Chapter 41
41
Depends on how things pan out here.
It occurred to Molly that Jake had said something similar once before. What did he mean by that? Would he sell the patisserie? Hire a manager? Ask his father to step in again?
“Is that what you want, to go to London?”
“It’s always been on the cards, but I’ve never had an opportunity like this before.”
“You definitely should take it then.”
“Yeah? So I have your support?”
For some reason, she thought of Jesse. He’d been a dreamer, just as she was at the same age, but they’d never dreamed together. He’d share his dreams, and she would share hers. Looking back, the gulf between them was too vast to cross, but Molly hadn’t registered that fact until she was much older.
Now, Jake would be on the other side of the world, and in that moment, she realized how much she’d lost her way lately—how much she’d miss him. “Of course you do.”
As the void between them widened, Molly longed, with every fiber of her being, to reach out and touch him. To lie skin to skin on his bed at Silkwood Crescent one more time—his warmth inside of her and breath fevered on her nape—until dawn broke and another lonely day stretched out before her.
Another day without him.
As sadness crept closer and with nothing left to say, she stood and motioned back the way they’d come. “Anyway, it’s been a long day, and I really need to get to bed.”
After a slight hesitation, Jake stood but didn’t offer his hand. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s fine,” she lied. “I’m just having trouble staying awake.”
Without looking back, Molly started walking toward the steps. The smart thing to do would be to beg him not to go, but as her boots crunched along the path, she didn’t have the energy to make a smart decision. She’d never considered herself the selfish type, and putting her needs before Jake’s didn’t sit right.
Hands buried deep in her pockets against the chill, she heard his footsteps behind her as he caught up, but as they made their way back to his truck, their conversation stalled.
Jake unlocked the passenger door and held it open while she climbed in. They drove home in uncomfortable silence. Past the bandstand, around the port road, and into her street. He never suggested she come back to his place, and she didn’t extend an invitation to hers. What would be the point?
While sitting across from him at Gino’s, with Jake exuding charm and unfamiliar flirty smiles, Molly imagined—in spite of their obvious obstacles with his mother—that he’d suggest they carry on from where they’d left off. But, despite his blatant desire for her at Mason’s party, she’d based that assumption on her longing, not his, and now that he’d outlined his travel plans, she’d crashed back down to earth with an astonished thud.
Until that evening, Jake had never taken her out in public. Never asked her to a movie or to a party with his friends. It seemed she was his “take it or leave it” girl—someone he enjoyed having sex with, perhaps even respected in his own way, but who otherwise was of little importance.
Sadness settled over her like a thick layer of fog announcing the approach of winter, and as Jake drove along her street, she took a deep breath and told herself to slap on that Molly smile.
He parked at the end of the driveway, away from the main house, and from there, it was a few short steps to freedom. Steps she now couldn’t wait to take.
Jake jumped down from the driver’s seat and grabbed her luggage from the tray while Molly unlocked her front door. Turning, she noticed him reach back into the truck for something and slip it into his jacket pocket.
Inside the house, stuffy air engulfed Molly as she crossed the room to open the sliding door to the garden. She breathed deeply. When she turned, Jake stood directly behind her.
She studied his expression. “What?”
He smiled. “Jesse really did send me an angel when he left. Do you know that?”
Desperate to go to bed, Molly removed her coat and scarf and walked over to hang it on the hook by the door. “Who, me? I’m no angel, Jake.”
“Course you are, mon ange .”
Jake reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a gold envelope, and offered it to her. “I have something for you.”
“What is it?”
“Open it and see.”
Molly sat at the island, lifted the flap, and pulled out a sheet of cream linen paper. She scanned the text with a frown, then stared up at him in disbelief. If this was some kind of joke, she was too tired to get the punchline. “What is this?”
“As it says—a booking for afternoon tea.”
“At The Ritz in London? On Valentine’s Day next year?”
“Yes. Tea for two.”
“But I don’t understand.” She shook her head. “You’ve booked this already? And why would you book it in my name?”
“You have to get in early.” He sat on the stool next to hers. “I want you to come with me.”
Too exhausted to even think straight, she sighed. “What? To London? I can’t do that. You need over five thousand dollars in savings to apply for a UK work visa, and I’m kind of broke at the moment.”
“All our flights and accommodation will be covered by my contract, and the rest is workable.”
“How long have you been planning this?”
“A few weeks.” Jake leaned forward and cupped her face in his hands. “But how much longer do we keep pretending, Molly?”
“Pretending?”
“That we’re not in love with each other.”
“Jake—”
“Because I love you… so very much. I know Jesse hurt you, probably more than you ever acknowledged to anyone, but under the circumstances, don’t you think it’s time you forgave him?”
Molly pressed her lips together and looked up to blink away her tears. “I tried to forgive him at the time but I was too young to allow myself that freedom. But it’s done now.”
“Good.” Jake wrapped her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead. “Because, according to Gloria, you’re desperately in love with me.”
“Is that so?”
“Apparently. And she won’t allow me to correct her if she’s wrong, so I say we go for it. As long as we’re on the same page, we can sort out the details later.” Jake released his grip. “Besides, you want to go, don’t you? To see your cousins and Buckingham Palace and The Ritz? If we don’t do it soon, we’ll be planning an addition to the house and researching private preschools.”
She stared up at him. “Are you serious right now?”
“When am I not? So, yeah, we’d better go next year before life gets in the way. But if you don’t want to go, we can just stay here, eating chocolate éclairs and making babies.”
“Babies?” Molly gazed up at Jake, so striking under the lamp glow. “So you do have a sense of humor after all, Chef Sinclair. Who would have thought?”
He shrugged. “I want what I want. And who can blame me?”
“But you’ve been like a closed book lately.”
“I had stuff to sort through.”
“So why didn’t you want to work with me at SpinWeb?”
“Why do you think?”
She frowned at the absurdity of his question. “Because I’m not the right fit for you?”
He chuckled. It was a sound she loved, but one he kept for special occasions only. “You fit me perfectly fine, but you won’t be here, will you? You’ll be with me in London. So, yeah. That’s the plan. Hopefully, Winston will understand.”
“My contract finishes at the end of the year, so I don’t even know if I’ll still have a job after that.”
“See. It was meant to be. Although I bet he’d love to keep you on.”
Molly glanced around the room at the low ceiling, the print of the New York skyline, and the early white blossom she’d arranged in her one and only vase before leaving for Auckland. She loved living at the bottom of Gloria’s garden, but change was inevitable, no matter what stage of your life.
And her parents would lend her the money for her visa, no question about that, so any obstacles would be of her own making. “When do you need my answer?”
“Soon. I have to let him know.”
“And what about your mother?”
A slight smile played on Jake’s lips. “You know me. It’s my way or the highway.”
Molly burst out laughing. “Stop it. It is not. I bet you’re just as scared of her as I am.”
“We have our moments, that’s for sure. But let’s not sweat it. She’s slowly coming around. Actually, she was strangely supportive last time I talked about you.”
“Stop it. She was not.”
“It’s true. And Dad’s well and truly on board.”
Molly nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I’ll come.”
“What? Just like that?”
“Sometimes we can overcomplicate things, don’t you agree?”
“I do agree. Does that mean you’ll also disregard Gloria’s rule about gentlemen callers and let me stay the night?”
“It would be rude of me not to.”
Her tiredness aside, by the time they climbed the stairs and readied themselves for bed, Molly was wide awake. Naked, Jake slipped into bed beside her, and as she nestled into his warmth and rested her head on his chest, she relaxed. “Do you think Mason knows about the office thing?”
“Probably not,” he replied. “Do you want me to ask him?”
“Don’t you dare!”
“I know I should feel guilty about it, but… when I saw you on the lawn, gazing up at the stars and swaying to the music, I knew the only place I wanted to be was out there stargazing with you. But then, I got distracted by my dick, and… yeah, not my best move.”
“Well, as moves go, it was right up there.”
He chuckled. “Gloria told me some other guy’s been hanging around you.”
Molly thought back. “That woman is such a stirrer. It was just an electrician who came to fix a broken light. He asked for my number, but I said no. He was hot, though.”
“Would he be the type to read you poetry by candlelight while you soaked in his tub?”
“Never. I’ve only ever met one man who’s done that. He’s hot too.”
“So, he’s not a sloppy kisser?”
She tipped her head and stared up at him, eyes wide. “What? Alexia told you?”
“She did, but given I haven’t kissed her in forever, her one-star review doesn’t count.” Jake pulled her closer and pressed his lips to her crown. “Anyway, we should get some sleep.”
Molly traced her fingers down his happy trail and wrapped her hand around him, her movements soft and gentle. “Yeah, but I keep thinking, what if today were a moody Monday?” She tightened her grip.
“But it’s not. Shit! ”
“So I have to wait until next Monday? I don’t think so, Chef Sinclair.”
She studied him in the soft amber streetlight filtering into her bedroom—that lazy gaze and even lazier smile. He threw back his head and sucked in a ragged breath, and as Molly gripped him tighter and caressed her lips along his neck and jaw, she knew by the rhythm of his breathing that he was close.
Afterward, they lay in each other’s arms, talking in whispers and making up for the time they’d spent apart. Molly snuggled into his chest, his skin warm and comforting. “May I ask you something?”
“Sure?”
“Why do you have hair ties in your bathroom?”
“Seriously, that’s your question?” He chuckled. “Because my hair used to be long like Jesse’s, but I shaved it off when he was going through chemo last year.” Jake picked up his phone and opened the Photos app. “Here. That’s me on the right.”
Molly let out a soft “wow” as she studied the picture of the twins. With Jake’s hair longer, it was almost impossible to tell them apart. “It’s super long.”
“I’ve decided not to grow it again. It would freak Mum out.”
She handed the phone back to him. “I like it shorter. It suits your image.”
“Yeah?” Jake ran his fingers through her hair. “I like yours a bit shorter too, mon ange. ”
“What do they mean… those French words you call me?”
“ Mon ange? My angel. I thought it was fitting somehow, but now that we’ll be living together, I could call you honey or baby or the missus.”
“Don’t even think about it, stud.”
“Stud? I quite like the sound of that, actually. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight… and, Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“You still have my pink jacket.”
“I know.” He caressed the back of her neck. “I thought I’d keep it until you move in.”
Molly looked up at him. “Move in? When’s this happening?”
“Whenever you want, but this coming weekend works for me.”
“What? That’s only a few days away.”
“Yeah. Can you wait that long?”
“I’ll think about it.” She smiled and pecked him on the lips. “I really do love you. So much.”
“I’m extremely happy to hear that. Goodnight.”
As Molly drifted into slumber, the safety of his embrace soothed her into the deepest sleep she’d had in weeks.
And when she awoke to the late August sunrise hours later, Jake was still sleeping beside her.