Read Online Marrying Mallory by Diane Craver - Free Book Online Page A

looking at her. They could be but it’s not because of her nose.”
    “Well, you have two choices.” Henry held up two fingers
before continuing his explanation. “You do the surgery in June. Then on one of
her later follow-up appointments, you ask her out. The second choice is you
tell her you can’t do the surgery because you love the way she looks and want
to date her.”
    “If I tell her I won’t do it, I’m afraid she’ll go to
another surgeon to get it done.”
    “That would be bad. You’re the best plastic surgeon in this
area for rhinoplasty.” After a moment of silence, Henry said, “This is where
you say that I’m the best ENT doctor in our area.”
    He grinned at his friend. “Okay, you’re the best at putting
those PE tubes in kids’ ears.”
    Henry frowned. “Hey, I do more complicated surgeries than
tubes. You know that since you were trained in otolaryngology too.”
    What should he do? He felt God had brought Mallory
Harrington to him for a reason. It wasn’t just for plastic surgery. He wondered
if Josh resembled his dad or Mallory. At least, he’d get to spend time with her
at the get-together her friends were planning. “I’ll go to the dinner and take
it from there.”
    Henry said, “If you find out they’re having steak at this
party, get me invited.”
    “No way.” He waved his fork at Henry. “You stole Rebecca
from me.”
    “When I fell for Rebecca, I never thought I had a chance
with her. I figured she was waiting for you to pop the question. I mean, why
would a beautiful woman be interested in me? I still can’t believe it sometimes
that she married me.”
    “You two are a great couple.” Rebecca had been one of his
closest friends for years, so he’d been happy to see her fall in love with
Henry.
    Henry wiped sauce off his lips. “I told you that
personality’s what counts for women. You better work on yours to nab Mallory.
Good looks aren’t everything.”
     
    ***
     
    Mallory doubted if Seth had emailed her photos yet, but she
needed to do something to keep her mind off of Toby’s request for her to put
Josh on an airplane. How could she deny Toby time with his son? But she didn’t
want Josh going with Samantha to Las Vegas. His first airplane trip should be
with his mother. Not Toby’s girlfriend. 
    She poured another cup of coffee while she waited for her
computer to boot up. She might as well get more caffeine into her system. Maybe
it would clear her head. She was tired from not sleeping well. She kept
thinking how Josh wouldn’t like his dad leaving. He’d miss his dad because in
the summer Toby tried to spend more time with his son. 
    She drummed her fingers on the desk. He’d asked her if she
was seeing anyone. Even though he seemed eager for her to be dating, Mallory
wondered about his real reason for caring about her love life. Lack of
one was more like it. Maybe he wanted her with someone so that he didn’t feel
guilty about being with Samantha. Marrying again wasn’t an option for her. She
didn’t want to experience another failed marriage. She couldn’t survive someone
else betraying her the way Toby had. Obviously, she hadn’t been sexy enough to
keep Toby interested in her.
    While opening her email, she exhaled a deep breath. Nothing
in her inbox. Okay, she knew it was too soon for him to email her the photos,
but still it was disappointing. She could check her junk box. Seth’s email
might have gone there. It did. She stared at the photos. Again, she was pleased
with how great she looked with a smaller nose.
    Her phone rang so she went into the kitchen to answer it.
“Hi.”
    “Hello, honey,” her mom said in a cheery voice and
continued, “I never got a chance to talk to you about your big appointment
yesterday. How did it go?”
    “I almost called you last night but knew you were out on a
date. It went great. I like the plastic surgeon a lot. He asked me out for
coffee after the appointment. He wanted to give me a chance to ask