Page 40 of October
“What?” Molly asked, swallowing hard.
“This cookie,” Finley replied before she took the bag from Molly’s hand and walked a little faster.
“That’s mine,” Molly said, following her and laughing.
“I’ll buy you another one.”
“In that case, you’re going the wrong way. The store is behind us.”
“There’s another one, like, five blocks from here,” Finley said, laughing still.
CHAPTER 11
They stopped at a different Southern Roastery, where Finley bought Molly another cookie. It was only fair. Shehadeaten over half of the first one. It had also given them more time to talk. Molly had explained her disdain for the new girl in the office, having admitted that it was totally irrational and ridiculous, but she missed her friend. Finley recognized that things appeared to be changing for Molly, and the woman was struggling with it a little.
“I used to watch Carly for her sometimes, you know?” Molly said of Juliet’s dog. “Not often, but sometimes, when Jules would be gone for the whole day, back before the crazy overnight travel started. I’d grab Carly at lunch and take her for a walk. She’s such a good dog. When Jules was driving back late, I would take her for a few hours after work. Now, there’s Gwen.”
“And Gwen is a professional dog walker and pet sitter?”
“And also the girlfriend,” Molly added. “I can’t compete with that, so it means I get less time with Jules and even less time with Carly, and I miss both of them. Sometimes, I miss Carly more than Jules, though. Carly doesn’t talk back.”
Finley laughed as they turned the corner and headed back toward the office.
“Dogs are the best.”
“Do you have one?” Molly asked. “Can I borrow them for snuggle time?”
Finley wanted to tell this adorable woman that she could borrowherfor snuggle time, but she resisted.
“I don’t, no. I couldn’t exactly have computer parts all over the floor if I did, right?”
“True.”
“Why don’t you get a dog yourself?” Finley asked.
“It’s a big commitment. I liked borrowing Juliet’s commitment instead.”
Finley laughed again.
“Besides, I didn’t want to get a dog before I met someone, you know?” Molly added. “Like, what if I have a dog or even a cat, and the woman I fall in love with is allergic and can’t deal? I couldn’t just stay at her place all the time and not be with my dog or cat.”
“So, you’re both a doganda cat person?”
“I lean more toward dogs, but I’m a lesbian, so I have to keep the cat door open, if you know what–” Molly then stopped walking. “Wait. That came out wrong. I meant that I need to be open to cats because… lesbians, but not that my cat door is open. Oh, God.” Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red.
Finley couldn’t laugh, though. She just smiled at her and thought about how cute Molly was right now. She wasn’t sure how she had missed it for so long, how beautiful Molly was. She’d been too involved in her own crazy relationship with India to see it, but she should have noticed because Molly was gorgeous, kind, funny, and very cute when she was worried that she’d just embarrassed herself, even though she hadn’t.
“Your cat door is closed. Got it,” she teased.
“What? No, it’s not closed. It’s just…”
Finley smiled again and reached for Molly’s lower back but quickly diverted her hand because they were two workcolleagues walking down the street and not two women on a date. She squeezed her upper arm instead. That felt more like something a friend would do in this situation.
“So, not closed? Got it.”
“Not closed at all,” Molly replied and shook her head. “But not like… wide open, either?” She shook her head again, even faster this time. “What am I even saying?”
“I have no idea,” Finley managed through her laughter.
