SEVEN
A NOTHER HARD LOOK at her finances the next morning had caused Mallory to leave the car and its precious half tank of gas parked at the apartment in favor of Katelynâs old rusty bike. She carefully rolled her work clothes and stowed them along with her heels into a backpack Katelyn had discarded some years before.
Thank goodness Katelyn could manage on her own for a few hours. She debated waking her sister before she left, but decided against it. Better to let miffed little sisters lieâand Katelyn had certainly been miffed with her the night before.
She had awoken about a half hour after Andrew Monroe had made a sudden departure, as abrupt and unexpected as his arrival had been. âWhy didnât you wake me?â Katelyn had said churlishly as sheâd gobbled up her share of the reheated pizza. âMaybe I wanted to see him, too!â
She had accused Mallory of running off Andrew because she didnât like himâwhich hadnât been fair. Mallory hadnât chased off Andrew. Heâd just...gone, before she even had a real chance to wake Katelyn. It was as if a light switch had been flicked. One minute they had been eating pizza together, and the next, whoosh! Suddenly, the man had headed out the door as though he was responding to a fire.
Maybe it was because of the nap, or maybe because missing Andrew had amped up Katelyn, but whatever the reason, she hadnât been able to go back to sleep before midnight. Sheâd watched sullenly while Mallory had slowly continued to get the apartmentâs contents out of boxes and into some semblance of order. Mallory knew that eventually her little sister would come out of her blue funk, but it bugged her that the Monroesâboth Maegan and Andrewâcould have such an impact on Katelynâs mood.
No, for now, sheâd let Katelyn catch up on her sleep. She didnât have therapy until late this afternoon, after Mallory completed her first day on the job. She left a note and Katelynâs lunch to be warmed up in the microwave, stowed her own lunch, a PB&J, in her backpack along with a thermos of water and her work clothes and then struck out.
The morning air was frigid but the biking warmed her up fairly quickly. Mallory wasnât a practiced cyclist, but sheâd done this before when funds were tight. She only wished that the helmet sheâd scored at a yard sale wasnât so aggressively princessy. Katelyn had laughed at it when Mallory had brought it home, saying it had so many sparkles and bling that it looked like a unicorn had sneezed on it.
As Mallory rode into the downtown area, her spirits rose. She liked this little town with its cheerful awnings and bricked sidewalks. She could imagine kids playing in the fountain in the summer, and the whole place seemed alive and vibrant and inviting with its mom-and-pop-style businesses. It wasnât like the dying downtown back in the cityâthere, for years, the center of town had slowly spiraled into pawn shops and adult-video stores, and only now were the locals finally fighting back.
Sheâd spied a deserted farmerâs market pavilion as well on her way in, and that gave her hope for cheap vegetables later on. Cheap was good, as broke as they were, and Katelyn needed good food to help her regain her strengthânot junky food like Andrew Monroeâs pizza, despite how tasty it had been.
And free and impeccably timed. Donât forget that. I should write him a thank-you note.
It still bugged her that heâd left so abruptly. Had it been something sheâd said? Something she hadnât? Heâd disappeared as suddenly earlier that same morning, nowhere to be found after sheâd talked over Katelynâs evaluation with Maegan. It had to be about the lawsuit.
The lawsuit.
She was still of two minds about that . When an old coworker had visited the hospital and urged her to talk to an attorney, Mallory hadnât wanted to even
A NOTHER HARD LOOK at her finances the next morning had caused Mallory to leave the car and its precious half tank of gas parked at the apartment in favor of Katelynâs old rusty bike. She carefully rolled her work clothes and stowed them along with her heels into a backpack Katelyn had discarded some years before.
Thank goodness Katelyn could manage on her own for a few hours. She debated waking her sister before she left, but decided against it. Better to let miffed little sisters lieâand Katelyn had certainly been miffed with her the night before.
She had awoken about a half hour after Andrew Monroe had made a sudden departure, as abrupt and unexpected as his arrival had been. âWhy didnât you wake me?â Katelyn had said churlishly as sheâd gobbled up her share of the reheated pizza. âMaybe I wanted to see him, too!â
She had accused Mallory of running off Andrew because she didnât like himâwhich hadnât been fair. Mallory hadnât chased off Andrew. Heâd just...gone, before she even had a real chance to wake Katelyn. It was as if a light switch had been flicked. One minute they had been eating pizza together, and the next, whoosh! Suddenly, the man had headed out the door as though he was responding to a fire.
Maybe it was because of the nap, or maybe because missing Andrew had amped up Katelyn, but whatever the reason, she hadnât been able to go back to sleep before midnight. Sheâd watched sullenly while Mallory had slowly continued to get the apartmentâs contents out of boxes and into some semblance of order. Mallory knew that eventually her little sister would come out of her blue funk, but it bugged her that the Monroesâboth Maegan and Andrewâcould have such an impact on Katelynâs mood.
No, for now, sheâd let Katelyn catch up on her sleep. She didnât have therapy until late this afternoon, after Mallory completed her first day on the job. She left a note and Katelynâs lunch to be warmed up in the microwave, stowed her own lunch, a PB&J, in her backpack along with a thermos of water and her work clothes and then struck out.
The morning air was frigid but the biking warmed her up fairly quickly. Mallory wasnât a practiced cyclist, but sheâd done this before when funds were tight. She only wished that the helmet sheâd scored at a yard sale wasnât so aggressively princessy. Katelyn had laughed at it when Mallory had brought it home, saying it had so many sparkles and bling that it looked like a unicorn had sneezed on it.
As Mallory rode into the downtown area, her spirits rose. She liked this little town with its cheerful awnings and bricked sidewalks. She could imagine kids playing in the fountain in the summer, and the whole place seemed alive and vibrant and inviting with its mom-and-pop-style businesses. It wasnât like the dying downtown back in the cityâthere, for years, the center of town had slowly spiraled into pawn shops and adult-video stores, and only now were the locals finally fighting back.
Sheâd spied a deserted farmerâs market pavilion as well on her way in, and that gave her hope for cheap vegetables later on. Cheap was good, as broke as they were, and Katelyn needed good food to help her regain her strengthânot junky food like Andrew Monroeâs pizza, despite how tasty it had been.
And free and impeccably timed. Donât forget that. I should write him a thank-you note.
It still bugged her that heâd left so abruptly. Had it been something sheâd said? Something she hadnât? Heâd disappeared as suddenly earlier that same morning, nowhere to be found after sheâd talked over Katelynâs evaluation with Maegan. It had to be about the lawsuit.
The lawsuit.
She was still of two minds about that . When an old coworker had visited the hospital and urged her to talk to an attorney, Mallory hadnât wanted to even
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