“Mallory?”
She flashed me a smile. A very fake smile that said she was pissed rather than happy. “Hey. I guess you forgot we were having lunch today?”
Shit.
“Mallory, I am so sorry.” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. I caught her frown but looked at the floor for a quick second. I could feel Harley’s eyes on me, and I wished I hadn’t just done that.
Christ Almighty. I don’t know what in the hell I’m doing anymore. I feel like I’m in the middle of a love triangle but I’m not, at least I don’t think I am. I can’t even think straight with both of these women within an arm’s length from me.
I’d barely even touched Mallory in the last few weeks, and we certainly hadn’t had sex.
“This came up last minute yesterday, and I forgot to let you know.”
Her brows lifted in question. “Yesterday? I talked to you on the phone last night, Tripp. Why didn’t you mention you had a court date with Harley?”
The way she stressed date pissed me off.
Harley cleared her throat. “Um, I’m just going to meet you over there, Tripp. It was nice to see you again, Mallory.”
“You, too, Harley.” Mallory gave her a condescending smile.
Once the door shut, I asked, “Again? When did you see Harley?”
“She stopped in to the store with Paxton and the kids.”
“When was this?”
“I don’t know, Tripp. A couple of days ago. Does it really matter?”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Of course not, but why the hell did you make it seem like we were heading out on a date? We’re going to a mediation to see what can be worked out before this thing goes to court.”
Mallory forced a grin. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You stressed date, Mallory. Don’t play coy. It’s not like you.”
With a huff, she threw her hands up in the air. “Well, I’m sorry if I was a bit taken aback by the fact that you blew off our lunch date to help out your ex-girlfriend.”
“Hmm…” Karen mumbled as she swiveled in her chair. I turned to her and shot her a warning look.
Focusing on Mallory, I said, “I am not blowing you off. I took this case on yesterday afternoon and I meant to tell you. Why are you making such a big fucking deal about it? You know the second we were finished with…lunch…you’d rush out of here and back to the store.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Karen added softly.
This time both Mallory and I shot Karen a look. Turning her back to us, she started typing on her computer.
“It’s fine. I’m sorry if I got snippy about it, and I certainly didn’t mean to make Harley feel uncomfortable.”
“Well, you did and now I’m going to be late.”
She stepped out of my way. I felt like a complete ass because the only thing I could think about was getting to Harley. Even with the woman I had been dating-slash-having-sex-with standing in front of me, I couldn’t shake the image of Harley talking to my mother out of my head. She had on black dress slacks, high heels, and a tan blouse. Her brown hair was down but the sides had been pinned back. She looked beautiful.
I started to walk off when Mallory grabbed my arm. “Tripp, wait. I’m sorry for overreacting and causing a scene.”
“Good thing there wasn’t anyone else in here,” Karen added, somewhat under her breath but loud enough that her intentions didn’t escape either one of us.
“That’s enough, Karen,” I snapped.
“I better get back to the store. I’m sorry about the misunderstanding.” Mallory reached up on her toes and went to kiss me on the lips, but I pulled back. “I’ll see you later?”
I nodded. “See you later.” One quick kiss on her cheek, and I was out the door and rushing over to the courthouse.
It had taken me a few minutes to find out which room the meeting was being held in, but I got there with two minutes to spare.
Walking in, I cleared my throat and said, “I’m sorry I was held up.”
Harley stared at me, and there was no way in hell I could miss the sadness in her eyes.
Fuck, this is all such a goddamn mess.
I opened my briefcase and took out the file Pete’s office had sent early this morning, along with a notepad and two pens.
“Are you ready to begin?” the mediator asked.
“Yes,” all parties answered at once.
“Then, let’s start. Mr. Harris, please state the reasons you claim to be co-owner of the Oak Springs veterinarian clinic.”
To say I wasn’t prepared for what came next would be an understatement.
Harley and I sat on the bench in the town square and stared off into the distance.
“This is bad, isn’t it?” she finally said.
“Yeah. It’s for sure not good.”
“How could Doc not remember his brother gave him cash to buy the land that the vet clinic was on!”