Page 39 of Fallout
Mallory hated to judge a book by its cover but Shelly Armond looked like she was headed out for a night at a club. She wore a sequined halter top that plunged between her breasts almost to her navel, and her denim mini skirt rode so high on her thighs her underwear was visible. And even from up here she could tell Shelly’s face was caked in makeup.
In short, she looked like she was heading out to hook up.
While Mallory didn’t begrudge a woman for wanting to look nice—or hooking up for that matter—she believed one should dress appropriately for what you planned to do. Nothing about the way Shelly Armond presented herself said she was the nanny of a two year old. At least she wasn’t wearing high heels. Although, considering she was barefoot she might very well have been wearing them at one point.
Was this the way she usually dressed or had she done it in an attempt to get Jacob’s attention?
Either way, Mallory wasn’t impressed.
And when Maddox ran up to Shelly and showed her his toy, the way the woman brushed him away set every one of Mallory’s protective instincts screaming. Before she thought about what she was doing, she was charging out her front door and down the stairs.
She rounded the building at close to a run and cleared the other side of the garage just as Maddox tripped and fell. The cry he let out and the way he landed face first had Mallory’s heart clenching.
“Stop your fussing,” Shelly called out without looking up from her phone.
Mallory almost tripped over her own feet, she was so shocked by Shelly’s reaction. Ignoring the woman, she raced across the yard. “Maddox!”
Her voice stopped his crying for half a second but then he lifted his head and let out another wail. The blood on his mouth sent Mallory’s heart to her toes.
“Hey! Who the hell are you?”
Surprisingly, in spite of Shelly’s question, the woman didn’t bother to move. She just watched as Mallory ran past and scooped up Maddox.
“There, there, baby. It’s all right.” She soothed him while using the hem of her shirt to wipe the blood from his chin and bottom lip.
His whimpers continued and yet, Shelly still hadn’t moved. How the woman could sit there and let Mallory—someone she didn’t know—attend to the child in her care was another black mark against her.
“Are you Mallory?”
Ignoring her, Mallory peeled Maddox’s lip down and found the tiny puncture wound where he must have sent his tooth through when he fell.
“Listen, you—”
“No, you listen!” She whirled around, Maddox tucked into her side, his head now resting on her shoulder. “This boy is in your care and all you have to say when he falls and splits his lip is ‘stop fussing’! And don’t get me started about the fact he’s out here playing by himself while you do whatever on your phone.”
Shelly stood, her hands going to her hips. “And this is why Jake and I have decided you need to move out.”
Mallory sucked in a breath. “Move out?”
“Yes.” She marched over and forcibly took a crying Maddox from Mallory’s arms. “It’s too confusing for Mad to have another woman hanging around. He needs stability, especially seeing how his mother isn’t here. I’m that stability.”
“We don’t have time to argue about this. Maddox is bleeding.”
“It’s nothing. Lots of children fall and bite their lip. He’ll be fine in no time.” Before Mallory could reach out for Maddox again, Shelly strode toward the house. As she took the first step up to the deck she stopped and turned. “Oh. And you have until the end of the week to find somewhere else to live.”
With those parting words, Shelly disappeared inside, Maddox still crying and struggling in her arms, and slammed the sliding door with a resounding crack. Mallory cringed, waited for the glass to shatter. When it didn’t and she could no longer see either of them, she wondered how that had spiraled out of control so quickly.
Had Jacob really decided she needed to move out?
Surely he would tell her if he had. Then again, they hadn’t seen each other in over a week. But she knew he’d been home when she had. Or perhaps it was Shelly who put the idea forward and she had to admit she hadn’t seen Jacob or Maddox since Monday morning when she’d seen him through her window showing Shelly the backyard.
Shaking her head, Mallory headed back to her apartment. If Shelly was here now then Jacob was on shift, which meant she wouldn’t be able to see him until tomorrow to ask if he wanted her to move out or not.
At the second to top step she could hear her phone ringing. Glancing at her watch she sped up the last two steps and inside. If she let Donna go to voicemail again Mallory was afraid her stepmother would do as she had threatened yesterday and hop on the first plane across the country.
Donna had already informed Mallory she would be coming out here in a few weeks to visit with Renee’s lawyer as well as going to see Renee in the correctional facility she was currently in.
Mallory needed to know as much as she could about her stepsister’s appeal so she could help Jacob counter every argument. Grabbing her phone, she connected the call and brought it to her ear.
