James choked on his drink and coughed a few times. Once he could finally get a word out, his voice was hoarse. “They didwhat?”
She stared at him with an amused smile. “You heard me.”
“Okay, but I need a lot more information. Hold that thought.” He put a finger up when she started to talk again. “I’m going to get us another round and then I want to hear every single detail.”
She smirked. “Only if you promise not to rat me out. The last thing I need right now is to have my high school diploma revoked.”
James grinned excitedly. “Deal.”
Chapter 7
By the time they left the pub a few hours later, Mallory could no longer deny that she liked James. Not only was he funny and easy to talk to, but he also possessed an alluring charm. When he smiled at her, or laughed at one of her jokes, Mallory felt like she was sitting with someone she’d known her entire life. She felt comfortable with him, which made all the excitement that naturally came with a new crush feel more manageable and less frightening.
In the past, Mallory’s fear of vulnerability had kept her from developing deeper connections with men. However, all these walls and anxieties disappeared when she was with James. It was inexplicable to her why she simplytrustedhim even though she hardly knew him.
Perhaps the alcohol was skewing her better judgement, but she decided to let herself sink into this newfound feeling.
“I’ll walk you home,” he said when they stepped outside into the early evening. The town was blanketed in a thin layer of snow, but it was no longer falling.
“What about your car?”
“I don’t think I should be getting behind the wheel right now. And I don’t live far from the pub, so I can easily get my car in the morning.”
“If you live around here, then it’ll be really out of your way to walk me home.” She zipped up her puffer coat. “I’ll be fine on my own if you’d rather just go back to your place.”
He smiled at her casually. “No, I’d rather make sure you get home safely, if that’s okay with you?” She blushed, but the redness in her face only deepened when James reached out intertwined his fingers with hers.
“For someone who thinks he’s not good in social situations,” she joked. “You’re pretty smooth.”
James laughed and glanced away. “Not normally. I think I’ve just learned over the years that life is short. When you see something you really want—you should go for it.”
Mallory tucked her chin into her chest so he wouldn’t see the dopey grin on her face. As Mallory led the way to the intersection on the corner, James told her a little more about what had changed in Ferndale since she’d last come home.
“The market changed ownership,” he said. “And when I say that people were upset, it’s an understatement. They thought the whole store was going to change and that they weren’t going to be able to get any of their favorite foods. Even my Aunt Miranda was afraid that prices would soar. In reality, nothing changed except the color scheme of some signs.”
“I’m sure some locals still had something to say about that.”
“They did!” James laughed. “Somehow the change in colors came to represent the complete transformation of the town in general. They’ve separated the timeline of Ferndale intothe before timeswhen the market still had a lovely green and white sign. Andthe after times, which I guess we’re still in now.”
Mallory looked up at the new sign as they walked past the market. “To be fair, the new colors are bad. Who puts orange and purple together?”
He clicked his tongue. “Yeah, that was definitely a choice…”
They shared a laugh and kept walking. It was quiet. Nobody else was walking around and Mallory was deeply grateful for the solitude. Not only did it mean that the two of them could continue talking without interruption, but it also meant nobody would spot them holding hands. She didn’t want the entire town—and therefore her family—knowing that something was going on between them—not yet anyway.
When they reached her parents’ neighborhood, Mallory slowed her pace a bit. James raised a brow when he glanced at her. “You good?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “I just—” She smiled guiltily and then took her hand back. “If my family sees us holding hands, they’ll make a big deal out of it. With everything going on in the house right now, I’d rather not add to the drama. It’s nothing personal, but—”
“You don’t have to explain. I understand.” He chuckled. “If we were walking up to my aunt’s house holding hands, she’d have a million questions for me. It would end up being all we’d talk about for weeks.”
“Right?” Mallory scoffed. “Isn’t it ironic how my family members and your aunt want us to date and generally get a life, buttheyare the ones who waste time worrying about other people’s lives? How are we the lame ones?”
“Beats me,” he said.
As they walked down the street, they continued commiserating and laughing about the struggles of overbearing family members and laughing. When they were just a few houses down from her parents’ house, Mallory spotted a car idling in the driveway. She stopped abruptly and moved to stand behind a tree in the yard.
“What are you doing?”
