Marrying Mallory (7 page)

“You believe in God but you don’t have a personal
relationship with Him. You’re depriving yourself of the joys of being a
Christian. Plus just think what impact you can have on Josh if you go to church
with us every Sunday. As his father, you can be his spiritual role model.”
Great, she probably came off sounding too preachy. She knew Toby hadn’t liked
her efforts to convert him while they’d been married.

“Hey, he has you for that. And I go to church.”

“Just on Christmas and Easter.”

He grinned. “I’ll up it to four times a year.”

“I’ll take it. How about you go with us tomorrow?”

He finished the cookie. “You make the best cookies.”

“Don’t change the subject. We can go to church together and
afterwards go to Sunday dinner. Or I can fix a home cooked meal for us. We
missed our family night on Tuesday.”

“I can’t. I already promised Samantha we’d spend the day
together.”

She watched him drink his coffee, wondering if he was more
serious about Samantha than even he realized. “Maybe some other Sunday then. So
what brought you here today?”

“Jeff is having legal problems—”

“I hope you don’t mean Jeff Moore.” Jeff and Toby had been
fraternity brothers. And one of the groomsmen for their wedding.

“That’s the one. Jeff’s a great guy.”

A great guy
. Obviously, Toby was biased. She hated to
criticize his fraternity brother, but she’d never approve of Jeff. He became
obnoxious when he drank too much. He’d said some off-color comments to her
while drunk. Toby had defended his friend because of his condition. She also
didn’t think much of him owning a casino. What had Jeff done to need Toby’s
help as a lawyer? Was it money laundering, tax fraud, embezzlement or something
worse?

“So what does he need a lawyer for? Is he in trouble with
the police? Or I guess maybe the FBI?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing like that.”

Was it for a divorce? She liked Jeff’s wife, Peg and hoped
it wasn’t marriage problems. She’d been one of Peg’s bridesmaids. They hadn’t
been close for years though since the Moores had moved to Las Vegas. A divorce
might complicate Jeff’s life with the income from his casino. Also custody of
their two daughters might be an issue because of his business. Even though she
had a low opinion of Jeff, he loved his daughters and was on his best behavior
around them.

She shrugged. “I guess it’s confidential. If anyone can help
Jeff, it’s you.” 

“I need to settle some things for him. He fired his
accountant and a few other employees. They’re threatening to sue him. I’ll be
leaving for Las Vegas as soon as I finish my present cases.” 

Toby can’t go to church with us, but he can fly to Sin
City to help a loser fraternity
friend. Maybe she wouldn’t send any
cookies home with him
. “I’m guessing you’ll need me to keep Josh on a
weekend. That’s no problem.”

He stood and walked to the counter. While refilling his cup,
he said, “It might be for a month. I’m just not sure.”

“Are you sure it’s for legal work and not to gamble?” Toby
had never been a gambler, but maybe he had acquired the gambling habit since
their divorce. She knew what a sickness it was since her dad had been a
gambling addict. He’d left them to go to Las Vegas for that purpose only.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, irritated. “I’m not your
dad. You know I don’t gamble. I’m going to be working the whole time.”

Jeff must be in serious trouble. Toby never liked to miss
spending time with Josh. “I’m surprised you’d leave Josh for a month.”

He returned to his chair. “I’d like Josh to fly to see me
over a weekend.”

She clenched her jaw. “He’s too little to fly by himself.”

“I wasn’t planning on him coming by himself.”

A thrill went through her body because she knew he meant for
her to fly to Las Vegas with Josh.
Thank you, God
, she prayed silently.
She wasn’t crazy about going to Vegas for a family vacation, but knew it would
make Josh happy to spend time with both parents together. 

“That’s good. If I book the flight soon, it won’t cost as
much. When do you need—”

“I’ll pay for the tickets for Samantha and Josh.”

For a moment, her mind couldn’t grasp that he hadn’t meant
for her to go on the plane. Instead Toby wanted his girlfriend of a few months
to travel with their son.

He frowned. “I hope you aren’t going to put up a fuss about
Samantha bringing Josh. She adores him.”

Her stomach tightened. No way was his girlfriend taking
their little son to another state. “They barely know each other.”

“Samantha’s going to spend time with us after the movie. And
I’m going to have her come over more often on the weekends. He’ll be fine with
her on the plane.”

Samantha being with Toby more wasn’t something she wanted to
hear. Obviously, Toby cared for his girlfriend more than he’d indicated before.
How could Toby move on so quickly with a new relationship? “I’m sorry but he’s
not going. For one thing, he’s still in school and the trip will tire him out
too much.”

“I was planning on a June visit.”

“You know he’s going to the lake house with your mom and dad
in June. And his birthday’s in June.” How could she have her surgery if that
trip was canceled? Unless Toby planned on keeping Josh longer than a weekend in
Vegas which she never wanted to happen.

“Well, June’s a big month and Josh’s birthday is only one
day,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “He can come later and still go visit my
parents.” 

“A casino is hardly an appropriate place for a child.”

He drummed his fingers on the table. “So you’re saying that
our son can only spend time with me in Las Vegas if you are with him?”

“You have to admit that I was being generous to bring him to
you. I shouldn’t be expected to have him fly for the first time with a stranger.”
She saw his eyes darken with anger. “Okay, Samantha’s not actually a stranger,
but what does she know about kids? She doesn’t have any. Or does she have one
hidden somewhere?”

“She doesn’t have children, but she’s great with kids. I
should know because I’ve seen her with her nieces and nephews.”

Mallory bit her lip instead of calling him a liar. He’d said
that his relationship with Samantha wasn’t serious. Meeting the relatives meant
their relationship might become permanent. And now he wanted Samantha in Vegas
with him. Was he in love with Samantha? What other reason could he have for
making sure she spent time with Josh? Of course, she knew he’d get married
someday, but was hoping it’d be much later. She was not ready for Josh to be
part of new family. They hadn’t been divorced that long. “I don’t think it’s a
good idea for Josh to travel to Las Vegas.”

He glanced at his watch. “I better go. I hope you’ll change
your mind. Please think about it. You know I always take good care of Josh.”

Her stomach turned when she heard the door shut behind Toby.

He’d never planned on inviting her to Vegas. Was spending
time with her so undesirable? She wanted Josh to see his parents as being
friends and doing activities together.  

She forgot to give Toby his cookies. If she hurried, maybe
she could catch him. Running to the front door, she hit her knee hard on the
corner of the end table. She ignored the pain and jerked open the door.

Toby stood outside his car, talking on his cell phone.
Without a doubt the person on the other end was Samantha...the woman he wasn’t
serious about…yeah, right.

And she knew then he wasn’t getting the cookies. He didn’t
deserve them. She couldn’t stand liars and cheaters.

Chapter Seven

Seth zipped his black gym bag. He just played his worst
racquetball ever. He hadn’t been able to concentrate so he kept missing the
ball. It was Mallory’s fault. Thoughts of her had been on his mind ever since
they had coffee together. He kept wondering what she was doing, and if she’d
change her mind about the surgery. He looked at his friend, Henry. “I can’t
believe you creamed me. I’ll beat you next week.”

“Wow, your game was off today. What’s bugging you?”

“I keep thinking about a new patient I have.”

“What’s the problem? Does she want too much plastic
surgery?”

Seth knew why Henry asked that. He’d complained to his
friend how some women requested too many procedures. In certain cases when he’d
explained to them how more was not better, they’d left his practice to go
elsewhere. He shook his head. “No. She only wants rhinoplasty done. The thing
is I want to date her. I probably already crossed the line for our
patient-doctor relationship.”

“Why do you say that?”

“She came in yesterday for the first visit. I knew I wanted
to see her outside the office. I couldn’t believe it when she invited me to a
dinner party and—”

“What are you worried about? She’s interested in you too.”
Henry grabbed his bag. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

Seth laughed. “I guess you’re anxious to eat since I’m
paying.”

Henry nodded. “You got that right. This doesn’t happen
often. I usually lose and have to pay for your lunch. How about steaks?”

 “Sure, if you have time.” Henry surprised him with his
request. His friend usually wanted to grab a quick sandwich and get home to his
wife.

“I have time. Rebecca went to her mom’s for the day.”

He grinned at Henry. “Figures. The days I win, you’re in a
rush. Let’s go get some steaks.”

Within forty minutes, they sat in a booth in a fine steak
restaurant. Both had plates of steak, vegetables and rice.

After Henry swallowed a piece of meat, he said, “Thanks,
man. This steak hits the spot.”

For a couple of minutes, Seth watched his friend eat and
thought how Rebecca better start fixing steak for Henry. He definitely enjoyed
his meat, and Henry could afford to put some weight on his skinny frame. “I
never finished telling you about Mallory.”

“Who’s Mallory?”

“She’s the one who wants rhinoplasty. You mentioned she must
be interested in me, but she’s not.”

Henry raised his eyebrows. “Is her nose exceptionally big or
deformed?”

“I think she’s beautiful, but her nose is a little large.”
He shrugged. “She has wonderful cheekbones, the most incredible eyes and she’s
fun to talk to. I wish we had met somewhere else.” 

Henry poured steak sauce all over his meat. “How soon does
she want the surgery?”

“She’s a teacher so it’s scheduled for early June when the
school year’s finished.”

“I see no problem then. It’s almost May and you won’t have
long to wait. You can date her after she has the surgery.”

“I already took her for coffee after her appointment. I told
her that she might think of more questions to ask about the procedure. Also I
said she should get to know me better before I went to the dinner party with
her friends.”

“She definitely likes you. Or she wouldn’t have invited
you.” 

He shook his head. “Mallory’s friends are having this party
to fix her up with someone. She wants me to go to create a diversion, so they
won’t be as focused on fixing her up with this other guy. She’s recently
divorced and not interested in dating.”

“Did you tell her you’d go?”

He swallowed a mouthful of broccoli. “Sure. It’ll give me a
chance to spend time with Mallory.”

“You have it bad and you just met her.”

“I told her she could skip the surgery. I mentioned a couple
of famous women to her with larger noses, but she definitely wants to have it
done.”

“Does she have any kids?”

He nodded. “A little boy. I talked to Mallory about Princess
Diana, too, and how she was considered beautiful with her large nose. That
didn’t convince her and she said how Prince Charles loved Camilla. Apparently
she’s self-conscious enough that whenever she walks into a room, she thinks
everyone is looking at her. They could be but it’s not because of her nose.”

“Well, you have two choices.” Henry held up two fingers
before continuing his explanation. “You do the surgery in June. Then on one of
her later follow-up appointments, you ask her out. The second choice is you
tell her you can’t do the surgery because you love the way she looks and want
to date her.”

“If I tell her I won’t do it, I’m afraid she’ll go to
another surgeon to get it done.”

“That would be bad. You’re the best plastic surgeon in this
area for rhinoplasty.” After a moment of silence, Henry said, “This is where
you say that I’m the best ENT doctor in our area.”

He grinned at his friend. “Okay, you’re the best at putting
those PE tubes in kids’ ears.”

Henry frowned. “Hey, I do more complicated surgeries than
tubes. You know that since you were trained in otolaryngology too.”

What should he do? He felt God had brought Mallory
Harrington to him for a reason. It wasn’t just for plastic surgery. He wondered
if Josh resembled his dad or Mallory. At least, he’d get to spend time with her
at the get-together her friends were planning. “I’ll go to the dinner and take
it from there.”

Henry said, “If you find out they’re having steak at this
party, get me invited.”

“No way.” He waved his fork at Henry. “You stole Rebecca
from me.”

“When I fell for Rebecca, I never thought I had a chance
with her. I figured she was waiting for you to pop the question. I mean, why
would a beautiful woman be interested in me? I still can’t believe it sometimes
that she married me.”

“You two are a great couple.” Rebecca had been one of his
closest friends for years, so he’d been happy to see her fall in love with
Henry.

Henry wiped sauce off his lips. “I told you that
personality’s what counts for women. You better work on yours to nab Mallory.
Good looks aren’t everything.”

***