by Gail Sattler
“You could do this, you know, even with one hand.”
“Naw,” he mumbled. “I’d prefer you to do it for me.”
Molly choked on her mouthful.
Ken rapidly shook his head. “I didn’t mean I want you to cook for me. I meant that I enjoy your company and that includes mealtime. I’d cook for you if I could. In fact, when I’m out of the cast, I’d love to cook a meal for you.” If that’s what it took, he’d do anything.
She mumbled something he couldn’t hear, and he didn’t dare ask her to repeat herself.
Fortunately he managed to steer the conversation after that to less personal territory. After dinner, he would have liked to help her do the dishes but didn’t want to take the chance of dropping anything. Rather than allow him to watch her clean up the kitchen, Molly shooed him into the living room. He heard everything getting piled into the sink, and before he knew it, she joined him on the futon.
With a flick of the remote, she turned on the television, and they enjoyed a few programs, interspersed with much conversation. The domesticity of it all appealed to him, and he wanted more.
Now to figure out how he was going to achieve that.
Chapter 13
Molly studied the spreadsheet on her computer, then wrote down a few notes so she could remember how she’d figured out her latest entry. She knotted her eyebrows as she studied the endless statistical data, absently winding the pencil through her hair as she read. She was so lost in thought that when the phone at her elbow rang, she jumped. The pencil tangled in her hair, and when she pulled it out, it caught in her earring. A ping clicked in her ear as the earring unfastened and flew into the air. The pieces bounced off the edge of the desk, fell to the floor, and rolled under her desk.
“Molly speaking. May I help you?” she mumbled into the phone as she tried to see where her earring had gone. “Hmmm,” she mumbled as she tipped her head to the side, trying to look under her desk at the same time as she listened to Janice’s questions. “It’s in the second drawer in the folder marked ‘Correspondence.’ Yeah. You’re welcome. Bye.”
The second she hung up, she pushed her chair back, bent at the waist, and continued to check farther underneath the desk. She found the main piece of the earring easily, but the small back fastener was nowhere to be seen. A small glint caught her eye, so she dropped to her hands and knees and crawled under her desk to retrieve the missing piece. It ended up being only a broken shard of something she couldn’t identify, but since she was already on the floor, she remained under the desk to try to locate it. Not only were they her favorite earrings, they were a gift from Gwen.
Voices drifted from above the desk as footsteps approached. “Surprise, surprise. They’re both gone again.”
“And it isn’t even lunchtime.”
“Why do some women have all the luck? What’s she got that I ain’t got?”
“Ken Quinlan, that’s what.”
“How in the world did she do it?”
“Take a guess, Francine.”
The first woman made a disgusted sound and made a rather rude comment. The voices faded as the women walked away.
Cautiously, Molly backed up, slowly raising her head inch by inch to scan the area to see if anyone noticed her. Everyone in the vicinity sat with their noses glued to their work, so she rose as nonchalantly as she could and sat back in her chair.
Did people really think something was going on between her and Ken?
His chair was empty, but she heard his voice coming from Mr. Quinlan’s office.
She hadn’t tried to hide the fact that he’d taken her out for lunch on a number of occasions, but she was mortified to hear that the rumor mill had reared its ugly head to make more of things than really happened.
The last thing she wanted was to damage Ken’s reputation, or her own. In the future, she would make sure they were not gone at the same time so people with overactive imaginations could no longer weave their tall tales. Naturally she liked Ken. But to think she had any claims on him was ludicrous.
The first time she’d had the mistaken impression that his interest might be other than friendship was the weekend he’d kissed her. As pleasant as it was, afterward he’d obviously thought twice about it, because the next day at work, he’d distinctly told her their relationship would be strictly business except for Bible or church-related stuff. If he had considered anything other than friendship, it had taken only one day to change his mind.
For a few minutes on Monday she’d wondered what was going on in his head when she caught him watching her with that sappy grin on his face. But when he appeared at her doorstep to get his tie, he had only sightseeing on his mind and that was fine with her.
Yesterday, after spilling his guts about his dreams for finding the ideal woman, she knew that what he felt for her was strictly a platonic friendship, otherwise he wouldn’t have said such personal things.
When Ken returned to his desk with an armful of papers, Molly took the opportunity to dig out some files she needed from the back room. For the rest of the day, she made sure when she needed something, even if it was only a piece of paper, she fetched it when Ken was busy at his desk, so people could see she wasn’t with him. Also, when Ken was gone, she made sure that she spent as much time as she could in plain view of as many people as she could, right at her own desk.
All day long, Ken had the feeling something was wrong. Many times he’d caught Molly sneaking little glances at him, watching him but never saying anything. He would get completely immersed in his work, and then the next time he would look up, she would be gone. If he left to do something, when he got back, there she was, as if she’d been there all along. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was avoiding him.
The thought terrified him.
The worst part was that he didn’t know what he’d done wrong. Sure, he’d laughed at her obsession with shoes, but that was days ago, and besides, he didn’t think that was something worth getting the cold shoulder over. He wanted to ascertain what was wrong. She’d been fine for most of the morning, but at some point, something changed.
He had to find out what it was.
By the time the work day came to an end, he was a nervous wreck. Sure enough, Molly appeared back at the desk just long enough to tidy up her mess. He saw her open the drawer for her purse, ready to leave. Without him. He couldn’t let the sun go down on her anger. Or whatever it was that was bothering her.
“Molly? Could I see you for a minute please? In private?”
Her hand froze, she yanked her purse out of the drawer, slammed it shut, and hugged the purse to her body like a shield. “Now?” Her eyes darted around the room, as if she was searching for someone or something.
Which only confirmed that something was terribly wrong.
“I’m kind of in a rush. Can’t you just tell me here?”
His heart clenched. “No. Can you come into Uncle Walter’s office?”
Again, she looked skittishly around the room. He felt sick. If he’d done anything to hurt or frighten her, he’d never forgive himself.
He stood tall and walked into his uncle’s office, and Molly eventually followed. At a distance. He motioned to the two chairs and closed the door. She remained standing, her posture rigid.
“Molly, please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong.”
Rather than contradict her, he tried to act calm and wait her out. His stomach clenched when she avoided looking directly at him.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Have you picked up on any of the rumors yet?”
“No, I haven’t.” Relief washed through him. If all that happened was that word was starting to circulate about him being named vice president or taking over Uncle Walter’s presidency in five years, then he’d worried for nothing. Even though they didn’t want anyone to know until the official announcement was made, he knew that in large organizations sometimes information leaked out. He no longer c
ared, as long as nothing was wrong between himself and Molly. He wished he could understand why the news had affected her so much that she was now avoiding him, but at least it was something he could deal with. “So?”
“So we shouldn’t be going out for lunch so often.”
He failed to see why not. Most high-ranking executives with controlling interest had personal secretaries or assistants, and they often lunched together.
“And it’s getting worse, you know.”
“Worse?”
“Do you want to know what I heard this afternoon?”
“You heard something?”
“I heard a couple of the guys laughing about more than just business going on in the boardroom. And they weren’t the only ones talking.”
Ken frowned. The employee’s personal affairs were their own business, but if employees were using company time for personal liaisons, he would have to follow it up with disciplinary action.
“And now we’re in here with the door closed.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“You don’t get it, do you?” She waved one arm in the air, in the other she continued to hug her purse next to her body. “People are spreading rumors that we’re having an affair!”
“An affair? That’s ridiculous.”
Molly sighed loudly. “Tell me about it.”
He stepped closer to Molly. The anger in her eyes made them sparkle and it made her cheeks flush. She radiated energy. Her anger spoke righteousness, and he loved her for it. “An affair implies something tawdry and short-lived. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Molly nodded. “You’re telling me.”
“You’re far too valuable for a tawdry affair. You deserve to be courted properly.”
“Yeah, and I think—” She gulped, and her eyes widened. “I beg your pardon?”
“Tonight’s Bible study. May I take you out for dinner before we go? Oh, didn’t you say you were in a rush to go somewhere?”
Her eyes widened even more and her mouth gaped as she stared at him in open astonishment. “Uh. Yeah. Right. I was. Bye.”
Before he had a chance to say another word, she turned and ran.
Molly had barely changed into her jeans when the buzzer for the door sounded. She knew who it was. It was Ken, and he was expecting her to go out to dinner with him.
It was probably rude of her to turn and run out on him at the office when he had been expecting a reply about dinner, but his remark had thrown her so off guard, she hadn’t known what to do.
She tried to figure out what he meant by courting her properly. They were friends. He was her boss. He probably had millions of women after him, women more in his social and economic circles. Or at least he would, once he got settled. If he was lonely, then he needed to meet more people. Quickly.
Knocking sounded on the door. She opened it and nearly fainted. Gone was the suit and tie. Ken stood before her in jeans, a casual shirt, and a light jacket.
He grinned and handed her a flower. A single long-stemmed red rose.
He bowed his head slightly. “Hi.”
She nearly choked and had to struggle to speak. “Hi, yourself. What is that for?” She tried to convince herself he had merely run into someone selling flowers and had bought it out of an act of charity. It didn’t mean anything personal.
“It’s for you.”
Very delicately, she took the flower from him, scrounged through the cupboards for the only bud vase she owned, and placed it in the middle of the kitchen table. Before she left the room, she inhaled its sweet fragrance. No man had ever given her flowers before, and therefore, she knew she would always treasure this moment. She dreamed of the day a man would give her a flower as more than a kindhearted gesture. One day it would be for romance. But until then, she could dream. She wished Ken was more her type, but he wasn’t.
Everything about Molly shouted casual, but Ken was seriously suit and tie, although he looked fabulous in jeans. Almost everything Molly did was spontaneous. Ken had his whole life planned out. He was well on his way to being rich. She … wasn’t.
Molly cleared her throat. “I’ve got the perfect place in mind for dinner. Really casual. It’s always crowded and loud because lots of people take their kids, but the food’s great.”
Ken smiled, and Molly forgot what else she was going to say. One day, when he did start courting someone, that would be one very lucky woman. And she knew the perfect person.
“Ken, I’d like you to meet my friend Gwen.”
“Pleased to meet you, Gwen.”
“Pleased to meet you too, Ken.”
Molly stifled a giggle. Ken and Gwen. The combination sounded so silly, but there was nothing silly about the way they looked together as they chatted in the noisy living room. Gwen was taller than Molly, thinner, and with the understated grace of a model. She couldn’t help but picture Ken in his usual suit with his usual dignified demeanor, well mannered and gracious, as always. They suited each other.
Just like Ken, Gwen also tended to be quiet and reserved when in a crowd. Gwen had class. Gwen also had hair that behaved and didn’t look like she stuck her finger in a light socket every time the weather got a little damp, which in Vancouver was almost always.
Molly laid a hand on Ken’s free arm, then hastily pulled it away when she realized she was touching him. “I’ve known Gwen for years, and Gwen was one of the people who helped me find Jesus.”
He smiled and nodded at Gwen. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”
Gwen laughed softly. “I’ve heard a lot about you too. We’ll have to talk.”
Molly watched the two of them smiling at each other. Her own smile began to drop, but she forced it back.
Robbie’s voice drifted from the kitchen. “Gwen? Who are you talking to?”
Robbie and Garrett rounded the corner arm in arm. Molly caught them exchanging a glance that made her long for the day someone would look at her like that, and that someday she could be as in love as her friends.
“Oh, Ken, Molly. We didn’t hear you come in.”
Before she could say anything, the doorbell rang and more people entered. Everyone stood and chatted for a few minutes, then took their seats. Molly quickly sat in Garrett’s big armchair, which left Ken to sit beside Gwen.
They shared a number of prayer requests, which included praying for Ken and his broken arm. Molly cringed as a few of the people kept looking back and forth between herself and Ken. Before she’d come to know Ken so well, she’d been very distraught as she told the group that she’d been the one responsible for his injury. She had barely managed to not break down and cry in front of them when she asked for prayer for the situation. Now, here he was, in person. She didn’t know what to make of the way everyone kept looking at them.
Ken seemed not to notice the sideways glances. She forced herself to smile when Ken thanked everyone for their prayers, and they moved on to the topic of their study.
Every once in awhile, she sneaked a peek at Ken and Gwen, sitting side by side. They were comfortable together. When the study was over, they remained seated, engrossed in conversation while others socialized around them.
Molly squirmed in her chair. It was exactly what she wanted, but seeing them together, she wondered why she didn’t feel very happy.
Chapter 14
Molly told Ken he could just drop her off, but he insisted on escorting her all the way up to her door. Once there, she couldn’t very well turn him away, so she invited him in and put the kettle on to boil for tea, since it wasn’t that late.
She nearly dropped the teapot when she turned around and saw him standing in the doorway to the kitchen instead of where she left him, sitting on the futon.
“I thought I’d see if I could do anything to help.”
“With one hand? I don’t think—” Molly slapped her hands over her big mouth. She’d done it again.
“Don’t worry, Molly. You don’t have to watch what you say around
me. I’m a big boy, and I’m fully aware of my limitations. But praise God they’re only temporary.” He raised the cast slightly and grinned. “Besides, I can still reach the top shelf with my other hand. You can’t.”
“Very funny.”
“It’s true.”
Molly scowled. “I don’t need anything on the top shelf.” When Gwen came over, it was Gwen who reached the stuff on the top shelf. Molly busied herself finding the box of tea bags and searched through the cupboards for a bag of cookies that she knew she had somewhere.
“I like your friends. Thank you for inviting me. I guess I’ll see them all again on Sunday.”
“Yeah.” Last week Gwen hadn’t been there, but she would be there next Sunday.
He didn’t say anything but continued to stand in the doorway, watching.
“I thought you and Garrett would spend all your time talking about camping and the great outdoors.”
“I really didn’t have a lot of time to talk to him. The evening went so fast.”
Molly poured the boiled water into the teapot. “I know,” she mumbled, concentrating intently on her aim. “You spent all your time talking to Gwen.”
“What did you say?”
She turned the cookie bag upside down and dumped some cookies onto the plate. “Nothing,” she muttered under her breath while she shoved the bag back into the cupboard.
“I don’t remember you telling me that Garrett and Gwen are twins. That’s fascinating. I understand they have a very unique relationship.”
She took a spoon and fished the tea bag out of the pot and splatted it in the sink, perhaps throwing it a little too hard. “Yeah.”
“Did you know that when they were young, they did a number of magazine ads and even a commercial? It’s too bad they didn’t have VCRs back then. Gwen said she would have liked to have saved a copy to show her children someday.”
Molly slammed the lid onto the teapot. “You spent enough time talking to her. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you her life’s story.”
Instead of turning and walking into the living room, Ken stepped forward. Before she had a chance to start pouring their tea, he rested his fingers on her cheek, drawing her complete attention to his eyes. His beautiful dark blue eyes. Eyes that saw down into her soul. Only inches separated them.