Page 76 of Molly's Mr. Wrong
Mike’s expression shifted from angry to weary in a heartbeat. “I know what you think. And I understand why. I love you guys. I want your company, but Finn, I’ve lived alone for a while now. I’ll be okay. Just...give me some privacy.”
Finn moistened his lips. “How much?”
“Can you call before you come by? Not forever...but for a while.”
He gave a nod. “We can do that.” Buddy lifted his head from Mike’s lap and Finn had a feeling that the little cat was one reason that Mike probably didn’t need human company as much as he and Dylan had thought he did.
“Did you give Dylan this talk?”
“I did,” Mike said on a sigh. “Cal, Karl and Lola, too. Between all of you it’s been like Grand Central Station over here. I need some time alone. Some time to deal.” Finn opened his mouth and Mike said, “Yes. I know the prognosis is good. Thank you. But it’s still cancer. Elaine is a dear friend. Allow me my worry.”
So Finn left his grandfather to his worries and went home to a few of his own. Was he supposed to just stand back and do nothing while his grandfather refused to sleep or eat? To watch grief turn the guy inside out?
How was that helping anything? He paced through the house, his stomach getting tighter with every step.
He’ll be fine. Mike will be fine.
But he didn’t know that for sure.
* * *
MOLLYHADAFEELINGthat the Jonas situation was far from over, since the dean had popped in at least once a day every day this week, staying for fifteen minutes each time. Informal observations were part of the evaluation process, but not on a daily basis. This was not a good sign. If she lost this job...
She wasn’t going to think that way, because she’d done nothing wrong. Let the dean come and watch. She was an excellent instructor. Jonas had an ax to grind because he couldn’t handle the real world and he was the one who needed to change. Not her. This wasn’t a case of trying to be nicer to Denny. If she let Jonas get away with this, she was setting the stage for him to do it again, to someone else.
She had copies of all of his work, as well as that of the other two high school students enrolled in her English Basic Comp class, as well as a sampling of other students. She’d been generous with him. He was smart enough to perform better, but he was also entitled and, even though she hated to say it, lazy. Things had come easily to him up to this point and he’d gotten used to phoning things in.
But even though she talked her way through the situation on a daily basis, it still ate at her. She was, after all, human.
She’d just gotten to her car when she got a call on her cell.
“Hey. It’s Finn.”
She gripped the phone a little tighter. It’d been a week since they’d gone to McElroy’s—a week during which they’d had little contact with the exception of class. But, despite the Jonas fiasco, he’d never been far from her thoughts.
“Hi. What’s up?”
“I was wondering...can I see you tonight?”
There was something in his voice that told her not to say no, even though common sense decreed that no was the only logical answer. She didn’t need to give Jonas any more ammunition.
“I can’t meet you at McElroy’s.” Despite all of her “it’s a free country” speeches to herself, she honestly didn’t want to court trouble with the school.
He sounded perplexed as he said, “Maybe your place?”
“Or maybe I could come by your shop. I feel a distinct need to hammer metal.”
* * *
THELIGHTSWEREONin Finn’s shop when Molly pulled into the driveway, so she parked at the edge of the drive, close to the shop. The muffled sounds of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” filtered through the metal walls as she got out of the car, and she hoped that it wasn’t an indication of something bad. Finn had not sounded like himself when he called. She hesitated, then gave a quick knock and pushed open the door. The music got louder, swelling around her. Finn was at the metalworking station, hammer in hand, but he turned almost as soon as she stepped inside the brightly lit building. He set his hammer aside and wiped his hands on his jeans.
Molly hesitated just inside the door, teetering on the brink of...something. Unsettled business would be settled tonight, at least temporarily. Maybe by talking. Maybe by other means.
She was ready for other means. She’d had a week to think, a week to come to terms with the fact that yes, she was human. She made mistakes and she had needs. But indulging her needs was not synonymous with making a mistake. That had happened once. That didn’t mean it was the only possible outcome.
And something was up with Finn. She’d sensed that during their short conversation and now, as he met her gaze over the hood of the old Ford, she knew that all was not well.
He smiled, a guarded tilt of his lips, making her feel as if their positions were now reversed—he was the wary one and she was the one who had a pretty decent idea of what she wanted.
