Bridge Over the Atlantic (19 page)

“Okay, I’ll walk with you.” Greg smiled, “I have a free day today and I intend to do bugger all but relax and maybe read a book.” He gasped and put a hand over his mouth dramatically.

Mallory giggled.

They clipped their dogs back onto their leads and headed briskly in the direction of the cottages as the rain gained intensity and the drops became larger and more determined to soak them through.

Greg looked pensive as if there was something he needed to say. Suddenly he stopped and gently took her arm. She turned to look at him. The rain was now pouring down and his lack of hood or hat meant that his wet, dark hair looked black. He swept it back out of his face. Raindrops dripped off the end of his nose.

He took a deep breath and after a pause said, “I have to say something. Please just let me speak and don’t say anything, okay?”

Narrowing her eyes Mallory said a hesitant, “Oooh kay.” She frowned at his urgency. Not knowing exactly what to expect, she worried in case he was about to declare his undying love or something ridiculous.

“Mallory, you and I didn’t get off the best start, we both know that. I feel that now, though, we’re friends, good friends?” He nodded at her, clearly needing affirmation. She nodded in acknowledgement. “Seeing you look so happy last night made me feel amazing. Knowing I had a part in it. You know? But I think I may have given you the wrong impression. I know for a fact you felt uncomfortable at one point when I caught your eye…in the last song?”

Mallory knew exactly what he was getting at, but couldn’t speak for fear of saying the wrong thing.

After another pause Greg continued, “Now, I want you to know that I put your friendship above anything…I would never want to jeopardise that. If I made you feel uncomfortable by the way I looked at you then I am so, so sorry. I just…you know…I sometimes get caught up in the meaning of a song…it didn’t mean anything.”

He ran his hand through his wet hair again, but his actions were futile as the weight of the water was simply dragging it straight back over his face. “Like I said before, I’m crap at this friends business. And if I’m completely honest, and I think I should be, I do find you attractive. But there are
so many
reasons why I can’t and won’t even bother to dwell on that fact. So please don’t worry. Do you understand what I’m waffling on about?”

Mallory chewed her lip and scrunched her brow. Confusion invaded her mind. She was wondering how the hell he had just dived into her head and read her thoughts without her feeling a thing. The rain hammered down.

Greg was soaked but didn’t seem to care. “Basically, what I’m trying to say is that, if we’d met under different circumstances, if we were closer in age, if we weren’t both so broken, if I was braver, if you even remotely found me attractive, then maybe things would be different. But I know that things are how they are. We’re friends and that’s enough. Please promise me that you won’t start to withdraw and avoid me for fear of hurting me or doing…saying the wrong thing. I’m a big boy. I can handle it. I’m happy to be just friends.”

Suddenly Mallory felt washed with emotion. She felt the desperate urge to hug him. He had just given her the biggest gift; the gift of real friendship. She needed him so much to be a part of her life but could offer him no more. He had looked into her soul and known that and had relieved her of her burden. He found her attractive, but if she was honest, she thought him attractive too. But there was a difference between seeing the beauty in someone and wanting to do something about it. Evidently they were on the same page.

She threw caution to the wind and embraced the soaked man in front of her; knowing that he would not read into the gesture after all. He returned her embrace, this time without awkwardness.

Deep inside Greg surged an unwelcomed emotion, which felt a little bit like sadness….

“Mallory, sweetheart. How lovely to see you.” Renee helped her off with her wet coat and embraced her warmly.

Cara came to join in the hug as Ryan bounced baby Dylan around on his hip, smiling.

“It’s great to see you all too. I had no idea you were coming. It was such a wonderful surprise.”

“Well, we knew it was your thirtieth birthday and wanted to come over to celebrate with you, but didn’t want to intrude. Anyway, when we received Greg’s call we accepted his invitation without giving it a moment’s thought.”

So it was true, Greg had done all the inviting.
So sweet
. Mallory smiled to herself.

“He is quite the character isn’t he?” Renee stated rather than questioned, smiling at Mallory.

“Yes he is a good friend. He has been so helpful since I moved here.” Mallory wanted Renee to understand that friendship is all it was.

“Yes, he seems to care a lot about you which is so reassuring, especially knowing that everyone else you care about is so far away. It must be good to know he is there for you.” Renee hugged her again.

Ryan stood. “I’m going to go and put Dylan down for his nap and then we can all catch up properly.” He walked through the large one story building toward the bedrooms.

“Tea, Mallory? And perhaps a slice of this delicious carrot cake that the owners of the cottage left for our arrival?”

Mallory smiled. She hadn’t realised that Colin and Christine owned the cottage, but the signature carrot cake made the fact apparent.

“Oh yum. Yes please,” Mallory accepted enthusiastically. Renee disappeared into the kitchen.

Fiddling with the hem of her top Cara touched Mallory’s arm. “Mallory, can I speak to you in confidence?”

Mallory placed her hand over Cara’s. “Yes Cara, course you can. What’s up?”

“Renee and I have been chatting about you lately. We are both a little worried.”

“Worried? Why?” Mallory didn’t quite understand.

“Well, Renee is concerned that you feel you will never be able to move on. You know, meet someone new?”

Mallory suddenly wanted to make a quick exit and looked to the door. She couldn’t have this conversation. Not with Sam’s family. Not now. Cara didn’t stop there. “Renee wants you to feel able to fall in love again someday. She’s terrified that you’ll feel you’re betraying Sam or the family if you do fall in love. But that’s not the case.”

They heard Dylan crying and Renee came into the room with a tray full of tea and cake. The two young women looked as if they had been caught with their fingers in the cookie jar.

“Giiirls? What are you talking about? Come on now. Don’t stop just because the old lady walks in.” Renee looked saddened.

Cara cringed a little. “Mom, I was just telling Mallory what we had been saying about her recently.”

“Ah, I see.” Renee blushed under her beautifully done, natural, photo-shoot quality make-up. “I didn’t want to interfere, Mallory, dear, but I think you should know that when the time comes, as long as you’re happy and the man who wins your heart treats you well, you’ll have the whole families blessing, darling.”

Why was everyone so intent on matching her up and making her move on? She felt annoyed, but did her best to soften her tone as she spoke, “Renee, how can I think of moving on when I’m still in love with your son? It’s only been two months or so since he…since…it’s too soon to even be thinking like that.” Mallory looked pleadingly at the Mother figure that she held in such high regard.

“That may be, honey, but we still wanted you to know how we felt, sooner rather than later. We’d hate to think of you falling in love and dreading telling us. You’re so young. Too young to spend your life in mourning for what you lost. You owe it to Sam to go and be happy. That’s all he ever wanted for you.” Renee was right and it was good to know, but it was knowledge that she would fasten away in a little box in the depths of her mind with a sign on it saying ‘In emergency break glass.’

Mallory had tea and cake with the Buchanan family and then left with Ruby. The rain had eased and Mallory was glad to be going home. She needed to apologise to Josie for her stern nature and to tell her that everything was okay with her and Greg.

When she arrived home she gave Josie a blow by blow account of her conversation with Greg. Josie listened avidly. But she still had a look of concern on her face.

Josie scrunched her face. “Why is he so hung up on the age thing?” she asked. “It’s seven or eight years. You’re both adults. Age is
not
an issue.”

Mallory felt frustrated at this response. “That’s
all
you got from everything I just said?”

Josie blushed. “Well, I’m just saying. Age doesn’t matter.”

“No, Josie, age doesn’t matter but
love
does! I don’t
LOVE
Greg! I
LOVE
Sam! And I’m sick of people telling me that it’s okay to move on when it isn’t! Even if I loved Greg it would be too soon. When will you lot get that through your thick skulls?” Mallory’s risen voice and her outburst expressed her frustration at the whole situation. She stormed up to her room and slammed the door.

For the first time ever, she actually wanted to be alone. She wanted everyone to go and just leave her be. She sobbed into her pillow for a while.

She awoke to gentle knocking on her bedroom door. She must have cried herself to sleep. She sat upright and croakily called, “Come in.”

Josie sheepishly walked into the room. She hesitated and then shook her head. Walking toward her she sat on the edge of the bed.

She rubbed Mallory’s arm. “Hey, you.” She smiled. “Are you okay?” Her expression was filled with concern. Mallory’s heart twinged.

“I’m as well as can be expected given the circumstances.”

Josie nodded. “Well, Brad and I have packed our things; we’ll head home after dinner. Brad has made us a curry. It smells yum.” She encouraged Mallory to smile.

Mallory sighed. “Josie you don’t have to go tonight, that’s silly. You were supposed to go tomorrow. I’m sorry for being so grumpy.”

Josie squeezed Mallory’s hand. “No, no, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have interfered. I’m just worried about you getting hurt. You’re my best friend in the world and we’ve been through so much. I just don’t feel like I can help you with all this and it gets to me.”

“I know you only mean well. I just feel like everyone is forgetting about Sam and
that
gets to
me
.” Mallory explained.

“Lovey, no one is forgetting Sam, not at all. We all know how special he was and how happy he made you. But we just don’t want you to give up on loving someone in the future.”

“Well, that has to be in my own time. I have to decide when that’s going to happen.”

“Yes, you’re right. Give me a hug and come and eat.”

The two friends had made their peace and the curry was enticing them downstairs.

The curry was delicious. They chatted over the meal. Brad and Josie had decided to set off home after dinner, meaning they could travel home at night when the roads were quieter and they could both then work on Monday.

The friends said their goodbyes and exchanged bear hugs. Mallory waved them off, feeling a little guilty for their early departure.

On Monday morning, she received a visit from Renee and Cara. Ryan had taken Dylan for a walk. They both looked distracted. Mallory made tea and placed the tray on her beautiful gnarled wood coffee table. Renee and Cara were whispering when she walked in.

“What’s going on with you two?” Mallory was intrigued. They both grinned like Cheshire cats.

“Well, we have something for you.” Renee clapped her hands together like a teenage girl. It made Mallory giggle.

“Okay, what is it?” Mallory’s excitement mounted. She had already received some lovely gifts of perfume, a beautiful scarf and a beautiful white gold bracelet. What more could they have to give her?

“Well, we figured that maybe you wouldn’t get around to booking a holiday this year…” Cara began, she looked at Renee. Gesturing for her to continue the story,

“Sooo, we got you this.” Renee handed her a long thin envelope.

Mallory opened it and removed the contents. She inhaled sharply and clasped a hand over her mouth. “You got me a ticket to come to Canada?” Her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding. This was too much. “I can’t accept this, you’ve already bought me my birthday gifts…I don’t—”

“Oh stop! You
can
and you
will
accept it. We discussed it with Stella and she has happily agreed that a holiday would be good for you. Greg has agreed to take Ruby for a few weeks. So you’re all set.”

“Wait, what? A few weeks?” Mallory couldn’t quite comprehend this.

“Yes, Josie is fine with the shop, Ruby is sorted and the pub will be fine. You’ll come home with us on Saturday and stay for three weeks. You will return to
Scotland
in the middle of July. You’ll have time to go off and do your own thing but we’ll take you sightseeing too.”

Cara waved her hands around, her girly giddiness exuding from every pore. “Oh Mallory, it’ll be so much fun!” she chirped, “Let me know if you need help to pack.”

“Ah, the silly thing is I hardly have any clothes to pack. Nothing is fitting me lately.” Mallory admitted feeling rather embarrassed.

“Well, we can take you shopping when we arrive so just get yourself a few essentials.” Mallory realised that today was Monday and she was flying on Saturday so she didn’t have long to get organised.

On Tuesday morning, Mallory rose early, showered and dressed in the black trousers and paisley top that fit her. She jumped into her car and set off for Oban. She needed to get some clothes to tide her over until the ladies took her shopping in Kingston.

She went in several shops and managed to purchase some new, smaller sized jeans, some leggings, three new tops and some new underwear to better accommodate her smaller assets. She had never really enjoyed shopping, but today was different. She was going on holiday and was quite a bit smaller than last time she had shopped. This made the whole process easier. But that fact in itself angered her.
Why don’t more shops cater for curvy girls? Instead of presuming we want to wear gaudy tents!