Authors: Steven F. Freeman
CHAPTER 58
After sharing the news of Alton’s impending move with her mother, Mallory emerged from the back bedroom of her apartment. She and Alton ensconced themselves on the couch in a state of near-perfect bliss. Needing an outlet for her joyous energy, Mallory rubbed Alton’s arm as if trying to build a static charge, a habit Alton knew to indicate her supreme delight.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself, having you around all the time,” said Mallory. A look of mock concern flitted across her face. “But it might be tough for you. So much for your wild, late-night Atlanta parties with the ladies of Kruptos. How are you going to manage?”
“I don’t know. It’s going to be quite a transition. I guess I’ll just have to start acting like a respectable gent.”
Mallory followed a punch to his arm with a quick hug. “That’s right, buddy.” She paused and eyed him knowingly. “So, the next question is, where are you going to live up here?”
Alton snickered, feeling reasonably confident he could guess Mallory’s thoughts. “I know I use one of your spare bedrooms when I’m in town visiting, but I’m not sure that would be a great idea on a full-time basis.”
What was the expression in Mallory’s eyes? Disappointment? Relief? Both? Their resolution to remain abstinent had remained intact, barely, but Alton felt the walls of his willpower crumble a little each day. Had he not continued to worry about the impact his injury would have on his ability to meet Mallory’s carnal expectations, he suspected he would have already broken their pact.
“Oh, so you can’t live here?” said Mallory. “And why is that?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure I trust myself.”
“Really? I thought you were a rock—nothing would break your resolve.”
Alton snickered again. “Even the most determined dieter will succumb to a gourmet meal if exposed to it long enough.”
“Oh, really?” she replied with a wide grin. “So I’m a meal now, am I?”
“You know what I mean. Every hour I’m around you requires a bit more self-control. I’m afraid living here would make it too easy to give in.”
“I’m glad to know I’m not the only one fighting that battle,” said Mallory. She eyed him in silence for a moment. “You’re something, you know that?”
Feeling a little embarrassed, Alton dropped his gaze, only to find himself admiring the athletic curves of her legs. After running his eyes across the length of her thigh, he raised his gaze, only to encounter Mallory’s merry laugh. “Want to take a picture, or would that overtax your self-control, too?”
Busted. He grinned and shrugged in confession.
“You know, sometimes a dieter will have an appetizer in lieu of a full meal,” said Mallory, snuggling closer.
Remaining silent, Alton grasped Mallory’s face in his hands, drawing her closer. He kissed her slowly, leisurely at first, then with growing passion.
Throughout his final year in Afghanistan, Alton had yearned to win Mallory’s affections but had not imagined such an enterprise possible. Yet somewhere along the way, he had somehow, miraculously, managed to possess her heart. As he embraced her now, Alton’s mind reeled with the intensity of his love. Yet the current moment’s passion was but a weak foreshadowing of the complete unity he hoped to eventually achieve with his beloved.
Eventually they separated, their foreheads touching. “
You’re
amazing, you know that?” said Alton as he gently rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand.
A shiver ran down Mallory’s spine. “I think I’m going to like your living here in town.”
EIGHT WEEKS LATER
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
CHAPTER 59
After a flurry of transitional activity at the Alpharetta Kruptos office, Alton managed to move to Washington with only days to spare before his scheduled vacation with Mallory. Driving into town with a rental van containing all his worldly possessions, Alton had enlisted the aid of David and Fahima—and Mallory, of course—to move his belongings into an apartment two doors down from Mallory’s.
“Convenient, but still a different unit,” he had told her.
After a long day of moving and stacking boxes, the four friends enjoyed dinner and a round of beers at El Nopal, Mallory’s favorite local Mexican restaurant.
“My treat,” Alton told David and Fahima as they settled into a booth.
“You mean all I gotta do is unload a moving van for four hours and I get a free meal?” asked David. “I should do this every weekend.”
Fahima smiled while rolling her eyes. “I am glad you are living in town with us now. I hope we can all meet like this regularly.”
“You bet,” said Alton. “It’s one of the perks of living in the neighborhood.”
After the meal, Mallory returned to Alton’s new apartment to help him unpack his kitchen supplies. Alton ran a hand through his chestnut hair, examining the mountain of boxes piled before him. “I guess I can always use your kitchen until mine is ready.”
“You and your ulterior motives,” teased Mallory. “You just want an excuse to come over.”
Alton smiled and turned back to the boxes.
After several minutes of unpacking in silence, Mallory spoke up. “I’m so excited for our beach trip—just three more days!”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,” said Alton.
The somber tone of his voice halted Mallory in her tracks. She set down the toaster she had just removed from a box and turned to face him with a look of concern.
“Mallory,” said Alton, “I don’t think the Myrtle Beach trip is going to work out. I’m sorry.”
“What?” She was clearly crestfallen yet attempted to put on a brave face. “Okay, Sweetie. I know you must have a good reason. Is everything okay?” She walked up to Alton to study him at close range.
“Yes, it’s just…well here,” he said, removing an envelope from his pocket and handing it to her. “It’ll be easier to explain if I just show you. Read this.”
Mallory removed a printed sheet of paper from the envelope. “Flight itinerary?” Mumbling under her breath, she read, “Departing from Washington on September twenty-second. Arriving in Rome…” Her gaze shot to Alton’s face. “Wait—what?”
Alton slid an arm over her shoulder. “If I may,” he said, removing the paper from her grasp. “Note this first row has my name on it. And whose name appears on the second row?”
“Mallory Wilson…,” she read. Mallory shot another incredulous look at his face, studying his eyes for confirmation. “Alton, are you serious?”
Alton felt sure he could not have possibly grinned wider, had all the riches of the earth been offered as an inducement. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gazed into her dark eyes, which now brimmed with tears. “I said
Myrtle Beach
wouldn’t work out. I didn’t say anything about Italy.”
“Italy!” exclaimed Mallory. She looked at him with suspicion. “Wait—are we going somewhere else besides Rome?”
“Yes, but nowhere important,” said Alton in his best innocent voice, “just Florence and Naples.”
“Oh…my…gosh!” said Mallory, her eyes tearing up even more. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“I know.”
Once again, Mallory stared at Alton with a look of incredulity. Her capacity for surprise seemed to be reaching its limit. Alton was not exactly sure what would occur if it were exceeded.
“And how would you know that?” interrogated Mallory. “I’ve never mentioned Italy to you before. I knew it would be crazy expensive, and I didn’t want you to feel bad that we couldn’t go.”
Smiling, Alton pointed a hand at his chest. “Kruptos guy, remember? When you didn’t tell me what travel destinations you were checking out on Pinterest, I did a little research on my own…on your search activity, to be exact.”
Mallory hit Alton’s arm in mock anger. “You tracked my Pinterest searches? You bad boy.” Her ear-to-ear grin and continued tears of joy, however, belied the wrath of her words. “How long are we going? Surely not for the whole three weeks we blocked off for Myrtle Beach?”
“Yes, we are, so pack wisely. We’ll be there for a while.”
Mallory cried outright and allowed herself to be enveloped in his arms. Slowly rocking from side to side, they seemed to merge into a single entity, partly from the strength of Alton’s embrace, and partly from the yielding to it by Mallory. As they separated, the glittering tears in Mallory’s eyes—despite being a product of joy rather than sorrow—couldn’t help but smite Alton’s heart a little, yet he nonetheless thought them prettier in his sight than any jewels in the world. The vacation package hadn’t come cheap, it was true, but who could assign a value to the elation he had conferred today?
“I have to tell Mom—again,” exclaimed Mallory, disentangling herself and switching on her phone. As he listened to the ecstatic dialog with which Mallory shared the surprise with her mother, Alton breathed a sigh of satisfaction. This moment had to be one of the highlights of his life.
Concluding the call, Mallory wrapped Alton in another hug, a gesture he was happy to return.
“So who else knows about this?” she asked.
“Just David and Fahima.”
“So those stinkers were eating tacos and drinking Millers, knowing I was about to have the shock of my life. Did they know you were going to tell me tonight?”
“I told them I’d let you know either today or tomorrow. I couldn’t wait much longer or you wouldn’t have had time to pack the right clothes.”
“Clothes! I’ve got to think about what outfits to bring. Three weeks…holy smokes. Will we be able to get our laundry done while we’re there? And what about…”
The next several hours consisted of the pleasant task of planning their time abroad. As he huddled his head next to Mallory’s, sharing the itinerary and travel-company’s online brochure with her, Alton reflected on the joy of creating the plan for their shared experience.
He rose for a moment to stretch his back. “Being here with you and making all these plans—it’s almost as fun as going on the actual vacation.”
“I know what you mean,” she said, laughing. “But I’d still like to test that assertion with the trip itself.”
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
CHAPTER 60
The alarm clock blared to life, and Alton quickly rolled over to silence it. He texted Mallory, “Are you up?”
“Yes,” she replied, “getting ready.”
The long-anticipated day had finally arrived. Within hours, Mallory would accompany Alton on the vacation he had planned over two months ago, before their recently-concluded investigations had even begun. The three-week tour of three Italian gems—Rome, Naples, and Florence—seemed a fitting celebration of the successful conclusion of their cases.
Having agreed to drop off Alton and Mallory at the airport, David and Fahima arrived at Mallory’s apartment around noon. After loading their luggage into the trunk, Alton and Mallory piled into their friends’ LeSabre. Mallory sat in the back with Fahima, sharing an overview of the itinerary, while Alton described to David the unearthed remains of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, a location he planned to explore while in Naples.
David pulled up to the “Departures” section of the airport terminal and helped Alton unload the baggage. After bidding their friends farewell with a series of handshakes and hugs, David and Fahima climbed into their black sedan and pulled away, leaving Alton and Mallory to themselves.
Although the season had just changed to autumn, the day of their departure was marked by a brilliantly-lit afternoon, and for a moment, Mallory turned her face into the warmth of the sunshine.
As the couple stepped into the airport terminal, Alton could scarcely believe he had won the treasure of his dazzling companion’s love. He knew other men eyed him enviously, and he gloried in the knowledge. He could not have been prouder of Mallory, not simply for the exterior beauty others could see but also for the inner beauty fully known and appreciated by only a select few.
Mallory, for her part, couldn’t possibly have appeared happier. She teased Alton unmercifully on all manner of subjects, a behavior he knew to be a good omen of her high spirits. Yet she hung to Alton’s side and cast upon him glances of love and affection that most men would consider themselves lucky to experience once in a lifetime.
The happy couple checked their luggage and obtained their travel documents, then made their way to the departure gate. As they waited for the flight, Mallory used her phone to review the itinerary yet again. Her countenance radiated excitement.
After a seeming eternity, a chipper Delta agent announced the boarding of their flight. Alton and Mallory provided their boarding passes to the gate agent and, holding hands, made their way down the Jetway to the waiting plane.
Although they were both thrilled to be on the cusp of their vacation, Alton held a particular reason for anticipation. He carried concealed in his jacket a symbol of his eternal fidelity—a symbol he would soon bestow upon his beloved—and he carried in his mind a certainty that this vacation would be fondly and indelibly stamped in their memories. Their pending Italian journey, like their future lives, promised to be filled with adventures they would face and experience—together.