Page 48 of Molly
“I want to play with Morgan.” Chloe folded her hands and pushed out her bottom lip in a universal pleading gesture.
I reached out and tweaked her nose. “We can do that.”
“You sure?” Ben double-checked.
I nodded, and Ben removed his hand to speak into the receiver. “Suzy? Yeah, they’ll be there. Thanks for the invitation. Yep. Bye-bye.” He slipped his phone into his pocket, then found a paper and pen to jot down Suzy’s address.
“All right, I guess that’s it then. Anything you ladies need from me before I head to the hospital?”
Chloe and I looked at each other. “Nope, we’re good. Go save some lives.”
“Hopefully the night will be uneventful, and I’ll end up babysitting sleeping patients.” Keys jangling in his palm, he leaned over and kissed Chloe on top of her head while I stood to walk him out.
I hadn’t realized how close we were. Not until his arm grazed my stomach as he straightened, sending a ripple of awareness coursing from the epicenter of his momentary touch. His gaze faltered, flicked to my lips, and my breath hitched in my throat.
Like a marionette, his hand rose slowly under the power of an unseen puppet master, the same confusion he’d displayed earlier glazing his eyes. Heat radiated from his open palm as it hovered in midair by my cheek.
My breath suspended as I waited. Would he place his fingers to my skin? Cradle my head in his hands? He hadn’t said a single word about his feelings or the kiss orus, but would he show me where he stood by staking a claim with a kiss of his own?
My eyes fluttered closed as I waited for toe-curling pressure to descend on my tingling lips. Instead I felt a double clap on my shoulder. I blinked back, disappointed as I opened my eyes in time to watch Ben hurry around me.
“Have a good rest of the day.” The door shut on his retreating back.
I stared at the oval glass cut-out in the front door, remembering how I’d run away in a similar fashion. How the tables had turned. Now I was the one left behind, wondering what thoughts were zinging through Ben’s gorgeous brain. If only I could crawl inside his head and have a peek around. Like Mrs. Frizzle and her magic school bus. But then I’d need to know what regions of the brain I hoped to see firing. Too bad science hadn’t ever been my strongest subject in school.
* * *
A little girl with twin braids dangling over her shoulders pressed her nose up against the bay window of the house we pulled up to the next day. I double-checked the address on the paper Ben had left against the numbers on the side of the house. Yep, this was the place. As I emerged from the car, the front door opened and a smiling woman stepped out with a restraining hand on the little girl’s shoulder.
As soon as I had Chloe unbuckled, she ran to her friend and they both hurried inside. The woman held out her hand to me when I approached the front porch. “You must be Molly. I’m Suzy.”
We shook hands. “Nice to meet you.”
“Come inside.” She moved aside so I could enter. “Would you like some tea? Coffee?”
“Coffee would be great, thanks.” I’d never been much for caffeinated beverages before spending all my time with Chloe. Now my body craved the stimulant just to function.
Suzy led me to the kitchen and brought down a ceramic white mug from the cabinet, then poured black liquid from the carafe on the counter. She offered cream and sugar, and I added both to my cup. When I looked up, I found Suzy staring at me. My hand rose to my face. Had I gotten jelly on the side of my mouth from my breakfast of whole wheat toast?
Suzy set down her own coffee mug. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “You must think me terribly rude, staring at you like that. It’s just, well, I was good friends with Laura, you see. Ben’s wife.”
The weather. The antics of preschool girls. Little niceties. All topics I’d thought this stranger and I would cover. Ben’s deceased wife, never. “Oh?”
Not much of a conversation offering, but how else was I supposed to respond to such an out-of-the-blue statement?
Suzy tilted her head, her gaze seeming to roam over my face, scrutinizing every angle. “There’s something about you that reminds me of her, though you look nothing alike. She had auburn hair and naturally tanned skin whereas your complexion is porcelain-doll fair.” Her finger hooked over her chin, her mouth pursed. “But there is something with the eyes. Not the color—hers were brown whereas yours are the most beautiful combination of blue-green I’ve ever seen.” She studied me some more. “Kindness. Compassion. I can see it in you as much as I saw it in Laura.”
She picked her cup back up, but I was reeling. Because her inspection had left me off kilter or her comparison had?
“Have you ever seen a picture of Laura?” she asked.
I brought a mental image of Ben’s house to my mind. The living room had a flat screen TV on a modern low console, a mid-century modern-style sofa, leather chair, and a geometric printed rug. No family pictures on the walls. In the hall, however, hung a few photos. I tried to recall each of them but could only remember seeing Chloe at different ages framed along the wall. In Ben’s room, maybe, but I’d never stepped more than a few feet into his personal space.
“No,” I answered absently while my mind scrambled to decide if the lack of pictures of Laura around the house was healthy or not.
Suzy pulled out her phone, tapped a few times, then started scrolling. “I think I have some… Yes. Here’s one.” She held her phone out to me.
I took it and then readjusted my glasses on the bridge of my nose, peering closely at the image on the screen. My chest clinched. She was so young. And beautiful. Vibrant even. The unfairness of her life being snuffed out before she’d really had a chance to live it sank in my belly like a lead weight. She stared back at me, frozen in time with the help of a lens, a smile on her lips and joy radiating from her soulful eyes. Ben stood next to her, an arm slung over her shoulders. His face beamed in a way that I’d never seen before. He appeared carefree, lighthearted, and so very much in love.
