Chapter 14
Molly
Salem.
His kiss.
His mouth on mine.
It was a thing of beauty.
Salem was an excellent kisser, and I was achy and wanton as we stood there, talking. I begged inwardly for him to do it, and finally, he did.
He kissed me deeply. He kissed me sweetly. His mouth was the best in the whole world. His lips were the perfect size, shape, softness, wetness, everything. Salem's mouth was amazing, and his kiss was amazing. He knew how to kiss me in ways that made me feel things I had never felt before. I was transported by his touch. I closed my eyes, and I went somewhere else. I opened my eyes and we smiled at each other and pulled back. This happened several times.
We kissed for a significant amount of time. We would stop and stare, smiling and sometimes even saying a few words to each other. The two of us were attracted to each other, and that was obvious. Our relationship had been built on that attraction, but now there was something else. It was unbelievable to me that other aspects of it seemed to be coming together. I felt a type of elation I had never felt before. Those moments together were amazing. The physical attraction was definitely still there, but there was something else, too.
Affection? Love?
It was love.
It had to be love.
I felt it down to my bones. I loved Salem from the inside out. I wanted him for what was in his heart, and I definitely loved his face. I loved his eyes and his eyebrows. I loved his nose and his cheeks, and especially his mouth. Salem's mouth. We kissed over and over again. It was a good thing no one came into the shop that day.
***
The following day, I found myself in my apartment, expecting my brother, Sadie, and Ethan to come by. My whole family, including my aunt and grandmother, had stopped by at different times this afternoon to see the new kitchen and machines.
They were all so supportive and thankful to Darren and Michelle for all they had done. My parents knocked on their door to thank them again in person. I was excited but tired, too. I had stayed up late with Salem and had only gotten about four hours sleep, last night.
I went to church with my parents that morning and I had been busy giving tours of my apartment since then. My brother and Sadie were the last of my planned visitors, and then I would go over to Salem's.
John-Michael pulled up at 4pm on the dot. I usually had music playing in my apartment, but it was quiet and I heard him pull up and park.
"Come in!" I called when he knocked a minute later.
My brother opened my front door, and I peeked around the threshold, looking at him from the new kitchen.
"Whoa," he said.
"I know. Come in."
I wiped my hands and came around the corner, standing back to invite him into the new space.
"Where's Sadie and my nephew?"
"They're coming. E was all dirty from playing outside, so she stayed back to give him a quick bath. They're right behind me. They'll be here in a minute. I wanted to come early, anyway, and talk to you for a minute."
"About what?" I said.
"Let me see your kitchen first, Molls, this is amazing. How did you not know this was happening?"
"I mean, I knew there was construction happening on the other side of my apartment, but those guys always use the other entrance. I hardly even see their trucks. I could hear them working, but I just sort of tuned it out. "
"How did Darren know what machines to get?" he asked, staring at my tempering machine.
"It's a set. It's a commercial set—I mean, not like Godiva, but, JJ, it's amazing. All this stuff is going to make my life so easy. Look how big!"
"Darren didn't say anything about raising your rent or anything?"
"No! I had to sign a new lease, adding the square-footage, but no. He mentioned the opposite, actually. He said it would be rude of him to build an addition and then ask for extra money."
"I can't believe he's being so generous. This is crazy." He sighed.
"I'm going to have you tell guys what all these machines do when Sadie and Ethan get here."
"He'll love that. I did want to talk to you about something else, though."
"Good. I'm glad we're getting to it. What do you have to say, brother?"
"It's about Sadie's brother. Salem."
My heart dropped when he said it because his face was serious and it looked like he had bad news.
"Sadie's brother."
"Yeah," I said. "What about him?"
My brother leaned against the wall. "Well, there was this girl that he knew growing up, Isabel Love."
"Yes. I know who you're talking about."
"Well, recently she…"
"She married someone. I know that, too," I said, nodding and wishing he would get to the point .
"I, uh, Salem is my brother-in-law and I love him, but I thought I saw him looking at you yesterday when we were at your graduation lunch."
"Okayyy…"
"I did see him looking at you."
John-Michael spoke like he wasn't happy.
"Everybody was looking at me. It was my graduation lunch."
"No, Molly, I saw the way Salem was looking at you, and you don't understand what I'm saying."
"No, I don't understand what you're saying John-Michael. Please tell me."
"Salem has been waiting for this girl for his whole life. If he tries to rebound right now, I don't want it to be with my little sister. I hate to put it bluntly, but he was looking at you like a man looks at a woman, and I just wanted to warn you about it so that you could steer clear of him for a while."
"Why would you want me to steer clear of him? Salem and I are friends. We hang out all the time."
"I know what I saw yesterday, and he's probably in a fragile state, so just please, Molly, listen to me. Please keep some distance for a little while."
"Have you been talking to Sara?"
"What? No, why?"
"You know why. Did she put you up to this?"
"Put me up to what, Molly?"
"Sara's writing a whole book about how she and I are supposed to marry twins who we meet at Camp Eden. She's got a romance novel about it. She would be devastated if I would end up with Salem."
" End up with Salem ? Don't even say that."
"What is your problem?" I asked, feeling hurt and offended.
"The problem is that I am married to the love of my life who happens to be Salem's sister . You can't go have fun with this guy, Molly. This one is off-limits. Salem is in a fragile state right now, and I promise, a casual relationship with my sister would not work out well for him. You cannot do that. You have to promise me you won't, Molly—even if he pursues you. It will cause issues within my own marriage if you get involved with Salem. Sadie would be devastated."
"Sadie would be devastated, you would be devastated, Sara would be devastated. How is it everyone's devastated when I'm happy?"
He laughed when I said that. I could tell he tried to hold it back but it was uncontrollable. It made me feel so angry inside and I had to work to control my facial expression and stay calm.
"Molly, just please hear me about this. You can't… wait, has Salem already tried to talk to you in that way?" he asked, as if the thought had just occurred to him.
"What if he has?" I asked, feeling nervous under his scrutiny but too stubborn to back down.
"Molly," he said in a warning tone .
"John-Michael," I said back to him. "I don't know why you and Sara are so freaked out about it. I guess she actually thinks that she and I have to marry twins. And now you're here telling me that he's off-limits because he's Sadie's brother."
"Exactly, but I figured you knew that already. I was mostly coming to warn you because I saw he was looking at you last night, and I knew he was fragile."
"Stop saying that. Salem is anything but fragile."
"You know what I mean. I know you know about that girl. He was waiting for her."
"That girl is married, and he's fine. She has nothing to do with Salem."
"Molly, why are you smiling? Don't. I'm being sincere here."
"I'm smiling because it's crazy that both you and Sara are being like this."
"Well, then maybe it's a sign that it's not a good option. Are you thinking about going out with Salem? That would not work."
I thought about being with Salem the night before. I thought about our conversation and our closeness.
It would work.
It was already working.
"Yes, I was thinking about it. I've already been out with him."
"Nooo! "
He said it so seriously that I pulled back and stared at my brother. He put his head in his hands as if it were the worst news ever.
"But don't tell Sara," I said.
"Don't worry, I won't. I will not tell Sara or anyone else. I definitely will not tell my wife. Molly, you have to do what's right and not see him anymore. You can't let some kind of relationship form with you guys. If there was a break up, that would be horrible. Do you know how much Sadie loves her brothers?"
I was so angry that it was difficult to give John-Michael any credit or believe that he wanted what was best for me right then. I wanted to tell him that we were way closer than he thought we were and that he was too late. I wanted to tell him that I loved Salem. I didn't, though.
"Look at all this stuff," he said. "Your business is just starting to take off."
After he said that, we were quiet for about thirty seconds, but it seemed like an hour.
"Someone's here," I said in a serious, matter-of-fact tone when I heard a car.
"Is that my wife already? We haven't gotten anything settled. I don't feel any better right now than I did when I came in. In fact, I feel worse."
"That makes two of us," I said.
"Just think about what I'm saying, Molly. You're two different types of people, you and Salem. He may be attracted to you, and it might seem tempting, but please just don't. You just graduated, and he's almost my age. One date is nothing. You're still at the very beginning. Just nip it in the bud. Promise me you won't continue to…" He trailed off because we heard a thud against the door.
It was Ethan, and he tried a second time and suddenly busted into the door.
"Heyyy, where's your new chocolate shop, Aunt Molly?" Ethan said, rushing inside while talking, completely oblivious to our conversation. I smiled but it was entirely fake because I was hurt and confused by my brother's demands.
"Hey, y'all, I'm so sorry," Sadie called from outside.
"Hey punkin'!" I said, stooping down to lift Ethan and hug him.
"Where did you get these chocolate machines?"
"Mr. Darren and Ms. Michelle."
"What does it do?" he asked.
"Well, I'll tell you guys all at the same time, once your mom gets in here. That one right there, that you're touching, it does the same thing as the orange one in my kitchen."
"Hey, Molls, I'm sorry I'm late. Ethan had to jump in the bath for a second.
"Molly was waiting to tell me about everything in her new space," John-Michael said.
"Do you have a new door that leads outside?" Ethan said, finding the door on the other side of the new kitchen .
"It's kind of like going outside," I said. "It leads to Darren and Michelle's garage, and that'll take you outside."
I hugged Sadie. "This is so nice," she said.
I thanked her. I tried to shake off my brother's outburst. I went through the tour with them, giving them a summary of the new machines. Our family was usually so non-confrontational that it made me feel stunned that I was being confronted by first Sara and now my brother. It made me feel bad about something I otherwise felt great about. It made me question my feelings and reevaluate. I thought things were right between Salem and me, but my family was a gigantic part of my life, and it was a big deal to me that two of them were against it.