“They don’t appear to be, no.”
“Well, I haven’t found anything useful yet, but don’t worry, I will.”
“Thanks, Mal. But actually… I’m not calling about that. I need some advice.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Hold on a sec. I better sit down for this.” A moment later she says, “Okay. Lay it on me.”
So I do. I tell her about Jake’s odd behavior. Thesecrets he’s kept. Everything I had to find out from Julian and the way Jake reacted when I spoke to him about what I had learned. How he took off and now refuses to answer my calls and texts.
“What do you think?” I ask. “Did I screw up? Was I out of line?”
My gut twists when my questions are met with silence. Mallory’s never without words. The fact that she is now? It feels like all the confirmation I need. Finally, after what seems like years have passed, her voice carries over the line.
“Well, I mean, maybe? This Julian? He’s the one Jake works with, right? The other senior partner?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because I’ve seen his picture and, girl, he’s hot. Not Jake hot, but a close enough second where he wouldn’t feel like a consolation prize.”
“But I have absolutely zero interest in him.”
“I’m not sure that matters.”
“There’s no way that Jake would think that I was. That that’s what this is about.”
“Unless maybe you gave him a reason to,” Mallory says gently. “Like believing the other man’s word over his.”
My acid reflux flares so bad it feels like I’m breathing fire. Like I’m melting from the inside. And I suspect that I might just deserve to.
The indignant anger I’ve been nursing between my pangs of regret since he walked out last night is suddenly gone, the coals now colder than if they’d been encased inside a glacier.
I deserve his silent treatment.
“I should grovel until he listens to my apology, shouldn’t I?”
“I mean, I’m not going to tell you what to do. You do you, girl, but if it was me, I might just go ahead and bite the bullet and do it. What’s it going to hurt, besides maybe your pride?”
The truth is, it won’t even hurt that. Especially not if it brings Jake home.
“Any suggestions for how to do that when he won’t talk to me?”
“I’ve heard showing up wearing nothing but an overcoat works.”
Even though I would have thought it impossible given how miserable I feel right now, I laugh.
“Thanks, Mal.”
“Don’t mention it. And, Cassidy?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t worry. You guys will get through this.”
“Yeah.”
