Page 31 of Breaking Emily's Rules
Somehow, he had a feeling he would regret this.
“As long as I have a flight school, you’ll get your lessons.”
He decided not to add that the way things were going, it wouldn’t be long.
CHAPTER7
Molly
Molly sat onthe park bench and waited. It was Sunday, and the Pink Ladies’ meeting had literally driven her out of the house this time, but she’d had plans to come here anyway.
The scent of pine wafted through a light breeze, and Molly pulled on her baseball cap. Dylan brought Sierra here every Sunday. It had taken a month to find the right time, but Twilight Park happened to be closest to the house Dylan now rented, so that part had been easier. She found out where he’d moved by asking around at the Silver Saddle. Emily thought all Molly wanted to do was dance and hook up with men, but she’d also found time to talk to some of her old classmates about her ex. And found most of the women were more than willing to talk about Dylan.
The moment she saw them walking hand in hand down Monterey Street on their way to the park, Molly pulled the cap’s bill down farther. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a hat, but she couldn’t risk Dylan spotting her red hair, a dead giveaway. Anyway, if her so-called friends had managed to keep their mouths shut like she’d asked them to, he might not even know she was back home. Still, she sat on the bench farthest away from the play structure that she’d already noticed Sierra loved to climb.
Her baby had grown so much Molly hardly recognized her. Sierra didn’t just walk now, she ran with unsteady steps. Two weeks ago at the park, Molly had witnessed Sierra fall on her behind and resisted the urge to run and help her up. Dylan seemed accustomed to watching their baby fall down on her butt several times an hour. Watching her, Molly was reminded of how much she’d missed.
And Dylan—he looked better than ever. Now he looked like a man. His honey-colored hair was closely cropped, but he sported a beard that made him look like he had a permanent five o’clock shadow. She’d once made fun of that stubble and teased that he didn’t have enough testosterone to grow a full beard. About that time Dylan hauled her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom to demonstrate just how much testosterone ran through him. A lot.
Molly shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to think about having sex with Dylan. Her inability to resist him had gotten her into trouble more than once, even though it had produced their beautiful baby girl.
Sierra squealed from the bucket swing as Dylan pushed her. Pretty soon she swung so high Molly had to bite her lower lip. That looked dangerous. Leave it to Dylan to push it to the limit. It was probably why they’d been like thunder and lightning together and bound to explode eventually.
Still, her baby needed to be kept safe and if Dylan couldn’t do it, she would step in.
Oh, who am I kidding? I could never do as good of a job as Dylan has done. Look at her. She’s healthy and happy.
Sierra obviously didn’t need her. Neither did Dylan, for that matter, even though she’d asked around and he wasn’t seeing anyone. Her classmates said Dylan had sailed through EMT training and now worked toward becoming a paramedic. But then again, school had always been easy for him.
The mother with a little boy in the swing next to Sierra’s began to engage in conversation with Dylan, flipping her hair and laughing at everything he said as though it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard.Flirting at the park? Really?
Molly’s face felt hot as Dylan appeared to flirt back with the pretty mother. He should be paying attention to their daughter and not trying to pick someone up.
Suddenly, a car backfired behind her, and both Dylan and the mother looked in Molly’s direction. Too late, Molly turned her head away but realized that Dylan had already seen her.
She rose and half ran, half marched toward her truck. If she was fast enough, she’d make a clean get away and maybe Dylan would think he’d only seen her look-alike.
“Molly!” he shouted with his no-nonsense voice. That tone meant business.
She stopped in her tracks and turned around, taking the ridiculous hat off and letting her long hair spill out. Then she couldn’t breathe because Dylan had closed the distance and he held their baby in his arms, inches away from Molly. Closer than she’d been in one long year.
“Hi, Dylan.” She didn’t take her eyes off her baby. Sierra leaned her tiny head on Dylan’s shoulder and smiled shyly at Molly. She had teeth now. Little precious baby teeth.
“Jedd told me you were back, but I didn’t believe him. Told him it had to be some other redhead that caused a fight at the Silver Saddle. What was I thinking?” Dylan’s intense brown eyes glared at her. “It had to be you.”
Damn Jedd. People in this town needed to learn how to shut up. “I wanted to call you.”
“What are you doing here? Are you spying on me? On us?”
“It’s a free country. And I like parks.” She crossed her arms.
Dylan narrowed his eyes. “Since when?”
“Since I was a little girl, if you must know. And I’ve decided those swing sets over there are too dangerous for babies. What if she falls out? Did you ever think of that?”
“She’s safe in there. I wouldn’t do it otherwise. I hope you don’t think you can come back and—” Dylan stopped and glanced at Sierra, his eyes filled with tenderness. His voice softened. “Take up where you left off.”
“No, I don’t.” She didn’t need Dylan to fly into protection mode.
