“Well…”
“You would,” he said before she could answer. “I know how close the two of you were all summer and if you would have asked, Jake would have caved and done what you wanted to make you happy.”
Was it wrong that she saw it as a good thing rather than a bad one?
“You and I both know it would have been wrong, Mallory,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Jake lost out on a lot due to the financial struggles of his family. He’s not a kid going away to college. He’s a twenty-four-year-old man and he’s waited long enough. I’ve offered him help in the past and he’s always turned it down.”
“Then why did he suddenly accept?” And yeah, her tone was a bit bratty, but she couldn’t help it.
There was a weary sigh from the other end of the phone and she knew there was a bit of a lecture coming.
“The Summerfords have always been prideful, Mallory. All the years Jake’s father was out of work and they hated getting a handout from anyone—no matter how much they needed it. That’s what Jake learned growing up. He would have kept right on working for me at Coleman Construction and he might have even been happy doing it, but there’s a lot more to that man and he deserves to discover that for himself.”
“I know, Pops, I just wish…”
“No,” he quickly interrupted.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say!”
“You would have said how you still wished someone would have told you,” he replied and dammit, he was right. That was exactly what she was going to say. “And I’m here to tell you that Jake needed to go with a clear conscience and to have his chance to finally do what he wants to do and make what he wants of his life without anyone’s interference.”
She was about to point out that by Pops giving Jake the financing, he was interfering.
But she didn’t.
“So you can be mad and you can pout all you want, missy,” he scolded, “but the only one in the wrong then is you.”
Again, it was on the tip of her tongue to argue, but she didn’t.
“Now the way I see it, you need to call Jake and apologize. He was a damn wreck after you left and I had to stop him from getting in his truck and chasing after you!”
“You…you did?”
“What good would it have done for him to get in the car when he was that upset? Someone would have had an accident with the way he was behaving!”
Oh, God…what have I done?
She’d been home for less than twelve hours and had ignored any calls and texts that came through on her cell phone for the entire eleven-hour drive back to her home on Long Island from Magnolia Sound. When she’d come downstairs this morning for breakfast, however, her mother handed her the house phone because Pops had been calling all day yesterday and all morning.
“Pops, I…I don’t know what to say,” she admitted, her voice small and trembly. Tears stung her eyes and she hated the whole situation.
Walking away from Jake after everything they’d shared this summer was hard enough –knowing they weren’t going to see each other again until next summer was almost unbearable. But to hear him talking to Pops yesterday–especially after he had lied about where he was going to be–something had just snapped in her.
And broke.
Yeah, her heart was definitely broken.
But now she had to consider calling Jake and at least hearing his side of the story. There had been about a dozen calls and texts from him and maybe…just maybe…once she was off the phone with Pops she’d call and they could talk this out.
“Sweet pea, you know I love you,” Pops said, interrupting her thoughts, “and I don’t want this to come between us.”
“It won’t, Pops,” she promised. “Nothing could ever come between us.”
“Okay then,” he replied, sounding pleased. “And we’ll talk just like we always do and you’ll come to visit next summer, right?”
Mallory smiled. “Always. You know I’d never miss a chance to come see you.”
“Good. That’s good.” He paused. “You go and get settled in and visit with your mother and brother and we’ll talk soon.”
“You know it,” she replied softly. “Love you, Pops.”
“Love you too.”
1
Present Day…
Mallory threw her satchel on the sofa as she kicked off her stilettos. It was good to be home. It had been a really long day, but it was a good one though. Great, even! After two years, she was finally getting the promotion she’d been after and a big fat raise to go with it. It felt so good to have all of her hard work recognized and a week from now, she’d have a brand-new office to go with her new executive position.
Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be going out into the field and working on computer systems anymore. It just meant she would be the one overseeing a team and she wouldn’t have to be pulling long hours on jobs that were technically beneath her. It was a great feeling.
There had been a cake and champagne to celebrate her new position and her co-workers all congratulated her, but she turned down their offers to go out and continue the celebration. She just wanted to come home and relax for a bit and then call her family to share the good news.
It was after seven and she was starving. The smart thing to do would have been to stop and pick up some takeout on the way home, but getting home was more of a priority. And now what did she have to show for it?
“Ugh…looks like I’m having a sandwich for dinner,” she murmured, walking toward her kitchen. “Not exactly the celebratory dinner I should be having.” This was becoming the norm lately–not taking enough time for herself and certainly not eating right. “Something’s got to give. I can’t keep living like this.”
Mainly because she wasn’t living–she was working long hours, coming home, sleeping, and repeating.
Definitely not the life she wanted to live.
Although, with her promotion, life should get a bit better. Just another few days and it would all kick in. Come Monday morning, there would be light at the end of the tunnel.
Off in the distance, Mallory heard her cellphone ring and sighed. It would be easy to ignore it, but what if it were something important? Making her way back to the living room, she fished her phone out of her purse and smiled when she saw her mother’s name on the screen.
“Hey, Mom!”
“Hey, sweetheart! Am I catching you at a bad time?”
“Not at all,” she lied. “I was just making some dinner.”
“Oh, you’re busy.”
“No! Really, I’m not, Mom. What’s going on? Everything okay?”
The first response was a sigh. “Well…we’re having to evacuate.”
“What?!” Mallory cried. “When? Why? I thought the hurricane was going to miss you?”
“It’s one of those things…it took a turn to the west and now…” She sighed again. “I’m having a hell of a time with Pops, though. I was hoping you’d talk to him.”
Two years ago, Mallory’s mother had sold the home on Long Island and moved down to North Carolina’s Magnolia Sound to take care of Pops. Susannah Westbrook took her responsibilities and her family seriously and after years of living so far away from her family, she’d finally made the decision to move back to her roots on the Carolina coast.