So long have I denied myself what I wanted, but here Mallory is, naming my desire out loud and making it feelacceptable. I know I've appeared to move on and heal on the outside, all the while living in a state of constant agony on the inside. I want to put my adult eyes on David Boylan. There is, of course, one massive roadblock.
"Nobody knows where he's gone."
Mallory's quiet for a moment, then says, "I do."
Chapter 16
Hugo
Mallory stepsfrom the front door of Olive Inn. She's gorgeous in a dress I'm certain my sister would callbaby doll.She does this a lot, wearing clothing that is strategically loose in certain places. I'm not sure why, but she seems hell-bent on keeping her pregnancy to herself. It's her news, and her business, but is there something more behind it? Is it possible the father doesn't know about the baby?
Mallory strides down the sidewalk toward my car, looking better than any model on any runway. She wears white sneakers, her purse held loosely in her hand and bumping against her calf as she walks. This woman is a lot of things, including a conundrum.
A thought pierces my brain, my heart, and my whole damn body, has my fingers tightening on the steering wheel. Is Mallory keeping her pregnancy quiet because the father was abusive? Is she hiding?
Mallory slides into the passenger seat, and the smile Iwore when she first walked out has been stolen from my face by my maddening thought.
"What?" Mallory asks, arms crossing.
"You're wearing a dress that keeps your stomach a secret. Again."
"So?" she asks, voice clipped.
"Why are you keeping the baby a secret?"
"None of your damn business."
She's right. It's not. But I can't sit here and wonder if she's been hurt. I have to know, so I can demolish the man who did it.
I turn so I'm facing her. "Mallory, it's not my business, but I'm dying over here thinking the father hurt you and you've left town to protect your baby."
Mallory's jaw drops. "Hugo, no. That's not at all what happened. I haven't been chatty about my pregnancy because that's not why I'm in Olive Township. Although my reasons for being here are personal, I am still a professional. This is my job." Mallory glances down at her hands, folded in her lap. Her thumb runs the length of her knuckles. "But if I'm being honest with you and myself, I am still getting used to the idea of being pregnant. And being a single mom. This baby was a surprise, and it feels a bit like sitting in the sun beside a pool, and then suddenly being thrown into the cold water."
Relief fills me. I don't have to enlist Penn in a secret mission to track down some guy and beat the snot out of him.
I shift into Drive, appeased now. Mallory and I make a stop at Sweet Nothings for coffee andpastries. "For the two of you," I say, holding up the box in Mallory's direction.
She pats her carpet bag of a purse. "I remembered snacks today."
I shake my head. "They won't be better than Sal and Adela's homemade pop tarts."
Mallory grins over the top of my car. "I could spend the day sitting in the bakery and listening to them bicker."
"Stop in anytime," I tell her, glancing at the store. "They're always going at it."
Mallory squints at me, but I say nothing. Just the wordsgoing at ithave my mind serving me detailed and salacious memories of a certain beautiful woman with her mouth wrapped around a popsicle. Don't let me get started on the way the coloring stained her lips an inviting shade of red.
Using an open palm, I smack the hood of my car. "Get in, Gumshoe."
She sends me a wink over the top of the car. "You got it, Swordsman."
We're only a few minutes outside of town when Mallory turns to me and says, "I'm going to tell you about my baby's father."
Involuntarily, my fingers squeeze the steering wheel. She said he didn't abuse her, but he sure as hell has abandoned her. The idea of it has me seeing red, but in an effort not to dissuade Mallory from opening up to me, I school my strong reaction and simply nod.
"Dylan was my trainer at the gym. Sounds common, right?"
I steal a glance her way, find her grimacing. "As common as anything else, I suppose."
