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"She believe you?" Grace asked
"She’s smarter than that" Aency and is et Mallory through this situation"
Mallory sighed and thunked her forehead to the table
Amy quickly slid the cake over a little bit, probably so Mallory’s hair wouldn’t catch fire "So did you really tell Jane to stuff herself?"
"Yes" Mallory’s voice was muffled, and Grace tsked sympathetically and stroked Mallory’s hair
"But that’s not why I’m out of a job," Mallory said "It’s because I yelled it, and everyone heard Bill said sometimes he wished Jane would stuff it, too, but we have to learn to not co me He had no choice, really And that’s when I sort of lost it I told him to stuff it, too, and left"
"Wow," Grace said "When you decide to go bad, you go all the way"
Mallory let out a coh/sob
"What are your plans now?" A I’ll end up working for soo back to behaving like myself" Mallory scooped up some cake and stuffed it into her h," Ty said
She jerked upright and whirled on her stool to face him She had chocolate on her lips but she pointed her fork at hi that"
"You’d wither up and die of boredom in a quiet little doctor’s office," he said
She stared up at hi at the at Matt Matt had taken a seat at the counter to watch the circus
Ty narrowed his eyes at everyone
No one took the hint to give hiaze from him could terrorize people But it hadn’t worked for hiestured to the candles as the little flath "You should blow those out," he said
Aned interest in aan audience, Ty looked at Mallory "Why didn’t you tell me?"
"Which?" she asked
Jesus There was ? The candles flickered back to life on the cake, which he ignored "Let’s start with the s"
"Because I know that you didn’t take them" Mallory eyed the cake "You used trick candles?" she asked Amy
"Yeah," she said "They were from Lance’s birthday party His brother’s idea Tucker has a warped sense of hu off her stool and scooting close "But I couldn’t help but overhear Missing drugs?"
"This isn’t an open-to-the-public conversation, Lucille," Mallory said
"But ould take drugs fro dealer? One of your crazy siblings?"
Mallory pinched the bridge of her nose "You’re just as crazy as Tammy and Joe, and you know it"
Lucille blinked "Are you sassingPushNow stay out ofto have a private conversation here" She grimaced "Please," she added politely
Lucille blinked, then s time to see that"
"I always say please"
"Not that Your backbone You have one, and it looks great on you, my dear"
Mallory just stared at her, then at Ty But he was still a little stunned at what she’d said before
I know you didn’t take them
Somehow, in spite of his best efforts to hold back, Mallory knew him, she kneho he was, inside and out, and accepted him As is
And she’d believed in him, no questions asked
This didn’t help her now, he knew Because someone had taken the meds under her watch It could have been anyone Only Mallory knew the truth, and Ty knew by just looking at her that she did know She kneho it was, and she didn’t want to say
Even now she was trying to save someone
It slayed him She slayed him "If you knoasn’t the one who took the pills," he said, "then why didn’t you turn over the list of people who’d been inside the building?"
For sonited in her eyes Standing up, she stabbed hih to make him wince "Do you think you’re the only one I care about?" she demanded
"Uh…"
"No," she assured him "You are not"
She was as -sleeved T-shirt beneath--his shirt, if he wasn’t s in her pockets and someone had drawn a red heart on one of her white tennis shoes She still had chocolate on one corner of her mouth, her hair was completely out of control, and she was ready to take down anyone who got in her path
She’d never looked more beautiful "Mallory" He kne much her job meant to her How much the HSC , but she wasn’t Her life was here, and in thathe could live with it "I took advantage of you," he said, h for all the eavesdroppers to hear "Coroaned "Man, don’t Don’t do it"
Mallory hadn’t taken her eyes off Ty, and she was still pissed "What are you doing?"
"Atte to tell what happened," he said carefully