Page 78 of Fallout
“But I’myou know who’sstepsister. I lied to you.”
“You never lied. You didn’t tell me everything, but you never lied to me, Lory.”
“But after everything that happened, how could you—”
“Because if anyone can make me want to love again, it’s you.”
Mallory sucked in a breath.
Jacob held up a hand. “I’m not saying I’m there, and I’m not trying to pressure you to say yes, but I have to be honest, with you, and myself. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life regretting not seeing where we could go. I know we’ve never been more than friends and this may come out of the blue but, Lory, you have to admit there’s something here. Something more than your love for my son.”
She looked at Maddox who patiently waited for someone to open the bag of cookies. “Can he have one?”
“Yes. Here, I’ll do it.” Jacob dropped to his knees beside her. “Only one, Madman. You already had five today.”
Mallory smiled. The boy really loved his aunt Mazey’s cookies. “Can I have one?” She had no idea if she’d be able to keep it down; the nausea she’d felt after physical therapy had turned into a swirling pool of nervous energy.
Jacob was asking her not only to be a part of Maddox’s life, but his as well. He was offering her a chance to see if they could make all her dreams come true—
“Yes!” The word burst from her mouth. Her gaze locked with Jacob’s. “Yes. To both questions.”
The grin that curled his lips was slow and sweet and by the time it had finished she felt dazed, blinded by the joy radiating from it. “I’ll make sure you have everything you need. At the house. For when they let you come home.”
Home.
One simple word she thought she’d never know the meaning of again. It had taken her a while to work it out but she’d finally accepted the reason New York had no longer felt like home to her was because home wasn’t a place, not a location or a physical building—it was where the heart was.
And her heart had been given to the man and boy in front of her on a bright sunny day in a town called Sunnyville.
EPILOGUE
1 YEAR LATER…
“She’s barely limping.”
Jake glanced at Jack before focusing back on Lory and Mad as they walked toward the playground. “I know. It gets worse when she’s tired but I make sure she takes it easy.”
“I never met the stepsister and with everything I know about her, I can’t believe Donna could mold Mallory into such a wonderful woman and couldn’t do the same with her own daughter.”
“I think a lot of it is just who Lory is. And who Renee was. I’ve heard more stories about her since Lory moved in and Donna finally accepted the olive branch we both extended.” He shook his head. “Lory was right, Mad’s life is going to be so much richer having a grandmother like Donna in it. She’s the only grandparent he has.”
“What about Donna’s first husband?” Jack asked.
“Locked up again. Although Lory said Clark told her he’s not well. Years of addiction have taken their toll. She’s paying for his treatments—”
“Fucking bleeding heart.”
“Yeah, that’s Lory. Anyway, Donna is talking about moving here to be closer to Mad and Lory. The trips back and forth to New York are hard on her. And she says she’s not getting any younger and with all her money, why can’t she do whatever the hell she wants.” He looked at Jack. “Lory doesn’t know yet but she made an offer on a house two days ago. I haven’t heard if it was accepted or not though.”
“You okay with that?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s been more than a year since Renee tried to kill Lory. I’m over any animosity I felt toward Donna for being instrumental in getting Renee released from jail and then the psychiatric facility. Besides, any guilt I laid on her slid off the huge pile she still lays on herself.”
“I can understand why she would feel that way.”
“Anyone would.” Jake turned back to watch the woman he loved and the rest of their friends. “Is Ry going to continue to shadow Maz?”
Jack laughed. “It’s like he’s waiting for her to drop the baby any second.”
