Page 16 of Coming Home for Fall 2
“I thought my MO was running back to mom and dad when things went South.”
Ariel snorted. “That too.”
“Wow, you really paint me in such a flattering light. It’s really a wonder why there isn’t a line of men banging down my door, fighting for the chance to date me. I’m such a catch!”
“You are a catch!” Ariel insisted. “And I wasn’t trying to be insulting. You wanted to know what I was thinking. That’s what I was thinking. This isn’t the first time you’ve described the ending of a relationship with the same cadence as someone describing the end of a boring movie. It just makes me think that maybe you’re not really getting too emotionally involved with these men.”
“And what would be so bad about that? I would rather be a little detached than hurt over and over again.”
“But taking the risk is the fun part! It could lead to a real relationship too! You’re never going to fall in love if you don’t let yourself.”
Mallory laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Very wise. Will you stitch that on a pillow for me.”
“I’m serious. You have to start putting yourself out there… You’re not getting any younger.”
“Oof, now you’re pulling the age card?” Mallory gave her sister a look. “That’s just cruel. What happened to you not wanting to mother me?”
“That was two drinks ago. Now I can’t help myself.”
“So it would seem.”
“I just want you to find someone, that’s all… You deserve to be happy.”
“I never said I wasn’t happy.”
Ariel smiled down at her plate. “Yeah, but you never said youwerehappy either.”
To this, Mallory had no response. The two sisters finished their meal quickly after that, chatting a little more about Thanksgiving and what side dish Ariel might want to be in charge of. Soon, Ariel checked the time and announced that she needed to start the journey back home. “Thanks for setting this up though,” she said, hugging her sister goodbye. “It was good to catch up. To spend some time together, just the two of us.”
“Yeah, it was,” Mallory agreed, even if she hadn’t received the kind of reaction she’d been looking for when telling Ariel about Sasha. She hugged her back, told her to kiss the kids for her, and then they parted ways. On the drive home, Mallory sat with her feelings on the matter at hand for the first time since she arrived in Ferndale. Why was she really so upset about Sasha coming to stay? Why did she care whether or not the girl had a ‘believable’ backstory?
There was no reason to suspect the worst given what information the Ward family did have, and Mallory refused to be the kind of person who jumped to conclusions about someone in need. Thus, she made up her mind that afternoon, to give Sasha the benefit of the doubt. She would be more than civil to the young mother. She’d be straight-up welcoming.
Chapter 7
Mallory’s change in attitude was put to the test right away, when she returned home to a mostly empty house. Sasha and Dot were the only two people there, and Sasha didn’t immediately dart back into the bedroom upon seeing Mallory—as she was known to do.
Instead, Sasha stayed in her place on the couch, sleeping baby resting happily on her chest. Mallory smiled at them both and gingerly put her purse down on the floor. She thought about giving Sasha some privacy, demonstrating her newfound dedication to leaving the young woman be, but then Sasha smiled back and said, “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Uh–it’s going good,” Mallory whispered.
“Oh, you don’t have to whisper,” Sasha told her. “Dot sleeps through just about everything. I think it’s because she spent her first few months with me on the street and then six more months in a shelter. Both places are very loud.”
“Right.” Mallory wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, so she took a seat in her father’s recliner and continued to smile tensely. “That—that makes sense.” She folded her hands tightly in her lap. “How did you decide on the name Dorothy by the way? It’s adorable, but not so common these days.”
“It was my grandmother’s name,” Sasha said. “My mom’s mom. She helped raise me before passing away when I was fifteen.”
“I’m sorry you lost her when you were still so young. That must’ve been pretty hard.”
Sasha shrugged. “Yeah, well… It happens. Grandparents pass away. Parents pass away. That’s just the circle of life.”
“Parents?” Mallory asked, knowing she was already breaking the rule she’d set for herself. “Does that mean your parents—”
“Would you like to hold her?” Sasha said as the baby began to squirm, almost as if little Dot had known to come to her mother’s rescue right then. “She won’t cry, I can promise you that. She doesn’t have a problem with new people holding her. She’s like the most tolerant baby on the planet.”
“Oh, er—” But Sasha had already gotten up and was handing her sleepy child off. Mallory stuck her hands out just in time to help guide Dot against her chest. The baby cooed and yawned, then blinked up at Mallory with a contentedness Mallory hadn’t been expecting. “Wow. You weren’t kidding. She doesn’t seem phased at all to see me holding her, even though I think this is the first time she’s ever really gotten a good look at me.”
Sasha laughed and fell back into the couch with a satisfied sight. “Yeah, she’s a very easy baby. But she’s also a little heater. I start to get really hot after a while when she’s laying on me like that.” She waved her hand in front of her flushed face. “When we had to share a bed in the shelter though, it was the best. She kept us warm no matter how cold it got outside.”
