Marrying Mallory (19 page)

***

Eleven days after her surgery, she should be ridiculously
happy. Right? Her protective splint was off, and even with some swelling, her nose
was definitely smaller. Her nose didn’t ache any longer so that was another
reason to be thankful. Her loved ones were back home. Josh couldn’t stop
talking about fishing and playing with his grandparents. She loved seeing her
mom delighted with her new husband.

But she wasn’t happy. A void was in her life without Seth.
She couldn’t wait until he returned from his trip. How could she so quickly
fall in love with Seth? Was she deep down trying to show Toby she was desirable
to another man? She had felt jealously that Toby found other women more
attractive than she.

Her mom and Alan picked up Josh for her at the lake house
since they were in the Toledo area. They’d landed at the Toledo Express Airport
after their honeymoon. Her mom’s comment had pleased her. “You were gorgeous
before but even more so now. I’m glad you had your surgery.”

She mentioned her surgery briefly to Josh. All he said was,
“Is my nose okay?”

“There’s nothing wrong with your nose. It’s perfect.”

With Josh playing at Billy’s house, she felt restless and
paced in the living room. She stopped by a photo of the three of them. Picking
up the framed picture, she remembered the day Elizabeth had snapped it. It’d
been one of those days you never want to end. She ran her finger over Toby’s face
smiling at the camera. She looked closer, only seeing a genuine grin.

The phone rang and she put the picture back on the shelf.
Glancing at the caller ID, she saw it was Toby. He’d just talked to Josh last
night.

As soon as he heard her voice, he asked, “Is Josh at
Billy’s? He mentioned going there today.”

“Yes, he’s at Billy’s. Why?” She moved to the chair to get
comfortable, hoping it’d be a long conversation about the upcoming trip. The
flight reservations for her and Josh to visit Toby in Las Vegas hadn’t been
made. 

“We need to talk. I’m sure my mom told you that Samantha’s
here in Vegas with me.”

“Was that why you told her, so I’d have time to absorb it?”

“You know me too well and—”

“Was Samantha the reason you divorced me?” Even though she
knew the answer, she wanted to hear it from him.

“I couldn’t help it, Mallory. I tried to fight it in the
beginning. She has the same passion for law that I do. Samantha’s a female
version of me. Once she passes the bar exam, we’re going to start a practice
together.”

How chummy. He wants to work with his girlfriend all the
time
. “So let me get this straight. You became involved with her first
because of her intellectual interest in law. When did it become a physical
attraction?”

“I don’t remember exactly. I suppose there was a physical
attraction soon after I met her. There’s more, Mallory.”

No, she didn’t want to hear more about Samantha.
I’ve
heard enough
. She hadn’t planned on telling Toby about her nose, but
decided to tell him. “While Josh was with your parents, I had nose surgery.
Seth did a great job making my nose smaller.”

“Why in the world would you have plastic surgery? How did
you pay for it?”

Good, I got him off the topic of the beautiful Samantha
.
“I paid for half myself and Mom gave me the other half. I’ve always hated my
nose.” In an angry voice, she said,  “And I hated you having an affair but I
couldn’t change that. Having my nose surgery was something I could do and
control. I’m happy I had my nose done.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied with it.” Toby cleared his
throat. “I loved you at one time, but my feelings changed for you. I don’t
know… it just seemed like you always wanted to change me. You were never happy
that I didn’t have the kind of faith you have. Samantha’s different. We’re
happy and good together. I’d already hurt you enough when I had the affair with
Lacey, so I didn’t want to tell you that I was sleeping with Samantha. Once I
met her, I realized I slept with Lacey to get back at you for constantly
harassing me to go to church. Mallory, Samantha and I were married five days
ago.”

“And this is how you tell me?” Strong emotions bubbled up
inside her. How could he blame their failed marriage partly on her faith? “You
aren’t being fair. I loved you with my whole heart. I just wanted us to go to
church as a family.”

“You also wanted me to go to Bible study and prayer group
with you. But it wasn’t just your faith. We got married right after college and
it was wonderful in the beginning. But it seemed like after I became a lawyer,
you were more demanding about my time.”

“I had to be because you spent little time at home. I knew
you wanted to get ahead in your career, but I missed not seeing my husband.”

“You wanted the divorce too. Don’t deny it.”

“I know it was wrong of me not to be forgiving about Lacey,
but it sounds like it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. I did the right
thing agreeing to the divorce. You committed adultery with Samantha too.”

“You’re right. It wouldn’t have made any difference. I love
Samantha.”

She just had a terrible thought. “Is she pregnant?”

“Of course not. We aren’t planning on having any children
for several years.” He sighed. “Mallory, I should’ve been honest and told you
my feelings sooner. I just didn’t want to hurt you. I broke off with Lacey
because of Samantha.” 

Her voice became hard. “It seems like you owe me. I worked
two jobs while you were going to law school, and now I bet you’re paying for
Samantha’s education.” 

“She’s saving me money. She’s my paralegal while attending
law school.”

Her hand hurt from gripping the armrest so hard, but it was
better than throwing something. Her friends and others had been right; Toby had
never appreciated her sacrifices she made, so he could graduate from law
school. “That’s good to know how she’s saving you money,” she said,
sarcastically. “I busted my butt watching every penny while we were married.”

“Hey, I wasn’t always a bad husband. I bought you little
gifts while you worked. Remember how I gave you boxes of chocolate covered
cherries?”

“I hate chocolate covered cherries.” She never could figure
why he thought she liked them. The first time he’d given her a box, he looked
so proud that she hadn’t the heart to tell him. She’d given the candy to her
mom.

“They were your favorite candy.”

“No, I’ve never liked that kind. It’s my mom who loves them.
I didn’t want to hurt your feelings the first time you gave me a box, and later
I kept telling you about other candy I liked. But you never listened.” Suddenly
it hit her. She had married Toby on June tenth. Her stomach turned at the
thought he might have married Samantha on what had been their day. “What day
did you and Samantha get married on? Please tell me it wasn’t the tenth.”

“It was on the ninth. I’m sorry it was even close to our
wedding date. I knew it’d freak you out if it was the same day. Well, okay, I
also didn’t want it to be the same as ours. Mallory, I did love you when I
married you.”

“I suppose Jeff and Peg attended the wedding.” Jeff had been
in theirs, and it bothered her to think that they knew about Toby’s second
marriage before she did. Peg had given her a bridal shower along with Elizabeth
and Heather.

“They were our witnesses. Could you break the news to Josh?”

“I think you should tell him yourself.”

“One reason we decided to get married now was because
Samantha’s planned on moving in with me. Her roommate moved out so she can’t
afford her apartment any longer. We figured it’d be awkward when Josh came on
the weekends if we didn’t get married, so see this is the best for everyone.”

She bet Josh wouldn’t feel that way. He wanted his daddy to
live with them again. She wondered how Toby’s parents had taken the news.
Oh
my gosh, they probably don’t
know
. Fran would’ve have called her if
she knew anything about Toby’s wedding. “Do your parents know yet?”

“No. I wanted to tell you first. I’ll call them next. I
guess that’s it. Bye, Mallory.”

At the sound of his click, she thought,
Yeah, I guess
that’s it. Toby cheated on me
twice
. She gave a bitter laugh.
Probably
more.

But what was going to happen to her? Was she destined to be
a lonely old woman? Sure, she still had Josh but someday he’d grow up and leave
her. Then she’d be all alone. Unless she got married again, but how could she?
Wasn’t she still married to Toby, according to God?

She wished that Seth wasn’t in Vietnam. Strange, how she
wanted to talk to him instead of Elizabeth and Heather. She realized why. He
had become an important part of her life. She decided to call her friends.
While talking to them, they decided to get together at Heather’s. Mallory
called her mom to babysit because Josh would be home soon from Billy’s.

After having a quiet dinner with Josh, her mom arrived,
giving her a big hug.

Ten minutes later, Heather opened the door to greet her as
she walked up the steps. She was grateful to her friends for making time to see
her.

Once the women were seated inside Heather’s condo, Elizabeth
passed out her famous brownies. “Don’t complain, Mallory. High calorie food is
required for this gabfest.”

“You make the best brownies,” Heather said, then took a bite
of her brownie.

“Have you talked to Seth about Toby’s marriage?” Elizabeth
asked.

She sipped her coffee, noticing her friends seemed excited.
“No, I haven’t talked to Seth. He’s in Vietnam. He called me after arriving
there, but with the time difference and not knowing his schedule, I don’t want
to bother him.” She exhaled a deep breath. “Toby blamed me for his affair with
Lacey. I guess I drove him to her because he said that I kept trying to shove
my faith down him.”

“Toby’s an idiot,” Elizabeth said. “You can’t believe him.
He just wants to place blame on you. He’s a rat. He cheated on you twice while
you were married. Don’t you wish now you had asked for alimony?”

She nodded. “Part of me does, but it’s too late now.”

Heather shrugged her shoulders. “I regret agreeing with you
about not getting any alimony. I should’ve have encouraged you to get it.”

She gave a weak smile at her friends. “I did tell him I
hated chocolate covered cherries.”

Elizabeth kicked off her shoes. “I can’t believe how he kept
buying that candy for you. You threw out so many hints that you wanted other
candy.”

Heather said, “I know you’re disappointed that Toby wasn’t
the man you thought you married, but the Lord answered your prayers by having
you meet Seth. As soon as he returns, I hope you two spend lots of time
together.”

She frowned. “I need to get rid of my guilt too. Some women
stick by their cheating husbands, but I couldn’t forgive Toby. I’m all mixed up
right now. I was focused on getting my nose done and …”

Heather grinned. “Plus you met your future husband. I told
you this might happen. Seth loves you. It’s so obvious.”

She broke off a piece of brownie. “Toby loved me but look
how that turned out.”

“You aren’t alone, Mallory,” Elizabeth said. “Unfortunately,
divorces happen all the time.”

Heather patted her arm. “I talked to Jeremy before you got
here. He said you shouldn’t feel guilty if you see Seth or others.”

“I love Seth but I worry about the future whenever I realize
I want to be his wife. I don’t know if I can move on.”

Chapter Nineteen

The next day Toby talked to Josh about his marriage to
Samantha. Without listening to the conversation, Mallory knew the exact moment
Josh heard the news because his face crumbled. She hated seeing her little boy
unhappy, but understood how he felt. He’d prayed for his parents to get back
together. She needed to make sure that he never blamed himself for their
divorce and never felt his prayers had gone unanswered. 

When the call ended, Josh asked, “I want to still live with
you, Mommy. Will I have to live with Daddy and Samantha?”

She pulled him on her lap, noticing his clothes seemed small
on him. “I’m pretty sure that we’re keeping everything the same. You’ll go to
Daddy’s on Friday evening, and I’ll pick you up on Sunday morning.”

“Maybe some weekends I could stay here the whole time.”

“I’d love that but your daddy would miss you a lot. Just
think while he’s in Vegas, you get to stay here on weekends.” She gave him a
hug. “I missed you when you were at the lake house.”

His eyes widened. “You should get married too. Grandma and
Grandpa Harrington are married. Daddy’s married and Nana just got married.”

Josh’s suggestion surprised her, but she was relieved he
thought that she should get married too. “Maybe someday I will, but only if
he’s right for both of us.” She smiled at Josh. “Do you have some guy in mind
for me?”

“I like Eddie. And he could just move into our house.”

“Whoa. Eddie’s a friend. He’s not future husband material
for me, but I’m glad you like Eddie.” She touched his T-shirt. “How about we go
through your clothes and take the ones you’ve outgrown to Goodwill?”

“After we do that, could we eat pizza?”

***

Mallory and Josh had just gotten home after picking up a
pizza from Jac and Do’s when her house phone rang. After she answered, Seth
asked, “How are you feeling?’

“I’m doing okay from the surgery, but…” she stopped to
glance at Josh.

“But you miss me, I hope.”

“Yes, I miss you.”

“When I’m not doing surgeries, I’m thinking of you.” 

She flipped open the pizza box, took out a piece and put it
on a plate. “Josh, go ahead and start eating. I need to talk to my doctor for a
minute.” She carried the cordless phone to the living room and said to Seth, “I
think it’s time you meet Josh.”