“Did Mallory tell you?” Chris asked.
Her hesitation was answer enough. It wasn’t a surprise that she’d been by to visit his mother without him, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about her talking about his personal issues without him knowing about it. Even if it was his mother.
“She thought I was asleep.” When Chris said nothing, she continued on. “Mallory comes by almost every day. She came in one evening and I must have been asleep when she got here. I woke up while she was going on about the weather, but before I could turn and tell her I was awake, she changed the subject. I know Lily asked her to talk you into letting her stay.”
Another wave of surprise washed over him. He’d known Mallory was visiting his mom while he was in Florida, but he hadn’t realized she continued her regular visits even after he’d returned home. A glance at Lily told him his mother wasn’t making anything up. She really was doing everything she could to stay. Before he made his decision, he’d need to speak to Dan and figure out what all this was about.
“Lily,” he said, giving his daughter a weary look, “we’ll talk about it later. And I’ll think about it, Mom.”
“Have Manny draw up the paperwork. You know who I’m talking about, right? He did my will.”
“Mom,” he said, heaving an exasperated sigh. “I said I’d think about it. That isn’t a yes.”
“I’ll still need the papers ready. If you don’t want it, then I’ll just sell it and leave you the money. I have plenty of money saved in case I needed to come somewhere like this, but I don’t want this place to get my house or the money I make selling it. You should really think about it before you make a decision.”
Just like that, everything became real. And along with it came the realization that only Mallory could make him feel better about the decisions he needed to make. If he was honest with himself, he wanted Lily to stay just as much, if not more, than she wanted to stay. If he looked beyond emotions, his mother’s house would be the perfect place to live with Lily and Mallory.And Mallory?He needed to get out of there before that idea made itself comfortable in his mind.
Chapter 23
MALLORY
Mallory sat on her couch and tried to listen to what Christian was saying, but she was incredibly distracted by his large hands as they absently stroked her legs. Lily had excused herself into the bedroom to watch TV, so it was just the two of them. The anxiety she felt weighing her down upon hearing the words “we need to talk” was finally beginning to let up.
It was Friday night, so she was able to relax without having to worry about being at work the next morning, and Christian had the night off. It was nice. It was comfortable; until the time came to talk about real things.
“What should I do?” Christian asked, his gaze fixed on hers.
“What?” Mallory stammered.
“What should I do? My mom wants me to take her house, and apparently everyone wants me to keep Lily for at least the summer, but knowing my ex it won’t be that simple.”
Mallory forced herself out of her daze so she could respond. “If she doesn’t want Lily around, why won’t it be that simple? Seems to me she’d be ecstatic to get her out of her hair.”
Christian’s hands momentarily paused on her legs before he let out a soft chuckle. “It won’t be simple because it’s something that I want.”
“After all this time?” Mallory asked incredulously.
A slow nod was his only response. As a woman who never had children, it was hard for her to imagine being in either situation; a single mother, or a father having to deal with a single mother. As far as Mallory was concerned, it seemed like the perfect solution. Lily’s mother was tired of dealing with her and her father wanted more time with her. It should have been simple.
“Even if Lily is right and Vivian doesn’t want to deal with her, she’ll never admit it. Saying something like that out loud would make her a bad mother. She’d rather fight me tooth and nail and get the chance to make my life hell while also looking like a mother who is fighting for her kid, than admit she needs a break.”
Mallory gaped at him in horror. There was no way a mother could behave that way. She opened her mouth to speak then closed it several times before Christian squeezed her ankle, bringing her attention back to him.
“I over-simplified that statement. While I do think she’d still go out of her way to make me miserable, she isn’t necessarily a bad mom. She’s tired. Raising a teenager and working full time isn’t easy. Unfortunately, she’d get raked over the coals if she admitted to needing a break. Why do that, if I can be punished while also helping her look better?”
The standards that women were held to were ridiculous. Add in being a mom, and she couldn’t be happier that having children hadn’t been in the cards for her. She had a hard enoughtime feeling adequate, without anyone judging how well she kept another human alive.
“So, what do you think?”
His question jolted her from her thoughts. “What?”
Christian went back to lazily stroking her legs. She knew he was just trying to ease her anxiety, and it worked. “What do you think I should do? Should I start that fight with Vivian? And what about Mom’s house? I just don’t know what I should do.”
“Oh,” Mallory fumbled as anxiety lanced through her. “It’s really not my business. You should do what you think is right.”
“I want it to be your business. Doing this without you isn’t going to work for me. Florida made me sure of that.”
She whipped her head over to look at him as her heart continued to pound. He looked back at her with a look of uncertainty. His face was free of his nearly constant smirk, and he was studying her face carefully. Either her heart skipped a beat, or she was having an actual heart attack. His expression told her he meant every word he spoke.
