Chapter Twenty
It’s getting late,and I am unsure of what to do. I don’t want to leave Molly here alone, but I also don’t want to intrude on her space. She has picked up her phone a few times to respond to messages but, for the most part, she and I have just sat here in companionable television watching mode.
Molly’s eyes keep fluttering, and I can tell she is fighting the urge to sleep. I stand from the bed, gathering my things from the side table, before turning to face Molly. She is sitting up now, her eyebrows pulled down in question. “It’s getting pretty late, so I should probably get out of your way so you can get some sleep.”
“Uh… Oh… Right.” Molly’s eyes move to the comforter, and she starts playing with a loose string, winding it and unwinding it around her finger. “So… tomorrow? We should probably get back out to the island and tag some more ne–”
I shake my head before she has a chance to finish her sentence. “Nope, no can do Molly. Remember? Tomorrow is Friday.” Molly looks confused, so I continue on with my explanation. “When we signed contracts for the job, I specified in my written portion that I have Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays off for personal reasons.” I look down at my shoes, scuffing them on the floor, feeling uncomfortable now for having to explain it to her.
“Oh… right. I completely forgot. I… Uh…. Guess I will see you early Monday morning then.” She looks down at the blanket again, breathing out a sigh that I don’t think she realized she was holding in.
“Nope. Not doing that either.” Her eyes fly up to mine, and I can see something close to anger churning in her dark brown eyes, so I hurry up and continue before she gets mad. Short-fuse this one.
“You are coming with me tomorrow. I’m not leaving you alone all day and all night. Not after the ordeal we went through this morning.” I stand there, waiting for her to say something. When she doesn’t, I move for the other room.
“Wait… Coop.” She has thrown off the comforter now and is standing on her side of the bed, fidgeting with her hands in front of her. “I can at least walk you to the door.”
I shake my head again and breathe out my own sigh before readying myself for the argument ahead. “Nope. No need to walk me to the door, because I’m not leaving.” Molly’s eyes go wide, and her hands are now clenched into fists at her sides.
“What do you mean,” she raises her fingers into air quotes as she says the next part, “you’re not leaving?” She arches an eyebrow at me. “Where do you suppose you are staying the night, Coop?” She starts walking toward me, and I know this look. This is the same look that she gave me on my boat. I hold my hands up in front of me, a show of truce, as she continues to slowly walk my way.
Backing up into the other room, I am now moving toward the couch. She continues to follow, a look of determination in her eyes as I run out of space to move further. “I only meant that I”m not leaving you alone.” She keeps advancing, a lioness after her prey, as the back of my knees hit the couch, causing me to stop abruptly.
“So where,” she takes another step, “are you,” she takes another, standing flush with my feet now, “going to sleep”, she points at my chest and pokes it with her finger, “Coop”?
She is so close, and my heart rate increases as she stands there, staring up into the windows of my soul, her chestnut eyes glowing with what could only be described as a fire lit within. How can such a small person have so much passion contained inside of them without exploding? Maybe that’s why her fuse is so short.
Before I have a chance to respond, she pushes my chest with her hand, causing me to sit down with a loud ‘oof’. I pat the small couch with my hand, smiling up at her, hoping she can’t see through the terrified grin I am giving her. “Right here. I can sleep right here.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and laughs, motioning to the couch with her hand. “There? Dude. Maybe I could sleep there comfortably, but you aren’t a very small guy, Coop.” She scoffs as I give her a reassuring thumbs up.
“Sure I can. It’ll be fine.” Molly spins around and heads back for the bed, grabbing a pillow from the bed and an extra blanket from the cupboard before coming back.
“Here. If you are going to try to sleep on that thing, you can at least have a comfortable pillow and a semi-comfy blanket. Night, Coop.” She spins around and heads back to the room. I hear the bed squeak as she gets settled, and then the light is out.
“Night, Molly,” I whisper, positioning my pillow on the couch, trying my best to get comfortable on the obviously way too small couch.
It’s not fine.I said it would be fine, but this couch… Not only is it the most uncomfortable couch ever, but I have absolutely no way of making myself even remotely cozy on this thing. I tried kicking my legs up on the arm part of the couch, but now my feet have fallen asleep and are doing that tingling thing, and I am currently biting back the will to want to smack them on the floor to help wake them up faster. I should have known better than to try to sleep like that.
Maybe I would be more comfortable on the floor? I throw the blanket and the pillow on the floor and stretch out, the hard tile underneath reminding me that my back is going to hurt in the morning. Why am I even doing this? She barely tolerates you, Coop. I lay on my stomach and hope that this position will be more comfortable when I remember that the couch has cushions. Idiot.
Grabbing the cushions from the couch, I throw them onto the floor, making a long and lumpy, but sleepable, bed on the floor. Thank goodness the top cushions came off and weren’t attached. Yes, the cushions are uneven, but I can finally get some sleep, so I close my eyes and drift off.
I wakeup early and peek in to find Molly still sleeping. She looks so peaceful lying there, her hair wild, untamed, and tangled across her pillow. Lifting my shirt to my nose, I sniff and pull my face away at the smell. I really need to grab a shower, but I don’t have anything to change into here. Maybe I can run home really quickly before she wakes up. Why am I so worried about leaving her alone? It’s not like she cares if I am here or not. I pick up my keys and head for the door before turning back around, scratching out a note, and leaving it by her nightstand.
Hey Molly,
Left to grab a shower.
Will be back in a few.
Drink some water.
Coop
Ps. Please take it easy while I”m gone.
There. Short and to the point. I close the front door and lock it behind me, heading for my truck. Once inside, I let out a sigh of relief. Finally, peace and quiet. Only there is a pinching in my chest as I drive away, and a constant nagging worry in the back of my head the further I go. What is wrong with me?I didn’t even feel this level of concern for Abby, so why now? Why Molly?
I dated Abby for years and even then, it took me two full years of dating her before I even said the ‘L’ word. I should have known something was wrong when she didn’t say it back right away. When she finally did, it was more of a polite ‘you said it, so I think I should say it too’ kind of thing.
Reaching my boat, I jump out of my truck and run, moving at a speed that would concern any onlookers. I continue inside and yank my clothes from the dresser before moving to the bathroom, grabbing another cold shower for the sake of saving time. Finding an empty bag, I shove in another change of clothes, some boardshorts, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a razor, a travel bar of soap, and whatever else I might need if I were to need to be away from the boat for another day, before heading back to Molly’s.
Sneaking inside the cottage,I make a simple breakfast of eggs and toast before checking on Molly. I heard the shower start up a few minutes ago and since she was pretty fast last night, I assume she won’t be long.
The shower shuts off, and I hear the door open, so I head for the room. She’s sitting on the bed, towel drying her hair, and has on a pair of flowy linen striped blue and white pants, paired with a white v-neck t-shirt. I just watch her for a few seconds before I lift my hand to knock on the wall. “Mornin’. How ya feelin’?”
She whips her head around and smiles up at me. That smile could light up a room; it is so bright and so genuine. But I’ve seen those kinds of smiles before, so I tamp down whatever feelings are trying to break free and smile back instead. “I made some breakfast if you’re hungry.”
“I am so hungry. Which I don”t understand because I basically ate like an oinker last night.” She runs a brush through her hair a few times before following me into the kitchen. “Want to eat outside on the porch? There’s a little table out there.” She motions toward the doors leading to the porch.
“Sure.” I grab the two plates of food, and Molly grabs the two glasses of orange juice before leading the way to the patio. She does this little waitress maneuver, holding both cups in one hand so she can open the door with the other, waiting for me to go through the door before closing it behind her. We settle ourselves at the table, and before we eat, I fold my arms and close my eyes, saying a quick prayer inside my head.
“Were you praying just now?” Molly picks up her fork and slices into the egg on her plate.
“Yeah. Gotta thank the Lord for what I have.” I dig into my food before Molly’s voice stops my hand from moving.
“I love that. Next time, maybe you can show me how? Also… I’m not sure I have said it enough. But… Thanks, Coop. I guess I should be thanking Him for you too.” She continues to eat, but I’m not sure she knows the impact of the words she has just said. Because no one has ever said that to me before.
Errands takeup the majority of the afternoon, and by the end, Molly looks tired. I probably shouldn’t have been dragging her all over town with me, but it was a better solution than my brain constantly worrying about her. Better for me anyways. Better for her? Probably not.
“Do you want to come on this last errand with me? I have to go deliver all of these things to my dad.” I don’t tell her why I spend my Fridays running around doing whatever I can to help my dad. She doesn’t need to know all the nitty-gritty details.
She yawns, holding her hand up to her mouth, straightening herself out on the bench seat of my truck. “Are you sure you want me to come? You have already spent so much time taking care of me today. I don’t want to be more of a burden. It’s not your job.” She glances toward me, a look of guilt upon her face.
“Nah, it’s not that big a deal.” I brush her worries away with a wave of my hand. Maybe if I make it seem like it isn’t a big deal, it won’t be. “So, want to come?” I strum my fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for her response, my heart picking up pace. Why am I so worried about her answer? My hands are sweating.
“Yeah, sure. Why not?” She buckles her seatbelt and looks over at me, waiting for me to do something.
“Yeah?” My voice squeaks as I do a double take, my face heating up. I clear my throat, checking with her a second time. “You really want to come?”
She shrugs her shoulders and nods her head. “I like your dad. We had quite the delightful conversation a few weeks ago. Remember? The one where he enslaved you to me for three weeks.” Molly has her hand over her mouth now, trying to cover up her smile.
I roll my eyes and shift into reverse. “Yup. I remember,” I say through clenched teeth. How could I forget?
We pullup to Dad’s apartment and I shut off the engine, taking a deep breath before unlocking my door. I didn’t call him to let him know I was bringing someone, so hopefully he isn’t too grouchy about it. I sit there for a couple of minutes, my mind going through different scenarios of tonight”s dinner, before Molly clears her throat.
“Coop? You going to get out, or…,” she leaves her words hanging as she looks over at me. I’m mindlessly popping my knuckles over and over again, staring out the front windshield, my eyes glazing over as I continue to think about whatever repercussions await from bringing a woman with me to see my dad. The only woman my dad ever met was Abby, and that didn’t go over well. Neither of them could tolerate the other, and now I understand why. Abby was very materialistic and self-involved, and my dad is very much the opposite. How would he feel about Molly? The bigger question is, why do I care? It’s not like we are a thing. She is just a job.
A small hand lands on top of mine, stilling my fingers from the mindless popping. “You okay, Coop? You seem nervous about something.”
I pull my hands away and open the door. “Yup, fine. Just thought I forgot something, that’s all.” The words come out harsher than I intended, and I look over at Molly as she pushes her door open, worrying her lip between her teeth. Dang it. On top of already feeling overwhelmed about whatever is going on with this woman, I now also feel like a jerk. I run my hands through my hair, sighing to myself as we meet at the front of the truck.
“Sorry. My dad can be a little much sometimes, and I didn’t tell him you were coming, so I am just worried he won’t be on his best behavior.” I try not to cringe as the words leave my mouth. Partial truths are still the truth, right?
“Oh… well… I guess I can wait out here if that’s easier.” She heads for the passenger door and starts to pull it open before I stop her with my hand on the door.
“No. I want you to come.” I reach down and grab her hand, leading her to my dad’s front door, knocking on it, before realizing her hand is still in mine. When did holding a stranger”s hand become a thing? The door swings open, and I simultaneously drop Molly’s hand and go in for an awkward man hug to cover up the hand holding. Dad does not need to get involved in whatever is going on. Which is nothing. There is absolutely nothing going on.
“Hi, Dad. Want to help us go grab your things from the truck?” I spin around and move for the truck, leaving Molly and my dad at the door. Awkward? Probably. Do I care? No. Yes. Maybe? I run my hands through my hair again as I unlock the doors.
“Hey, Cooper, did you forget something back here?”
I turn back around to see that both of them are just standing at the door, waiting. Waiting for what? Oh. That’s right. Waiting for me to get my head out of my butt.