Love Online

Mallory suddenly threw her arms around me. My body stiffened. I took a deep breath, though, and let myself be consoled by her without judgment for a few seconds. Mallory had been the most important person in my life at one time. She was important to my father. I told myself it was okay to take comfort in familiarity at a time like this.

“I’d been thinking about you a lot lately as it was, and then when I heard the news, it just shattered me. God, Ryder, I have so much in my heart right now.” She placed her hand on mine. “Will you let me be here for you today?”

While I could understand her wanting to support me at a time like this, it still felt a little out of left field.

“How will Aaron feel about that?” I asked.

She looked down at her feet and paused. “I wasn’t going to bring this up because it’s not the right time.”

“Why? What’s going on, Mal?”

She met my eyes. “I broke off the engagement.”

What? “What happened?”

“I don’t want to get into it now, if that’s okay. My being here isn’t about me.”

Well, that was definitely interesting fucking news. An unsettled feeling came over me. But regardless, she was right. Now was not the time to discuss it. I couldn’t handle anything that was going to stress me out before having to see my father’s body.

I would allow Mallory to be a friend to me tonight and not overthink it any more than that.CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO* * *EDENPart of the road had been blocked off to help control traffic. My Uber driver couldn’t get anywhere near the funeral parlor, so he had to drop me off down the street.

There was a line all the way down the sidewalk to get into Sterling McNamara’s services. I knew Ryder’s father had been a bigwig in this town, but I guess I never really got it until now.

I’d decided not to tell Ryder I was coming to Los Angeles. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to make accommodations for me or worry about me in any way. He had enough on his plate. But now I was sort of regretting not mentioning anything to him, because I had to stand in line with everyone else, and I worried I might not make it in before the viewing hours ended. It was going to be at least an hour before I got inside the place.

I thought about texting him, but I didn’t want to be disruptive. He was likely receiving guests, shaking hands with people and wouldn’t be able to leave to come let me in. I remembered how it was when my mother passed away. Even though she didn’t have a crowd of people at her wake, the responsibility of the entire event fell on me. I was sure it was no different for Ryder.

So, I resigned myself to waiting with everyone else. I could wait. This wasn’t about me; this was about showing my support for him.

Looking around at all of the fancy people in their expensive clothes, I felt out of my league. The woman in front of me was holding a handbag I knew cost more than my mortgage. Meanwhile, I’d put on the only black dress I owned, the same simple sheath I’d worn four years ago to my mother’s funeral. There’d been no time to go shopping prior to coming out here. I’d just brought one carry-on bag of things thrown hastily together.

I looked around at all of the exotic cars and inhaled the cloud of expensive fragrance. This was Ryder’s world, so very different from mine. Those differences were clearer than ever right now.

After almost a full hour, I finally made it to the entrance. A sea of people dressed in black blocked my view of the casket, and of Ryder—or at least of where I assumed he’d be standing.

When I finally spotted him, he nearly took my breath away. Ryder from a distance, so tall in his perfectly tailored dark suit, was a sight to behold. His hair was gelled a bit differently, but he looked incredible all dressed up. He was shaking hands and leaning into the embraces of people, one by one. He looked a little out of it, like he was just going through the motions. I remembered all too well how that felt. I wanted to hug him, be there for him, protect him from all of these people. I couldn’t get to him fast enough.

My eyes then moved to the woman standing next to him. I’d already been nervous to make my presence known to Ryder, but the sight of her caused my stomach to full-on drop. Because she wasn’t just any woman. If my memory served me correctly, that was Mallory.

Isn’t it?