Marrying Mallory (15 page)

“I take it the lovely Mallory said no.”

Seth nodded. “She’s pretty concerned about Josh and the
impact of him seeing me with her. I guess he’d gotten upset when he saw his dad
with his girlfriend. Also she said that we shouldn’t see each other again until
her surgery. She has to focus on all kinds of things. I guess her excuses could
be valid.”

After Henry hit the rubber ball a few times with his
racquet, he looked up at Seth. “I know how you can date Mallory and get her to
stop worrying about Josh’s reaction.”

“I know what you’re going to say because I’ve thought of it
too.”

Henry grinned. “Hope her ex marries his girlfriend. Right?”

“He might marry her in Las Vegas. Then she won’t be the
first one to upset Josh with a new marriage.”

Henry gave Seth a thoughtful look. “I’m glad you met
Mallory. You were in a bad way after Leanne left.”

Remembering Leanne wasn’t painful any longer. Meeting
Mallory had changed his life in a remarkable and unexpected way. “You got that
right. I don’t miss Leanne the way I did at first. The funny thing is Mallory
came to me to improve her appearance, but when I invited her for coffee—”

“I was proud of you to make a move so quickly, and it paid
off since she asked you to be a guest at her party.”

“I know she’s interested in me. Hey, she’s the one who
kissed me on the mouth.”

“When the time’s right, I’m sure you can convince her that
it’s okay for her to date you. Toby committed adultery. She’s in the clear with
God.”

“I hope the time’s right soon for us. I’m crazy about
Mallory Harrington. I want her to meet my family.” Hopefully, his mom wouldn’t
disapprove of Mallory. She might not like it that Mallory was divorced and had
a child. It was important to him that they liked Mallory.

Henry frowned. “What about me and Rebecca? Don’t you want us
to meet Mallory?”

“Of course, I do.” He grinned. “And if you don’t approve,
I’ll listen this time.”

Henry had warned him that Leanne was too controlling which had
been true.

Henry nudged Seth with his racquet. “Come on, let’s see what
you got.”

***

At the sound of her phone, Mallory slid her stack of graded
tests into a folder, and then grabbed the phone. 

“Hello, peanut,” her mom said.

She chuckled. “Mom, I’m thirty-two years old, but I love it
when you call me peanut again.”

“Aren’t you going to say what you used to?”

“Okay, but I only did that in high school. What’s up,
walnut?”

“Alan proposed last night. We’re getting married the
Saturday after Memorial Day weekend. I’d like you to be my matron of honor.”

She knew that Alan had made her mom happy, and thought they
might get married, but not already. “Congratulations, Mom. I want to be your
matron of honor. I really like Alan, but what’s the rush?”

“We want to get married before Alan’s son, Michael, leaves
for Afghanistan in June. With so little time, I’m only going to invite a few
close friends and relatives.”

“I’ll help with everything. It’ll be fun working together on
your wedding.” Her mom had done so much for her through the years. She wanted
to help with the wedding plans. It was a shame Grandma wasn’t alive to watch
her daughter get married to a wonderful guy.

“Thanks, honey. I’m so happy. I thought about telling you
tomorrow, but couldn’t wait and had to call you.”

“I’m glad you didn’t wait. We have to get busy. If you
aren’t doing anything this afternoon, we could go and get the invitations. We
can get the kind you put the date and etc. in yourself. There’s not enough time
to order them. You should get them sent out on Monday.”

“I don’t have any plans for this afternoon. We can have
lunch together, and then get the invitations. My treat.”

“That sounds perfect. I’ll pick you up since you’re buying
lunch.” She just had a thought and wondered if her mom had forgotten about her
surgery. She assumed Alan and Mom would go on a honeymoon. She hated to be
selfish but after her surgery, she’d wanted her mom to be with her.
I better
ask their plans because I might need Heather
,
after all, to drive me for
my surgery
. “Are you going on a honeymoon right after the wedding?”

“Yes, but we won’t leave until Wednesday morning. We want to
spend time with Michael and his family before we leave, and I want to stay with
you on Tuesday after your surgery. We’ll spend the night at your place, and go
to the airport on Wednesday morning. But only if Heather and Elizabeth can stop
in the first few days.”

Her rhinoplasty wasn’t on Tuesday but on Wednesday. She
hated to make her mom stick around for her surgery before going on their
honeymoon. Should she ask Seth if she could move it to Tuesday? She had a
teacher’s work day on Monday. It was getting so close now though. She doubted
it could be changed unless someone scheduled canceled. “Mom, when’s Michael
leaving?”

“He has to leave Monday morning.”

“Go ahead and leave on your honeymoon on Monday then. My
surgery isn’t on Tuesday anyhow and—”

“I was sure you said Tuesday. What day is your surgery?”

“Wednesday. But go ahead and leave after you visit with
Michael. You and Alan shouldn’t wait around. And Mom, I’m so happy for you.”

“But you can’t drive yourself home after surgery and you
need someone to stay with you.”

“Heather’s offered to take off work to take me. I’ll be
fine.” She’d just have Heather drive her to Seth’s medical facility and back
home after her surgery. Really, Heather wouldn’t need to take the whole day off
work. She knew a person was supposed to be with her for the first twenty-four
hours after surgery, but she was in good health. What could go wrong?

And if something did, she should be able to call Seth.  

Chapter Fifteen

“Okay, pour water into this hole,” Mallory said to Josh,
pointing to the spot where she wanted to put the next flower.

“Do you like my present?” Josh asked.

She looked up from the flowerbed and smiled at her son. “I
love the impatiens you gave me. That’s exactly what I wanted for Mother’s Day.”

“I picked red because I know you like red flowers.” Josh
carefully tipped the watering can. “Last night I prayed for another gift for
you.”

“It must be special then. What did you pray for?” She stuck
the flower in the water and pushed dirt around it.

“I asked God for Daddy to come home and live with us again.
I don’t want him to marry Samantha.”

Poor Josh. They’d tried to make sure their son never felt
abandoned and always felt loved by both of them. She never argued with Toby in
front of Josh or on the phone. She had an amicable relationship with her ex.
But it was normal for him to want his parents to live together. “Well, I love
your dad and he loves me, but we weren’t meant to stay married. Unfortunately,
it happens to a lot of couples.”

He frowned. “Daddy kisses Samantha a lot. He loves her more
than us.”

She rubbed her dirty hands on her old jeans and stood. After
taking the watering can out of Josh’s hands, she put it on the ground and
hugged him. Tears filled her eyes. She hated to see her son heartbroken. Toby
had told her that his relationship with Samantha wasn’t serious. Had he lied to
her? Was he planning on marrying Samantha? Why did Toby have to kiss Samantha
in front of Josh?

Dear God, Please give me the right words to say to Josh.

She kissed Josh’s forehead before looking directly into his
eyes. “Your dad will always love you the most because you’re his son. Having
you makes us so happy that we got married. You dad has told me many times how
much he loves you.”

“Mommy, don’t cry. I love you.”

She lifted the bottom of the T-shirt and wiped her eyes. “I
love you too. I’m okay now. Mommies cry a little sometimes. I’m glad you told
me how you felt. And remember even though we don’t live in the same house any
longer, you still have a mom and dad loving you all the time.

She leaned over to pick up a flower. “Let’s finish planting
my Mother’s Day gift.”

While shoving the next flower in the hole, she wished again
that Toby had never met Samantha. Why couldn’t he have given their son more
time to adjust to the divorce? Sure, he had every right to become involved with
someone, but this was too soon. 

***

She felt relief that Josh was fast asleep. Maybe calling
Toby would ease her mind. But did she have the right to ask him again about
Samantha? They were divorced, after all. Josh could be right about his dad’s
feelings for Samantha. Obviously, Toby cared a lot about Samantha because he
wanted her to go to Las Vegas to visit him. 

When the landline phone rang, she wondered if it could be
Toby.

“Hello, stranger.”

She recognized Seth’s voice, which surprised and pleased her
at the same time. She hadn’t talked to him since the previous Sunday when he’d
wanted to visit and bring food. Laughing, she said, “I’m hardly a stranger. We
talked a week ago and we’ve sent texts.”

“Texts aren’t the same as hearing your voice. I just had to
call to tell you that my mom loves the vase and jar. I’m her favorite child now
so thank you. I love it that I gave her the best gift for Mother’s Day. My
sister is jealous.”

“So you and sister have sibling rivalry. That’s what I
missed out on by being an only child.”

“I imagine having you was enough for your mom.”

She couldn’t resist teasing Seth. “Are you saying that I was
high maintenance as a child?”

“Not at all. I meant you gave enough joy that she never
missed having more children.”

“Nice comeback.” She paused for a moment. “I never wanted
Josh to be an only child, but Toby didn’t want more children.”

“That’s a shame.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve always wanted
children. I envy my friend, Henry. They recently had a boy.”

“Tell them to enjoy him because he won’t stay a baby for
very long.”

“So, Mom, how was your special day?”

“Pretty good. After church, Josh and I met my mother at
Applebee’s. Then we went to a movie. This evening Josh helped me plant the
flowers he gave me for Mother’s Day, but…” She dropped her voice as she
continued, “We had a few sad moments because Josh told me about his dad’s
girlfriend.” 

“Is he afraid he’ll have a stepmother?”

“Maybe that and he thinks that Toby loves Samantha more than
us because he saw Toby kiss her.”

“I’m sorry. I know the divorce has been rough on Josh.”

“It is but I’m glad you called. It’s nice to talk to another
adult about it. I thought about calling Heather or Elizabeth, but I didn’t feel
like bothering them again about the whole Toby problem. They don’t need to hear
about my failed marriage all the time.” She paused for a moment. “I shouldn’t
be dumping on you, either. How have you been?”

“I had something unexpected happen today. My former fiancée
called me. Leanne feels now that she made a mistake in breaking our engagement.
She also wants to go boating with my family over Memorial Day weekend.”

Was romance in the air?
First, she had to hear about
Samantha kissing Toby and now Seth’s fiancée wanted him back. And she realized
something important…she didn’t want Seth to get back together with Leanne. “How
do you feel about that?”

“About boating?”

“Yeah, I want to know your deep feelings about her going
boating with you.” She exhaled a deep breath. “I wish you were next to me right
now so I could pounce on you. I want to know how you feel about getting back
with Leanne.”

He chuckled. “I had to tease you. I wish we were next to
each other too. I’d like another birthday kiss from you.”

“Your birthday’s over. I might give you a kiss if you do a
good job on my nose. Well, not right away. The splint will get in the way. So I
take it, that you aren’t interested in being engaged again?” She had to get a
definite no from Seth.

“Not to Leanne anyhow. I’m glad she broke our engagement.”

Seth might enjoy kissing her, but would he ever be
interested in marrying her? She wondered how he felt about divorced women. And
could she ever feel right about getting married to someone again? 

“Are you still there?” Seth asked.

She might as well be honest with Seth. “I was just thinking
about you not wanting Leanne back in your life. That seems like a good
decision.”

“I know you said you don’t want to see me before the
surgery, but how about making one little exception and go boating with my
family on the holiday?”

“It sounds like fun but my mom asked me yesterday to be her
matron of honor. She’s getting married on the Saturday after Memorial Day
weekend, so I’m thinking of having a little bachelorette party sometime during
the holiday weekend. Maybe go to the spa and to dinner. Nothing wild, of
course.”

“Tell her congratulations for me.”

“She wants to stick around to drive me on the day of my
surgery, but I told her to go ahead and leave for their honeymoon.”

“Maybe Heather or Elizabeth can drive you.”

She laughed. “I had originally planned on Heather driving me
before I met you. I thought about fixing her up with you since you both are in
the medical field.” 

In an amused voice, he said, “I remember how you asked if I
was dating anyone. I guess I should date a nurse or a doctor. Leanne’s an
accountant and that didn’t work out.”

Seth had to be kidding. He hadn’t seemed interested in
Heather at the barbecue. “Actually Heather told me that you might fall in love
with me.”
Geez, why did she blurt that out? Because you don’t want him
seeing Heather instead of you.

“What if I do fall in love with you? How would that make you
feel?”

Her answer had to be right and truthful, but still she
hesitated in replying. “I no longer want you and Heather to become a couple.”