“We’re going home, too,” Molly said, because the movie was nearly done anyway and she was definitely done.
“Moooom.” Ollie slumped.
“Get your stuff.” Molly tilted her head toward their pile. “And roll out.” Thankfully, all the kids followed her direction.
“I’m not sure how you just did that.” Gavin moved close to her, but not too close. Not like they’d been in the theater. They’d been…friendly. Playful. And that was not like her.
Well, it was—she was playful. But not with Gavin. “Witchcraft,” she replied.
“Well, it is appreciated.” He sounded sincere. What the hell was up with him?
She decided to just embrace it for what it was. “You’re welcome.”
“That whole thing didn’t go how I thought it would,” he
said.
“It never really does, you know?” She straightened her purse against her shoulder. “That’s life with kids. One minute you’re enjoying a bad car chase and the next you’re dealing with the internal workings of your son’s nose.”
“I guess it could’ve been worse?—”
“No. Nuh-uh.” She shook her index finger in his direction. “We never say that. Never. Never. Never.”
Because that was the equivalent of summoning the make-it-worse fairies and those fuckers were always available to lend a hand when you least wanted them to.
“Take it back,” she said.
He didn’t take it back. He did glance down to the carpet, then back to her. “Molly, I was thinking…”
Whatever he was thinking? Alarm bells were going off in her brain. He had the look of a guy about to ask a girl out.
And that was not going to be her. He was Gavin. She was Molly.
They were friendly now. But there was no way they’d be anything more. Nope. No. Never. Never. Never.
“Don’t think, Gavin,” she said, going for light and fun and breezy. Look at her being so breezy. “It’ll break your brain.”
Don’t do it, Gavin. Don’t say something we’ll both have to regret later.
“I just wanted to say thanks for being so great to my kids. You’ve always been there for them and…” He pulled at his bottom lip with his teeth. “I appreciate it.”
Oh.
That was not what she thought he was going to say. By all measurements it was better than what she’d expected. So
why did she feel so disappointed? Best not to dissect that too far.
“You’re welcome,” she said in lieu of any further dissection.
He chuckled. “I’m gonna…” He glanced toward where Charlie and Agnes stood by the concessions stand. “Say thanks.”
He paused, like he was going to say something else. “For the Skittle removal,” he finished, taking three
steps backward.
Molly did her best to focus on anything other than Gavin as he gave a firm handshake to Charlie and said something to Agnes that made her blush.
If Agnes hadn’t been falling head over teakettle for Charlie before, she was now all googly eyes and eyelash flutters in his direction. So, later that night, when faced with the task of recounting their first date for the video log, it was a piece of cake.
