Broken Dreams (Broken Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and backed her into a corner. She came around, though. Eventually. Plus, now that the mourning stage was finished, she was actually pretty fun to be around. She kept all the emotional crap under control until she was alone with Luke, which I appreciated. I wanted to be there for her, of course, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have my own shit to deal with.
    She stopped complaining about her loss to me once I told her.
     
    After the doctor’s appointment in downtown Boston, I met Mallory for lunch. We shopped at Faneuil Hall for an hour and then went to the Hard Rock for a meal. I wasn’t hungry, not after my treatment, but I ordered food and mentally prepared myself to tell her.
    “So, I had good reason not to tell you about what was wrong with me,” I started. She looked at me expectantly but didn’t say anything. She knew I needed to get this all out.
    “I have leukemia.”
    I didn’t mean to blurt it out, but Mal
l
ory still didn’t say anything.
    “I was worried telling you so close to your dad’s death would put you over the edge,” I confessed. “I didn’t want to add to your stress. I love you like a sister, Mallory, but I don’t want to be anyone’s burden. We’re best friends, but I wanted to make sure you were recovering from Joe’s death before I told you.”
    “Rainey…”
S
he stood and walked around the table
,
pull
ing
me out of my chair and hugg
ing
me. “You are one of my closest friends and I will always be there for you. I’m glad you told me,” she said.
    And once we sat back down, it all came spilling out… My own father’s death, finding out about my leukemia, my aunt
’
s pleas to stay away from my mother for a while. It all bubbled out and I couldn’t seem to stop.
    In the end, Mallory hugged me again, apologized for being too caught up in her own life to notice what was going on with me
,
and then promised we wouldn’t keep anything from each other again.
     
    And since then, we were closer than ever. Now that Mallory knew, we could talk about it pretty openly (except around the guys) and Gabby felt like less of a sneak, too, since she’d known for years. Mallory didn’t hold it against, her, either, which I appreciated. I swore Gabby to secrecy years ago.
    When Baker returned to our table with drinks on a tray, we all thanked him. He set a beer down next to me and slid his barstool close to edge of the booth on my side
, then
put an arm around my waist and dragged me across to seat, closer to him. I smiled up at him. He stared at me for a moment, taking in the dark circles under my eyes and his gray eyes turned cloudy as he thought about the implications.
    The bar filled up fast and Baker only stayed at the table for another few minutes before he had to help out. We all ordered dinner and he brought us our meals.
    “Things are good between you two, huh?” Gabby asked me once he brought us our meals and kissed me.
    “Yes, they are. It’s nice not to have to worry about the relationship stuff. We’re just having fun and enjoying ourselves,” I admitted , picking at what was left of my dinner.
    “It won’t work,” Wolfe said from the end of th e table. We all looked at him
, though
Gabby
just
rolled her eyes. “I’m not trying to ruin it for you, Rainey, but you two are eventually going to fall in love, and then you’ll both run away from it, because it’s not what you want. Do yourself a favor and get out now
.
”  He lifted his beer to his mouth and I watched him make eye contact with Gabby for a second before he swallowed the rest of it. He set his beer down and stood up. “Sorry to be a downer. I’ll just head home,” he said.
    “Let us call you a cab,” Luke suggested. He got out of the booth and the two of them walked over to the end of the bar and talked to Baker for a few minutes.
    “What the hell was that about?” I asked Mallory and Gabby.
    “Who knows?” Gabby grit her teeth. “Our marriage didn’t work out, so now he wants to