one who snuck away like a thief in the night and drove like a maniac on back roads they haven’t driven in years?”
“Don’t act like you give a shit about the way I drive, or the fact that I didn’t want to ride with you. You wanted us to stay away from each other, remember?” she blurted.
Her cheeks turned red and I knew I must have struck a nerve.
“Mallory,” I started forward.
Her words stopped me.
“No, Luke. You don’t get to just be the victim and keep blaming me for everything. I am not about to take responsibility for the failure of our relationship. We were both accountable. Not only me.” Her voice faltered. “So just stop.”
She turned away and I took the porch steps two at time. I pulled her into my arms, consequences be damned.
She didn’t push me away, though. She buried her face in my chest and cried. The heart-wrenching sobs had my heart clenching for her. Her tears soaked my t-shirt but I didn’t mind. She needed to let it all out. I stayed silent while she sobbed, recognizing her need for silence.
After several minutes, she pulled away, her hands swiping at the lingering tears. “Thank you,” she said with a sad smile. “You want a beer?”
“Sure,” I said.
I opened the screen door for her and she pushed the main door open and let me follow her to the kitchen. She pulled two beer bottles out of the fridge and handed me one. She leaned her hip against the counter and took a long swallow.
“I didn’t think city girls liked beer,” I said with a chuckle.
She grinned wickedly. “I picked up a thing or two in college.”
I sucked in a breath. If ever there was a double entendre…
“I don’t doubt it,” I said.
She raised her eyebrow at me but didn’t respond. She drank more of her beer instead. Her hair was messy and her makeup smudged, but she was still beautiful. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“I know you care about my dad, Luke, but I’m here now and I am perfectly capable of taking care of him. I’ll hire a contractor to come fix the porch. You don’t need to work on this house for free anymore,” she said, and then paused. “My dad doesn’t need you anymore.”
Those were the last words I expected her to say. She didn’t understand. Joe never needed me. I was the one who needed him for the last few years. Joe held out hope that one day Mallory would come to her senses and come back to me, but I was more realistic. She was only here now because of her father’s cancer. She hadn’t come back for me.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, she was right. I didn’t have any business being around Joe anymore. Mallory was more than able to take care of him. So why was I still bound and determined to hang around? There was only one answer: I was still in love with Mallory Wells.
I swallowed hard, trying to make the thought go down with the bile rising in my throat. Mallory waited for me to say something, anything. Her eyes bore into mine and I worried I would say something crazy.
“I have to go,” I mumbled.
I drew my eyes away from hers but couldn’t help but pass a glance over her body. She wasn’t the young woman she’d been. She was a much more grown up version of herself.
“No way, Luke. You’re going to explain what you meant before, about my dad being sick for years,” she demanded.
“There’s nothing to explain. Joe’s had cancer since you were seventeen,” I said.
Her face fell. “He’s been suffering for years?” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “He never told me, Luke.” Her pretty blue eyes begged me to believe her. “He called me earlier this week and said it was a new development. All this time, I’ve been gone and he’s had cancer.”
I didn’t know what to say. I had thought she was selfish and only concerned about herself all this time, but Joe hadn’t even told her about his cancer. I could almost understand why he didn’t tell her. He wanted her to live a full life in Boston and not be plagued with the need to come home and take of him. He didn’t want her to have to see him when he went for his chemo treatments and watch his body all but disintegrate. But she had deserved to know, to