Page 57 of October
Finley then squeezed Molly’s hand a second time for the same reason as the first time: because Molly had called someone to get ideas for their date, and she wanted to silently convey to her that she was grateful. No one, that Finley knew of, anyway, had ever called a friend to try to get an idea for a date that she might love, so she wanted to at least try to convey to Molly thatthiswas what she wanted. She wanted nights like this, where they walked around the city together and took silly haunted tours, talking all night about their lives, past, present, and future, and she didn’t want that with India.
“Juliet mentioned that you’re getting married. Congratulations!” Molly said to Melinda later.
“Thank you. It’s only a few months away now, which is crazy. Initially, we moved the date around a bunch, thinking New Orleans in the summer at first, but that’s just asking for hot weather and humidity. It’s going to be outdoors, and we didn’t want miserable guests. Then, we thought about fall and spring, deciding on winter officially only a few months ago. I know we’ve been driving our wedding planner nuts, but what we want is really simple for her.”
“Simple wedding; that’s the way to go,” Molly replied.
“It is, huh?” Finley asked.
Melinda chuckled and said, “We think so. How long have you two been together?”
“Together?” Molly said. “We’re not… We–”
“It’s our second date,” Finley replied for the struggling Molly. “I planned our first one. She planned this one.”
“Well, I like your style,” Melinda said. “And I have to announce the next stop now that everyone seems to be done taking pictures, so we’ll talk later.”
Melinda walked ahead and turned around, announcing where they were going first before telling the story about the ghost of an old woman who lived in the house. Legend had it that she would poke anyone who went inside with her knitting needles and tell them to get out of her house. Melinda went on to explain that on their typical ghost, vampire, and witch tours, they didn’t go inside anywhere because people lived or worked in the buildings and homes, but this one was the one place on the tour they were allowed to walk into and explore because the old woman’s family still owned the house and only lived here during the summer. Melinda’s company had gotten exclusive access to the historical building.
“She owns it, but she still does the tours?” Finley asked when she and Molly walked inside through the creaking door.
“I guess. Maybe she really likes giving the tours,” Molly replied. “Now, go find the old woman. Have fun. I’ll be right here, inside this door, waiting for you to come back.” Molly crossed her arms over her chest.
“You’re not going to walk around with me?”
“Nah… I’ll stay near the exit. Real life is different than the movies I like, remember? Safer out here.”
Finley moved into her then, and as other people on the packed tour moved by them, she uncrossed Molly’s arms and placed her own hands on Molly’s hips. She stared into Molly’seyes and rubbed her thumbs over her shirt, wishing it were her soft skin.
“I promise, I’ll protect you, Molls.”
“From a knitting needle? She could poke an eye out with that thing.”
Finley laughed and said, “Well, I do like your eyes, but itisa non-corporeal knitting needle. I think you’d be okay.”
“Youthink? I need scientific evidence to back that up, though,” Molly argued.
“We can go back to your place and watchGhostbusters, if you want. Do this tour another night?”
“That’s not–”
Finley interrupted by leaning in and kissing her on the forehead.
“Oh,” Molly said so softly that Finley almost didn’t hear her.
“Please. I’ll hold your hand the whole time.”
“Okay. Yeah. Sure. Anything,” Molly agreed, but she sounded like she was in a daze.
Finley kept her smile to herself, but just barely. If Molly had that kind of reaction to a forehead kiss, what kind would she have to an actual one? She really couldn’t wait to find out, but now wasn’t the time.
Molly took her hand and, after waiting for everyone else to walk in as well, they walked straight up the stairs off the front door and followed the group through the house. There were two bedrooms on the second floor and a third floor that was off-limits, indicated by a rope and a sign. One bedroom was the old woman’s room. The other had an old twin-sized bed in it, with a few pieces of furniture that all had an 1800s vibe, but Finley wasn’t an expert to know for sure.
When they were turning to head back down to explore the kitchen and other rooms, Finley decided to poke Molly in the side. Molly yelped and turned around at least three times,looking for the ghost. Finley laughed hysterically, and other people on the tour clearly figured out what she had done, so they laughed as well.
“Finley Storm, did you really just do that?” Molly asked when she calmed down, hand still pressed to her heart.
“What? No idea what you’re talking about,” she teased. “What happened?”
