Maybe even… attraction.
“You’re a caretaker,” she says, as if she doesn’t mean to say it out loud.
I keep my voice light. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“Depends on the man.”
I take a slow sip of my drink. “And what about me?”
She looks away first, which tells me everything I need to know. Molly doesn’t retreat from men she’s indifferent to.
She retreats from men who might matter.
“It means that I don’t do… complicated,” she says.
“You’re the one who brought up the past,” I say.
Her eyes snap back. “You showed up in my building.”
“And you ran out of the fitness room like I’d set you on fire.”
“I had homework,” she says, defensive.
I smile. “You say that like it was a felony.”
“Sometimes it is,” she mutters. “Against my dignity.”
I chuckle, and for a second the booth feels easy. Like two people who used to know each other slipping into an old rhythm. Molly takes a bite of her fries and chews slowly, thinking. Then she says, “So what? You fix things. You’re here for work. You’re taking care of your sister.”
“Yes.”
“And you just… decided to move into my building.”
“Ironwood Falls is small.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She waits.
I lean forward a little, lowering my voice. “It’s the only one you’re getting today.”
Molly’s breath catches — barely. Her eyes flick to my mouth again.
Then she blinks and sits back as if she can physically shove the moment away.
“One drink,” she reminds me, but her voice has lost some of its hardness. “One drink, one order of cheesy fries, one hour.”
I glance at my phone, checking the time. “We’ve got twenty minutes left.”
Molly exhales as if she’s irritated by the clock, and by me, and by the concept of how time passes. “Fine. But this isn’t a date.”
“Of course not,” I say. “I don’t know what that waitress was talking about. This is just two people who used to…” I let my voice trail off. “Two people who used to know each other catching up over a drink and some food.”
She narrows her eyes. “Stop agreeing with me so fast.”
I lift my hands in surrender. “Okay. Fine.”
“You’re doing it again.”
