Marrying Mallory (8 page)

Mallory doubted if Seth had emailed her photos yet, but she
needed to do something to keep her mind off of Toby’s request for her to put
Josh on an airplane. How could she deny Toby time with his son? But she didn’t
want Josh going with Samantha to Las Vegas. His first airplane trip should be
with his mother. Not Toby’s girlfriend. 

She poured another cup of coffee while she waited for her
computer to boot up. She might as well get more caffeine into her system. Maybe
it would clear her head. She was tired from not sleeping well. She kept
thinking how Josh wouldn’t like his dad leaving. He’d miss his dad because in
the summer Toby tried to spend more time with his son. 

She drummed her fingers on the desk. He’d asked her if she
was seeing anyone. Even though he seemed eager for her to be dating, Mallory
wondered about his
real
reason for caring about her love life. Lack of
one was more like it. Maybe he wanted her with someone so that he didn’t feel
guilty about being with Samantha. Marrying again wasn’t an option for her. She
didn’t want to experience another failed marriage. She couldn’t survive someone
else betraying her the way Toby had. Obviously, she hadn’t been sexy enough to
keep Toby interested in her.

While opening her email, she exhaled a deep breath. Nothing
in her inbox. Okay, she knew it was too soon for him to email her the photos,
but still it was disappointing. She could check her junk box. Seth’s email
might have gone there. It did. She stared at the photos. Again, she was pleased
with how great she looked with a smaller nose.

Her phone rang so she went into the kitchen to answer it.
“Hi.”

“Hello, honey,” her mom said in a cheery voice and
continued, “I never got a chance to talk to you about your big appointment
yesterday. How did it go?”

“I almost called you last night but knew you were out on a
date. It went great. I like the plastic surgeon a lot. He asked me out for
coffee after the appointment. He wanted to give me a chance to ask any
additional questions I had about the surgery.”

“Mallory, I’ve never heard of a doctor taking a patient for
coffee after a first appointment.”

“Oh, do they usually wait until the second appointment?”

Her mom laughed. “You know what I mean. Is he single?”

“Yes, he’s single. I invited him to the dinner Elizabeth’s
going to have. She’s arranging it in hopes of fixing me up with Jeremy.”

“Whoa. I guess I haven’t talked to you enough this past
week. First, who’s Jeremy?”

“He’s the minister. You’ve met him. He’s a sweetie but I
don’t want to date him. What’s the point when I won’t get serious about anyone
again?”

Her mother left out a big sigh. “I wish you’d change your
mind. You’re young and have every right to be happy. It’s my fault. I might
have given you bad advice. I’ve been thinking how I wasted years of my life
waiting for your dad to change and to return to us. I know I stressed many
times how I didn’t believe in divorce. Sometimes dissolving a marriage seems to
be the only answer. And you didn’t fail at your marriage. Toby did when he
cheated on you. You should consider dating Jeremy. He might be God’s plan for
you. You used to want to be a minister’s wife.”

“Well, that was in the past. I don’t see Jeremy being
interested in dating a divorced woman. But I’ll humor Heather and Elizabeth.
And it’ll be fun to have Seth meet my friends.”

“Having fun with other people is a step in the right
direction. You need to move on with your life. Toby has.”

“Oh, he won’t last with Samantha. Toby’s a womanizer.”

“On Tuesday night Alan and I decided to get a pizza at Jac
and Do’s. Toby was picking up a pizza. Honey, Samantha was with him. I know he
missed Tuesday night with you and Josh.”

He’d told her how he couldn’t meet them at a restaurant on
Tuesday, and that he had to meet with a client. He canceled on their night to
eat together as a family, but had time to enjoy pizza with Samantha.

 Her mother continued in a troubled voice, “I don’t want to
hurt you but I think you should know. They looked like a couple in love. I
wouldn’t be surprised if Toby and Samantha get married soon.”

“We looked like that once.”

“I bet God has someone better for you in mind.”

She gave a weak chuckle. “You just want a minister in the
family. Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll keep praying about everything.”

After finishing their phone conversation, Mallory returned
to her computer.
I should
email Seth about moving up my surgery when
I thank him for the photos
. The phone rang while she took another glance at
the pictures.  

She didn’t have to leave the study to answer because she’d
taken the cordless with her. Leaning back in the swivel chair, she said,
“Hello.” 

“Hi, Mallory. Sorry to bother you again.”

Hearing Toby’s warm greeting surprised her. Now what? Was he
going to ask her if Josh could just spend the whole month with him in Las
Vegas? That was ridiculous. She’d already put up a fuss about a shorter stay.

He continued, “I bet you’re grading papers. I remember how
you always worked hard on your students’ papers on Saturdays.”

Wasn’t he being sly? He didn’t fool her by trying to be
considerate and act like he didn’t want to interrupt her work. Heck, he’d
already done that by visiting her. “I finished them before you came. Do you
have a parenting question for me to answer?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“You asked me if I’d mentioned to Josh about you moving back
home. I thought maybe you had another question since Samantha’s in Josh’s
life.”

“No, of course not. I think you should come with Josh on the
plane. You’ve never been to Vegas and I bet you’d enjoy it. There are a lot of
family things to do too.”

Sure, a family vacation except they weren’t a family any
longer. “What about Samantha? Doesn’t she want to travel with Josh?”

“She does but understands you’d want to be with him for his
first plane trip. She’s right. It’ll be fun to have you come too.”

“Is Samantha still going?”

“She’ll come sometime.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t
suggest you come in the first place because, I thought it might be too
difficult for you. I know it was traumatic when your dad left to go to Vegas.
I’ve changed my mind. It’ll be good for you to make good memories in Vegas.”

“Hey, that’s right. My dad left me at age five to go there
and Josh’s five.” But it wasn’t going to be the same outcome. She might have
thought briefly that Toby wanted to gamble, but he’d never been interested in
it. Unfortunately, her dad loved gambling more than her mother and herself.
Toby could be right. Deep down she was bitter about her father leaving her when
she was young.

“I promise not to bet,” Toby said.

“I know you won’t, especially since you want me there. It
depends when we’d go. I do have something planned in June.”

“You don’t have to decide now. You can think about it.” 

Was Toby being sincere in wanting her to visit with Josh?
She’s seen him in action in the courtroom. He could charm his opponent into divulging
all kinds of confidential information. Why did he want her now in Vegas?

Or perhaps Samantha had told him to invite her. But why
would she want the ex-wife around? 

Dummy. Samantha probably wants a babysitter so she could go
out with Toby and party in Vegas. “Am I now being invited to watch Josh while
you and Samantha go out?”

“Would you like to babysit?” Before she replied, he
chuckled. “I’m kidding. I just thought you’d enjoy getting away.”

“I’ll think about it but Seth wants me to fit him in my
schedule sometime in June when school’s out for the summer.” If Toby thought
she meant Seth wanted to date her, it wasn’t her fault. And she hadn’t lied.
She was going to see Seth in June unless she moved the surgery up to an earlier
date. She wasn’t going to Vegas with a swollen nose.

“I thought you wanted to fix Seth up with Heather. Did you
change your mind?”

Great.
Toby had listened to her when she’d mentioned
having coffee with Seth, and his factual mind never forgot a name or dates.
“Heather thinks Seth’s perfect for me, but there’s an old friend who wants to
date me.”

“Anyone I know?” he asked.

“Jeremy Turner.”

She waited for him to make a comment about a minister
wanting to date her, but instead he said, “I better go. The movie will be over
soon. I want Josh to visit. It’ll be great if you can make the trip with him.
And Mallory, thanks for the cookies and coffee. I’ll catch you later.”

“Bye.” After she heard his click, she looked again at the
pictures of her nose. She couldn’t imagine not having the surgery, but it was
possible. If she changed her mind, one good thing came out of learning more
about rhinoplasty…and that was meeting the handsome Dr. Whitman. He had
definitely been a bright spot in her week. She smiled. Oh yeah, he wanted her
to call him Seth. No problem. She’d call him Seth. And her mom was right. A
doctor never
had
invited her out for coffee after an appointment. 

Chapter Eight

Mallory smiled at Elizabeth and Heather. “I’m glad you two
are here.” 

She had the best friends. They’d been there for her when
Toby left her, and now once again wanted to support her. Heather’s offer of
money for her plastic surgery meant a lot to her. She might not agree with
Elizabeth for having a dinner party with the sole purpose of fixing her up with
Jeremy, but she loved her for caring and wanting to help.

“Hey, what are friends for,” Elizabeth said. “I thought we
better get together and plan this dinner I’m hosting. Besides, when you
mentioned Toby’s leaving the state, I thought we should celebrate.” She wore
jean capris with a flowered scarf weaved through the belt loops. Her straight
blonde hair rested on her shoulders. A white blouse topped off her capris.

Mallory frowned. “Geez, you just ruined my great idea. I
thought we could all go to Vegas. We’d have a blast.”

Heather, wearing beige Bermuda shorts and a red polo shirt,
grinned. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing from you. I never thought you’d go
to this city. When I talked about going, you convinced me not to fly there.
Remember you gave me a big lecture of how corrupt Vegas is and gambling’s a
sin?”

She nodded. “I remember. It sounds like I’m being a
hypocrite. My mom did tell me that dad went to Vegas when I was five in order
to win money for Grandma. He said that he wanted to hire someone to take care
of my grandma. He did want us to go with him. But whatever his reason for
gambling, it was still wrong of him.”

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “I thought you wanted your
surgery in June. Won’t your nose be swollen for a few weeks?”

“I’ve been thinking of missing a few days of school and
moving up the surgery to May. If I don’t have the splint on for seven days, I
might not have to miss a whole week of school. I bet it could be removed after
five days instead.”

Heather shook her head. “I don’t know if that’s a good
idea.”

She jumped up from the sofa. “He emailed me my photos. You
have to see them.”

Elizabeth and Heather followed her into the study. Mallory
still had them on the screen. Both women stared at the before and after photos
for a few minutes.

Elizabeth broke the silence with, “The after photos look
wonderful. I guess if you really want to look like that, you should get it
done.”

“But Mallory won’t look the same.” From the swivel chair,
Heather pointed to one of the after shots. “I feel like I’m looking at a
different person. You could wait and think about it longer.”

“I have waited. I’m thirty-two years old. It’s a great time
to do something for me.”

“What does your mom think about your surgery?” Elizabeth
asked.

She shrugged. “I just emailed her the photos before you
came. Mom hasn’t said too much, but she seems to be in another world these
days. She’s happy spending time with Alan.” Heather moved away from the
computer. “She deserves to have a great guy. Your mom helped mine to have a
closer relationship with God.”

“Your mother’s a saint,” Elizabeth said. “She’s always lived
her faith. I’ll never forget how she took care of your dad when he had cancer.”

“She forgave him for leaving us. That was weird when we went
to North Carolina to be with him. But he wasn’t a complete stranger to me. He’d
been in and out of my life even after they separated.” Sighing, Mallory looked
at Elizabeth. “I wanted my parents to have a marriage like your parents.”

Heather nodded. “Me too. I hated it when my parents
divorced. I think that’s a reason I’m afraid to get married. Mom and Dad had
such nasty fights.”

“I hope Derek and I have a marriage like my parents have.”
Elizabeth took another glance at photos. “I guess you could move your surgery
up, so your nose might not be swollen for the Vegas trip. But personally,
waiting and sticking with having it in June seems like the best thing to do.”

“How long does the swelling last?” Heather asked, shoving
her hands in her pockets.

“Anywhere from one to six weeks.” Mallory looked at
Elizabeth. “If I wait until June, I won’t know what my nose will look like
until after it’s done. I won’t be able to make any plans and my flight will
cost more.”

“Toby invited you so make him pay for the round trip
tickets,” Elizabeth said.

When she’d talk to her friends on the phone, she’d left out
the part about Samantha flying with Josh. “I’m afraid Toby didn’t invite me at
first and—”

Heather interrupted, “I hope he wasn’t going to have Josh
fly by himself. He’s only five and hasn’t been on a plane.” 

Mallory shrugged. “He planned on Samantha being with Josh on
the flight. Not me. He didn’t even ask me until later when he called. I’d told
him that Samantha didn’t have any kids, and Josh doesn’t know her well enough.
Well, he then told me how Samantha’s spending more time with them, so that they
get to know each other better.”