Page 31 of The Housekeeper's Billionaire Boss
With a sigh, she ran her hand through her hair and shook her head. Even weirder was that he spoke her language. She’d acknowledged it before, but anyone can speak someone’s language when they first meet. That was easy, but he wasstillspeaking her language.
They’d had full-blown discussions in front of his family, and they’d all looked at the two of them like they were speaking in a foreign tongue. The movie references, music lyrics, video games…all of it.
Groaning, she squeezed her eyes shut, working to push away all the things running through her mind. She wasn’t ready for a relationship. Not when she was fighting to keep Ellie. As if that wasn’t stressful enough on its own, she was tempted to add a tiara, or in Molly’s case, a relationship.
She pulled out the clothes she was going to wear, laying them on the bed, and then walked to the bathroom. Her heart was anas-you-wishaway from winning the battle against her head.
Why was she even considering any of this? Yes, there was mutual kissing that had taken place, serious quality mutual kissing, but at this point, she couldn’t be certain he wanted her or Ellie. Maybe he’d only kissed her because he felt sorry for her. Add to that, he didn’t have many friends. What if he only kissed her because he was lonely and she was convenient? Worse, what if she’d only kissed him because she was stressed and needed a distraction? It didn’t feel that way, but could she be sure of what she was feeling? The answer was no, even if the little voice in the back of her head said otherwise.
For the moment, she’d push it all away, go to the farmer’s market, and enjoy herself. Hopefully, she could drown her doubts and sorrows with a pie. Something. Anything that would keep her mind from running in dizzying circles.
* * *
Pausingat the entrance to the farmer’s market, Molly inhaled and nearly went into a diabetic coma. Pie, cake, jellies, jams, cookies…she could see table after table of things she wanted to eat. Of course, pie was a given. The thread in her jeans was already locking arms in preparation for the smorgasbord of sweets she was going to consume.
“I should have worn my Thanksgiving pants,” she said as she looked at Josiah. “Seriously, I could see moving here just to be close to this.”
Nodding, Josiah said, “Uh, yeah. My couch-slouching days would be numbered if I lived here year-round.” He waved, and Molly followed his line of sight and found Caroline and King walking toward them. King was holding Travis while Caroline held Ellie. Both were bundled up almost toA Christmas Storylevel. Good thing they weren’t in the middle of potty training, or someone would be doing a lot of laundry.
As they approached, King smiled. “Look who’s here, Travis.” Gabby’s little boy grinned and leaned his head against King’s shoulder. “What is this bashful business? You’ve never been shy a day in your life.” King tickled the baby’s tummy, and he giggled.
“Ellie is loving this,” Caroline said. “She is just bright-eyed and looking around.” Josiah’s mom kissed Ellie’s cheek. “Sweet girl.”
Every time Molly thought she’d seen the depth of this family’s kindness, she was shown it went further down than she could imagine. “Thank you for bringing Ellie.”
Caroline handed her over to Molly. “Well, sure.”
Molly laid her cheek against Ellie’s, soaking her up. It crushed her to think Ellie could be taken from her. She hadn’t known how much she could love someone until she held this tiny little person in her hands.
Josiah put his arm around her back, leaned in, and set his lips against Molly’s ear. “I won’t let her get taken.”
She pressed her head against the side of Josiah’s face. At that moment, she was surrounded by her two most favorite people in the world. It gave her a sense of belonging like she’d never had before.
“Thank you,” she whispered…and quickly remembered his parents were right there. Watching them. Embarrassment climbed from her stomach and hit her ears faster than Mario avoiding barrels. Molly cast her gaze to the ground and wished the earth would swallow her whole.
“Okay, I think the three of us are going to go look around for a while,” Josiah said as if sensing how awkward she felt.
“Sounds good. We’ll see you…I guess when we see you. Have fun.”
Molly waited until they’d walked a good distance and she was sure his parents were far enough away that she could relax. “Was it just me that felt…weird?” Was that even the right word?
He laughed. “Uh, I did a little? But I could see where your mind was going, and I cared more about that than feeling embarrassed. You’re worried, and my parents understand that.”
She nodded. “It’s hard not to worry. That lawyer might be awesome, but this is Texas. The court system hates taking kids away from their birth parents to start with. Add in a single mom who works as a housekeeper and compare that to a stable older couple who are still rather young, and I just don’t know how it’ll turn out.”
When he didn’t say anything, she looked up at him. “What?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.”
She leveled her eyes at him. “Really?”
“I have thoughts that I’m not…sure I should speak aloud. I like our friendship. I don’t want to do anything that would either alienate you or jeopardize keeping you and Ellie in my life. It’s not worth it to me.”
Wrapping her fingers around his forearm, she pulled him to a stop. Before continuing the conversation, she laid Ellie in the stroller and buckled her in. “Okay, spill it.”
Shaking his head, he said, “No way.”
Molly pinched her lips together and put her hands on her hips. “Yes way.”
