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Half an hour before she was due to meet Braden for lunch, Mallory was dressed, choosing a calf-length, loose, T-shirt tank dress she’d found at a flea market over the weekend. She was ready to go, but she still hadn’t heard from the doctor’s office.
She had looked at The Bouncing Ball’s books. She just hadn’t followed any one thought process long enough to do them any good. Finally acknowledging her lack of concentration, she’d taken a hot bath with a reality show playing in the background. Then she’d done her hair and makeup while listening to old sitcoms.
What she hadn’t heard was the ringing of the phone. And she had to leave soon.
She really wanted to see Braden. At some point soon she was going to have to tell him some of the things she’d realized about herself. And she owed him an apology. But not that day.
Right then, all she wanted was to see his lazy smile, watch him consume his lunch like it was his last meal and hear about the Mason account.
She wanted things to be good between them, for the friendship that had seen them through the past three years to survive.
Five minutes before she needed to leave, she called the doctor’s office, explaining her predicament.
“The results didn’t come in this morning,” the woman who answered the phone told her. “We generally don’t get the afternoon delivery until after two, so you’re safe. Enjoy your lunch.”
Tearing up she thanked the woman. Then, taking a deep breath, she told herself to get a grip and hurried out the door.
* * *
Braden headed out for lunch ten minutes earlier than he might have if he hadn’t spent the morning being visited by various scenarios of what could possibly be wrong with Mallory.
She’d said she was fine, but she hadn’t said anything about the babies.
Surely, if something had happened to them, she wouldn’t be fine.
No matter what it was, there’d be a way to handle it. There always was.
Still, he’d feel better knowing what it was he might be helping her handle.
If she’d needed his help, she’d have called.
And so it went. All morning long. Anytime he had a break in between calls.
Which, thankfully, hadn’t been often.
He knew the second he saw her being seated at the table that something was up. She had a small furrow between her brows and her lips were tight. Until she saw him approaching. Then she smiled.
The light in her eyes gave him a lift.
“Bad morning?” he asked as he took his seat across from her at a little table for two by a column in the middle of the well-known sandwich shop.
She shook her head, but he didn’t believe her.
She’d stayed home to go over the books. Was her problem financial? Had something happened with the business that she wasn’t telling him about?
But how would a phone call regarding her financial situation upset the kids?
Maybe the problem was with one of the parents from her daycare?
A flashback to the year before reminded him of the couple who’d come into the daycare, claiming that one of Mallory’s kids was the abducted son of a woman from Mission Viejo. She’d called Braden immediately and they’d met with the couple to discuss the situation.
Mallory had been noticeably upset by the whole thing, and seeing that could upset the kids.
So, yeah, maybe it was something with a parent.
She ordered tea from the waitress who approached. He did the same.
“I’m assuming, since you’re here, your call came in?” Her business was her business, he reminded himself. She could share with him or not at her discretion. But not knowing what was going on wasn’t sitting well with him.
