Page 48 of Butter You Up
CHAPTER28
MOLLY
Alex shuffling aroundin the dark wakes me up.
“Wha time?” I ask, my face pressed into the pillow and my groggy brain not able to fully form words yet.
A hand cups my head, warm and solid. “Early. Go back to sleep. Anna might be in the kitchen when you wake up.”
I fall back asleep.
When I wake up again, the sky outside the window is a soft blue, and noises come from the kitchen. It takes me a moment to remember Alex’s words.
I get up and see my clothes from yesterday loosely folded on the dresser. The house is a little chilly, so I forego my tank top. A flannel sounds too good to pass up. I slide my underwear and shorts on and then help myself to a flannel in Alex’s closet.
Avoiding the kitchen, I exit the house through the porch and walk toward the barn. There’s a slight mist hanging over the fields, and the sun should be up any minute now. One shed is open, a truck backed in, and there’s a soft and rhythmicthumpof movement.
At the open door, I pause and take in the view. Alex has his back to me, picking up bales of hay and stacking them. The truck bed is half-full, so he’s got more work to do…but he’s whistling.
It’s jaunty and upbeat and I can’t help but smile.
“Morning,” he says over his shoulder, and my heart melts when I hear the smile in his voice.
“Up for a roll in the hay?”
He picks up another bale. “It’s barley.”
I laugh and shake my head just as an actual cowbell rings out from the house. Behind me, I hear a door shut.
“I’ll be up for breakfast in a minute,” Alex says.
“Okay. See you then.”
I walk back to the house and take the front door this time, toeing my shoes off and adding them to the collection. Turning the corner, I spot Jesús already at the table and a short, heavy-set woman who must be Anna.
Her mouth rounds when she spots me.
“Hi, Anna.” I offer her my hand. “I’m Molly.”
Her gaze darts over my face and behind her, Jesús coughs. Anna bats my hand away and pulls me in for a hug. “Dios mio. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Your food is so good. I’ve been dying to meet you.”
Anna’s gaze darts to the top of my head before meeting my eyes again. She blinks like she’s trying to remember what I said. Something feels weird.
The door opens behind me, and Alex stomps in. I turn to greet him, and his eyes flicker upward, too. What the hell?
Alex flushes and steps up to me, whispering in my ear. “You may want to fix your hair.”
“My—” Reaching up, I feel for the giant bun I usually keep my hair in at the farm…and realize that I did not redo it this morning. My mouth drops in horror when my hand meets an absolute rat's nest of hair.
I dart to the half bath that’s by the front door and the view in the mirror makes me gasp. This is beyond rat’s nest, beyond fresh-out-of-bed hair. We’ve hit freshly fucked territory. God, I can practically see the furrows Alex’s fingers left in it.
Flipping my head over and snapping the band out, I finger-comb it the best I can and re-do the bun.
Okay. I survey myself in the mirror. Not so bad.
There’s a knock on the door and when I crack it, Alex pokes his head in. “You okay?”
