Mallory’s eyes fluttered open to discover him at the edge of the crowd, holding a beer and looking like a puzzle piece that didn’t fit the rest of the puzzle. It was Brodie Thomkins, the man who’d recently made her weak in the knees. It was him, days and days after their first date— days during which she’d stewed with fear that he’d never call her again.
Mallory curled a hair over her ear and dared herself to approach. Had she been Alyssa, maybe she would have given him a hard time for not calling her since their date. But she was Mallory— and Mallory was friendly and intelligent and empathetic. She knew that times got hard, that things got in the way.
Brodie’s smile widened as she approached. He lifted a beer to click it against hers. “How long have you been here?”
“I just got here about ten minutes ago,” Mallory returned.
“Me too.” Brodie’s smile was overwhelmingly handsome. It should have been illegal.
“My mom agreed to take my son tonight,” Mallory offered, surprising herself yet again with her honesty.
“That’s awesome,” Brodie said. “I just left my siblings back at the house where I grew up. It’s been a little bit chaotic this week.” He allowed a beat to pass before he added, “I want to apologize for not reaching out. I had a really good time with you the other night. It felt like, well…”
He trailed off.
“Like what?” Mallory’s heart threatened to burst.
“It felt like the rest of the world didn’t exist,” Brodie continued nervously. “Which is a form of magic.”
They held one another’s gaze for a long moment. Behind Mallory, Alyssa howled with excitement as the music shifted. Mallory turned to watch as a handsome stranger handed Alyssa a fresh beer and sidled up next to her, dancing. Cole locked eyes with Mallory and rolled his eyes, as though to say,no matter how much “growing up” Alyssa does, she’ll always be a bit like this.
“Want to dance?” Mallory asked Brodie.
Brodie looked sheepish. “It’s never really been my thing.”
“Me neither. I guess that’s why we have to do it together.”
They started small. They shifted their hips without touching, nearly a full foot away from each other. Mallory’s heart pounded as she dared herself to lift her eyes to his. A split-second later, the intensity forced her to drop her gaze all over again. She couldn’t handle this! Whatever this was, it was too much.
As the night wore on, the intensity between them mounted. Three beers and what seemed like a thousand songs later, Brodie laced his fingers through Mallory’s and led her off the main dance area, headed for the waterline. They were barefoot, their toes shifting through the sands as the water rushed toward them. The chilly water crept over Mallory’s ankles, making her squirm and squeal. Brodie’s hand found the base of her back, stabilizing her as the water receded and the sand beneath her gave way. She wanted to ask him just where he got all his kindness from because it seemed like a rare commodity, but she held her tongue. It was too powerful a sentiment.
They stepped back from the rushing water and lifted their faces to the moon. The party was no more than thirty feet to the left of them, but it seemed a lifetime away, as though they’d joined forces to create a new life further down the beach.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone like you before,” Brodie breathed, his eyes welling with tears.
Mallory hadn’t expected him to start crying. Her heart seized with fear. He hurriedly blinked back his tears, fixing himself.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“It’s really okay. I promise. I always get like this after a few beers,” Mallory tried.
“That isn’t it,” he said. He allowed several beats to pass. “My dad left the island this week.”
“What do you mean?” Mallory yanked her head around so quickly that she almost strained her neck.
Brodie was flustered. “One day, he left for work and never came back. My mom and I tried calling him several times, but his phone was off. I wouldn’t be surprised if he threw it into the ocean.”
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah. As I said, I have so many siblings. Siblings that need food on the table and a roof over their head. My dad was the biggest source of income in our family, and without that income? I don’t know where we’ll be. I contribute a lot of what I earn to the family, of course. But I might have to get a second job, just to make ends meet.”
Mallory laced her fingers through Brodie’s. It was probably the worst contrast in the world to live on the poverty line as the rest of Martha’s Vineyard partied into the night in their mansions and yachts. Although Mallory herself didn’t have money, her family did— and she knew what that privilege allowed her.
“When my younger brothers and sisters ask me where our dad went, I don’t know what to tell them,” Brodie continued. “I don’t know how to tell them that he abandoned them when things got too hard. But I also don’t know how to explain that I almost, almost can understand what he did.”
“What do you mean?” Mallory murmured.
“He’s been depressed and poor his entire life,” Brodie continued. “Each child added more pressure to him. My parents are both Catholic, so the kids just kept coming.”
Mallory blinked back tears. Zachery had been in an accident, but she couldn’t imagine not planning for another baby again, let alone several more.
“He just got so tired,” Mallory breathed.
Brodie nodded in agreement, his shoulders hunched. Mallory’s heart nearly burst with emotion for him. Lifting up on her toes, she whispered, “I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”
“Thank you.”
As Brodie and Mallory walked away from the bonfire, Mallory waved gently toward Alyssa, who was in heavy conversation with the handsome man she’d danced with earlier. Maggie was off to the side, weaving her hips all by herself, grooving to the beat of her own drum. Alyssa caught sight of Mallory before it was too late and howled, making a silly face as Mallory disappeared into the night. Alyssa thought Mallory was off to “live the life of a twenty-something woman in the summertime.” But truthfully, Mallory’s life with Brodie was already heavy with shadows. It was all right with her. Brodie needed her, and she needed him, too.