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.”
