Broken Series (10 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Mallory

After the service reception, I didn’t see Luke. It wasn’t on purpose, though I’m sure I would have tried if I had been capable of leaving the house. But I wasn’t. I sat in the house for five days. Rainey and Gabby visited me every day, but even their visits were fewer and fewer, as they couldn’t stand to be around me.

I knew I wasn’t fit for company, but I also knew they worried about me doing something stupid. And although I would never admit it aloud, I had thought about that something stupid. Just end it and be rid of the pain of losing my dad. But in the end, I was a coward. I didn’t have the guts to make it happen. Rainey called the doctor for me and he made a house call. He tried to engage me in conversation, but it just didn’t happen. I was inconsolable.

Dad’s death had turned me into this hollow shell of a woman. I couldn’t feel, couldn’t express emotion—I was numb. The worst part was, I could see myself the way everyone else did—the depression, the denial—but I wasn’t just mourning the death of my father. I’d repeated history and given up on Luke. I knew we could easily start a life here in Casper and be happy.

But why did I have to be the one to sacrifice what I wanted? Why was it my fault he didn’t want to move to the city? And so, I mourned our relationship alongside the death of my father. Even Dad had thought Luke and I were meant to be. And for a while, so did I. But we weren’t.

It was the day of the reading of Dad’s will. I would be driving back to Boston tomorrow morning. I’d managed to call my roommates and beg them to give me my room back. They agreed and said they hadn’t even found someone to replace me yet. My job was a little more difficult, but after pulling some strings, my boss managed to get me a position at least somewhat similar to the one I’d had.

So I was set. I packed my duffel, leaving out an outfit for me to wear tomorrow on the drive back to the city, and loaded it into the car. I drove to the lawyer’s office and met Luke in the lobby. He looked amazing in jeans and a polo shirt paired with work boots. It was as close to dressing up as he got. I smiled at him, but it was a sad smile. It was a goodbye smile.

“Mallory,” he said in greeting.

He tipped his head at me and the receptionist looked up.

“Miss Wells. Now that you’re here, we can do the reading,” she said as she led us into a small conference room. “Mr. Jamison will be right in.”

I sat in the chair farthest from the door and Luke took the one next to me. The only other chair was the single one across the table, which was obviously designated for the lawyer. I kept my eyes straight ahead and my mouth shut. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him turn to me and open and close his mouth several times. He couldn’t seem to find the right words. We were both saved when the lawyer came in and sat in front of us.

“Miss Wells, Mr. Bates. I’m so glad you could meet me today. Mallory, I believe your father explained the distribution of his estate.” He looked at me.

“Yes, sir, he did. I would like to put the house up for sale immediately,” I explained.

“Of course. I will put you in contact with a real estate agent as soon as possible. Mr. Bates, did Mr. Wells explain what he was bequeathing to you?” Jamison glanced at Luke. When Luke shook his head, Jamison continued. “Mr. Wells is leaving you his lake house in Greenville—”

“What? He’s leaving me the lake house? Did you know about this?”

He gave me a furious look. I nodded.

He was speechless. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly as he searched for the right words. I would have smiled at the comical expression on his face if I wasn’t so afraid of feeling anything at all for him. He finally turned back to the lawyer.

“Is that all?” he whispered as if he was afraid of the answer.

“No, sir. Mr. Wells is also leaving you ten thousand dollars cash. It won’t be payable until the life insurance company pays Mallory, but the money is set aside for you,” Jamison said.

Luke looked like he was going to be sick. But he didn’t say anything. “There’s only one other thing Joe asked me to give each of you,” he said as he pulled two envelopes from the file folder on the desk. He handed one to each of us.

“What’s this?” Luke asked.

“Joe wrote a letter to the two of you and he wanted them given to you upon his death. He only gave them to me the week before he died, so I think they are his final goodbyes,” Jamison said.

“Thank you, Mr. Jamison.”

I shook his hand and left the room. I would not break down in front of Luke. I walked slowly out of the office to my car. Luke didn’t follow me out right away. I sat in my car, holding the letter—Dad’s last words from the grave. I gulped. I sat in my car, afraid to open the letter. I was afraid that whatever he’d written to me would change my mind about moving back to Boston. I wasn’t prepared for that, but I had to know what he had to say. I ripped open the envelope and pulled out his hand-written letter.

My dear Mallory Anne,

Never was a father more proud of his daughter than I am of you. You have grown into an amazing woman, a strong, successful, and stubborn woman. That’s what I love about you. And since you’re reading this after my death, I get the last word. For once.

You cannot run away from your life. I learned that the hard way with your mother and trust me, you don’t want to learn it the hard way. By now, I figured you’re all set to move back to Boston. Bags are packed, car loaded up? You’re nothing if not predictable, baby girl. But this isn’t about me telling you not to go.

This letter is to let you know how much I love you and that no matter what choice you make, I will always love you. I will always be proud of you. No woman has ever brought as much light into my life as you. And someday, you’ll bring that precious light into another man’s life. I’m not saying it will be Luke, or even that it should be, but I am asking you for only one thing…

Trust your heart.

All my love, Dad.

I managed to drive home after the tears settled and I wasn’t surprised one bit to find Rainey and Gabby waiting for me. They were already comfortable in the house with a cup of coffee from Irene, who had moved in, temporarily. I wanted to give her the house, but she refused when I discussed it with her. She said she would stay until it sold so that it stayed clean and I didn’t have to deal with showing it to interested people. She said she would take care of everything. I had no doubt that she would.

“Mallory, how did it go?” Rainey asked me the second I walked through the door.

She didn’t look like she expected an answer, though, and I guess that was my fault. I hadn’t spoken much to them the last few days. But now that I was resolved to go back to Boston, I was a bit more talkative.

“About as I expected. Dad and I discussed the distribution of his estate before he passed. I wasn’t surprised by the meeting,” I told her.

I didn’t mention my shock at having a letter given to me following Dad’s death. Or the contents of that letter. Rainey and Gabby both looked shocked to hear me reply in full sentences. They were used to one-word answers from me all week.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Irene said from the kitchen.

She never missed a beat. After a few minutes, the shock wore off and my friends were able to actually have a conversation with me. I sat in my favorite chair and Irene brought me a cup of coffee.

“So what’s next?” Gabby asked.

“Well, I’m going to put the house up for sale and move back to Boston in the morning,” I explained. Gabby’s eyes widened but Rainey looked away. “I know it’s sudden, but I need to get back to my life.”

“Of course,” Rainey said.

She still wouldn’t look at me and I got the impression she was fighting tears. I still hadn’t figured out what was wrong with her—she’d been edgy and nerved up since her return home.

“Rainey, don’t do this,” I begged.

She was going to make a scene and I didn’t need more guilt. Dad’s letter hadn’t changed my mind about my decision, either. The fact that I was so predictable probably meant I was on the right track. I needed to get away.

“Don’t do what, Mal? Don’t care that you’re leaving and we only just got you back? Because I can’t do it. I
care.
I want you to stay,” she whispered.

She finally looked at me and I saw the tears welling in her eyes. I took a steadying breath.

“I know, Rain, I know. But this hasn’t exactly been easy for me. Dealing with my dad and Luke and then Dad’s death. It’s been a rough couple of weeks,” I protested. I had good reasons to leave. I needed her to understand them.

“Oh yeah, so rough. You got to spend the last few days with your dad and have a conversation with him. Mine died in a car accident three weeks after I moved to LA. No goodbyes there. The man who loves you only wants you to be happy, even if it’s not with him, you poor thing. Run away to Boston, Mallory. Just like you did after high school,” she sneered, and tore out of the house with Gabby chasing her.

I sat there, stunned. When she put it in black and white like that, the right choice seemed obvious. But this wasn’t a black-and-white situation. There were so many variables and I actually wasn’t sure I was making the right choice. But I had to make a choice, right or wrong. No matter which choice I made, there were going to be people in my life who weren’t happy with my decision.

Her pain cut to my heart. She must feel like I was leaving
her
instead of this town and Luke. It was true, even though I didn’t want to see it. I was leaving her, Gabby, all of my small-town friends, and the people who had rallied around me after my dad’s death. I was the one turning my back on them.

Gabby came back into the house a few minutes after Rainey drove away. She sat across from me and looked into my eyes. I felt no judgment from her, though.

“What are you doing, Mal?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why
are
you running away? Everyone knows you’re going through a lot right now. Why not take the summer, like you planned, and then decide what you’re going to do? You can make an informed decision,” she said.

“I
am
informed,” I protested. The longer I stayed here, the more I was afraid I would want to stay. I didn’t
want
to want to stay. Which meant I needed to get away. Now.

“No, you’re not. There are things you don’t understand about Luke. About Rainey. There are things going on that you just don’t know about,” she said.

I sat forward and rested my elbows on my knees. “Then tell me. Tell me what’s going on with Rainey,” I pleaded. I
knew
there was something going on.

“It’s not my place,” she whispered with a sigh. “Rainey will tell you when she’s ready. Luke—I should think his issues are obvious. But apparently not, so I will point it out. He’s in love with you, Mallory. Not like he was when you guys were kids. Though I’m not sure he ever really got over you back then. But since you’ve been back, he’s fallen for you all over again.”

I sat back in the chair with a gasp. It was a knee jerk reaction. I’d been told by so many people that Luke still had feelings for me, but I never imagined he was
in love
with me. It didn’t seem possible. He was too stubborn to fall back in love with me. But I knew I was wrong. I’d fallen for him all over again in the past few weeks. It made sense he’d fallen for me too.

Chapter Eighteen

Luke

I didn’t want to go out with the guys to The Landing, but they insisted. After the week I’d had, I needed to unwind so I let them drag me to the only bar in town and prepared to get drunk. Baker drove, though he assured me he would be drinking and Rainey had told him she could be our designated driver. I felt at least a little safer.

It was still Friday and I’d only learned of what Joe left me in his will earlier that day. The Landing was packed when we showed up at half past nine. Wolfe paid our cover and we found a table near the band. It was loud so conversation was nearly impossible. It worked for me, though. I didn’t want to discuss the events of the day, or hell, even the week. I just wanted to forget.

Rainey and Gabby joined us at the table shortly after we got there. Almost immediately, Baker asked Rainey to dance and they left me alone with Gabby and Wolfe. It was beyond awkward. They wouldn’t even acknowledge each other. When Mallory walked in, beer burst out of my mouth onto the table. She walked right up to the table as if she wasn’t breaking my heart and said something in Gabby’s ear. Gabby nodded and then Mallory asked Wolfe to dance before she even ordered a beer. Wolfe looked nervously at me and I gave him a nod.

Mallory was a free woman without attachments. She’d made that perfectly clear. So it didn’t bother me one bit when Wolfe twirled her on the dance floor and she gave him a huge smile. Nope, not one bit.

Oh, who was I kidding? I was more jealous than I’d ever been in my life and she had an unfair advantage, since she wasn’t the one in love. I took another swig of my beer and glanced at Gabby. She was watching them too. I thought she looked annoyed, but when she caught me looking at her, she grinned.

“Want to dance?” she shouted above the heavy bump of the bass. I nodded and held out my hand to her. It was completely platonic, since she was technically still married and Wolfe was quickly becoming a good friend. Not to mention his left hook was dangerous. I rubbed my jaw subconsciously. There weren’t any bruises, but it was still sore.

I spun Gabby around and the beat thumped around us. Near the end of the song, Gabby stepped away to dance with Baker and Wolfe grabbed Rainey’s hand. With them paired off, I looked at Mallory. She seemed to have an inner battle before she reluctantly took my hand. Almost immediately, the music slowed and changed to a romantic love song. It was an older song, too. I recognized it as the song Mallory and I had claimed as ours when we were young. I pulled her close but I looked over her head to where our “friends” danced a few feet away. This was all just some scheme on their part.

But I wasn’t going to be the one to back down. I looked at Mallory and she moved closer to me so that our slow dance wasn’t like a junior high dance with several feet between us. Her amazing scent, berries and vanilla, flooded my senses. Lust hit me like a brick wall. I shifted back as discretely as I could so she wouldn’t notice. I gulped and vowed I wouldn’t breathe for the rest of the dance, even if it killed me.

She was dressed to kill in that short jean skirt and a white T-shirt with the sleeves rolled. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and the long tresses hung down her back. Her makeup was dark, much darker than I’d seen her wear before. Her mascara was thick on her long eyelashes and her lips were painted pink and then glossed over. I resisted the urge to kiss those pink lips.

She stared up at me with her bright blue eyes and it took everything within me not to kidnap her until she fell back in love with me. I could use sex to do it, just as Baker had suggested. But she wouldn’t be happy. The city life made her happy, and I didn’t want to intrude on that life. I didn’t want to bring her down.

We danced through the song but didn’t speak. Our bodies moved in unison, we’d danced to this song so many times. Even though it wasn’t a super slow song, it described our relationship to a T. The lyrics were all about finding a reason to be a better person, a reason to change. I sang the words aloud as we danced our final goodbye. She was moving on with her life and I was going to change.

It wasn’t that I was going to become someone different, I just suddenly wanted something more. I didn’t know what, but I knew it would come to me. In the meantime, I enjoyed the dance with Mallory. When the song ended, we separated and I went back to the table. Another fast-paced song fired up and the girls all opted to remain on the dance floor while Baker and Wolfe made their way back to where I sat.

“Sorry, man,” Baker yelled to me after he sipped his beer. “They put us up to it.”

“Yeah, it was Rainey and Gabby’s idea, Luke. They insisted,” Wolfe piped up. “We couldn’t say no.”

“You mean you couldn’t say no to your wife. What a sally you turned out to be.” Baker laughed. “Remind me to come to divorce court with you so I can watch as she takes half your stuff and then some. That way I’ll be able to tell how she does it so I don’t make the same mistake with Rainey.”

“Low blow, Baker. Especially coming from a man who’s been shut off,” Wolfe replied. “I hear Rainey hasn’t been giving it up since the first night she slept with you.”

I looked at Baker in surprise. He brushed it off.

“We realized we were going too fast and decided to slow it down,” he muttered. He swilled his beer and I saw his eyes flash.

“Yeah, slow down by stopping completely. I heard that,” Wolfe raised his bottle. I tapped mine against his just to irritate Baker and we laughed.

Half an hour later, the ladies rejoined our group and I noticed Mallory chose a seat between Gabby and Wolfe. She was avoiding me. I didn’t quite know what to make of it. We were over, shouldn’t she at least not want to be around me anymore? Shouldn’t she scream at me and demand I leave her friends?

But she acted so comfortable, as if my presence didn’t bother her at all. She didn’t try to make me jealous, either, which I figured would have been her number one priority. She should want to never see me again. It was so confusing.

Across the bar, Carrie caught my eye and waved me over. I excused myself from the group, where the conversation had turned to Rainey and Baker’s “relationship.” Definitely not a conversation I wanted to have.
Again.

I walked over to Carrie, who sat at the far end of the bar where the music was low enough to invite conversation.

“Hey, Luke,” she greeted. She patted the barstool beside her and I sat.

“Hi, Carrie. How have you been?” I asked politely.

“Oh, the same. I just wanted to check in with you and make sure you’re doing okay. I know Joe meant a lot to you. I tried to talk to you at the funeral reception, but you acted like you didn’t hear me and then you drove off in a huff. I figured I would run into you eventually. Small town and all,” she laughed. It was obvious she’d had more than a few drinks.

“Yeah, I was a little upset,” I told her. She leaned toward me and put a hand on my thigh.

“You know, Luke, I miss you.
A lot
,” she squeezed. I gulped, certain I couldn’t go through this again. Breaking up with her had been hard enough the first time. I didn’t want to do it again. I almost laughed aloud when I realized I could have been thinking about Carrie or Mallory. That was my life—one big comic show. I pushed her hand away.

“No, Carrie, we aren’t doing this. Have a nice night,” I got up from the stool and walked away before she could reply. When I arrived back at our table, Mallory was nowhere to be found. Rainey and Gabby glared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“We saw you hitting on Carrie,” Gabby pouted. Were they insane? Carrie came on to me. And I pushed her away. I wasn’t about to get involved with anyone else. At least, not right now.

“Where’s Mallory?” I asked. It all suddenly clicked in my head.

“She took off,” Rainey said. “She said she was going to walk home.” Walk? It was after eleven at night and she lived several miles from the bar. I sighed.

I was never going to understand women.