of it has to do with letting go of my anger and listening to people who are a lot wiser than I am.”
“That priest,” Daniel said.
“And my wife. Maggie sees the world and the people in it in a way that gives me hope every day of my life. You’ll like her. You’re two of a kind.”
“I’ll look forward to meeting her,” Daniel said.
“See you tomorrow,” Ryan said. “Hope you get that other situation resolved.”
Daniel thought of the struggle he was going to face convincing Molly or Kendra to go along with what had to be done. “I hope so, too. Otherwise, you’re likely to find me bloody and bruised when you get here.”
He figured even if he managed to pull off a miracle with Molly and Kendra, that still left the battle with his folks to get them to meet with his brothers. He cast a gaze heavenward. “Hope You’re not fresh out of miracles.”
“What was that?” Ryan asked.
“Nothing,” Daniel said, feeling foolish at having been caught saying the words out loud. “Just a little prayer.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of that lately myself,” his brother admitted.
“Has it helped?”
“I’ll let you know after tomorrow,” Ryan said.
Daniel sighed. Amen to that.
Chapter Thirteen
Daniel was in an astonishingly chipper mood, Molly decided when he walked into the bar early Saturday morning, swept her into his arms and kissed her soundly right there in plain sight of God and everyone. Apparently he was no longer the least bit concerned about Retta and her meat cleaver.
When he released her at long last, Molly stood back and studied his expression. Despite the outward appearance of exuberance, she thought she detected a few shadows in his eyes. She knew him well enough to recognize that that could only spell trouble.
“Come with me,” she said at once.
“Where?”
“Upstairs.”
He grinned at that. “Anxious to get me alone again? I guess that kiss was even better than I thought.”
“The kiss was just peachy,” she said, shaking her head at the size of his ego. “It’s whatever else is going on in that head of yours that has me worried. Come on, buster. Upstairs.”
He dragged his heels like a kid trying to avoid a lecture. “I haven’t even had my coffee.”
“Coffee can wait.”
“Where’s Kendra?”
“In the kitchen with Retta. She’s learning to make omelettes. Now stop stalling and let’s get moving.”
Daniel cast a suspicious look toward the kitchen. “Swear to me that Kendra is in there.”
Molly lost patience. “Oh, for heaven’s sakes, see for yourself.”
To her disgust, he actually went to the kitchen door and peeked in. When he turned back, there was no mistaking the relief in his expression.
“Okay, that does it,” she said. “If you don’t head for the stairs right this second, you and I are going to have the mother of all fights right here in the middle of Jess’s. Word will get back to your brother, and this time I won’t stop him if he wants to beat you up.”
He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, though there was a suspicious twitch at the corners of his mouth. “Okay, okay,” he said, heading for the door that led to her apartment above the bar.
When they got upstairs, Molly faced him, hands on her hips. “Mind telling me what was going on just now?”
Daniel regarded her with apparent confusion. “I looked in on Kendra. Is that what you’re upset about?”
“Part of it,” she conceded. “You’re acting weird. Very un-Daniel-like.”
“You’re going to have to explain that one.”
“When you first walked through the door and planted that kiss on me, I thought everything in your universe had to be just fine. But it was just an act, wasn’t it? You’re hiding something.”
He frowned, and for a moment she actually believed he might tell her that she was crazy, that she’d gotten it all wrong, but then he sighed heavily, blowing that theory to bits.
“Tell me,” she demanded.
“You’d better sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down,” she said, pacing around the small living room as she awaited whatever bad news he was trying so hard not to tell her. “Tell me.”
“Okay, here it is, and I know you’re not going to be happy about it.”
“Will you just get to the point?”
“I have until this evening to prove that Kendra shouldn’t go home or I need to reunite her with her parents,” he said, looking miserable. “I’m sorry, Molly, but there’s no more wiggle room on this. Her parents figured out that Joe knows where she is and are