Authors: Melissa Brayden
*
In a stroke of great timing, Annaleigh’s cab arrived just as they exited the bar. Shaking off the exchange inside, Molly offered her a smile. “So I had fun tonight.”
“Me too.” Then she seemed to hesitate. “And while I’d love to see you again sometime, Molly, it seems like you might already have a lot on your plate.”
Molly stared back at her curiously, until realization flared. “Oh. If this is about Jordan, it’s nothing. Trust me.”
Annaleigh placed a gentle hand on Molly’s forearm. “I don’t want to overstep my bounds here, but it didn’t seem like nothing. Your eyes were trained on her all night like some sort of gravitational pull.”
Molly’s gaze dropped to the concrete. She felt defeated, exposed. “No. It’s not like that. My partner died four years ago. Jordan is her younger sister. It’s…complicated.”
Annaleigh straightened, her eyes wide. “Yeah, I’d say. Tell you what.” She took a small notebook from her bag and scribbled something on a piece of paper. “Here’s my number. Someday, if you figure it all out, call me. In the meantime, maybe have a conversation with her. Or level with yourself.”
Molly stared numbly at the small blue square of paper. “Thanks. I’ll think about it.” With that, the most promising date she’d had in years slid into the waiting cab and sped back out of her life.
And she was reeling.
The door to The Owl Tree opened and the boisterous sounds from the bar spilled onto the sidewalk along with Jordan and Summer. Molly didn’t even try to hide an eye roll this time. She about-faced and headed down the sidewalk in an attempt to get home and put the whole failure of an evening behind her. And getting the hell away from Jordan was step one.
“Molly, wait up.”
Damn it all. No. She kept walking.
Pretend you didn’t hear her
.
“Are you purposefully ignoring me?”
She paused and turned abruptly to face Jordan who was only a few paces back. “Apparently not with a lot of success. What is it that you need exactly?”
“Insight, I guess. You want to tell me what happened back there?”
Molly lifted her arm and let it drop. Her anger only growing the longer she looked into those vibrant blue eyes. “I crashed and burned with Annaleigh; that’s what happened. Nice job.”
Jordan narrowed her eyes. “This is somehow my fault?”
She felt her blood pressure shoot up at notch. “Oh yeah, I’d say you had a hand in it. Joining us at our table, gathering as much attention for yourself as you possibly could. It’s what you do. Oh, and then there was the little show on the dance floor. That was a nice touch. Totally sophisticated. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
Jordan’s eyes flashed hot. “Believe it or not, Molly, not everything is about you. It’s not a crime to have a little fun. I was just trying to enjoy the night for whatever it was or wasn’t.”
Molly had to laugh at that one. “Exactly my point. You’re such a player, Jordan. You always have been. Why not just admit it? Speaking of which, isn’t Summer waiting for you?” She craned her neck and peered around Jordan, but the sidewalk was empty.
“I told her I would catch up. Wow. You really don’t like her.”
“Please. She’s been out for me for as long as I can remember. The first day I drove the car my dad got me for graduation, she let the air out of my tires at the movie theater. I had to roller skate home. Good thing I had them in my trunk.”
“Roller skates?” Jordan asked quietly.
“Yeah, roller skates,” Molly shot back.
“That’s…horrible.” But there was the tiniest hint of a smile on Jordan’s face.
“Don’t laugh. It
was
horrible. I even got a blister.” But damn it, she was smiling now too because it sounded so ridiculous played back now. They stared at each other a moment, the tension somehow cut in half.
Jordan then shifted her focus to a nearby tree as if figuring out what she wanted to say next. Finally, she slid Molly a hesitant look. “Can we maybe admit that there’s something clouding the issue here, something between us?”
Molly was quick to answer because it was easy. “No, we can’t. I’ll see you around, Jordan.” She turned to go. And just when she thought she was home free, she wasn’t.
“Molly?”
She blew out a breath. “Yeah?”
“What if there was no Cassie? Would it be different?”
It was a loaded question and the answer had the power to change everything. There was distance between them on the sidewalk, but she met Jordan’s eyes squarely. She looked so effortlessly beautiful that Molly almost forgot the facts. She could drown in Jordan if she let herself. But the trick was not to let herself. Instead, she answered the question as honestly as she could, because she owed Jordan that. “But there is. There was. And I wouldn’t change that.”
She walked on.
When she got home, she slipped into her pajamas, fed Rover, and crawled into bed. But sleep didn’t come easily, which further annoyed her because if there was one thing she excelled at, it was getting a good night’s rest.
So she stared at the pattern the moonlight shed across her ceiling and contemplated her predicament. She couldn’t admit to Jordan that there were feelings circling, but after what happened at the bar, it was maybe time she admit it to herself.
She was attracted to Jordan and it was affecting her in a way she wouldn’t have thought possible. And acting on those feelings would introduce a myriad of complications into her life that she simply didn’t need.
It was a bad idea, plain and simple.
So she’d tolerate the way her mouth went dry when Jordan walked into a room, or the slow roll her heart did when they laughed together. She would ignore the perfect mouth and the body that looked like it was straight out of a movie. And when Jordan tossed her dark hair, she wouldn’t imagine what it would feel like to run her hands through it and pull Jordan’s lips to hers.
No, she just wouldn’t do that.
*
Jordan hit the bag once, twice, and really let loose on the third punch, which she echoed with a roundhouse kick. Her hair, which she secured in a ponytail, was beginning to escape the rubber band and long strands fell along the sides of her face. Sweat dotted her neck and chest. Her lungs were beginning to burn. None of these details interested her. She kicked the bag again, hard, and followed up with a series of jabs.
It was late. Probably close to twelve thirty. Jordan hadn’t gone back to Summer’s place as they’d planned. She’d called her and made a lame excuse about having to get up early. The YMCA closed at ten, but Mr. Standish, her old gym teacher, left her with the key when he headed home.
With the place to herself, she’d let go, releasing every pent up emotion building within her. For a while, her thoughts centered on Cassie, and the grief that’d overwhelmed her that first year after she’d died. Then they somehow slid into how cheated she felt over losing her sister, coupled with guilt surrounding how she’d allowed herself to go MIA on the people she loved thereafter. Finally, as she kicked and pounded the bag, practiced her footwork, and shaped her technique, she thought of Molly. How it had felt to kiss her, laugh with her, and of all that would never be between them.
But that last part didn’t seem right.
She sat down hard on the gym floor, breathing heavily as she reasoned her way through her warring emotions. In the midst of all of it, there was one thing she knew for sure. Life was precious. Losing Cassie had taught all of them that lesson, and she, for one, wanted to live her life to the fullest. Milk every last drop from what the world had to offer her. It sucked that Cassie wasn’t here anymore, but she and Molly were.
So it wasn’t ideal, the scenario with Molly. So the hell what? It was the labels that came automatically attached to them that stood in the way of any proverbial next step.
And it was stupid.
She’d seen the look in Molly’s eyes as she walked away from her earlier that night, and she knew that Molly felt it too, whatever it was that was simmering between them.
Life was too short. Now she just had to make Molly see that. And she would. She jumped to her feet and toweled off.
New plan.
She wasn’t giving up that easily.
“All right, folks, next on the agenda, we should talk about the dishwasher.” It was after closing a few days later, and Molly surveyed the attentive faces of her three employees. It was their once a month staff meeting and they sat around a table in the center of the bakeshop munching on the pizza Molly had ordered in keeping with staff meeting tradition. “It’s been pretty hit and miss lately, so if you’re closing, it falls to you to take care of the remaining dishes.”
Louise sat forward. “I’ve found that if you kick it real hard on the bottom, it gets going pretty good.”
Eden nodded and popped a pepperoni in her mouth. “I slam my hand down real good on the top portion. Like I’m squashing a bug or something terribly upsetting. That also seems to get it started.”
Molly grinned at the description. “Well, we shouldn’t have to beat the hell out of it for too much longer. I’ve scheduled Reginald to come out and take a look. Hopefully, it won’t cost too much to fix, but I’ll need to get an estimate.”
Damon raised his hand. “I could take a look at it.”
Eden rolled her eyes. “Please. What do you know about fixing anything? From what I’ve seen, you just break stuff. Broke two dishes just this week.”
He glared at her. “Excuse me, princess high horse, but why don’t you take a step back and worry about things in Hee-Haw while I try and save this place a few extra bucks.”
Eden took a deep breath, but before she could wind up for round two, Molly stepped in. “Whoa, whoa, I think we’re getting off track. Damon, that would be great. Thank you. Eden, it can’t hurt to let him take a look. You never know.” She shrugged in punctuation just as the bell above the door chimed. They all turned in unison in time for Jordan to appear.
“Oh, sorry, guys. Didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just stopping by to see if Molly was free.” She was wearing workout clothes and looked like she’d come from a run. Her hair fell around her shoulders as if she’d just taken it down from a ponytail. Then there was that just-exercised glow about her that only added to that ultra beautiful thing she always seemed to have going. Catching herself, Molly jerked her eyes back to Jordan’s face after they had absent-mindedly trailed down her body.
Too late. Jordan’s eyes widened in recognition of what she’d just done, and a slow smile took shape on her face. Molly sighed internally.
“Actually, we’re in the middle of a staff meeting,” she said.
“I like staff meetings,” Jordan countered.
“Well, you’re in luck then,” Eden chimed in with way too much excitement. “Sit here with us, sugar. We’ll be done in just a bit.”
Damon pulled out the chair next to him and Louise grinned up at Jordan adoringly.
Molly wasn’t having it. No way. “Jordan, maybe I can call you later? I’m sure you have a million things to do.”
Jordan ignored the hint and smiled that devastating smile. The power it carried annoyed her. “I really don’t mind waiting if none of you mind.”
Louise stood. “Absolutely not. How about a brownie, Jordan? They’re fresh from the oven just thirty minutes ago, laced with caramel too.”
“Oh. I guess if it’s no trouble. That sounds fantastic. I’m a total caramel fan.”
“No trouble. Oh, and there’s milk,” Eden said, hopping up to get it.
Molly shook her head slightly, but swallowed the frustrated comment on the tip of her tongue. What exactly was Jordan trying to accomplish with this? She waited patiently so Jordan could be appropriately fawned over and attended to like a long lost member of the royal family and then moved on to the next topic on her agenda. As she spoke about the spring menu items, her eyes continued to brush past Jordan. She seemed to be listening attentively, happily even. Damn her. It had been a bold move, crashing their staff meeting, and she seemed quite pleased with herself for having done it.
“And that’s about everything,” she said in conclusion. “Does anyone have any questions about the schedule for our booth at the festival? I’ve tried to work it so that everyone has some available free time to enjoy the fair.”
“Looks good to me,” Eden said, making obvious eye contact with Louise.
Louise stood and elbowed Damon. “Yep, me too. I better head out. C’mon Damon, you can give me a lift home.”
“Sure thing, Ms. Lou-Lou.” He tipped an imaginary cap to Jordan and headed for the door.
“I’ll walk out with you,” Eden said without so much as a look back.
Molly stood in awe. Never had she seen three people clear out of a room so fast in her entire life. Traitors. All of them.
Jordan sat back in her chair. “I was hoping maybe we could see a movie tonight. What do ya say?”
Molly gathered the empty pizza plates. “You crashed my staff meeting.”
Jordan blinked. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d mind. You always let me get away with stuff.”
Molly raised one shoulder. “Well, I did mind today.”
“But in bonus news, you seemed to like my outfit,” Jordan said, totally calling her out.
Molly glared at her. “Yeah, you look great. I especially like the attitude and over confidence you’re wearing. Nice touch.” Hips swaying, she carried the plates through the swinging door to the kitchen, leaving a chilled room in the process.
*
Jordan didn’t know why she was baiting Molly so much. Maybe because ever since they’d kissed, Molly went out of her way to pretend she was invisible. But the once-over Molly gave her when she’d walked in the door said otherwise, and Jordan didn’t plan to ignore those signals any longer.
She pushed up from the table and followed Molly into the kitchen. She found her kicking the hell out of a dishwasher, which was mildly amusing. “Well, you two clearly aren’t getting along. Everything okay?”
Molly shot her a death look. “Yes, Jordan. Everything is fine other than the fact that the damn dishwasher won’t kick into gear.” As Molly geared up for a second assault, Jordan held up a hand and stepped in.