Chapitre 11: Chapter 11

Caden let out a deep breath. "Mallory, I couldn't take you to basic training with me. I asked you to wait for me and you broke up with me."

She folded her arms across her chest, pushing out her lower lip. "Well, I wanted to go."

"Mallory, you couldn't wait just eight weeks for me?" He pulled the car to a stop onto the side of the road, but kept the engine running. "Mallory, I asked you to marry me."

"When?" Mallory's eyes flared. "Yeah, and then I'd be engaged to a man that wasn't here. Then I'd be the wife of a sailor and I would have lost my chance at making it in California."

"Then why didn't you go?"

"I didn't want to go alone. Then after my parents died- I had my reasons." Mallory looked down, defeated. When she looked up, tears were in her eyes. "I thought you were going to take me away from all this. We had made plans to go to California together, and then you went and joined the Navy. Why?"

He shrugged. "For one thing, I wanted to serve my country, just as my father had. For another thing, I wanted to make a life for us. At eighteen, the jobs I qualified for were pretty slim. And a girl like you--"

"What do you mean a 'girl like me?'"

Caden sighed. "I just wanted to give you a life with fine things. Yes, we would have struggled at first, but we would have been set for life."

"And what about me? What about my dreams?" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "You didn't even bother to talk to me about it before you enlisted."

Even though he couldn't tell if the tears were real or not, they softened him. "Come here." He reached for her across the seat and pulled her to his chest. After a moment, she pulled back and tilted her head upward toward him, but he backed away. He could have easily kissed her, but he now knew that she wasn't what he wanted. Not yet anyway. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat."

She straightened up in her seat and dabbed at her eyes as he pulled the car back onto the road. Then she whipped out a compact from her purse to check her too-heavy makeup and snapped it closed. Knowing Caden was watching her, she gave him a smile and looked at him through her lashes.

Caden looked away, knowing that she was really pulling out all the stops. Years ago, he would have thought it sexy. Now, he was more embarrassed for her than anything else. As he drove, he wondered how she and Jocelyn could have been so different. After all, they had grown up in the same house and were raised by the same parents. Yet, they were as different as night and day.

A few moments later, he turned down the town square and stopped in front of Santa's Café.

When he turned off the engine, she looked up at him in disbelief, raising her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Oh, come on!" Caden smiled broadly, excited to be back in town. "I thought it would be fun to go to the place where we used to hang out when we were kids- for old time's sake."

She let out a deep breath. Gauging her reaction, she wanted to go somewhere expensive.

"What's wrong?" Caden asked, feigning ignorance.

She looked over at the café. Then as if she just had a brilliant idea, turned to him excitedly. "Since this is your first day back in town, I thought you might like to go somewhere and celebrate."

"Yes, and we can celebrate here." Caden looked over at the café. Through the windows, Santa's elves were busy taking orders and serving guests.

She leaned over and took his arm. "Wouldn't you rather go somewhere a little- nicer?"

He started up the engine. "Where would you like to go?" He noticed that she hadn't even taken into consideration that he'd been away for eight years and that he'd rather go somewhere where they could reminisce.

She bounced excitedly in her seat and clapped her hands. "Well, there's this new Chinese restaurant that just opened up that I've been wanting to try-."

Caleb threw the car into gear. "How do you get there?" he asked flatly.

Mallory didn't seem to pick up on his change of mood, nor did she care. She just looked out the window and watched as the scenery passed by.

***

The night seemed to drag on. At the Chinese restaurant, the place screamed expensive as soon as they walked in. But the food was good, he had to admit. Throughout dinner, Mallory prattled on about her modeling career, and that she had had a bit part in a movie when they were filming in town. She said that she had hoped that would be the start of her acting career. But then she shrugged and admitted that at least it was another credit on her resume.

After dinner, Caden quickly paid the check and gave the waiter a hefty tip, causing Mallory's eyes to bulge. He was beginning to see her for what she had become, and not the sweet girl that he had once known. But then again, maybe he had been looking at her through rose-colored glasses back then. Suddenly, he was glad that she had refused to wait for him so many years ago.

When they pulled up in front of her house, the front porch light was on. He got out of the car and shut his door and then walked over to the other side of the car and opened hers. Then he offered her his hand and helped her out. She held on to his arm and let him guide her up the walk to her door.

"Well, I had a wonderful time," she said, fiddling with her keys.

He internally rolled his eyes. "It was good to see you again, Mallory."

"Would you like to come in for a drink?"

He shook his head. "No, I have to be going home."

"But it's still early yet," she whined.

"Mallory, stop--"

"Say, I have an idea!" She cut him off. She was the only person he knew that could ignore him while talking to him. "Why don't we go skiing tomorrow? We just wrapped up the shoot today and I have time before the next one starts."

"You ski?" Caden asked in disbelief.

Before he could stop her, she reached up to kiss him, but he turned his cheek in time. "There's a lot about me that you don't know."

"Yes, I'm beginning to see that." He backed away before she could attack him again. "Well, have a good night, Mallory."

She raised her hand and wiggled her fingers, and then opened the door to her house.

He hurried down the stairs before she could blow him another kiss or something ridiculous like that. He guessed that his years in the Navy and everything he had seen had trained him to see people for who they were on the inside. Now, he could spot superficial behavior a mile away. His instincts had served him well over the years.

Caden started the engine and didn't look up to see if she was watching him or if she had hurried into the house. As he pulled the car away, he was secretly glad that things had turned out the way they had between Mallory and him.

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