordering for
me.” She had called Elizabeth on her cell phone, asking her to order the low
fat Capellini Pomodoro. “I’d been on time if Toby hadn’t been late in picking
up Josh for the weekend. But I have some news. He’s not going to leave for
Vegas for another couple of weeks.”

“So does that mean Toby will be away by Memorial Day
weekend?” Elizabeth asked.

Mallory nodded. “I’m looking forward to having Josh the
whole weekend before he leaves with Toby’s parents to go to the lake house.”

“My parents are going away, so if you two don’t have plans,
how about we have a picnic and go swimming?” Elizabeth sipped her water.

“Is it okay if I invite Jeremy?” Heather asked.

Elizabeth rubbed her chin. “Geez, I don’t know—”

Heather laughed. “Thanks. I’ll invite him. Nice try though
acting like you had to think about it.”

Elizabeth turned her face to Mallory. “Seth seemed to enjoy
the barbecue a lot, so you should ask him too.” 

Great, Seth had to be mentioned, she thought. She hadn’t
told Elizabeth about their kiss. She frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good
idea…”

Elizabeth sighed. “I know. You have this crazy notion in
your head that you can’t see anyone because you got divorced. I hate to be
blunt but Seth’s a great guy. Don’t waste time avoiding him. You deserve to be
happy and have a guy in your life.”

She folded her napkin, not wanting to look at her friends.
Seth was a wonderful man and yes, she’d admit her heart fluttered whenever she
heard his voice. But she was a mature woman with a child and a job. She
couldn’t afford to see Seth again on a personal level. Not just because he was
her surgeon, but because she knew in her heart it might develop into a
relationship that she couldn’t handle. It scared her to be thinking so much
about him when they’d just met. Should she mention the kiss to Elizabeth?
“Okay, I might as well tell you. When Seth went to leave last Saturday, he
kissed me on the cheek and—”

“That was sweet he gave you a little kiss,” Elizabeth said.

Mallory shrugged. “It didn’t stop there. I kissed him right
on his lips, and told him that it was a birthday kiss.” 

Elizabeth’s eyebrows rose. “I can’t believe you didn’t mention
it when I called you the other day.”

“Probably because I’ve been rushed this past week. This last
month of school has been crazy with trying to cover the remainder chapters in
their literature books. We got behind this year with all the snow and late arrival
days because of the weather.”

“What was Seth’s reaction when you kissed him?” Elizabeth
nibbled on a breadstick.

“He looked happy and pleased. Fortunately, Heather called
right after I kissed him, so I told him good-bye and answered the phone. But he
called me on Sunday and wanted to bring food and meet Josh. I told him no
because Josh had already been upset when he saw Toby with Samantha at the
restaurant after church.”

Heather wiped her lips with a napkin after eating the last
bite of salad. “Seth can meet Josh if you invite him for our Memorial Day
picnic.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to encourage him. I’ll
admit I’m attracted to Seth. I mean it’d be hard not to be. He’s fun to be with
and very good-looking.”

“And he’s available,” Elizabeth added.

Mallory took a bite of salad. “But I don’t feel like I am.
Toby and I pledged our love to each other in the Lord’s house. Marriage’s
sacred and even though we both wanted the divorce, I still feel I should’ve
done more to keep Toby interested in me. And maybe  then he wouldn’t have had
an affair.” She had to convince Elizabeth because she was starting to doubt
herself. She hadn’t talked to Seth since Sunday, and she missed their
conversations. She even went to his website so she could see his face. “I know
this won’t happen but suppose after you and Derek are married, he decides to
divorce you. Wouldn’t you have a hard time seeing someone else?”

Elizabeth waited a long moment before answering. “You’re
right. I wouldn’t be happy if Derek decided to divorce me. I’d feel like a
failure and I never like to fail at anything. I suppose that I wouldn’t want to
rush into another relationship immediately.”

“There’s another reason you might take time to think about
dating Seth.” Heather fingered her silver necklace. “If you two continue to see
each other before the surgery, it might be hard on him to operate on you. I
think you’re wise to get back on a professional level…until after your surgery
anyhow.”

“I think it’s too late to worry about that.” Elizabeth grinned
at Mallory. “Dr. Whitman already has a thing for his patient. Just think he
took you out for coffee after he’d just met you in his office. Then he came to
your house and wanted to again on Sunday. Plus you two have been calling,
emailing and texting each other.”

“You both are right, but I’m sure he’ll still feel
comfortable doing my nose job. I can’t switch to another surgeon. Seth’s the
best in our area. Ella raves how happy she is with the surgery he did on her
nose.” She grinned. “Plus I already paid half the fee.”

She had a small savings account which eventually was to be
used for a new roof. Fortunately, the twenty-year-old roof didn’t need to be
replaced yet. She still needed to come up with another three thousand. The
business manager said that the balance had to be paid a week before her
surgery.

“I can still drive you,” Heather said. “Just let me know for
sure soon, so I can take the day off.”

“Thanks,” she said, “but I’ll see first if Mom can take me.
I’ll try to find out this weekend if Mom’s able to take a vacation day.”

“Does your mom think you’re doing the right thing?”
Elizabeth asked.

Mallory nodded. “She’s okay with me having the surgery, but
she’s worried that I’ll be disappointed with the outcome. She reminded me to be
realistic in my expectations.”

Elizabeth winked at her. “By the way, there’s a definite
glow in your eyes. I wonder if kissing Seth has something to do with your
radiance.”

“I do feel happier than I have in a long time. I’m glad that
Seth wants to spend time with me.” She sighed. “I’ve regretted not seeing him
on Sunday.”

They had texted a few times, so she knew he’d been thinking
about her too. She missed talking with Seth a lot, and even thought about
calling him. Actually she wouldn’t mind another kiss from Seth right now. And
not one in a dream but the real thing.

***

Seth wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Man, Henry’s
creaming me again. This is
getting embarrassing
. “Either you’ve
improved or I’ve gotten worse.” 

Henry shook his head. “You just aren’t concentrating. What’s
on your mind?”

He waved his hand around, looking at the court. “Not
racquetball. That’s for sure. I’ve missed Mallory.”

“I thought things were going well between you two.”

“It was. She kissed me before I left her place last
Saturday. I called her Sunday and told her I could pick up some food and drive
to her place.”