Molly Darling

by Laurie Paige

  “Think about it,” Chuck advised, sympathy in his gaze, his manner serious once more.

  That his attorney looked upon the threat from his father-in-law with misgivings scared Sam even more than the scenarios he’d already formed in his own mind. To lose Lass, the one good thing in his life… It didn’t bear thinking about.

  “Yeah, right.” Sam headed for the door after giving his lawyer and friend a wave.

  Downstairs, he sat in his truck, his brain in a whirl of half thoughts and plans. It was Wednesday. He’d called Molly and told her he was coming in for lunch today and would take Lass for her doctor’s appointment afterward. She’d sounded pleased.

  He tried to picture marriage to her. The image wouldn’t come. She was Lass’s teacher, a nice, neat, sort of preachy little woman, but not his type.

  Although she did have the most marvelous eyes-gray and lucid, like a mist off the mountain.

  He paused and envisioned those cool eyes gazing up at him in the heat of passion. To his surprise, his body stirred. Well, hell, he wasn’t dead, after all, but… marriage?

  It was the last thing he wanted to think about. Besides, why would she want a down-at-the-heels rancher and another woman’s kid to take care of? Shaking his head, he turned the key and headed for the church.

  Marriage? Surely there was another way.

  “I couldn’t believe it when my mother told me you were there with Sam Frazier,” Tiffany said. She rolled her big blue eyes heavenward before focusing on her boss once more.

  Molly and Tiffany were resting while the children ate their lunch. It was one of the few quiet times they had during the day and a welcome break for them.

  Molly swallowed a bite of turkey sandwich, then turned to her helper. “What’s so odd about it? He took me to dinner because he was late again and wanted to get back in my good graces. After all, we run the best nursery school in the state.”

  Her smile was composed and calm. Over the past five days, she’d reasoned away the fantasies induced by the dinner…and the strange desire to kiss his neck and snuggle her face in the black springy hairs showing above the V of his shirt collar.

  “Well, of course we do,” Tiffany said in a “that goes without saying” tone. “It’s just that…well, watch out for him is all I can tell you. I’ve heard things…” Her voice trailed off in warning.

  “What things?” Molly took another bite of sandwich.

  “About him and his wife.” Tiffany stared into the middle distance with a frown of concentration. “I went to school with Elise Tisdale.”

  Molly wanted to ask a hundred questions about the woman, but she refrained. It wasn’t any of her business.

  “She was very popular. You know how some girls have this way about them, as if they were born knowing everything? She was like that—knowing and sexy and beautiful.”

  She would be, Molly thought, refusing to let the information send her into the doldrums.

  “In a wild sort of way.” Tiffany finished her comments thoughtfully.

  “Oh?”

  “She skipped school a lot and was sort of, like radical, if you know what I mean.”

  “Actually I don’t,” Molly said, avid with curiosity about the woman he’d married.- She imagined him looking at his wife in that sweet, fierce, loving way he showed only to his child.

  “She hated anyone telling her what to do. Sometimes she’d do things—chew gum in class, smoke in the rest room—just to show the teachers she could. And she always drove like the devil was on her heels. The rest of us admired and envied her. We wanted to be like her, but few of us had her daring.”

  “I always obeyed the rules,” Molly admitted.

  “Me, too.” Tiffany sighed. “I guess we were a couple of stick-in-the-muds. Or is it sticks-in-the-mud?”

  “Either way you’re probably right.” Molly met her friend’s eyes, and they both laughed. “There are worse things to be, I’m sure.”

  “Yeah, but nobody’s thought of ‘em yet. I would have given my eyeteeth to be the daring, devil-may-care person Elise was. It was such a shock when I heard she’d died. She wasn’t even my friend, but it was like a light going out. I mean, she’d been so vibrant and all. I couldn’t imagine anything snuffing out that spark of… of wildness she possessed.’’

  “I understand,” Molly said, remembering the girls like that in her own high school and college classes. They were self-assured, their stride confident as they whizzed through life and love, doing what they wanted, often getting by on charm.

  Molly’d been smart, but then she’d always loved books and reading. She was a natural as a student, given her quiet, reserved ways. She wasn’t a great beauty and wit like her mother, who’d been the most popular girl in her class.

  “We all have different talents and virtues,” she added for Tiffany’s sake. “You’re wonderful with the children.”

  “Because you’ve taught me so much. Every child we accept seems to be a genius after six months under your care. I don’t know how you do it.”

  “It isn’t me. I merely try to bring out the child’s natural curiosity and channel it.” She stopped and sighed. “Don’t get me started. You know how I am.”

  Tiffany nodded and rolled her eyes again. “Do I ever!”

  They were still smiling when Sam Frazier walked in the door. “I came for lunch,” he announced.

  Sam felt like a fool. It was obvious he was way too late for the meal. The kids had eaten and were napping now. The two teachers were finished, too.

  “Looks like I’m too late,” he muttered, trying to get himself out of this gracefully. “Actually I came to take Lass to the doctor.”

  Molly stood. “You’re not too late. We’re having turkey sandwiches today. Would you like one or two?”

  “Uh, one.” He took his hat off and stood in front of the door, not sure what to do.

  “Join us,” the other woman invited, indicating a seat at the desk.

  “Thanks, Tiffany.” He glanced toward the swing where Lass slept peacefully, then looked at Molly.

  “I’ll only be a minute,” she told him, giving him a pleasant smile. She hurried to a little alcove at the side of the room and began preparing a lunch for him.

  He hung his hat on a hook and took the regular-size chair behind the desk. The rest of the chairs in the room were scaled for the children, including the two Molly and the other teacher used. He was glad he didn’t have to sit in one of those. He’d have probably broken it.

  Feeling like an oversize Goldilocks, he settled into the chair and watched Molly’s efficient moves. She wore calf-length gray slacks that were full like a skirt and a red sweater. She looked as chipper as a robin.

  With the overhead light shining on her face, he noticed how smooth and delicate her complexion was. A man would have to be careful not to mar that skin when they made love. He looked away.

  The other teacher was watching him with open curiosity. He felt the heat creep up his neck. She frowned as she glanced from Molly to him. A subtle shifting of her features indicated her suspicions of his motives.

  Ha, if she only knew what his attorney had proposed, she’d probably be warning Molly away from him at that very moment!

  He gave the woman a slow, deliberately bland smile that didn’t tell her a thing. He didn’t care what the people of the town thought of him. He’d written them off years ago when no one, including his mother, had believed his stepfather was stealing from the ranch.

  No, he wasn’t going to marry again. He couldn’t believe he’d even considered it. He’d tried once and it had been pure hell for the most part.

  However, he figured if he was seen with Molly, if people realized they were friends and she trusted him, well, that ought to be as good as marrying, but without the complications.

  When Molly returned, he thanked her for the meal as she set a plate containing a turkey sandwich and various vegetable sticks before him. There were also three potato chips.

  “That’s all th
at were left,” she said apologetically.

  “It’s plenty. Sorry to barge in on you so late.”

  “No problem. I’m delighted that you could join us. We usually eat around eleven-thirty since the children are hungry by then.” She placed a paper cup of lemonade by his plate.

  He was reminded of his elementary days at a country school near the ranch. They’d had to carry their lunches since the school didn’t have a cafeteria.

  Glancing at Molly, his thoughts traveled far from his own school days. He’d caught a whiff of some light cologne when she’d leaned forward to place his meal on the desk. Suddenly he wanted to nuzzle along her neck and discover exactly where she dabbed the floral scent.

  Damn Chuck for his crazy ideas!

  He forced his attention to the sandwich, which had cranberry sauce rather than mayonnaise spread over the bread. It moistened the turkey and added a tangy taste to the meal.

  “This is good,” he told Molly.

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  Her smile was one of approval, and he experienced a surge of pride as if he’d done something especially nice in complimenting her on the food.

  He noticed her teeth were very straight. Probably braces as a kid. Everything about her bespoke neatness and wholesomeness, of the mind as well as the body. She’d probably be shocked at some of his thoughts.

  “Lass was very good this morning, but she’ll probably be cranky this afternoon,” Molly told him.

  He looked at her in question.

  “She’ll have the last of her shots today and may run a fever as a result. Ask the doctor about giving her some baby acetaminophen when you put her to bed tonight.”

  “I will,” he promised. He cleared his throat, then glanced at Tiffany.

  She immediately rose. “I’ve…um, got things to do.” She disappeared into a room at the back of the school.

  Sam finished the lemonade and cleared his throat. “Would you like to go to a movie Friday night?”

  Molly gave him a blank look and didn’t answer.

  He tried again. “Over in Roswell there’s a movie that got good reviews. It’s about a teacher in Australia. I thought you might like it.”

  “Well, actually I have plans. The literary club is having a potluck dinner at my house. A local writer is going to be our speaker. Would you like to attend?”

  “Yes.”

  She seemed taken aback at his quick acceptance. He was a little shocked, too, he realized. But if they were to become friends, it was a beginning. Satisfied that his plan was in progress, he smiled.

  So did she.

  Her mouth trembled a bit at the corners. He noticed her lips were evenly balanced between the upper and lower one and that her mouth was a little wide. Her face reminded him of a cat with its small, pointed chin and flaring cheekbones.

  He wanted to taste her, to see if her lips were as soft as they looked…

  “It’s at six-thirty. You don’t have to bring anything. I mean, I’ll have plenty. I’m going to bake a ham.”

  “That sounds good.” He stood. “I guess I’d better get Lass on down to the doctor’s office. I hate to wake her, though.”

  He retrieved his daughter from the swing. She opened her eyes, grinned at him, then laid her head on his shoulder and went back to sleep. He felt the familiar tug in his chest at her trust in him.

  Molly held the door for him to go out. “Are you going to bring Lass back this afternoon?”

  “If you don’t mind. I have some errands in town. I thought I would do those this afternoon, then pick her up when I finish.”

  “That will be fine.”

  She closed the door after him. After strapping Lass into her seat, he glanced back at the nursery. Molly stood at the door, watching him with a curious expression on her face. He wondered what she was thinking. Probably questioning his motives in asking her out Friday night.

  He leapt into the truck and drove off. For the first time in months, he felt something like peace inside. With Molly as his friend, he and Lass would be okay. Friday night he would start a campaign to become the very best friend she’d ever had.

  Molly frowned at the empty road. Sam Frazier was late. She sighed and settled into the rocking chair.

  “This little piggy went to market,” she said, wiggling Lass’s fingers as she quoted the nursery rhyme.

  The baby gurgled with laughter when she finished with an exaggerated “wee-wee-wee all the way home.”

  “Ah, what a doll you are,” she murmured.

  Sometimes when she thought of being thirty-two and not being married, regret would set in. She felt a flutter of it now. She might never have a child, never hold a baby of her own, never have the warm companionship her parents shared so joyfully.

  She hadn’t thought of the future in those terms in a long time. Until recently. Until Sam and Lass Frazier had come into her life.

  Recalling Tiffany’s description of Sam’s late wife, she smiled at her musings. While she wasn’t a knockout, a couple of men had been interested in her in college, but there’d been no spark. No male had ever enticed her into the mating dance.

  She wasn’t the only one. Twenty-two percent of the American population never married, if she remembered the statistics correctly. Wedded bliss didn’t appeal to everyone. She’d chosen her own path, and most of the time she was content.

  The wind blew around the corner of the building, a mournful sound that brought the hair up on the back of her neck.

  Where was Sam Frazier?

  He arrived at ten to six, rushing in on a gust of wind, looking handsomely disheveled. He removed his hat and smoothed his hair. “Sorry. My errands took longer than I expected. I brought Chinese.” He held out a white bag.

  His grin was so engaging, Molly found she couldn’t stay mad at him. “If that’s an apology, I accept. I’m starved.”

  “Me, too.” He spread the feast on the desk, then took Lass while Molly washed her hands and was seated.

  “I fed Lass her supper at five-thirty,” she told him. She spread a “busy” mat on the floor that had mirrors and rattles attached to it. “Put her on the mat. She likes to play there.”

  He put the baby on her stomach and watched her tug at a huge button before putting it in her mouth for a taste. Molly watched the play of emotion. in his eyes before he turned to her.

  She let him have the teacher’s chair while she sat on a tall stool. He loaded up a paper plate with chow mein, fried rice and a chicken dish, then handed it to her.

  “No sweet-and-sour pork or Mandarin beef,” he said pointedly. “I remember you ate chicken last week and frowned upon my steak.”

  She was embarrassed at being so obvious. “I didn’t realize I looked so disapproving.”

  “Very schoolmarmish,” he told her solemnly. His eyes filled with amusement, and she realized he was teasing.

  It was so startling, like standing by a statue that suddenly started speaking. “You have a sense of humor,” she exclaimed.

  He nodded and swallowed before speaking. “I guess I haven’t been very cheerful lately. Things have been tough.”

  “On the ranch?”

  “Well, there, too, but mostly with my father-in-law.”

  Molly shifted uncomfortably, recalling Tiffany’s gossip about his deceased wife. She gave him a sympathetic smile.

  He seemed to take that as encouragement. “He thinks he’d be better at taking care of Lass than I am.”

  She was shocked. “I don’t. Lass is one of the happiest, healthiest babies I’ve ever seen.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that.” He ate in silence for a minute, then looked up at her from under the dark slashes of his eyebrows in that intriguing way he had. “Would you say it in court if we needed you to?”

  She stared at him, wondering if there was trouble here that she didn’t know about. Slowly she nodded.

  “Would you?” He pressed on, his gaze intensifying.

  “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’
t think it true.”

  He heaved a sigh of relief. “It won’t come to court, not if I can prevent it, but my attorney suggested I line up my best shots. Just in case.”

  “Of course.”

  His eyes took on a warmth she’d never seen in them. They seemed to deepen as he stared into her eyes as if looking into the farthest recesses of her soul. She sat very still.

  “Has Mr. Tisdale tried to take Lass from you?” she asked.

  “He’s working on it. He has a private detective following me around.” Sam shook his head. “As if I wouldn’t realize it. Around here, the man stands out like a crow among sparrows.”

  She laughed at his comparison. “Both of which are nuisance birds,” she said pointedly. “Is that your opinion of people in general or the ones around here in particular?”

  He smiled, and she was enchanted.

  “Not all people,” he murmured. “Some people are okay.” He looked straight at her. “Very much okay.”

  Flutters raced from her throat to her stomach and back. Heavens, if she felt this way at an implied compliment, she’d probably faint if he so much as touched her…if he kissed her.

  She drew back from the idea. A couple of dinners together did not constitute a raging affair. At best, maybe a tepid friendship. All right, a growing friendship, she decided, liking the way his eyes kept going to her lips when she spoke.

  He wanted to kiss her. She was certain of it. Well, almost certain. He was staring at her mouth.

  Which meant she probably had a grain of rice sticking to her lip. She wiped her mouth with a napkin.

  “The groundhog saw his shadow, so we’ll have six more weeks of winter,” he told her. “Personally I’m ready for some sun and balmy skies. I’ve been mending fences so I can move the cattle to new pasture. It’s hell working outside in a cold rain.”

  “You need a warmer coat. I’ve noticed you never wear anything heavier than that denim jacket.” She pressed her lips firmly together and shut up. She didn’t need to lecture him as if she were his mother.

  “I wear a ski jacket and a rain slicker on the ranch. They’re too bulky in the truck, so I switch to come to town.”