Page 39 of Follow Me
“Wewantto get her to a point she asks you to move back home, but we’ll put our feet down and not let her do that ifyoudon’t start putting serious work into yourself. I need you in my office next week, even if we have to do it after-hours, or we get together at your place to talk. If you don’t, we’re going to set a boundary with her that she reduces contact with you until you do. We won’t jeopardize her progress because you’re fighting us on this. Even she says this feels different to her than her previous attempts.”
“Fine,” Kel muttered. “I’ll make an appointment tomorrow.”
Niall nodded, and Kel finally followed them inside.
“Look who’s here,” Niall called out.
When Mal appeared in the kitchen doorway, Kel’s breath caught in a painful way. The weight she’d regained wasn’t a lot, and he knew it, but it was progress she was holding.
The fact that he still saw a skeleton when he looked at her was something he’d have to get over. He didn’t miss the irony that it was like an indelible after-image imprinted in his mind the same way she said she still saw herself at her heaviest.
But then she smiled as he walked over to her, and for the first time since this whole nightmare started…
His heart raced as he finally sawhisMallory in her smile. It was arealsmile, not a fake one, not a forced one. Also for the first time in months, she wasn’t swaddled inside a too-large maxi-dress and sweater, or sweatpants. She was wearing a tunic he hadn’t seen her in before, and leggings, both of which looked new.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said.
“Hey.” She was already reaching for a hug, so he held still and let her hug him, terrified to do much more than touch her back.
“Hugme, Kel. I won’t break.”
“I can testify to that,” June said from behind her. “She made me hug her earlier.”
“Honey, I—”
“Please?”
He swallowed back his bile as he hugged her, still gently, because while it wasn’t as bad as she’d been at her worst, every bone he could feel reminded him of how precarious life was.
Of how she still teetered on a razor’s edge, out of his reach.
Helpless to save her.
“I love you,” she whispered.
He buried his face in her hair. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”
All his anger at Niall and Doug melted away, replaced by shame that he’d balked at their request for him to come in and talk to them.
Mal was hislife. He needed to do whatever was best for her to help her.
He was terrified to say too much, worried he might upset her. So he hung back conversationally all during dinner and let Doug and Niall guide the evening.
One thing that Kel struggled and finally won a battle not to openly celebrate?
Malatedinner. She ate in a way he hadn’t seen her eat since before this slow-motion portion of their nightmare settled in for a stay. She didn’t pick at her food, didn’t cut it into tiny bites, didn’t look self-conscious while she ate, didn’t shovel it around her plate as if she was eating but not really. She ate a slightly small but still healthy-for-her portion. She talked and laughed and seemed to be enjoying the conversation, and her food was secondary to her focus.
She alsofinishedit.
It was enough to almost make him burst into relieved tears. When he realized Niall was watching him, Niall gave him a slight head nod and winked.
Okay. Kel wasn’t happy about being away from her, but thiswastangible progress he could wrap his head and heart and hopes around. She was actually eating differently now than she had been.
Whatever the three of them were doing with her, it wasworking. He didn’t give a shit if someone wanted to argue it was the year-plus of work she’d already done with the other place that deserved the credit, or the latest change in medications—thiswas happeningnow, andonlyafter she’d been working with Niall, Doug, and Doyle.
All Kel cared about was the result. If it meant she called them Sir and leaned on them…well, fuck. It wasworking.
May and Jim headed home first, a little before nine. That’s when Kel decided maybe it’d be better if he left, too, so Mal could talk with Doug and Niall, if she needed to. He hoped his smile looked right. “I’m going to take off, too, sweetheart.”
