Page 59 of Molly's Mr. Wrong
Molly glanced up at the clock, then back at Finn, who was studying her bulging briefcase with a faint frown. “Let me buy you a cup of coffee.”
He brought his gaze up to hers. “You’re being ironic, right?”
Molly smiled a little. “No. Just less standoffish. We can go to the student union.”
Finn gave a small nod. “Sounds good. I’ll buy.”
“I think you missed the first part of the invitation, as in, ‘Letmebuyyoua cup of coffee.’”
“Fine. You buy.”
They crossed the common and Finn snagged a table in the nearly empty cafeteria while Molly got two black coffees. She set the mugs down and took her seat. “I like that they give a choice of paper or ceramic. Paper is... I don’t know...temporary, I guess.”
“Not a big fan of temporary?”
“When you move as many times as I did as a kid, one of two things happens—either you get really good at being temporary or you really resent it. My brother and sister were good at it.”
“You resented it.”
“When you’re shy, being uprooted every one to two years is not much fun.”
“You stayed here three.”
“We moved here so that my dad could put the big grocery store back on track. It took a year and a half and I begged him not to make me go with them on the next move. Offered to live with my best friend, Julie Faraday.”
“Didn’t she—”
“Move. Why yes, she did. Shooting that plan all to pieces. Anyway, Mom and Dad decided that Dad could commute to Spokane for the last year and a half while he worked on a department store there. So I got to go to most of high school in one place.”
“What exactly did your dad do?”
“He saves stores.” Molly set down her cup and did her best to explain her father’s occupation, which still had him on the road. “They’re in Alabama now. I think this might be one of his last consulting jobs, but he’s said that before.”
“Do you like whatyoudo, Molly? With the Dennys and the grading and all that?”
Finn had obviously been spending some serious time thinking about his future and Molly considered her words carefully before she said, “I do. There are days, sometimes weeks, when I wish I’d become anything except a teacher, but...all in all, I like it. I feel good when most days are done. The Dennys...that part can be challenging. Staying tactful can be challenging.” And apparently she’d failed at the tactful part with Denny.
“I worry about that,” Finn said matter-of-factly. “I might keep my patience for a while, but the Dennys of the world would wear me down.” He gave her a look. “I would break.”
“It gets better with practice,” she said. “In the beginning...it can be rough. I won’t lie. You have to grow a thick skin.”
“You have to learn to take crap from nitwits as near as I can tell.”
Molly fought a smile, but it faded as she said, “Thinking of changing your career goal?”
“Wondering about my aptitudes.” He gave her a humorless smile. “I hate wasting time.”
“Education is never a waste of time.”
He gave her a surprised look. “I...guess not.”
“Tell me about Elaine and Mike.”
Finn swirled his last bit of coffee but didn’t drink. “She has esophageal cancer. Mike has already lost my grandmother and my uncle, and he’s not ready to lose someone else.”
“They haven’t been together for that long.”
Finn considered for a moment. “Yeah. I know. If they were younger, I’d be concerned. But they know what they want.” He drained the last of his coffee. “Lucky.”
