“Mornin’, Clara,” I greeted as I made my way to the porch.
“It’s been awhile.” She tilted her head and grinned at me. “I think we last saw each other at Genie’s when you asked me to dance and paid for my drinks all night so you could grill me all about our mutual friend, little miss Molly. Was that it?”
I felt my cheeks heat. Had I been that obvious? “I suppose it was,” I hedged. Clara was a person who would have the upper hand in whatever situation she found herself in, and I envied that about her. We weren’t quite friends back in school, but I liked how good she always was to Molly. Clara was loyal and I respected that. But it didn’t mean I was above pumping her for information. “How’s Molly doing?”
“Currently, she’s stuffing her face with scones and mainlining coffee in the kitchen with your dad and Barrett. She’s hungover, but she’ll live. Her date stood her up last night. Pity, isn’t it?” Her eyes darted to the side as she set her mug on the table next to the swing.
I narrowed my eyes as I took the seat across from her on a bench. “Yeah, she was pretty mad about it. And drunk.”
“She’ll get over it. She didn’t want to go out with him in the first place, you know.”
“Really?”
A small smile crossed her face. “Yep, really.” She stood up and grabbed her purse from the seat. “I had wanted to stay and watch y’all rip up the kitchen, but I just remembered I have a previous engagement. Be gentle with our girl—she hasn’t had a hangover since way back in high school. Oh, and tell your momma hi for me.”
“Okay . . .” This entire conversation felt like she was trying to tell me something without saying it outright, but I couldn’t figure out what. The thought left my mind when Molly stepped onto the porch. “Molly, hey.” I stood, while Clara laughed softly to herself and Molly lifted her chin in my direction.
“Molls, I just remembered I have somewhere I need to be. I’ll text you later.”
“You can’t leave!” Molly protested. “What about your man-candy? Barrett just told me they hired one of their cousins from Knoxville. He should be here any minute. And guess what! His name is Chris.”
“Damn, seriously?” She looked pained but determined. “Next time! I gotta run. Bye, y’all.” She darted down the steps, got into her car, and left.
Molly finally met my eyes, then quickly looked down. “So . . .”
I took a step closer. “How are you today?” I raised my voice slightly so she would be sure to hear me.
Her eyes popped up to mine as her lips quirked in a smile. “I’m fine. Uh, Barrett and your dad are inside with Landon and Leo going over the kitchen plans—” She gestured behind herself to the door and stepped aside to let me pass.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh, okay. About what?”
My brain blanked out as I stood there looking at her. She was so pretty in the early morning sunlight. The hints of gold in her brown eyes sparkled, distracting me. Flirting was usually second nature to me; I could do it without thinking. I supposed that was the problem. I thought about Molly entirely too much for my own good, and I always had. “Well, would you like to—”
The door swung open and bounced off Molly’s butt. “Oh, excuse me, honey!” My dad’s rumbling laugh filled the porch as he patted Molly on the head. “I didn’t hurt ya, did I?” My dad considered himself an old-fashioned southern hard-ass, but on the inside, he was mush. He’d always had a soft spot for Molly, especially after her dad died. Our fathers had grown up together as best friends and remained that way as adults. Most of our childhood weekends were spent grilling out in one of our backyards while our parents chatted and us kids ran crazy.
“I’m okay.” She laughed and patted her behind. “I have plenty of padding back there.” God yes, she had plenty of padding back there. I would like to put her in my truck, drive her home and get a handful of that padding right now. Two handfuls in fact, one of each sexy cheek. Last night had flipped a switch in me. The fact that the switch even existed at all should have been the first clue that my feelings for her were stronger than I had ever been willing to admit. Maybe I hadn’t been just playing around when I proposed to her when we turned six.
Dad smiled and gripped my shoulder as he passed me to step off the porch to go to his truck. “I’m headed to the Bandit Lake site. I’ll try to swing back here after lunch. Bye, you two.”
“Later, Dad.”
My head swung to the door as Leo’s smiling face appeared. “Yo, Garrett! I just tried out a new scone recipe. You want?” A smile crossed my face as he joined Molly and me.
“Sure, man, and the chocolate soufflé turned out great. I dusted the sides of the pan with cocoa powder just like you said.”
“Told you. I have all the tricks. I’ll be the go-to food-nerd for all your stress-baking inquiries.”
“You bake?” Molly looked surprised.
I nodded in response as Leo answered for me. “He’s full of insomnia and hot-guy angst. It’s getting pretty serious.”
“You can’t sleep? Still?” At her look of concern, my chest started to feel warm. Shit, I couldn’t have feelings like this so fast. It had to be the coffee I just pounded on the drive down here.
“Yeah, still. Some things will never change. We should catch up.”
“Yes, y’all should have dinner together. Garrett, make her the five-cheese soufflé. Molly is in love with cheese, as I’m sure you remember.”
“Hey! I’m not in love with cheese. Do I love it? Yes, but we’re not in a relationship or anything—I can see other foods whenever I want.”
I chuckled. “You dust the pan with butter and grated parm for this one. You’ll love it. I’ll make it tomorrow night at my place. You can ride home with me after work.”
“What? I . . . wait, what—?”
Molly’s head whipped to Leo as he chimed in. “Perfect! She’ll bring the veg. I’ll make my spinach salad. Molls is not a cook.”
“Hey—”
“Sounds good. Is this all okay with you, Molly?” It occurred to me I should actually ask her, and not let Leo speak for her. Molly wasn’t like other women. And I didn’t mean that in the sexist way that would make my mother slap me upside my head if she heard me utter those words, either. I knew Molly as a kid. We used to be close, and that made her different. I was torn between the desire to flirt with her and wanting to run off with her to play Mario Kart. It was confusing and exhilarating all at the same time. I wanted to make out with her just as much as I wanted to bust out the Uno cards and kick her ass in a game.
“Y’all are going too fast for me to keep up!” she complained.
“Molly, would you like to have dinner at my place tomorrow?” I grinned at her.
She puffed out a sigh. “I can’t. I’m babysitting Abbie tomorrow night. And maybe having dinner together isn’t such a good idea after—” She turned to Leo. “Go inside for a minute, please?”
The sigh that came out of Leo was almost as disappointed as I was beginning to feel. “Molly, don’t—” he started.