make the decision herself.
Instead, he left the job of telling her the truth to me. He let my heart break over losing her and then break all over again when I realized he was going to die. Neither of them were going to be in my life once Joe died. Anger filled me; I wanted to kill Joe for putting Mallory through this hell now and for putting me through hell over the last few years. Lucky me, I wouldn’t have to kill him—the cancer would take care of that.
My thoughts were mean and hardened, but I couldn’t find room to care right away. I was furious with Joe. All this pain—his, hers, mine. It wasn’t fair. My heart broke as tears slipped down Mallory’s cheeks. She made no noise, though and I was helpless to do anything but stare as the tiny saltwater drops made their way down her face. I couldn’t move; I was frozen in place by my own bitterness. Joe would be the one who escaped this mess. He was the one got to embrace death while Mallory was going to have to live with the guilt she felt for the rest of her life.
And it was all because of me.
“I’m sorry, Mallory. I thought you knew,” I said softly, still unmoving.
Her head whipped up and her eyes flashed. “You thought I knew? You thought so little of me that you believed I would leave my dying father alone for all these years? You thought I was just some spoiled little girl running away from Daddy’s cancer? I didn’t know, and if I had, I would have stayed. I hope, though, that I would have had the good sense to dump you, even if I hadn’t gone to Boston. You’re a nothing, just like every generation of deadbeats before you. Get out of this house,” she demanded.
“Mal—”
“No! Just get out! I don’t want you anywhere near this house again! Stay away from us!” she screamed.
Her voice faltered and I made a move to give her a hug. I knew she was hurting and just lashing out at me. It was a kill the messenger scenario.
“Get out! Now!”
She pointed at the door and I realized she needed some time to cool down. I turned away and made my way back to my truck. Tomorrow she would come to her senses about having me around. She would change her mind. I was sure of it.
FIVE
Mallory
The house phone rang an hour after I kicked Luke out of the house. I sat at the kitchen table feeling sorry for myself and spiraling into a depression about my dad, who apparently had been sick for a long time. It wasn’t fair. I missed out on so much time with him. I figured he wanted to protect me, but I should have known, damn it! I deserved to know. I sighed. My anger wouldn’t help him now. Or me.
“Hello?” I said into the receiver of what had to be the very last rotary phone in the whole country. My dad sure liked antiques.
“Mallory? It’s Gabriella Peterman,” she said in a high-pitched voice.
“Hey, Gabby. How are you?” I asked politely. I sniffed and looked around impatiently for a tissue.
“Oh, you know, living the life of a small town gal. But I wanted to check in on you. I know you and your dad were close,” she said as though he were already dead.
“We still are close,” I stressed, though given the fact that he hadn’t told me about his cancer, it might not be as true as I hoped.
“Of course! I didn’t mean any disrespect. I was actually wondering if you wanted to go get a beer with me at The Landing?”
The Landing was the local bar, a place I’d only been to once when I tried to sneak in with a fake ID. It had been an interesting night. I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a night at the bar, but I also didn’t want to be alone. Gabby was the lesser of two evils.
“Sure, what time do you want to meet?” I asked.
“The band starts at nine, but if we get there early, we won’t have to pay the cover charge,” she said with a laugh. “How about half-past eight?”
I glanced at my watch. That gave me almost an hour to get ready. “Perfect. I’ll see you there,” I said.
Maybe a night of indulgence would help ease the pain my whole body experienced today.
I took a quick shower and managed