Marrying Mallory Page 8

  He’s not answering. I’ll quit after one more ring and text him instead. Or call him after the weekend.

  Seth answered, “Hello.”

  In a nervous voice, she said, “Hi, Seth. It’s Mallory. I’m sorry I’m calling you so late.”

  “It’s fine. I haven’t gone to bed. I hope the barbecue’s still on.” He laughed. “You didn’t decide to replace me with another bachelor, did you?”

  The warm words made her feel good. He wanted to spend time with her and her friends. Nice that he wasn’t rejecting her. Toby knew how important family night was to her and Josh but he’d canceled to spend time with Samantha. “I’d never do that. I’m glad you’re coming.”

  “So are your friends still trying to fix you up with the minister?”

  Should she mention they switched their focus to him? Not a good idea if I want to avoid giving the impression I’m really after him. “Not so much.”

  “Are you having second thoughts after seeing the photos?”

  “No. And I showed them to Elizabeth and Heather. Elizabeth said I should go ahead and do the surgery. Heather thinks I should wait. She said it didn’t look like me.”

  “Remember you’ll have some swelling so you won’t instantly look like that. Swelling might last a few weeks.”

  Swelling in June was what she feared if the Vegas trip happened for her and Josh. She might as well get to the point of her call. “Swelling’s a concern for me. If I could move up my surgery to May instead, would it possible for me to wear the splint for only five days instead of a week? I don’t want to miss too much school.”

  “The splint’s worn while the nose is healing, and that’s usually for one week after surgery. I’ve taken the splint off in five or six days in certain situations, but I thought you wanted to wait until school’s out.”

  “Toby told me today that he’s going to Las Vegas to do legal work for a friend in June. He wants Josh to visit him and —”

  “That gives you more time to recover with Josh going two places in June.”

  “Not exactly. Toby asked me to fly with Josh.” She didn’t need to tell Seth that she hadn’t been invited at first.

  “If you have the surgery in May instead, what about Josh? I thought one reason you wanted it in June was because he was staying with his grandparents.”

  How could she have forgotten about Josh? She didn’t want him to see her with swelling, bruising and the splint. It might frighten him when she didn’t look like his mom. It hadn’t occurred to her that she’d need to make other arrangements for Josh if she changed the date. But she wasn’t going to tell Seth that. “You’re right but maybe he could stay with my mother. If I go to Vegas, I don’t want to have swelling from the surgery.”

  “Even if you do have it in May, you could still have some swelling in June. Each patient’s different. Usually though most of the noticeable swelling will fade in about two weeks. And my calendar might be full for May. How about you wait until after you come back from Vegas?”

  “You’re right. I’ll keep the surgery date in June. It’s the best time. I’m just glad I met this awesome and talented plastic surgeon who’s going to make me beautiful.”

  Seth cleared his throat. “Mallory, if you change your mind about the surgery, that’s fine. I think you’re beautiful just the way you are.”

  For a moment she didn’t say anything and thought how amazing it was that she’d just met Seth yesterday and already felt this strong connection to him.

  Did God guide her to Seth for a bigger reason? Most people would find it strange that she was experiencing this kind of bond with her surgeon. Many wonderful things had happened to her since meeting Seth. He’d told her that he supported her in whatever decision she made about her surgery. When she asked him to attend a dinner party where he would be a decoy, he’d instantly agreed. Having coffee with him at Starbucks had been fun. Talking to him now seemed so natural and right to her.

  Even though she had strong doubts about a second marriage, she might keep an open mind about Seth Whitman. The Bible verse from Proverbs came to her mind. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

  “Seth, I’ll be sure to pray if I should have the surgery.”

  Chapter Ten

  After his conversation with Mallory, Seth opened the door to his deck. He decided fresh air might clear his brain. At the sound of the gurgling water in the hot tub, he thought briefly about getting in. The night air was chilly and the heat of the water would feel great on his sore muscles from playing racquetball. But did he want to take the time to change his clothes and get into the water? At this point, it probably wouldn’t soothe his raging feelings about Mallory, so he put the cover on the tub before plopping down on a patio chair.

  He’d been happy to hear her voice, but not so pleased when she mentioned wanting to move her surgery up to May. Her desire to look good for the Vegas trip bothered him. Was she concerned about the swelling because of Toby? Or maybe she didn’t want to be around lots of people with a swollen nose. He couldn’t deny that he had feelings for Mallory, but what did he really want to do about her? Confusion was a new concept for him. He felt admiration for her strong morals and belief that she shouldn’t marry again. But he didn’t agree with her. Even if he convinced her to give him a chance, he knew his parents might not be thrilled about him seeing her. As Christians they had instilled strong beliefs in him about marriage and family. They frowned on divorce.

  He knew he was jumping the gun here. He’d only had coffee with her but she did invite him to her friends’ barbecue. Man, he needed to bounce off some things to another guy. Was it too late to call Henry? It was close to eleven. What the heck, he’d give his buddy a call.

  After he went back inside, Seth took his phone with him to the living room. He glanced at his 50-inch plasma screen television, remembering the day he bought it. His fiancée Leanne had gone with him to buy the expensive item. He thought they’d get married and live happily ever after, so he’d bought several big purchases for the house. When she’d told him that it was over between them, he’d been shocked. There hadn’t been any warning signs that she was going to break the engagement.

  He’d known Henry since med school. They both had trained in otolaryngology, but Seth also did in plastic surgery. He’d done both areas in the beginning of his career and now he missed seeing young patients at Children’s Hospital. He’d enjoyed helping improve children’s hearing, but once his plastic surgery business grew, he decided to concentrate on this area of specialty. He had Henry on speed dial and sat on the sectional couch while waiting for his friend to answer.

  After several rings, Henry said, “Hello, Seth. I was surprised to see your name on my caller ID. Don’t you have anything better to do on a Saturday night? Guess you didn’t get up the nerve to call Mallory?”

  “Actually Mallory just called me. Sorry to bother you, but I need some guy advice about her.”

  Henry laughed. “Again. We talked after I beat you in racquetball.”

  “Hey, stop rubbing it in. I’ll kick your butt next Saturday.”

  “I wish you’d been here a few minutes ago. While I rocked my son to sleep, I told him how his daddy was awesome in racquetball and won a steak dinner.”

  He’d like to have what Henry had—a wife and baby. Women his age were sometimes divorced, looking for prospective second husbands. Well, not Mallory. She wanted to avoid a match-up with the minister or anyone.

  “Glad you enjoyed the steak,” he told Henry. “Just don’t get used to it.”

  “So is the surgery off?”

  “No, Mallory called because she wants to move her surgery up to May which isn’t a good time for her. She’ll miss school and have to make new arrangements for her son.”

  “What’s the rush?” Henry asked.

  “Her ex’s going to Las Vegas in June to do legal work so he wants Josh to visit him. Mallory doesn’t want to go with a swollen nose from the surgery.”


  “Do you think she was even invited to go to Vegas?”

  “She said Toby invited her.”

  “People get married there,” Henry said. “She might be worried that her ex is getting married to his girlfriend and decided to go along with her son and try to stop it.”

  “That would be a lot of drama. I hope that’s not the case.” He shifted his weight. Why had he let Leanne talk him into buying this uncomfortable furniture? His legs were too long for it. He shouldn’t have gotten this sectional couch.

  “If Mallory has the surgery earlier, you can ask her out sooner.”

  “Right and get rejected.”

  Henry chuckled. “You know I don’t even know this Mallory, but I already like her.”

  “Because she might turn me down. I thought you were my friend.”

  “No, it’s because of racquetball.”

  “What does that have to do with Mallory? I’m not planning on asking her to play, especially if she gets her nose done.” She’d have to avoid physical sports for several weeks. He wouldn’t want her nose to take a hit.

  “I’ll beat you a lot in racquetball because you just met her and now can’t stop thinking about her. It’s a win-win situation for me.”

  Henry was absolutely right. Mallory Harrington had quickly invaded his thoughts. It was funny how he’d be spending his birthday with her next Saturday. He hadn’t planned on celebrating his thirty-seventh one. He’d been dreading it since Leanne broke their engagement.

  He heard Rebecca saying Henry’s name, so didn’t want to take anymore of his friend’s time. “I hear Rebecca. I’ll let you go.”

  “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later. My woman wants me.”

  He exhaled a deep breath. Why hadn’t he asked Mallory to have brunch with him tomorrow? He hated to wait until the barbecue to see her again.

  No, it was for the best he hadn’t suggested brunch. For now she was his patient, but he hoped someday she’d be more than a patient to him.

  ***

  Mallory sighed. Seth probably couldn’t believe her call about changing the date of her surgery. How many patients called their surgeons at their home to ask to move up their surgery by a month? Of course, he’d given his number to her to call if she had any questions. She bet he was sorry now. No, he seemed glad to hear from her until she mentioned moving up her surgery to May. And in her desperation, she’d forgotten about Josh. The best thing was for him to be at the lake house while she had the surgery. She used to be a rational woman, but now she was so consumed with looking good for the Vegas trip that she’d forgotten about Josh.

  But she couldn’t let go of the idea that she should change the date of her surgery. I’ll list reasons and see if that will help me to decide what to do. She pulled open a drawer of her writing desk and removed a legal pad. She was old-fashioned and preferred to write her list out in longhand and not on some little Smartphone. Okay, she only owned a cheap cell phone that she used for texting and calling people. But even if she did have an expensive cell phone, a legal pad would still be her first choice.

  Reasons to move it up…Reasons to keep it in June

  Get it over a month earlier….Josh will be with his grandparents.

  Be ready to go to Vegas with smaller nose…Won’t have to miss school days.

  Swelling will be less in time to go to Vegas…Won’t inconvenience Seth.

  How could she sleep without knowing exactly when Toby wanted them to visit? He’d just said sometime in June. He usually stayed up until midnight on the weekends, so she’d give him a call. Maybe he could give an idea if it would be the middle of June or hopefully, Toby would decide on the very end of the month.

  He answered on the first ring and said, “You’re so predictable. I knew you’d call to see if Josh was still sleeping. I thought about texting you even to save you a call. I just checked on him and he’s fast asleep, so you better get some sleep for church tomorrow.”

  “Did you change your mind about going with us? The minister’s sermons have been great.”

  “I’m spending the day with Samantha. I think I told you this already.”

  She hated hearing again about his plans with his girlfriend, but it was her own fault for mentioning church to him for the second time. Although she wanted to say something negative about them spending time together, she didn’t want to sound like the jealous ex-wife. “You did. It slipped my mind. I actually called to see if you could give me a better idea of when you want us in Vegas. The end of June would be the best for me.”

  “I don’t know. I’m hoping to get things wrapped up by the middle of May here in the office. Mom said Josh could cut short the two weeks at the lake house, so I could have you fly to Vegas then—”

  “No, that won’t work for me. I’m going to call your parents about having him stay for ten days instead. I don’t think he’s ready to stay away from home for two weeks but…” Should she just mention that she was having surgery and couldn’t travel until late June? She couldn’t tell him what kind though and definitely didn’t want to lie to Toby when he asked.

  “Why does it have to be the end of June?”

  “June’s a busy time for me. I have some medical appointments I have scheduled and other things planned with friends.” That was the truth. She’d be seeing Seth several times for and after surgery. She wanted to spend time with Heather and Elizabeth.

  “Maybe you could get your appointments for May instead. They don’t pay you enough anyhow at your school.”

  While Toby was in law school, she’d taught in the public school system and made decent money. When Josh was born, Toby was out of law school and working as a lawyer. She was able to quit and stay home full-time. Three years later, she returned to teaching, but Toby hadn’t been happy that she switched to a private school. He said she should go where the money was. Being able to teach in a Christian environment and sharing her faith with her students was important to her, so she hadn’t backed down.

  “It’s silly to do that when I can go in June and not take time off from my job. Anyhow the appointments are scheduled. I doubt if I can change them.”

  “I hate to go too long without seeing Josh. I’ll fly back once and see him over a weekend. Samantha has been complaining about me being gone so I’ll see her too. I might be done before the end of June but if I’m not, just plan on coming then. He laughed. “You win, Mallory. You should have been the lawyer.”

  “Maybe I will go to law school. I won’t be a divorce lawyer though. I believe too much in the sanctity of marriage.” She better shut up before she said too much. “Thanks, Toby for being flexible about June. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

  Mallory sighed after ending the call. Great, Toby wasn’t just flying back to see Josh but wanted to fit Samantha in his schedule. What does he see in Samantha? Is it her great looks or youth? It probably helps that they both share a passion for law.

  I better try to get some sleep. She crawled into bed, leaning over to switch off the bedside lamp. One thing she did know. It’ll be more pleasant to dream about Seth again than about Toby and Samantha. Since she’d talk to both men, would Toby and Seth be in a dream? Maybe they’d fight over her. Yeah, right. More likely they’d be fighting over Samantha—the one with the cute small nose.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mallory glanced around the patio at her guests from her seat at the end of the table. The week had flown by with school, spending time with Josh, a couple of evening telephone chats with Seth, and getting ready for the barbecue. Toby had been too busy to help move the heavy patio set from the garage, so Heather had helped her instead.

  Heather and Jeremy were on one side of the rectangular shaped table with Elizabeth and Seth seated across from them. On the opposite end from her was blond-haired Derek. She noticed that he had a smug look on his face as if to tell the world he’d done something unethical and got away with it. Now why did she always think badly of Elizabeth’s fiancé? Was it because she never had liked him? As a sales
man, Derek seemed filled with insincere charm. Maybe part of the reason could be because her dad had been a salesman. Although she knew her dad’s main flaw wasn’t due to his occupation, but to gambling his wages. At least, Derek didn’t throw his money away. From what Elizabeth had told her, they’d made wise financial decisions so there wouldn’t be any debt hanging over their heads as a married couple.

  With Jeremy to her left and Seth on her right, she knew that Elizabeth should be satisfied. Two eligible men and both handsome. Why had she ever thought Jeremy’s nose was big? He was a heartbreaker with his good looks. Both Seth and Jeremy had broad shoulders and were tall. Obviously the main reason for having this get together was to fix her up with someone. Well, it wasn’t all about her but also for her single friend, Heather too. She might as well make the most of it even though deep down she knew dating Seth shouldn’t happen.

  She smiled at Seth, and over the others’ conversation, she whispered, “I’m glad you came.”

  Seth stopped cutting his steak to look at her. “Me too. You grill a mean steak.”

  She laughed. “Is that the only reason? How about my delightful company?”

  “Sure, that too.” He stopped cutting his meat and gave her an appreciative glance. “You look very pretty.”

  She touched a tiny ruffle on her black and white blouse. “Thank you. And I love the flowers you brought. Hyacinths give off a wonderful fragrance.” Seth had given her a small pot of deep pink hyacinths, so she’d placed them in the middle of the table.

  Jeremy turned to stare at Seth. “I think I recognize your name. Do you work at—”

  His words were drowned out by the neighbor’s riding lawn mower whipping around next to her yard. She knew everything had been going too well. Why did Eddie have to mow right now? Couldn’t he see she had company? Maybe it was a blessing because when Seth had told Derek and Jeremy that he was a surgeon, they hadn’t asked what kind of surgery he did. It didn’t seem likely that Jeremy had known Seth from his private practice, so it must be before Seth had his own facility.