A smile was a good thing when it came to a gentleman friend.
“Molly,” Mr. Davenport said when he got closer. He was a big man. Taller than most that Molly knew—at least six foot six. He had a slight stoop, but not enough to reduce his height by much. White hair and a white mustache. (Molly didn’t really understand the whole mustache thing. If a guy was going to grow facial hair, she figured he should just go all in.) His tanned skin looked like tan leather, with the creases from age.
Even though it wasn’t chilly out, he wore a sweater and white polyester pants.
Molly glanced back to her landlady, who stared at the man like he was in a full tuxedo a la Gavin at the lake.
Molly shook her head. Nuh-uh-uh. No intrusive Gavin thoughts today.
“I wanted to introduce you to our neighbor.” Molly waved at Agnes, who took her cue and sauntered forward.
Honest to God, Molly had never seen the woman saunter. She shuffled. She strode. But that little sway to her hips? Nope. Molly had never seen that before.
And if she had to guess, Mr. Davenport noticed. He gave Agnes a tip-to-toe thorough inspection. An inspection that brought a grin to his lips.
Hey, he can smile!
The grin disappeared as quickly as it came when he turned his attention back to Molly.
“Does our neighbor have a name?” he asked, gruff as ever.
“Agnes,” Molly said, still cheery even though she gritted her teeth.
Get through this.Then they could move on to, perhaps, a better suitor for her now raven-haired neighbor.
“Hello,” Mr. Davenport said to Agnes without even a hint of grump in his tone. “Ms. Agnes.”
“Just Agnes is fine.” Agnes held her hand out to him and he—
Well, he didn’t shake it, that’s for certain. No, he lifted it to his lips and pressed a kiss on Agnes’s knuckles.
Molly’s jaw did that whole dropping thing again.
Seriously, before eight o’clock, nothing in the world made a whit of sense. Molly would not be breaking her don’t-get-up-early rule again. Ever.
“The name’s Charlie.” Mr. Davenport said. Again, without even a hint of gruff.
What in the ever-loving name of Zeus was going on around here?
Molly glanced up the empty street, then back to the couple in front of her. Agnes was making full-on heart eyes at Mr. Davenp—Charlie.
“Agnes was just saying that she would love to have a walking buddy this morning.” Molly nudged Agnes with her elbow. “Isn’t that right, Agnes?”
“Absolutely correct,” Agnes said, all cinnamon sugar breakfast cereal.
“Good luck finding someone to walk with,” Charlie said, gruff as ever.
“Would you care for company whileyouwalk?” Molly asked, taking the lead and hoping a little nudge was all the situation required. “You’re walking. She’s walking. Everybody’s walking.”
“Are you walking?” Charlie asked.
Well, no. Molly shook her head. “It’s a little early for me.”
Way too early in the morning for that.
“Then not everybody’s walking.”
Well, while that was true—
