“Can you keep up?” Charlie gave Agnes a solid once-over.
“Try to stop me,” Agnes said.
Molly took a teeny step backward. Uh-huh, she had her eye on an escape. She wasn’t ashamed.
“Then I’d enjoy that quite a lot,” Charlie answered, holding out his arm.
This right here illustrated why Molly was sort of a crappy matchmaker when it came to anyone but the men she dated. Because she never—not once—would have considered these two together.
But then again, if opposites really did attract, then perhaps it made sense?
Especially in that sliver of time before eight a.m.
In any case, she could still give them dating tips. That was, after all, her specialty. To start, she’d recommend they go for a walk. Which was apt, because the now-happy couple moseyed on down the sidewalk as though Molly didn’t really matter after all.
Which, to be fair, she didn’t. Not in this case. And with the speed that Agnes was working her magic, she’d probably be married by the end of the week. Molly should go check the contest rules to see if that might give them an edge against the competition.
“Mom?” Ollie asked from their front door. “What’re you doin’ out here?”
“I…” Molly lifted her shoulders. She peered up the sidewalk, but the happy couple had already turned the corner.
“Mom?” Ollie said her name once more, this time like he was worried about her.
“I’m not really sure.” She shook her head, and headed back inside, traipsing up the walk to their home.
Ollie brushed aside her odd behavior without question. In reality, standing outside in the morning alone wasn’t the oddest thing she’d ever done. Not like the time she’d decided to tie dye their sheets as a possible option for a date night suggestion.
“Did you decide if I can go to the movies with Brady and Kellan tonight?” Ollie asked, using his puppy dog eyes to try to sway her.
She frowned. They’d already talked about this and her answer had been, “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
Now, however, it was, in fact, tomorrow. “It’s a school night…”
“Mom.” Ollie speared her with his gaze. “I’m eight years old.”
Precisely why he had an early bedtime.
She let out a sigh because she could actually use the break. “I tell you what. You bring me back a box of Raisinets? I’ll give the all clear.”
“You should come, too,” Ollie said as she poured him a bowl of Rice Krispies.
Hah. No.
The boys were still with their dad, and she refused to sit next to Gavin for an entire movie.
That was a hard no from her.
Chapter Nine
“I never thought I would utter the sentence ‘We don’t jump off a car battery, please.’ These are things they never mention in all those parenting books.” —Anonymous, New York, United States
Molly
Molly plopped her tush right next to Gavin in the auditorium of the movie theater.
Mm-hm, that’s pretty much how the day had gone.
So much for the best laid plans, because this day had not adhered to any type of plan. Except her car was ready on schedule. That part was fine. Everything else? Pretty much nope. Now it was all buttered popcorn, chocolate-covered raisins, and sour gummy worms.
