Molly's head was spinning. It was really happening, the promotion to GM could be hers if she wanted it! "I'd have to get back to you, but about a month I think."
"Okay, we can work with that. Call me to confirm in the next few days, and congrats! You deserve this."
"Thank you," Molly said softly, and hung up the phone in a daze.
"Everything okay?" Dan asked, and Molly jumped. She'd totally forgotten that he was there. She wondered how much of the conversation he'd overheard, and tried to recall what she'd actually said.
"You know, I think you're really good for my brother." Dan said with a serious look on his face. "I've never seen him this relaxed and happy." Then he added, "Don't mean to keep you, I know you need to run."
Molly didn't even know how to respond, so she just grabbed her bag and ran.
***
"So, I sort of overheard something this morning," Dan began, as he and Christian headed off to Rose Cottage for the wine dinner. "I debated whether or not to say anything because it's really none of my business, but then I figured if it was me, I'd want to know."
"What are you talking about?" Christian asked, as he focused on avoiding a pot hole as they drove onto the main road.
"I think Molly got a job offer this morning. I overheard her on the phone and she seemed so excited for a minute, like she won the lottery or something. Said something about earliest she could get there was in a month, and she'd have to get back to them in a few days."
Christian said nothing in response.
"Listen, I'm not stupid, I can see that you're crazy about her. I just thought you should know, that you guys should talk, figure it out. It'd be nice if she stayed."
"Yeah, that would be nice." Christian agreed in a clipped tone.
"Just talk to her."
Chapter 16
Molly was in a panic. Her guests were due to arrive in about ten minutes and Janie Summers, the caterer, was lying flat on her back. Everything had gone so well up until this point. She'd done a great job marketing the wine dinner, and there was a ton of interest. All thirty tickets had quickly sold out and there was already a waiting list for the next dinner. They'd picked out a fabulous menu and exquisite wines to match. Everything was going so smoothly, until Janie passed out cold in the kitchen.
Molly pressed a cool cloth against her forehead and within seconds her eyes fluttered open.
"Janie, are you okay? Can you sit up?"
"I think so." She sat up slowly.
"What happened? Do you want us to call 911?"
"No! No need for that. I'm just a little lightheaded. I feel like I'm fighting something off and really haven't eaten much of anything all day; I’ve no appetite."
Molly felt her forehead again, the area that the cold cloth hadn't touched, and was immediately concerned.
"Janie, you're burning up!"
Aunt Betty and Molly's mother were hovering nearby, and Aunt Betty piped up, "Two of the regulars at the Morning Muffin have been out with the flu, it's going around."
"We need to get you home," Molly said.
"I can't leave you stranded," Janie protested weakly.
"Mom, can you and Aunt Betty give Janie a ride home?"
"We'll be right back to help you," her mother said, as she and Aunt Betty helped Janie out.
Molly looked around the kitchen, panicking inside, and trying hard not to show it. Janie's assistants, the three young girls who would be serving drinks and dinner tonight, stood wide-eyed, waiting for direction.
Molly took a deep breath. She could do this. Janie had gone through the schedule with her and much of the work was already done. The appetizers had been made ahead of time and just needed to be reheated, the side dishes of mashed potatoes and caramelized Brussels sprouts were already baking in the oven and the salads were plated and lined up on the kitchen counter ready to be delivered. But, Molly still had to cook the first course, which was sautéed scallops over risotto, and the main course which was a lazy lobster casserole. She had actually asked Janie to make that dish and had given her the recipe to follow. It was one of Molly's favorites, something she'd made a million times and should be able to do in her sleep.
She started on the risotto first, as that would take about a half hour, and then the scallops would be just a few minutes in a hot pan. The risotto itself was simple, just time consuming as you had to keep an eye on it and stir the broth in a little bit at a time, so that the end result would be rich and creamy. Once she got the risotto started, she then turned to the lobster casserole. It was relatively simple. All the dish required was fresh lobster, crushed Ritz crackers, butter, chopped fresh parsley and a drizzle of sherry to finish. Before she fainted, Janie had just taken several large bags of freshly shucked lobster meat out of the refrigerator. They sat waiting on the counter top. Molly got busy filling several large trays full of the lobster, then mixed in the crumbs, butter and parsley. A drizzle of sherry, and they were ready to go into the oven when she pulled the side dishes out.
By the time her mother and aunt returned, the risotto was finished, and the girls had served several rounds of drinks and passed hot appetizers. When they brought out the salads, Molly started searing the scallops. The key was to make sure they were completely dry before putting them in the hot pan with a bit of olive oil and butter. Dry scallops ensured a nicely browned crust. Once all the scallops were cooked, she added a bit of minced shallot, white wine and a generous amount of butter. She let it all cook down quickly into a velvety sauce, then stirred in a little fresh thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Then she began plating them, by spooning a circle of sauce on the dish, then set two scallops in the middle and added a garnish of slivered parsley on top.
When her mother and Aunt Betty returned to the kitchen, Molly told them she had things under control and they should go enjoy their dinners too. The girls did a great job serving and cleared the plates and once the main course was served without incident, Molly started to relax. The only thing left was dessert, which was Janie's special cheesecake topped with a decadent cherry bourbon sauce. The cheesecake was chilling in the refrigerator and the sauce was on a low simmer. Molly was just about done plating the cheesecakes when Christian walked into the kitchen.
"Hi." She was surprised to see him. "Is everything going okay out there?"
Christian looked around the kitchen, there was no one there but Molly.
"I just came to say hello, and see how you are doing. Where's Janie?"
"Mom and Aunt Betty took her home right before everyone got here. She came down with something."
Christian still looked confused. "But who did everything then?"
"Well, Janie did most of the work before she left. I just finished up."
"She did all the cooking before we got here?"
"That was me, the scallops and lobster dishes," she admitted, and couldn't help asking, "were they okay?"
"Are you kidding? They were amazing. I knew you could cook, but that was really something." Christian looked so impressed and Molly felt a thrill of accomplishment. As stressed out as she'd been with Janie gone, she was now on a bit of a high that it was over and had gone well, and she'd really enjoyed doing it.
Molly knew she needed to talk to Christian, though, as soon as possible, to see if they were on the same page, and if he wanted their relationship to continue once they hit the six month mark. She'd thought about little else all day and had realized that a long-distance relationship would never work. Manhattan was too far away and the GM job too all-consuming. She'd thought about a lot of different scenarios, but the only one that really made her feel a sense of peace and happiness was being here, in Montana with Christian. Although the GM job had once been her dream, the thought of being in Manhattan, alone, just didn't hold the appeal that it once had. She hoped that Christian wanted her to stay. In her heart, she felt that he did, but she worried that she might be fooling herself. After all, Isabella had once thought that she and Christian were on the same page too.
Molly had very tentatively asked Christian where he thought things were going with them, as they were only a month away from the all- important six month deadline. She hadn't said a thing about Ben's phone call or the promotion, because she'd decided to stay in Montana instead, if Christian would have her.
"But what if I want to stay instead?" Her voice shook a little as she asked the question, and she was suddenly feeling unsure of Christian's feelings. Could she have misread him so completely?
"Dan told me about your phone call this morning. Sounds like congratulations are in order." His tone was dull and flat as he continued to sip his drink. Molly's heart sank; she should have told him earlier.
"Yes, I got the promotion. But maybe I want to stay here instead? Do you want me to stay?" Because that was what she really needed to know. How did Christian feel about her?
"I think you should go back to Manhattan," he repeated.
"You don't want me to stay, even if I want to?" Molly felt hot tears spring up and turned away to collect herself.
Christian set his glass down and then wrapped his arms around her in what felt like a good-bye hug.
"I don't have a very good track record," he began. "I've loved being with you." His voice broke a little as he continued, "But I can't guarantee anything long-term. I can't have you give up your dream job for me. What if it doesn't work out?"
"We could try having a long-distance relationship?" Molly pleaded.
"That could never work," he said simply and let her go.
"No, I suppose not," she said softly, and then walked out of the den, dumped the rest of her wine in the kitchen sink, and went to bed, alone.
The next month was brutal. Christian kept his distance and worked late almost every night, and when he got home, he went straight into his den and shut the door, so they hardly saw each other. Molly tried to focus on Rose Cottage, and added another wine dinner after the one that was already scheduled. She needed the extra work to keep her busy and help pass the time, which seemed to be crawling along at a painfully slow pace. She'd waited a day before calling Ben to formally accept the GM role, just in case Christian came to his senses and changed his mind, but that didn't happen.
***
Molly was on her second cup of coffee and kept an eye on the clock; she needed to head to the inn to start breakfast service soon. She was about to take her last sip when Mrs. O'Brien walked in the door, a bit earlier than usual.
"Good morning," Molly said half-heartedly.
Mrs. O'Brien set her bag down, and then poured herself a coffee and joined Molly at the island bar.
"I was hoping to catch you before you headed out the door."
"Is everything all right?"
"Everything is fine with me. But I'm worried about you and Christian. The two of you have been moping around for weeks."
"I'm heading back to Manhattan soon."
"You took that job, the promotion at the hotel?"
Molly nodded. She barely had the energy to talk these days.
"What does Christian say about this?"
"It was his idea, once he heard about the offer. I told him I wanted to stay, but he told me to go." Mrs. O'Brien pursed her lips and frowned at that, then took a long sip of coffee.
"He told me the truth about your arrangement, you know. The day after you and I met. It's a good thing you did for all of us."
Molly just smiled miserably, fighting back the tears once again.
"It's more than that, though, isn't it? The two of you fell in love, anyone can see that."
Molly sighed. "I thought so, but it seems like I was wrong."
"He'll come to his senses. Just give him some time."
"I'm running out of time. I fly back in a week."
"He'll come around." Mrs. O'Brien seemed sure of it, but Molly had her doubts.
The next week was a whirlwind, as Molly had hired a woman that Traci had recommended to manage the inn while she was in Manhattan, and spent her last week in Beauville training her on how they did things. Ann Rivers had worked at a motel in Bozeman for several years before having children. After being a full-time mom for almost ten years, she was ready to return to the work-force. Molly’s mother and aunt had volunteered to handle everything, but Molly didn't want to put that much on their shoulders. Instead, she asked them to continue working a shift each and to mentor Ann, and continue baking as much as they'd like.
The night before she was due to fly back to Manhattan, she went to her mother's house for dinner.
"I really don't see why the two of you couldn't work this out. Plenty of people do the long-distance thing these days," Aunt Betty said, as she opened a second bottle of Merlot and topped off their glasses. They were sitting around the kitchen table, full from her mother's lasagna and had been chatting away for several hours.
Molly sighed and took another sip of wine. They'd had this conversation or some variation of it several times over the past few weeks. "I actually agree with you. Christian doesn't though. He says he doesn't want to hold me back from my dream job."
"As much as I'd like to see you stay, honey, I understand Christian's feelings on this too," her mother said. "If he really loves you, he wouldn't want to stand in your way. This is the job you've been working towards for years."
"But, I told him I wouldn't take it, that I wanted to stay." Molly felt completely empty inside.
"Sure you did, and I know you would have. But you'd also be giving up your dream. That's a lot to ask of someone, and a big weight on his shoulders if for some reason things didn't work out. He might be afraid you'd always wonder what could have been."
"So, what do I do?" Molly felt the tears welling up again. She should be thrilled to be starting her new job, but instead she was stressed out and utterly miserable. Her mother reached over, took her hand and squeezed it gently.
"You go back to Manhattan and you start that great new job, and you enjoy every minute of it. I firmly believe, and always have, that things happen for a reason and if something is meant to be, it will be. Maybe your Mr. Right is in Manhattan and you just haven't met him yet. You never know."
"You're right." Molly admitted, though the very last thing she was interested in was meeting someone new. She forced herself to smile and to look on the bright side. "Maybe the two of you will have to come to Manhattan soon for a visit; you're both long over-due."
"Absolutely!" Aunt Betty agreed with enthusiasm. "We’ll have a girls’ weekend. We'll start thinking about when to come and what to do. We'll have to see a show of course, and go visit the usual suspects in Brooklyn, and shop. It will be fun to play tourist with you."
"Call us as soon as your plane lands, honey." Her mother always insisted that Molly call to let her know she arrived safely whenever she traveled.
"Of course. I'm really going miss you both." Molly admitted. It had been wonderful spending so much time with her family. She was really going to miss that.
"Oh, honey, you'll be too busy to miss us! And we'll be there to bother you before you know it." Aunt Betty gave her a big hug, and then Molly hugged her mother as well and said her goodbyes. Her flight was at 6 am the next morning, and she wanted to be at the airport for 5.
Christian drove her to the airport the next day. It was still dark out as they drove, and neither one of them spoke much. There wasn't anything left to say. The sun was just starting to come up as they pulled into the airport parking lot. Christian grabbed her bags and walked her over to the curbside check-in. Molly checked her bags and then went to say good-bye to Christian. He stood waiting and, as Molly walked toward him, he held his arms open and pulled her in for a hug.
"Have a safe flight. Good luck with the new job!" He smiled and tried to look cheerfu
l, but failed miserably. Molly could see the sadness in his eyes.
"I'm really going to miss you," she said and her voice broke.
Christian pulled her closer and touched his lips to hers for a moment. Molly sank into the kiss and he hesitated, and then kissed her back with everything that he had. Finally, he pulled back and simply said, "I'd better let you go catch your plane."
Chapter 17
"My dear Molly, we are just so thrilled that you're back." Mrs. Foyle and her little dog Daisy were on their way to tea when Molly ran into them in The Clarendon's lobby.
"Thank you! I'm very happy to be here."
"Oh, and dear, congratulations. Your promotion is very well deserved."
Molly thanked Mrs. Foyle again, and watched as the old lady swept out to her waiting town car. The Clarendon had several of these vehicles available for their guests on a first-come, first-served basis, and Mrs. Foyle had a standing reservation nearly every afternoon.
Molly was settling in nicely to the new role. Ben had stayed for several weeks to help transition her into her new responsibilities before he moved on to his new position heading up one of their newer properties. He was based just a few miles away and easily available by phone if she had any questions. So far, she hadn't though. The new role wasn't all that different from what she'd been doing as assistant GM; she just had more decision making and trouble-shooting to do, which suited her well.
One nice thing about the role was that it kept her very busy. She was putting in extra time as well, at least in the first few weeks, to get up to speed and to have something else to focus on. By the time she got home from work on most evenings, she was too tired to do much more than fall into bed. She'd only talked to Christian once since she'd been back. He’d called at exactly the one month mark, to say hello and see how things were going. She'd simply told him everything was great, that the job was going well. She left out the fact that she'd cried herself to sleep for the first week. Their conversation had been brief and both had promised to keep in touch, but it was going on three months now and she hadn't heard from Christian again, nor had she called him. She was looking forward to this weekend though, as her mother and aunt were arriving on Saturday and staying until Tuesday. Molly had arranged to take Sunday and Monday night off, so they could spend some time together.
Six Months in Montana (Montana Sweet Western Romance Series) Page 13