with Molly, and her showing up at the office, and his afternoon off eating sandwiches and going on a walk with her and her tiny little dog.
“How little?” Dad asked.
“Little,” Hunter said. “She said he’s only sixteen pounds.”
“Oh, boy,” Dad said again, and they laughed together again. Hunter felt better every time he talked to his father, and he got back to his feet, an ache in his back from leaning over the counter in the lab.
Before he went back inside, he took ten seconds to text Molly. Thanks for a great afternoon. Can I take you to dinner on Wednesday evening?
Chapter 8
“That’s all he said,” Molly said as she scooped out another chocolate chip cookie dough ball. She didn’t put it on the tray but deposited it right into her palm. She took a bite of it and looked at Ingrid.
Her sister had darker hair than Molly, and it didn’t have any of the red from Mama. Molly had always wanted less red in her hair, but she liked that she and her mother looked so much alike. Lyra and Kara also had lighter brown hair with some red in it, and Ingrid always felt like the black sheep.
She definitely belonged to Daddy, though, and together, the six of them made a good family.
“I can’t believe you didn’t ask more questions,” Ingrid said, scooping cookies onto the sheet instead of eating the dough. “That’s so not like you.”
“It’s Hunter,” Mama said, a knowing glint in her eye. “She just goes along with him.”
“No,” Molly said, the teasing quality in the kitchen disappearing. “No, I don’t.”
Ingrid exchanged a glance with Mama. “I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. Just that you knew Hunter from before, and so you trust him.”
Molly popped the second half of her cookie dough ball into her mouth, regretting her damper on the cookie-making. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That was a little bit too violent of a reaction.”
“I’m sure he’ll have an amazing date planned,” Mama said, turning away from the island.
“Mama,” Molly said. “I’m sorry.”
“I know you are.” She turned back and smiled at Molly. “You are a smart woman, Molly.”
She shook her head, because she didn’t want to have this conversation. After picking up her scoop, she started making more cookie dough balls. “I’m going to freeze this sheet.”
“Good idea,” Ingrid said. “Then you can eat them all day tomorrow while you fret about your date with Hunter.” She shot Molly a playful look, but Molly didn’t deny that she’d worry about her dinner date.
“Molly, I don’t think you should bottle up how you feel,” Mama said, stepping back to the counter. “It’s obvious that you still don’t trust yourself to make decisions when it comes to men, and that you’re second-guessing yourself with everything when it comes to Hunter.”
Molly froze and looked at her mother. They didn’t have a problem saying true things to one another, but she’d never seen her mother look so earnest. She shook her head, but she couldn’t verbally deny what her mother had said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go talk to someone.”
Molly thought of what Hunter had said on Monday. He’d been going to therapy for a decade, which meant he’d gone as a teenager. She wasn’t sure if he’d started before or after she’d ended their relationship, and she didn’t want to know.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, and that was more than she’d ever given Mama before. “For the record, I think you’re wrong. I trust myself to make decisions just fine, and I’m not second-guessing anything. I made bread and took it to the man’s office yesterday. It was embarrassing and humiliating, and when he didn’t react in such a way that indicated he wanted to go out with me, I stood right up to him.”
Her heartbeat fluttered just thinking about what she’d said to him. She drew in a deep breath. “He asked me out, and I said yes. When I asked him where we were going to dinner so I could dress appropriately, he said it was a surprise. That isn’t me second-guessing anything. That isn’t me not trusting myself to make a decision.” She shot Ingrid a look. “What’s wrong with wanting it to be a romantic surprise?”
“Nothing,” Ingrid said. “You just…don’t like surprises.” She glanced over Molly’s shoulder as Lyra came into the kitchen. She wore her work uniform and she laughed into the phone pressed to her ear.
Molly watched her for a moment, but she didn’t even