Wrong message sent way too loud. Damn. He was not good at this.
Molly rolled with it, though. She gave him a friendly side-squeeze in return.
“She’s drinking your usual,” Molly said out of the side of her mouth. “How adorable.”
“How are your kids?” Cassidy asked, pivoting as well. “They’re good. With…uh…Rachel tonight so I could
go out here with…uh…Molly.” Very smooth, Gavin. Nice work.
“That’s me.” Molly slipped right into her online persona, the green hue to her skin totally disappearing and the shutters closed tight. “Oh hey, it’s Molly.” She pointed to herself.
“Nice to meet you, Molly.” Cassidy did that thing that girls do when they’re evaluating the other. The up then down then coming to a conclusion.
Gavin didn’t like it.
Cassidy was his past. A past he’d met in college when he attended business school in California all those years ago.
Molly was his now. A now that would hopefully become his future, too. But they had to get through the now to find their way there.
“How are your kids?” Gavin asked. “Your husband?”
“Kid. Singular. She’s good. Husband isn’t my husband
anymore.” Cassidy smiled like it hurt. “It happens.”
“That it does. To the best of us.” Persona-Molly swooped right in. “But then we get the entire bed to ourselves, amirite?”
Cassidy grinned, now under the spell of Persona-Molly. “You’re so right.”
Well, good that Gavin wasn’t really needed in this conversation anymore, because he was pretty sure he’d just screw it up.
Cassidy and Molly had apparently decided to be friends. He liked that even less than the Cassidy evaluation from before.
They moved forward two more spaces while Cassidy and Molly made small talk and he said, basically, nothing. Except adding a few words here and there to Cassidy’s walk down memory lane with Molly in tow. He did lace his fingers with Molly’s—hoping that small show of what he wanted would be enough to break through her persona to the real person underneath.
“I’m onto a new life. New try. Denver. Where you are, Gav. Wow. Who knew?” Cassidy said.
Not him, that was for sure.
“I should go. You two have a really great night.” Cassidy pulled a novel—the next in the series he was presently
reading—from her bag. “I’ve got a date myself.” She held up the book.
Molly’s lips parted. She looked from Cassidy to Gavin and back to Cassidy.
“You’re reading that series,” Molly said, again out of the side of her mouth. “It’s like destiny just vomited all over you.”
That was an apt description.
“You two should catch up,” Molly suggested. “Since you’re both in the same town.”
Don’t do it, Molly. Don’t go there. I don’t want that.
“That’d be great.” Cassidy chucked Gavin on the shoulder.
Okay, well, that was more awkward than the side hug for Molly. All three of them looked to where Cassidy’s fist had bounced off his shoulder.
“I should go, though. Another time,” Cassidy said. “Good to see you, Gavin. Really. Great to see you.”
