“Next time we’ll have to go to an earlier movie,” Molly said.
So there’d be a next time? Richard thought. But he said nothing.
As soon as they got home, he carried Toby up to his room, closely followed by Molly and Elizabeth. Elizabeth parted with the others at the top of the stairs.
Molly opened the door to Toby’s room and hurried ahead of Richard to turn down the covers. When he lay Toby down, she slipped off his shoes and then his pants. Richard slid down the zipper on his coat and managed to get it off. His shirt was knit and short-sleeved and Richard quickly got it off. Together, they’d managed to undress him in two minutes. The big T-shirt only took seconds.
“We did a pretty good job, didn’t we?” Richard whispered with a grin.
Molly smiled back but she was busy covering the little boy up and kissing his forehead.
Richard was jealous. When that thought struck him, he took a step back. What was wrong with him?
“He was exhausted,” Molly whispered. “Thank you for carrying him upstairs, Richard.”
“No problem. Are—are you going to bed now?”
“Yes, I think I will. Good night,” she said softly and stood there waiting for him to leave.
Damn it, where was the mistletoe when he needed it? “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He backed out of the room, finally breathing when he closed the door. He took the long walk down the hall to his bedroom. He obviously needed some time to think. He’d been too close to Molly tonight and it had screwed up his defenses.
He just needed some time alone to resurrect his defenses. He didn’t need a woman intruding into his life right now.
Molly had watched Richard’s entry into his bedroom. Once he was out of sight, she slid out of Toby’s room and tiptoed down the hall to the stairs. She wanted to see the Christmas tree in the darkened room, the lights shining like stars in the sky.
When she entered the garden room, she found the plug and turned on the lights. With a deep sigh, she sat down at the glass table, staring at the tree, perfect in her mind, and the lights glowing around the walls. The entire room seemed magical, as Elizabeth had predicted.
Molly sat there, soaking in that magic, the ephemeral lightness filling her soul. Maybe next year she would get a big tree, though not this big, so she could sit at night and enjoy the gleaming lights. Then she wouldn’t have to sneak down to enjoy Christmas.
A slight noise awakened her from her dreams. She whirled around to discover Richard approaching. “What—what are you doing here? You went to bed!”
“You said you were going to bed, too.”
“So you’re spying on me? Do you want me to pay for the electricity I’m using?” She regretted her words as soon as she spoke. Richard and his mom had been more than generous to her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”
“No, you shouldn’t have. I came down to make some coffee and saw the lights on. I thought maybe Albert had forgotten to turn them off.”
“I’ll turn them off now,” she said, jumping up from her chair.
“I have a better idea,” he said. “I’ll go make some decaf coffee for both of us and we can enjoy it in here.”
“Really, I should go to bed. There’s no need—”
Instead of answering her, he bent down and brushed her lips with his. “Watch the lights,” he said and walked out of the room.
Molly was completely flustered by that brief kiss. Why had he done that? Had he thought she’d flirted with him at the movies? She’d worked hard to make sure her voice sounded normal, even though he was pressed against her. She knew one thing. For all his complaints about lack of time, he’d found some time to work out somewhere. He was solid muscle.
She flushed from her head to her toes, glad he wasn’t in the room. Even in the darkness, he might’ve noticed her blush.
Within minutes Richard appeared in the doorway, carrying two mugs of coffee. He set one in front of Molly and he took the seat next to her, pulling it even with hers. “We did a good job, didn’t we?”
“Yes! The tree is beautiful,” she said breathlessly.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, of course. I just wanted—I enjoy seeing the tree at night. As your mother said, it’s magical.”
“I realized that when I saw you staring at it today. You were remembering trees in the past, weren’t you?”
All she could do was nod.
“When did your parents die?”
She turned to stare at him. “You believe me now?”
“Yeah, I believe you. I’m not sure why you lied to me, but I believe you.”
Abruptly she said, “I was seven.”
“And you went to a foster home?”
“Several foster homes,” she muttered.
Richard frowned. “Why did you change?”
“Well, let’s see, in the first foster home, the dad was caught forcing himself on a couple of the older girls. So we were all moved to different homes. It’s like starting all over again. The second foster home closed down because the mom won the lottery and didn’t need the money she got from the state.”
“She didn’t mind letting you go?”
Molly gave a cynical laugh. “She dumped us so fast it made our heads spin.”
“Then what happened?”
“My third foster home I stayed in until I was eighteen. By then I’d worked for three years and had saved as much as I could.”
“What kind of work?”
“I was a telephone operator, part-time.”
“How did you get into nursing?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “I got a scholarship. It didn’t pay for everything, but most of it. I paid for the rest.”
“And how—”
“No more questions about me. It’s your turn. Was your dad as awful as he seems?”
“He was difficult. I try not to say too much, because I think Mom loved him, but he was controlling, self-centered. I managed to get along with him, but he considered females to be second-class citizens. Susan wouldn’t buy that attitude. She fought him all the way.”
“Good for her,” Molly whispered.
“When my father tried to tell her who to love, that was the last straw. She moved to Florida with Kevin, Toby’s father, and never came back. My father disowned her after that.”
“I’m sorry, Richard.” Sympathy was audible in her voice. “That must have been hard on you.”
“Yeah. I called her a couple of times, but she obviously wouldn’t come home for a visit, after Dad cut her out of his life. It was stupid on his part.”
“Yes, it was.” She sat there for a minute staring at the Christmas tree. Then she said, “Life’s too short for such silliness.”
“As we both know,” he said softly. Then he stretched his arm on the back of her chair.
She thought about moving away, but the warmth of his arm felt good. They sat there in silence, looking at the tree. Molly had enjoyed the lights before he came down, but they were always better when shared.
After