on her feet. He engulfed Molly in a hug too, and she laughed with him too. “Thank you, Molly.”
The merriment stayed high as Molly served dinner. She learned Hans was a few years older than Ingrid, that he managed a pizza place close to campus, and that he would graduate at the same time as her.
Molly enjoyed the conversation, and she said, “You better call Mama first thing in the morning,” as Ingrid and Hans started putting on their coats to leave.
“We will,” Ingrid said, flashing another smile at Molly. “Thanks, Mols.”
She waved to them from inside the house, barely keeping Saltine from following them. Once she closed the door, she sighed, utterly exhausted now that the adrenaline was starting to ebb.
She left the dishes and went down the hall to her bedroom, simply ready to be done thinking for the day. She spent a few minutes removing her makeup and tying up her hair. She changed into pajamas and sank to her knees beside the bed.
“Lord,” she prayed. “Did I let Hunter go too soon? Did I make a mistake?” She paused, trying to hear an answer. Sometimes she felt something reverberating through her bloodstream, and she’d have her answer.
She wasn’t sure if she’d made a mistake or given up too soon, but she knew she loved Hunter, and perhaps love was enough to sustain them through tough times. Perhaps love could see them through his years as CEO.
“How do I fix this?” she asked next, pausing once again to listen. Her mind started to whir as she grasped for ideas for how she could get Hunter back into her life…this time, for good.
Molly returned to school the next week, and she went out to the Hammond family farm in the middle of the week. She could work on the children’s program from her house, but she liked to sit in the heated office with Matt and Gloria and run her ideas by them.
She’d designed a flyer over the Thanksgiving holiday, and her next step was to build a website. She’d secured the domain name, and while she’d never built a website, she had confidence in herself that she could do it.
She had it on her list to talk with Matt and Gloria about, because perhaps one of them had experience with web design.
She strongly suspected Hunter did, but she still hadn’t figured out how to talk to him. She’d thought she could simply text him an update about Pony Power and see if he responded. Matt said he hadn’t asked about it at all, and Molly assumed he’d simply forgotten how excited he’d been about starting the equine therapy facility.
It was a lot of work, and he certainly wouldn’t have time to do it. He didn’t need to do it, though. He’d asked her to head it up.
He hadn’t asked her to stop working on it, so Molly continued to devote a few hours to Pony Power each week.
Thursday morning, she woke to fifteen inches of fresh snow and a notice that school had been cancelled for the day. Relief filled her, because her sedan didn’t handle the snow very well, and she’d barely made it home from the farm last night.
She stayed in her pajamas and padded into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. She curled into the couch with Saltine and a plate of toast, her mug of hot chocolate on the table next to her. “Game shows or a movie?” she asked the little dog.
Gypsy meowed from the kitchen, but Molly ignored her. “Movie,” she said. She’d loved watching game shows as a child and teenager, but they weren’t as fun anymore. She’d always wanted to go on The Price is Right and spin the big wheel, but she’d barely left the state of Colorado.
She told herself she was still young, and then she heard Hunter say it in her mind too. He’d told her that once, when they’d been arguing about his job and how he’d balance it with a family.
Something banged outside, and Molly startled. Saltine barked, his voice almost a howl. That was his way of saying he was scared but trying to be tough, and Molly shushed him. She got up and peeked through the blinds, hoping it was just the wind blowing through the neighborhood. A big, icy chunk of snow falling from a roof. Something easy and innocent.
A huge gray truck sat on the street in front of her house.