Page 42

Tried Patience

Mallory

A few hours later, I’m curled up in the chair in the corner of my room at Daisy’s, talking to my mom. Jo is out with friends, and my dad is at his store.

“You’re kind of glowing, Mal,” my mom tells me with a smile.

I just got finished detailing my date with Holland for her.

“That’s the lamplight.”

“No, it’s not, and you know it. You like him. You like him a lot.”

I cover my face with my free hand. “I know.” I peek between my fingers. “I do.”

“I’m so happy for you! You have to bring him home here when the show is done. Or maybe we could make it up to one of his tournaments.” She sounds hopeful.

I lean forward in my chair. “Enough about me. How are you feeling today?”

“Good. Great.” My mom looks off to the side of the camera, and her smile wavers.

“Mom…what aren’t you telling me?”

She meets my gaze through the phone and looks guilty. “I’ve been having some mobility issues. It’s a flare up, and it’s been a bummer one, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

I frown. “I’m sorry. I wish I was there.”

“I’m fine,” she says definitively. “Don’t worry.”

“I—“

The sound of something hitting my window cuts me off.

“What was that?” My mom’s eyes are wide on my screen .

“Not sure.” I scooch off the chair and go to the window, pulling back the thick, floral curtains as something tinks against the glass again. “What the—?”

I look down to see Holland staring up at me, wide grin slashing across his handsome face. I pull the window open. It squeaks so loud I’m sure the entire inn is going to be onto us.

“What are you doing here?” I hiss out on a whisper, glancing around the grounds of Daisy’s Inn. There’s a light on at Candace Patchcab’s house, and the streetlights from the road cast a dim glow on the garden and the yard beyond.

“Taking you out,” he whispers back. “If that’s alright with you.”

I feel my brow furrow. “You’re supposed to be on a date with Jennah. Where is she?”

“I sent her home. Vivian wasn’t thrilled, but…” Holland shrugs, as if to say what can ya do ? He tips his chin up again. “Anyway, I came to ask you out on a real date. I want to make my intentions very clear, so listen up. I’m only going to say this once.” He points at me. “You ready for this?”

I press my lips together, fighting a smile, and nod.

“Mallory Walsh, will you go out on a date with me?”

I tap my chin, pretending to consider my options. “I don’t know. It’s getting close to my bedtime. The pillows here at the inn are practically calling my name, so…”

“Hey, but so am I! Mallory!” he says in a stage whisper. “Mallory! Wherefore art thou, Mallory?”

I snort. “Don’t go the Romeo and Juliet route. I’m begging you. They both die.”

He scrunches up his nose. “Good point. Okay. But will you come down here? I promise it’ll be worth it. Besides, I bet I can make you nice and comfy.” He wags his brows.

I splutter out a laugh. “What does that even mean?”

“Guess you’ll have to come with me to find out.”

“Fine.” I shake my head. “You know, you could have texted me, right? ”

“Where’s the fun in that? I’m trying to woo you, remember?”

“How could I forget?”

He smirks and motions to the tree branch that’s nearest to my window. “Can you sneak down?”

“Holland, I’m not climbing down a tree for you. I’ll break my neck. We’d be halfway to Romeo and Juliet’s fate.”

He pouts. “Come on! Where’s your sense of romance? Or adventure?”

“I left it in my other purse.”

“That’s what they all say.”

I shake my head at him, but I’m grinning. My stomach is bubbling with anticipation and, if I’m being honest, relief that he sent Jennah home. The thought of her with him makes me want to crawl out of my skin. “Give me five minutes.”

“Make it three.”

At my arched brows, he shrugs. “I’m an impatient man, Mallory.”

“Since when?” I challenge. He is one of the most laidback, carefree people I know. He’s never had a problem going with the flow or taking his time, sometimes even to the point where other players are annoyed with his diligence and deliberate play on the course.

“Since I started wanting you, and you made me hope that maybe there’s a chance you want me too.”

I suck in a breath, and I’m momentarily speechless. We stare at each other for a couple seconds, me down at him, him up at me.

I’m waiting for him to crack a grin, take the moment from serious to playful, but he doesn’t. He looks back at me with such an earnest gaze I swear my heart stops.

“Please don’t make me wait much longer,” he whispers.

There’s a spark of fire in my chest that roars to a full-blown blaze at the crack in his voice and the openness of his expression. I don’t trust my own voice, so I roll my lips into my mouth and nod.

I shove the window closed, and when I glance back at my phone, my mom is beaming.

“Holland is here.” My words come out breathy and weird. I swallow a couple times. “I’m going to go out with him.”

“I gathered. You two are perfect for each other.”

“We’ll see about that.” I dart to the closet for my shoes, my stomach doing somersaults, rolling with both anticipation and nerves. “I have no idea what I’m doing, Mom. What we’re doing.”

“You’re going out on a date. He was very clear about that. I give the guy credit. So much of dating these days isn’t well defined. It’s a shame. But Holland was direct. Definite green flag.”

“I know that. He’s made it no secret that he’s pursuing me. But I don’t know how to handle him like this. I’m totally out of my element here.”

“Don’t overthink it, Mal. You know him. He knows you. He likes the you he knows, so that takes the pressure off you. Now you both get to enjoy deepening your knowledge of each other, or learning about each other in a new way, I guess.”

My mom has a point. Holland and I have been working together for a couple years.

We’re comfortable with each other. That comfort level has taken many forms. Coach and player, to be sure.

But also partners on the golf course. And more recently, friends.

I can read Holland like a book, and lately, I’ve liked every page of his that I’ve had the chance to flip through, seeing new scenes and sides of him pop up before my eyes.

For his part, he’s proven himself someone who respects me and wants to be on my team. We have fun together. Like I said on camera this morning, he’s thoughtful and attentive. Holland’s heart is bigger than I expected. I’m hoping to find a place for myself in it.

I blow out a wobbly breath. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am.” My mom slashes her hand across the screen in a way that says that much is obvious before lowering her voice. “Aren’t you excited to kiss him for real? ”

I’m hopping up and down on one foot, attempting to get my shoe over my heel, but I glance at the phone to find her shimmying her shoulders.

“Maybe he’ll slip you a little tongue,” she says in a stage whisper.

My hand slips off the back of my shoe, and I stumble. “Oh my GOSH, Mom, that’s enough of that.” I’m immediately sweating. “Please do not talk about Holland or his tongue.”

She laughs. “Go. Have fun!”

“Alright. I’ll check in soon. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I hang up and put my phone on the nightstand.

The bag that Willow gave me earlier stares back at me from my bedside table. I have no idea what Holland has planned for tonight, but I sling it over my shoulder and descend the hidden staircase.

At the bottom, I peek around the corner. I hear voices in the front room, but the kitchen is empty. I slip out the side door to the yard of the inn.

It takes my eyes a second to adjust to the dim light, and I feel Holland’s presence behind me before I see him.

I spin to face him, and he’s grinning down at me. “Hey, you.”

“Hey yourself.”

“Thanks for choosing me over your bed,” he says.

“I guess I’ll find out by the end of the night if I made the right call. My bed is one of my favorite things.”

“I’m up for the challenge.” Holland gives me a smile and takes my hand in his, tugging me across the backyard of Candace’s house.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.