After finding a motel for the night, she stopped at a fast food restaurant and got a sandwich. As she sat there eating, she decided she had to do what was best for her child’s sake and so she decided to give up the baby, which caused her to start crying. Once the tears ended, Mallory called Mr. Redden and told him about her news about the baby, telling him she needed to make some decisions about the baby before she could come back to work.
She was touched when he said he wanted her to come back and would even give her a raise so she could afford day care. To give her plenty of time to consider what she wanted to do, he said he would hold the job for additional two months. She thanked him and told him she would be calling him as soon as she made a final decision.
The next day, Mallory decided to listen to her uncle’s new voicemail. “Mallory, I love you and I was wrong about Erica. I realize now she wasn’t doing anything to help around the house. Your aunt doesn’t have much time left, and you should be home with family during this time. I love you, good-bye.”
“During who’s time, mine or his?” she asked aloud, and then she deleted the phone message. Just as she finished getting rid of it, when the cell phone rang in her hand. What if it was her uncle calling? She looked at the caller ID before answering and smiled when she recognized the number as belonging to her friend, Skyler Collins.
“Hello, Skyler.”
“Mallory, I just heard what is going on in your life. I want you to come live with me and we’ll raise the baby together.”
Tears began pouring down her cheeks. “How did you find out?” she asked, touched that Skyler wanted to help her.
“I ran into your cousin at the store earlier today and she told me you were a tramp because you’re pregnant and didn’t even know who the father of the baby was. She said her father kicked you out of the house because you wouldn’t help with her mother after all she’d done for you. Like I believe either of those lies.”
“If sleeping with one man makes me a tramp, what does that make her?”
Skyler laughed. “My mother taught me not to say words like that. Why didn’t you call me instead of moving to some motel?” she asked her voice full of hurt.
“I just had to get away. We haven’t talked much in the last four years, so I didn’t even think to call you. Besides, I’m thinking about going back to my old job.”
“We were once best friends, but we let time and distance, come between us. Come stay with me and we’ll raise the baby together.”
Mallory hesitated. “I don’t want to intrude on your love life.”
“Not going to happen, besides, I’d love to have the company.”
“I’ll get my stuff and be over. Thanks again, Skyler.”
Skyler gave Mallory the direction to her apartment and soon she was knocking on her friend’s door. When the two friends got together, they hugged and then talked for hours catching up on each other’s lives.
Mallory blushed as she told Skyler about meeting Derrick in a Chicago bar one snowy night; she refrained from giving out his last name in respect of his privacy. She went on to say somehow, she had fallen in love with him and so it had felt right to have sex with him. She wanted to find Derrick to tell him about the baby and would keep trying until she found him.
When Skyler heard Derrick’s name, she didn’t think for a minute they were talking about Brooke’s ex-husband, as that Derrick lived in Arizona, not Chicago.
The next day, Mallory called her boss and told him she was going to stay in Kansas City and keep the baby. He said he understood and wished her the best. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do to support herself and her child once he was born, but with her college degree, she was hoping to find another decent paying job as soon as she was able.
* * *
Derrick had been trying to find Mallory for the past three months, but so far, he hadn’t been successful. If only he had thought to leave a note when he left to take his shower, but he hadn’t, as he never dreamed, she would be gone when he got back to her room.
Finally, hoping he would have better luck finding her if he was in the same city as she was, he took a leave of absence from his job, packed his suitcase, and made his way to Kansas City. He didn’t call his mother, as the last thing he needed to hear was her talking about Brooke and Garrison and their new daughter, Jenny, which made his heart sad to know he wouldn’t ever be a father. Not only that, but he didn’t want to have to answer a bunch of questions of why he was trying to find a girl he hardly knew, as he wasn’t sure if he could explain it.
As soon as Derrick arrived into his hotel room, he grabbed the phone book and started looking through it. When he couldn’t find any Eric Ridge in the book, he wanted to throw it across the room. Thinking the man might go by a different first name, he called every Ridge in the phonebook asking for Eric or Mallory, but he struck out. So, discouraged by striking out of finding Mallory, and needing to talk to someone, he called Garrison as he was the only, he could talk to about this.
“Hello,” Garrison answered the phone, while trying to calm a crying baby.
“Garrison, is everything okay there?”
“Yes, the baby’s hungry, and Brooke was taking a bath. Hold on a minute so I can give this little one to her mommy.”
Derrick listened as his brother set the phone down, and when the baby’s cries ceased, he knew Jenny was getting nourishment from her mother’s breast. He quickly blushed at thinking of Brooke’s breasts, as he’d lost the right to think of them some time ago. Besides, that chapter of his life was over.
“Derrick, I’m back. Is everything okay?” Garrison was concerned as this was the first time, he had called him since he found out about his relationship with Brooke.
“Not really.” Now that he had his brother on the phone, he wasn’t sure how to continue.
“What seems to be the trouble?” He wondered if Derrick would confine in him as he once did.
“In December when I was on the way home, my flight got cancelled in Chicago. While I was there, I met a beautiful woman.” Derrick smiled at that thought of their night together. “You aren’t going to believe this, but I fell in love with her.”
“That’s wonderful.” And he meant it, as now he knew his brother was getting on with his life. “Tell me about her,” he asked sincerely, as he really wanted to know.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Derrick felt that his brother truly meant it, so he poured out his story to Garrison, not leaving anything out, including the sex. “I sort of lost her before I had her personal contact information.”
“She sounds like she’s the one, so what are you going to do to find her?”
“That’s why I’m calling. I need your help to find her.”
Garrison was thrilled by the fact Derrick had called him for his assistance. Wanting to help his brother find the woman, he loved; he gave him a few suggestions. One of the ideas was since Mallory’s aunt was dying, he should check the obituaries for her death notice on the off chance she’d already passed away. He told him to call him back if he wanted his assistance in trying to find her.
Derrick promised to call soon to let him know how things were going and they said good-bye. After he hung up from his brother, he started exploring the Internet for the obituaries. He quickly found the website he needed, but he struck out as no one with the last name of Ridge had died in the last few weeks.
It was late, he was hungry and disappointed at not finding her. He couldn’t do anything about the disappointment, but he could take care of one of his other problem. Thinking the hotel restaurant would be the quickest way to have dinner, he started downstairs. Since the place was busy and he was alone, he decided to eat at the bar. He’d finished his meal, enjoying the last of his beer, when a young woman sat down on the barstool next to him.
When he glanced over at her, he could tell she had been crying. “Excuse me, are you all right?” he asked just to be courteous.
“Yes, thank you for asking. I’ve just had a bad day is all.” She smiled when she noticed that he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Boy, she would love to get into his bed.
“May I buy you a drink?” he asked to be friendly.
“Thank you, I would like that,” she said, giving the handsome man her sexiest smile with the hope he would invite her to one of the upstairs rooms.
Derrick motioned to the bartender, ordered her drink, and then introduced himself. “Hello, my name is Derrick Hart.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Erica Wells.”
When he introduced himself to her, it never dawned on him that she could be a relative of Mallory’s, as the two women didn’t look anything alike. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” she asked as she glanced down at his crouch and back up to his face.
He fought from laughing, as he knew where her eyes had been. “The reason you’re so upset.”
“Oh that. My cousin is an ungrateful bitch,” she spat out angrily.
He smiled. “I see you’re having family problems.”
“Yes. My cousin owes a lot to my parents as she came to live with us when her parents were killed several years ago. Our fathers were brothers, and because of that, my father felt obligated to take her into our home.”
Her story made him think of Mallory and her situation, as their stories were extremely similar. His luck had been so bad lately; he never dreamed this woman was talking about the same woman he was trying to find. “That was good of him.”
“After my cousin graduated high school, she went away to go to college, returning only recently to help me take care of my dying mother.”
Derrick’s ears had perked up when he heard about this woman’s mother dying, as he remembered Mallory telling him that was the reason, she was returning to Kansas City. Could this be Mallory’s cousin or was he grabbing at straws in the desperate need to find her.
“Then a couple of weeks ago out of the blue, Mallory packed her bags and left, leaving everything for me to do for my mother.” She gave him a hard look.
When she mentioned her cousin’s name, he almost gasped, but since the last names weren’t the same, Derrick still wasn’t positive they were talking about the same woman. Before he could jump to any conclusions, he had to be sure. “Why do you think your cousin, Mallory Wells left like that?”
“Her last name is Ridge, Mallory Ridge.”
Bingo. Derrick was so ecstatic, he wanted to jump up in the air and scream, but instead, he forced back the smile that tried to creep out at knowing he had found Mallory at last. Besides, if this woman saw how excited he was, she would be curious and start asking questions. “How come the two of you have different last names if your fathers were brothers?”
She took a sip of her drink before answering his question. “They were stepbrothers, had different fathers, but same the mother.”
He was greatly relieved to know Mallory hadn’t lied about who she was. When he couldn’t find any signs of her or her uncle, he was beginning to think she had lied to him about her last name, as he’d never guessed the two brothers would have different last names.
“She and my mother had words, so she packed her bags and left. My mother died a few days ago.” She let out a fake sob. “I was the one to find her and it was so horrible.”
“That must have been rough on you.”
“Yes, it was,” she said giving him a tear-filled expression. If she told the truth about that day, she would have to admit she was relieved that her mother was dead.
“I’m sorry for your lost,” he muttered as he patted her hand.
“Thank you.” Erica laughed. “But Mallory is getting her punishment now.”
“How is that?” Derrick could hear the hatred this young woman had for her cousin and was utterly shocked by it.
“She’s pregnant and can’t find the father of the baby.” Erica smiled wickedly at him.
Derrick felt as if a fist had slammed into his stomach at hearing this woman’s cousin was pregnant, as it meant he wasn’t the one to get Mallory in that condition. If he couldn’t get Brooke pregnant in the five years they were married, he couldn’t have impregnated Mallory in one night.
“Does she know who the father is?” he asked just to be polite.
“She says it was some guy she met in Chicago, but I bet she been with so many guys she doesn’t have the slightest idea who the father is,” she said viciously, and then winked at him.
Was it possible that he could be the father of Mallory’s child? Could the changes he’d made in his lifestyle since the divorce have returned his fertility?
Suddenly he was listening to every single word she said. “What is Mallory going to do about the baby?” He held his breath, as he figured if he played his cards right, he would soon know where she was staying.
Erica frowned. “She’d been staying at a friend’s house, but after my mother died, she came home to help my father take care of packing up her belongings.” Erica suddenly moved her hand towards Derrick’s leg.
Derrick jumped when he felt her hand on his thigh.
“Would you want to have sex with me?” she asked, not even trying to act shy.
Her offer of sex had stunned Derrick, as he wasn’t interested in this woman in any way. Since she knew where Mallory was, he had to be careful how he replied, as he didn’t want to make her mad. That is, not until after he knew how to find Mallory.
He took hold of her hand and moved it off his leg. “I’m sorry, but I’m involved with someone right now. If you give me your phone number, I’ll call you if things don’t work out between us.”
Erica smiled, as she hoped things fell through for him and his lady friend, as she wanted this man. “I’d like that. I’ll be leaving around eight in the morning to visit my aunt in St. Louis for two weeks, but you can call my cell phone anytime. I’d cancel my trip, but she’s expecting me, or I could come upstairs with you tonight,” Erica told him excitedly, putting her hand on his zipper. When he jumped, she giggled at the panic she saw in his eyes.
After he removed her hand, she quickly wrote down her name, phone number, and address for him. Derrick’s hand shook as he reached for the paper that would take him to Mallory. He hoped Erica didn’t notice, because if she did, she was bound to ask why he was acting this way. He was relieved she was too busy flirting to pay much attention to his hands.
He said good night to Erica and hurried back to his room. Needing to know if his lifestyle changes could have affected his ability to impregnate Mallory, he grabbed his laptop to log on the Internet. He was totally surprised to learn that smoking and stress could reduce one’s sperm count, which could explain why Brooke hadn’t ever gotten pregnant while they had been married. Now that he had met Mallory, he was glad the two of them hadn’t had any children while they were married, as this way he could start fresh with someone new.
He closed down his computer and put it away; figuring the sooner he was asleep; the sooner morning would come. But once in bed, he began wondering if Mallory would accept his marriage proposal. There was the possibility that she would she refuse, thinking he was only asking her because she was pregnant with his child. He had to find a way to reassure her that wasn’t why he wanted to marry her but wasn’t sure what that would be.
* * *
When Erica arrived home that night, she excitedly told her father about meeting a man named Derrick Hart while she was out. As she spoke about the young man, she’d met earlier that evening, Eric smiled; as he was glad, she’d met someone and hoped this new relationship would take her mind off her mother’s death.