Page 6 of Rescuing Mary

Mary chuckled again, but protested. “It’s really kind of silly, Rayne. I mean, I don’t think I’m ever going to get married. I can’t trust anyone enough to go that far. And I would never want to hold you up from marrying someone you loved.”

“Yeah, okay, I wouldn’t want to hold you up either, but don’t give up on finding someone. Men suck, but I’m holding out hope for a hero.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “You and that song.”

Rayne grinned. “How’s this…if one of us finds someone that we really, really like, and there are no prospects for the other on the horizon, we’ll go ahead and get married. But if the other is dating or something, then we’ll wait.”

“Deal,” Mary said immediately. She knew there wasn’t a chance in hell of her falling in love. It didn’t exist. She’d been proven right time and time again. Reggie Milsap was simply the latest to dash her ridiculous hope that her mama was somehow wrong.

Mary knew Rayne would eventually find someone, she had no doubt. Rayne was a good person inside and out. She was adventurous, brave, funny…Mary could go on and on about her best friend. How could a man not fall in love with Rayne?

But her? Even if she lived through this bout with breast cancer, she knew deep in her bones no man would be able to get past the shields she’d put around her heart. She was too snarky and came across to others as a complete bitch. She couldn’t help it. It was easier to keep people at arm’s length than to risk them hurting her. Because they always hurt her. Always.

So she used sarcasm and snark as a shield. Mary knew the day she got married was the day she believed in fairy tales again. And it would be a cold day in hell before that happened.

Chapter One

“Mary! Kassie’s having her baby! You need to get to the hospital, now!” The panic was easy to hear in Wendy’s voice. Kassie was overdue by at least a week and was more than ready to have her baby.

Mary hadn’t been sure anyone would even call to let her know when she went into labor, but Wendy and Casey hadn’t taken sides in her current drama, and had kept her updated on Kassie’s progress.

She’d done some shitty things in her life, but pushing her best friend away and getting married behind her back—and keeping it secret for months—was low, even for Mary.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m not sure I can get off work early,” Mary told Wendy. She knew frustration was leaking into her voice, but couldn’t help it. She’d used up all of her sick and vacation time at the bank during her recent second bout of breast cancer, and she couldn’t afford to take any more unpaid time off work. She couldn’t be terminated because of the time she’d taken already, thanks to the Family and Medical Leave Act, but her boss wasn’t exactly thrilled. There was no way she’d approve of Mary leaving an hour early.

“Get here, girl!” Wendy practically yelled. “I think she’s gonna have this kid sooner rather than later. You don’t want to miss it!”

And Mary didn’t. Even knowing most of the women in their circle were upset with her, she loved all of them.

Rayne had been her best friend for years. But through her, she’d gotten to know and love Emily, Harley, Kassie, Bryn, Casey, Sadie, and Wendy. She couldn’t imagine not having them all in her life…so the last couple of months had been torture. Mary knew it was all her fault, for marrying Truck and not telling anyone, especially Rayne. But the last thing she’d wanted to do was admit to her friends that she was using the man for his insurance.

Okay, that was a lie. She never would’ve married anyone for money. No way in hell. The insurance was the reason she clung to, but the truth was that she cared about Truck a hell of a lot.

Shit, who was she kidding? She loved the man. She’d practically moved into his apartment. Now that the cancer was gone, she could’ve moved back home. She could’ve put space between them. She could’ve told him that she wanted a divorce, for God’s sake.

But the truth of the matter was that Mary liked sleeping in Truck’s arms. Liked waking up to his tousled hair and grumpy morning attitude. She liked coming home from work and having him there. She liked cooking for him, and letting him cook for her. She liked pretty much everything about him.

The bottom line was that Ford “Truck” Laughlin was a good man.

Way too good for the likes of her.

She was Ann Weston’s daughter. The spawn of a town whore. She was born white trash and she’d always be white trash. Too brash. Too snarky. Hanging out with Rayne and the other women made her feel less worthless, but when push came to shove, she was exactly like her mama. Using Truck for what he could give her.

But she couldn’t quite make herself push him from her life. She couldn’t imagine him not being there. And that scared the shit out of her.

If she felt this way about him now, when they were basically living as roommates and not lovers, not like a true man and wife would live, how would she feel if she let down all her barriers?

Mary didn’t even want to get into the small fact that the thought of being intimate with Truck freaked her out. Not because of him; she could never be afraid of him. But because of what the cancer had taken from her. Namely, her boobs. It was silly. It wasn’t like two mounds of flesh made a woman a woman, but the thought of baring herself to Truck now that she wasn’t sick, letting him see exactly how disfigured she was, made her physically sick.

It wasn’t as if Truck didn’t know…he did. He was fully aware that she’d had a double mastectomy, knew what the radiation had done to her skin and nerves there. He’d see her when wearing clothes was too painful because of the radiation burns on her skin. But it was a whole different thing to willingly bare herself to him…or to anyone…now that she wasn’t “sick” anymore.

“Mary?” Wendy asked.

Mary jerked back to the present. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. If Kassie has her daughter before I get there, tell her congrats for me.”

“I will. See you later!”

Mary hung up the phone and ignored the glare from her boss. She wasn’t allowed to make personal phone calls during work hours, but fuck that. Kassie was in the hospital having her baby. And it wasn’t as if she’d been on the phone for hours.