Page 15

A Fluttering Stomach

Mallory

Mallory

I kissed Holland.

I stare down at the screen of my phone, hesitating for only a minute before I hit send. The second I do, I feel my stomach bottom out, and I tap the top of the screen to double-check that the message went to whom I was intending to send it.

Before I can even verify it, my phone is ringing with a video call. I click accept, and my mom and my Aunt Jo’s faces fill my screen.

“Explain,” Jo says at the same time my mom screeches, “Tell us everything!”

I laugh in spite of myself, in spite of the shakiness in my hands and the way my limbs feel like they’re floating around me, detached from my body. The kiss wasn’t supposed to make me feel…like this.

“I kissed him to prove a point.”

“And that point would be?” Jo asks.

“That I don’t have feelings for him.”

My mom pouts.

I point at her through the screen. “Don’t give me that look.”

“What? I’m your mother. I want you to be happy! You can’t blame me for hoping you’ll get swept up in the grandeur of this whole MEM scene and fall head over heels in love.”

“Not happening, Mom. ”

Even as I say it, I reach up and touch the backside of my ponytail, where Holland’s hands gripped me with such a mix of control and tenderness I didn’t know which way was up.

Nope. Not happening.

“I don’t understand why you had to kiss him, Mal.” Jo is staring at me with a concerned look.

“I know. It was a dumb idea, but he was being so…so…”

“Charming?” my mom suggests.

“Impossible,” I finish pointedly. “I needed to shut him up and prove to him that nothing is going on between us except our usual coach and player relationship.”

“Why does he think something’s going on?” Jo narrows her gaze.

I understand her skepticism about this. She’s protective of me.

She had a front-row seat when my life was shredded…

when everything came undone with Brevan.

That was the last time I mixed business and pleasure, and I vowed never again.

She doesn’t want to see me get used and dropped in the same way. I get it.

“Relax.” I step to the side of the sidewalk to let a couple shoppers pass by.

I look up to gauge my surroundings. I’ve made it onto Main Street.

There’s a sign straight ahead sticking out above the door to a narrow building with wide picture windows.

It reads Getaway Café. I walk toward it.

I’m supposed to go back to Daisy’s Inn—production’s orders.

But the thought of running in to one of the other contestants sends my stomach pitching.

I may not have feelings for Holland, but I did kiss him. And they all want to kiss him.

So what production doesn’t know won’t hurt them. I’m going to milk my free time for what it’s worth.

Jo leans closer to the screen. “We’re waiting.”

I sigh. “I don’t know. The two of us have had a couple…

moments, for lack of a better word. I asked him about a past relationship, and he opened up to me.

” Jo’s frown deepens, bu t I plow ahead.

“He got it in his head that I actually care for him, and no matter what I said, he kept teasing me. I kissed him to shut him up.”

My mom claps her hands. “Did your stomach flutter?”

“Mom!”

“What? The best kind of kisses are the ones that make your stomach flutter. Your dad’s kisses still do that to me. It’s like my insides start floating around. It’s the best.”

“Gross. That’s my brother we’re talking about,” Aunt Jo says.

I shake my head, but I can’t help but smile. “Anyway…” I make it to the door of the café. “I wanted to check in, and—“

“Tell us you kissed Holland,” Jo interrupts. “We know.”

I frown at her through the screen. “I promise it’s no big deal.”

“Yet you felt the need to tell us, which makes me think you’re feeling something.” Jo props the phone up in front of them and crosses her arms.

“No feelings. I promise. Unless you count annoyance.” In the back of my mind, I register that I have been feeling something other than annoyance toward Holland. But I don’t want to dissect that right now. I need to keep my focus.

“I say lean into the feelings!” Mom shoves herself back into the screen. “Let yourself fall, Mal. Get yourself some stomach flutters.”

My mom is not helping.

“I’ve got to go. I’m going to grab a coffee before I head back to the inn. Mom, did you fill out the online paperwork for your new therapist?”

My mom swishes her hand in front of her face. “Of course I did. I’m all set.”

“Good.” I nod. This whole thing is worth it, knowing that my mom is going to get the care she deserves and won’t be in financial ruin in the process. “Tell Dad I love him.”

“Will do. Love you, sweetheart.” My mom waves and leaves the picture .

Jo watches her over the camera and then pulls the phone to her face and leans in. “What’s going on, Mallory?”

“Nothing. I told you.”

She’s quiet as she assesses me through the phone. “He’s your paycheck. Your livelihood.”

“I know that.”

She nods slowly. “Guard your heart, okay? Based on what you’ve told me about Holland in the past, he’s not the type of guy you want to get messed up with.”

I nod. “I know. I’m fine. I promise.”

Jo twists her lips to the side but nods. “Call again soon, okay?”

“As soon as I can, I will.”

I pocket my phone after saying goodbye and pull open the door to Getaway Café. The coffee shop is adorable, and a woman with dark hair and dark eyes smiles at me from behind the counter. She does a double-take, and her smile widens. “Mallory, right?” She motions me over.

I hesitate before making my way to the counter. “Uh, yeah. Do I know you?”

She shakes her head. “Not yet. I’m Inez. I own the café here. I’m friends with the Kasper sisters. They told me all about you. I feel like we’re friends already.”

“We’re all rooting for you,” a voice calls out behind me, and I spin around to find a group sitting at a table. They wave in unison.

“Uh, thank you. I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“Mayor Witmore.” A middle-aged man wearing a Cashmere Cove yellow polo shirt and pressed khaki pants steps forward. “So glad to have you and Holland in town. And all the other women too, of course. But mostly you.”

He shakes my hand, and I am so confused. “I’m sorry. How do you know who I am?”

“Willow said she met you last night. I was in the library this morning, picking up my holds, and she was gushing. Said the sparks were flying, and Holland is already smitten. ”

Pretty sure the only sparks Holland and I are giving off are the ones associated with dislike, but I can’t come right out and say that, now can I?

And is that even true anymore?

Some of the things I thought about Holland are being called into question here, in his hometown. The more he opens up to me, the more I doubt my preconceived notions about him.

Mayor Witmore beams at me, and the entire café seems to lean in to get a better look at me. I glance down at my golf coaching ensemble, suddenly self-conscious.

“You probably already know this, but Holland rents the apartment upstairs.” Inez points toward the ceiling. “Is that why you’re here? Are you meeting him?”

“Oh, no! I came from practice, and I wanted to grab a coffee before I head back to Daisy’s.” AKA I’m stalling. “I didn’t know he had a place nearby, actually.”

The door to the café whooshes open, and Poppy, Rose, and Noli walk in together.

“Mallory!” Poppy greets me with a hug. “Have you ordered? Sit with us.”

There’s a flurry of activity as the Kasper sisters greet people and scooch chairs around a table near the front window of the café for the four of us. My shoulders sag in relief to see everyone has mostly gone back to their food and drinks, and no one is staring at me anymore.

I place an order with Inez and walk to our table, waiting for the Kasper sisters to join me.

“So…” Rose sits down first and clasps her hands on the table. “What’s new?”

I chuckle, taking a sip of my chai tea and hoping the warmth soothes the ache in the back of my throat. I feel a head cold coming on, and I don’t have time to get sick. “I saw you last night.”

“Lots can happen in less than twenty-four hours.” Noli joins us and smirks at me over the top of her drink .

I cock my head to the side.

Poppy plunks down in her seat last after stopping by the mayor’s table and talking to him for a minute. She leans in and drops her voice to an excited whisper. “You kissed Holland?!”

“What?” My cheeks immediately flush, and I know my eyes are doing the bugging out thing. I probably look like a cartoon character.

“Don’t worry. Holland and I were never serious, so I promise this won’t be weird,” Poppy hurries to assure me.

“No. It’s not that.” I lean forward. “How do you know I kissed Holland?”

“Cy posted a picture of the two of you in a golf cart on the town happenings social media page.”

“There’s photographic evidence?!” My voice goes up an octave. “This is bad. This is really, really bad.”

“Why?”

“Tell us everything.”

“It’s going to be okay.”

I glance around at Poppy, Rose, and Noli, and they look like they genuinely care.

“Guys, it was a kiss to prove a point.” I feel like a broken record right now, between my mom and Aunt Jo and now these ladies. “But if that picture gets out, production could come for me.” I feel suddenly sick. “Oh gosh. The money.”

“Okay, there’s a lot to unpack there,” Rose says.

“What money?” Noli asks.

“The five-million-dollar penalty for spoiling the show or doing anything to jeopardize the narrative MEM is spinning around Holland.“ I drop my face into my hands.

Poppy whips out her phone. “I’ve got this.” She tap, tap, taps away and then tosses her cell on the table. “There we go. Handled.”

I cut her with an incredulous look. “What? How? ”

She shrugs. “I commented on the post and pinned it to the top, letting everyone know the picture needed to stay under wraps.”

I groan. “You think people will actually listen to you?”

“In Cashmere Cove?” Poppy shrugs. “Yeah, I actually do.”

“Consider it your gentle hazing,” Rose adds.

At my questioning glance, Noli explains. “It’s a town-wide tradition to prank newcomers, make sure they can hang with us.”

“I had to drink mac-and-cheese powder, if it makes you feel any better.” Rose pretends to gag. “A little smooch with Holland seems mild in comparison.” She winks.

I groan again. “This is so embarrassing. The kiss didn’t even mean anything!”

I lift my head out of my hands in time to see the Kasper sisters exchanging smirks, like they don’t believe me.

“Either way, the Bradleys are thrilled.” Noli smiles at me, and it’s genuine.

“Darla has already texted me to see if I can finagle more off-camera time with you,” Poppy adds.

I’m at once flabbergasted and flattered. Holland’s dad’s sentiments from the interview I overheard flit through my mind. She grounds him. He respects her. She makes him better .

In golf! I want to scream those words. Nothing beyond that.