This was too much to take in. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t put that on me. I’m not you. I’m not going to do what you did. I don’t want this headache.”
“I know you won’t be like me. You’ll let them all be happy.”
He threw his other hand up. “Then why not change now? Why not just hand it all over, even change your will to say that?”
“Because they’d think I’d lost my mind. They have an opinion of me and they aren’t going to change it. They blame you for me being harder on them. This will take all the blame off you.”
“I don’t care about that,” he said. Maybe he did years ago, but he had a new life now and couldn’t give two shits what anyone in his family thought of it.
All he cared about was that his son was happy and healthy.
And Molly and what she thought. Which meant he was going to have to come clean with her when he got back.
“You might not, but I do.”
“It doesn’t matter because you’ll be fine and can start giving everyone shit tomorrow when you wake up.”
“I hope you’re right, Dean.”
“You’re stubborn enough to make it so.”
31
MEGA BUCKS
Molly hoped she was doing the right thing.
She’d wanted to go with Dean and be there for him. She’d offered and he’d said no. But wouldn’t he appreciate her being there anyway?
She thought so, so she took the day off and drove to New York on Friday morning.
He’d told her the hospital his grandfather was in, so she went straight there. All she knew was Dean’s grandfather’s surgery was scheduled for nine and it’d be several hours. It was just eleven now so she was hoping he’d be there.
After getting directions at the front desk, she made her way to the waiting room only to find out Dean wasn’t there. She was going to have to call him; otherwise, she’d have to find a hotel room. So much for having a grand entrance to show him she was there for him. She was starting to wonder if this was a bad idea.
It’s not like she could ask anyone in the waiting room if they were Dean’s family. Well, she could, but she wouldn’t.
She was just walking out in the hallway, moving off to the side to call him when she heard her name. “Molly? What are you doing here?”
He was standing there looking like he hadn’t slept in days. His short hair was a mess, his fingers most likely running through it. He had a coffee in his hand and looked to be turning down a different hallway.
“I wanted to surprise you,” she said. “I know you said you didn’t need me to come, but I wanted you to know I was here for you.”
He hesitated a few steps, then came forward. “I knew you’d be there for me, but you didn’t have to take time off work and drive here.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You do things like this when you love someone.”
He leaned his head down and put his lips to hers. “Thank you.”
“Dean, who is this?”
She felt him stiffen, then turn and put his arm around her waist. “Mom, this is Molly Clarke, my girlfriend. Molly, my mother, Elizabeth Easton.”
“You never said you were dating anyone, Dean.”
“It hasn’t come up and I’m here for Grandpa.”
Dean’s mother looked her over as if she were examining a purchase. “Willow doesn’t know, does she? She never said a word.”
