smile and met Molly’s eyes. He didn’t look one second away from an eruption now, and Molly said good-night to Bev and Chris before going with Hunter out to the back deck.
He put his plate on the picnic table and sat down. She sat beside him, not quite sure what to say.
Hunter seemed to be mulling over his options too. He finally said, “I know my father told you I’m going to take the CEO job.”
“I asked,” Molly said. “It’s not his fault.”
“He had no right to tell you,” Hunter said. “I was planning to tell you.”
“Were you?”
“Of course I was.”
Neither of them had touched their pizza, and Molly looked at her very favorite food in the whole world and couldn’t imagine eating it. She couldn’t look at Hunter, and though he sat right next to her, he felt worlds away.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
“If you say so.”
“Molly.”
“What, Hunter?”
He sighed. “It won’t be forever, and I feel like it’s the right thing to do.”
She thought of the prayer she’d offered. She’d asked for God’s light, so he’d know what to do, and perhaps he had been shown the path. She didn’t have to like it though.
Her fears reared up, and she picked up her pizza and took a bite so she wouldn’t have to say anything. She suddenly couldn’t see a future with him in it. Even if they did stay together and get married, she’d hardly see him. He’d be so busy in that building, and Molly didn’t want to start off their life together by herself. She didn’t want to raise her children alone.
If Hunter became the CEO, he’d essentially be married to his job, and that meant he couldn’t marry Molly.
“Please,” he said. “Say something.”
“There’s nothing for me to say,” she said.
“It’s my family duty,” he said. “One day, it might be one of our children’s family duty.”
She looked at him then, trying to see inside his head and understand his thought processes. “You still want to be with me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because you’re not going to have time to breathe, let alone continue to build our relationship.”
A cloud covered his face, and he turned back to his food too. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“How many hours do you think a CEO works?” she challenged. “It’s more than you work in Lab Six, and for a while there, I barely saw you.”
He started to nod, his expression angry and his jaw tight. “I see now.”
“See what?”
“You don’t want me to take this job, because you don’t want to be left behind.”
“Yes,” she said. “Exactly. Who would want to be left behind?”
“You want me to text and call and spend time with you.”
“Yes,” Molly said, not bothering to deny it. “Don’t you want to talk to me and spend time with me?” Maybe he didn’t, and Molly’s insecurities rushed through her, staining her mind and making her throat and chest as tight as they could be.
“Who’s going to raise all those kids you say you want?” she asked quietly. “Me? By myself? While you’re up in that corner office, dealing with who knows what for who knows how long?”
“We’re not even engaged,” he said, his voice mostly made of a growl.
“I won’t hold my breath then,” Molly said, standing up. He’d brought up kids. He’d brought up the equine therapy program, and she’d been the one to put it all together while he worked in that high-rise downtown.
She felt so foolish. So…used.
She picked up her paper plate of half-eaten pizza. “Excuse me.”
“Molly,” he said, the growl and frustration gone now.
She paused, her back to him. He stood up and put one arm around her tentatively. “There’s time for the job and for you.”
She nodded, because she didn’t want to fight. “I trust you, Hunter.” She twisted and looked up at him. “I’m going to go, because I’m tired, and I have to teach again tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He dropped his hand, and Molly slipped away from him. She also didn’t want to say anything she’d regret later, and she probably already had.
She couldn’t go back into the house and face his family, so she scurried around the side of the house like a coward, got behind the wheel of her car, and hurried back to Saltine and Gypsy.
After feeding her pets, she grabbed a container of cubed cheese to make up for the pizza she hadn’t eaten. Then Molly climbed into bed and cried into her cheddar.
Chapter 19
Hunter went back inside the farmhouse, where the conversation stopped upon his