Switch (Landry Family 3)

I shake my head. “No clue. What was said, Raza?”

Her cheeks flush. “The woman said she was the love of your life. And she didn’t like Mallory’s response.”

“Oh, fuck.” My gaze flips to Ford’s. “Vanessa.”

“That crazy bitch,” my brother hisses.

“Yes!” Raza cries. “That was her. Vanessa. She seemed a little crazy, to be honest. Mallory let her know, in no uncertain terms, what she thought of her and that she would never contact you through Landry as long as she worked here.”

“She was jealous,” Ford smirks.

“No,” Raza disagrees. “I didn’t get that at all.” She looks at me with a simple smile. “I felt like she was protecting you more than anything.”

My breath is stolen, my heart crushing inside my body. “My God.”

Ford and Raza exchange a few words before she leaves, none of which I’m privy to. All I can do is think of Mallory and the words I said and the pain she must be feeling.

If I were alone, I’d scream out in rage. If I were home, I’d slam my fists in a punching bag. If I were running, I’d go so hard that my legs would give out just so I could override the shame I’m feeling now.

“I’m going to—” I begin before my gaze rests on the corner of her desk. A white envelope bearing my name in red ink sits like a loose grenade. Swiping it up, I stick it inside my jacket pocket and look at Ford. “Her resume is in the lower left-hand corner of my desk. Text me her address.”

“Where are you going?” Ford asks as I dash towards the door.

“To find her. To make this right.”

An eruption starts in the pit of my stomach and creeps through my body. The fire courses through my abdomen, then my chest, and creeps up my face as reality, the truth of everything, slams into me with no mercy.

I dial her again but it goes straight to voicemail.

“Fuck!”

Mallory

“I’M GOING TO BE FINE,” I lie as Joy pulls me into a hug. “I just want to be alone for a while.”

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Joy admits, letting me go. “Should you really be alone right now? I could just go fold towels or wash the front windows or something.”

“You? Wash windows?” I laugh through my tears. “That I want to see.”

“Well, I’d probably just sit there and read a magazine, but it sounded good,” she shrugs. “Besides, you’re crying.”

I wipe my face with the end of my shirt. “It’s not a sad cry.” I look at her and shrug. “Not completely, anyway. I’m so mad at him.”

“You have every right to be.” She picks at a pink fingernail. “You don’t think he lied to you though, right? He wasn’t talking to Vanessa.”

“I don’t think so. I think he would’ve mentioned that to me.”

“Sure he would’ve.”

I blow out a breath. “You know what I’m mad about? That he wouldn’t listen to me. He just looked at me like I was a piece of shit because I made a mistake. Like nothing else mattered in that moment except for what he was feeling.”

“That makes sense and it’s not unreasonable.”

“If this would’ve been a few weeks ago, I would be completely heartbroken. I’d feel like a failure. But now . . .” I shrug again. “Now I’m pissed off.”

“That a girl!” Joy laughs, almost making me smile. “Are you sure you want me to leave? There are no classes tonight. You’re going to be alone.”

“That’s the plan. I just need to think, and I think best here.”