Page 59 of October
“She predicted you’d all get together?”
“It’s a bit different for everyone, but basically, yeah. She seems to know things she shouldn’t, and she can offer advice or predict things. It also wouldn’t surprise me, honestly, given Juliet and Gwen’s connection to Myra and Elisa, that one of them has heard from the old woman, too.”
“So, this old woman just walks around the city and waits for you and your friends so that she can predict things?”
“I don’t think she does this just for us, but she’s been right when it comes to my friends. Ky and I are engaged. So are Bridgette and Monica. Linden and Asher, my wedding planner and her girlfriend, live together already. Sophie and Bryce are well on their way. Logan has moved in with Rory not that long ago, and I think she even has a ring now or is buying one soon. I’m a little out of the loop there, but don’t say anything to Rory just in case.”
“I wouldn’t,” she said. “I don’t even know her.”
“Well, anyway; that old woman has a great track record. It seems like she was saying something to you. Do you know what it was?”
Finley wasn’t sure that she understood how this woman could’ve known that she and Molly had just shared that kind of touch, and for the very first time, but she’d known somehow, and that meant something to Finley, a woman who believed in ghosts, wasn’t entirely sure about vampires, and knew witches were real. Why not psychics, too?
“Yeah, I think I do,” she replied with a smile.
“Are you hungry?” Molly asked when she joined them. “I’m starving.”
“Should’ve done the food tour,” Melinda suggested.
“Nah, this one was perfect,” Molly replied, taking Finley’s hand into her own.
They walked to the car in relative silence after leaving the rest of the tour at the office and saying goodbye to Melinda, but the silence wasn’t awkward at all. It was as if they both needed it to process the first part of their evening and take in the sights and sounds around them. New Orleans in October was still busy. Halloween coming up usually brought a new wave of tourists who liked to focus on and learn about the haunted history andmysteries of the city. There was some overlap with the college crowd and bachelor and bachelorette parties that flocked here in the summer and early fall, but there were also more families this time of year, and that made things feel a little calmer unless you counted Bourbon Street, which was always busy, but sometimes, unwalkable due to the size of the crowd.
They decided to walk into one of the restaurants just outside the Quarter and found it busy but just so, which gave them a bit of calm in the crazy. Since it was an Italian place, Finley got a personal pizza, and Molly got linguini with extra sauce. They shared breadsticks and dessert, and when Finley walked Molly to her apartment door, it took everything in her not to ask Molly if she could come inside to watch a movie or talk for a while. When Molly unlocked the door but kept it closed, that told Finley that she wasn’t ready for that step yet, and Finley understood.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at work,” she said as she held on to Molly’s hand, letting their joined ones dangle between them loosely.
“Yeah,” Molly replied.
Finley leaned in, and Molly must have thought she was going in for a real kiss because when Finley turned to kiss her on the cheek, Molly’s lips met the corner of her mouth awkwardly, and they both pulled back, staring at each other.
“Okay. Well, yeah, seems about right. Good night and bye forever, because you won’t wantthatagain. That was embarrassing, and I can’t believe–” Molly rambled as she pushed her door open. “Yeah, good night. Need to go now.”
Finley just stood there, laughing silently and shaking her head as the door closed behind Molly. God, she really liked this woman.
CHAPTER 16
She thought she would be over her nerves with Finley. They had had two dates. Finley liked her. She had held her. She had even kissed Molly’s neck right under her earlobe as they’d talked to Melinda on the tour. After that, their dinner had been amazing, and they’d shared their entrées a little, with Molly stealing a piece of Finley’s pizza and Finley taking a few bites of Molly’s pasta. Molly had ordered the beer she had wanted, and they’d shared a tiramisu that had been the best Molly had had in a long time. It had been the perfect date, which was what she had wanted, but when she had gotten to her door, the nerves had taken over once again, so while she had wanted Finley to come inside, she didn’t think she was ready for what might have happened had Finley done so.
Molly knew that if Finley had wanted to take things further, she would have let her. She wouldn’t have been able to resist the chance to finally be with the woman she had been interested in for such a long time, even if she wasn’t ready for that, and she didn’t want to end up regretting anything with Finley because she’d done something that she wasn’t ready for.
When Finley went in for the kiss instead of asking to go inside, Molly had thought this was the moment. They’d have their first kiss, andthatshe had been ready for. Unfortunately for her, Finley had only wanted a cheek kiss. A damn cheek kiss.Had Finley been trying to get her back for the kiss on the cheek Molly had left her with the night before? Had it been Finley teasing her because of that kiss? She didn’t know, but she’d rushed inside her apartment, closed the door, locked it, run into her bedroom, and closedthatdoor as if Finley was following her.
Molly had crashed onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. Why couldn’t she get it together when it came to this woman? She had never been like this with anyone else she’d dated, a trainwreck who was proud of the fact that she could at least speak to Finley in complete sentences now. She’d tried to call Juliet to tell her about her newest mistake, but Juliet hadn’t answered, so after leaving a voicemail, Molly had silenced her phone and had gone to sleep.
That morning, she woke to a text from Juliet telling her that she’d try to call her later and that she was sure whatever Molly had done wasn’t that big of a deal. Molly disagreed, but she had to get up and go to work, where she would see Finley because Finley sat right next to her now, and she had to try to get herself together before then.
Arriving at the office a few minutes late because she’d been delaying the inevitable, she was happy to see that Finley wasn’t at her desk. Molly set her things down and got out her laptop. The new hire, whom she still didn’t like, said hello to her and then was busy reading through a training manual that Molly recognized because she had seen Juliet with the same one repeatedly. Molly went to her first meeting, followed by a second, and by the time she returned to the row of cubicles, Finley was sitting at her desk now. Molly sat down in her chair without saying anything and pretended like she was getting back to work. A minute later, though, she chanced a look, and Finley was staring at her. Molly turned away quickly and started moving some documents around her desk because she couldn’t focus on actual work. Then, figuring that she’d waited longenough between glances, she turned again and found Finley still staring at her. Finley smiled at her this time, and Molly rolled her eyes. Finley laughed. Molly glared at her. Finley stood and walked toward her.
“Can I borrow you for a second?”
“Nope. Lots to do. So much work.”
Finley leaned down over her and said, “I think you’ve moved that one a few times already.” She pointed to one of the documents that, indeed, Molly had moved at least three times. “Maybe you can spare a minute before you reorganize your desk again?”
“Fine. Okay,” she replied.
Finley straightened, and Molly stood. She didn’t know where they were going, but she followed Finley around a corner and up the stairs she rarely took. Eventually, Finley swiped her ID badge, opening a door that Molly knew all too well because Finley used to work there. It was the server room.
