CeCe:How come?
Molly:Alexia paid me a visit at work. Called me a stuck-up bitch. She was vicious.
CeCe: What? No way!
Molly:Yep. My hands are shaking just thinking about it.
CeCe:Poor you. I reckon she’s obsessed with Jake and wants to scratch those long nails down his back. Draw a few drops of blood for her collection.
Molly:I reckon you’re right.
Having found what she was searching for, Molly broke off half a row and laughed at the three angry swear-word emojis that followed CeCe’s last message.
Molly:I came back to NZ for the quiet life. To bake sourdough and grow basil. Now this.
CeCe:Basil? As if!And what’s Mr Sexy Cakes got to say for himself?
Molly:I haven’t spoken to him in a couple of days. And when we did talk it was kinda awkward.
CeCe:Do I detect a sigh between those lines?
Molly:Just a soft one. Anyway, I’ve removed myself from Jesse’s will.
CeCe:Gosh, that’s brave considering you really could use the money.
Molly:Maybe, but…
CeCe:Hey, I totally understand. Good for you.
Molly:Thanks. Anyway, sleep well.
33
It had been several days since Molly had last spoken to Jake, days where she’d struggled to sleep, eaten in irregular bursts, and generally moped around the house. When he finally did call, Jake’s words were quietly spoken like whispered secrets—and as the call progressed, she wondered if he was alone.
After Hazel and Alexia’s bombshells concerning Ava, Molly waited for him to broach the subject, but he said nothing about the girl he’d once mentioned in passing.
Now, as the week crept by, Molly increasingly struggled with their connection.
Gloria called in a few times to see how she was. They’d sit and talk over cups of tea, and while she looked forward to those visits, Molly couldn’t seem to break free of the funk that bound her. And, as hard as she tried not to, she still found herself podcasting their cemetery conversation on repeat in her head.
He was looking forward to the break, he’d said, and Molly understood why, but what she didn’t understand was Jake and Hazel’s assumption that, because of a pair of drumsticks and a card slotted into a blue envelope, she was the love of Jesse’s life and that somehow meant her feelings for Jake weren’t valid.
That she was off-limits.
With another workday over, Molly shut down her laptop and picked up her phone to answer CeCe’s call.
“Hi. Where are you?” her cousin asked.
“Still at work,” she replied. “Winston’s given me a couple of days off, so I’m heading home for Mum’s birthday. I’m just tying up a few loose ends first.”
“You’re not driving up tonight, are you?”
“No, I’ll leave first thing tomorrow.”
“Okay. Give Aunty a big birthday hug from me and Luka.”
“Will do.”
