“General consensus seems to be that you don’t give any guys a chance,” he said.
“General consensus is mostly right. I have three children to raise, and I intend them to have more opportunities than I had. Suzanne is studying accounting in college. She was valedictorian and got a full scholarship, which isn’t so easy to get these days. I hope for the same thing for Elizabeth and Thomas. They’re 17 and 16.”
“What did you want for yourself?”
“Oh, I wanted to study English, move to New York City and become a book editor. I was going to discover the best authors and publish the best novels and go to the best celebrity parties. Instead, I got pregnant with Suzie and married Hank and never moved past the library job I got when I was 16. End of story. How about you?”
“My grandmother, Desiree, lived with her parents; I don’t remember them. They died when I was little. She raised my dad, never married, and I went to school to become an English major and to eventually write the Great American Novel.”
“And did you?” That would explain his apparent lack of need to work.
He laughed. “Hardly. I would have starved to death if I had kept going in that direction. Nope, what I actually work on now are very boring textbooks. I seem to have a knack for taking incredibly dry, boring copy written by people who are experts in the field but can’t write worth a damn and turning it into slightly less dry and slightly less boring textbooks with perfect grammar. It’s a decent but not great living.”
“All right, I’m just going to ask. How exactly can you afford to take a part-time minimum wage job like this and still buy the old family homestead? If it’s not rude to ask.”
“My father died about a year ago. He had inherited the other old family homestead, where my grandparents had farmed. He wasn’t much of a farmer. He rented out the farm ground and just handled the administrative side of it. When he passed away, I realized I could use some of the proceeds from the farm sale to pursue what I’ve always wanted to do.”
“Which is?”
“Before my dad died, he filled me in on a few interesting things about my grandmother’s job here in Fairview.” David was nearly done mopping; he’d done the whole room without complaint and Molly showed him where to dump the dirty water in the janitor’s closet, which had one of those floor-level sink drains. He did the job easily, and without spilling a drop. Molly was impressed; she always made a mess of that part. The mop bucket was heavy and she inevitably sloshed dirty water on herself.
“What about your mother?” she asked. The dimly lighted janitor’s closet kept them from seeing each other’s faces, making it feel easier to discuss personal issues.
“She’s not in the picture. Hasn’t been for a long time. That’s a long story.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. She decided not to press further.
“Every single person who mentioned you has said what a good mother you are,” he said. “By the sounds of things, if there were a mother of the year award in this town, I think you’d win it every year. You have a lot of admirers in this town.”
Molly wasn’t expecting that. She also wasn’t expecting to tear up, but she did.
“Oh, hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry,” David said. “I bet it’s hard, raising your kids on a modest salary, all by yourself, and always putting them first. You should be proud.”
“I am proud, yes. But you’re right, it’s been hard. It’s been damned hard.” She turned away, because once she got started crying, there was no stopping herself until she was all cried out. That was just how she was. She didn’t want him to see that, and choked out that she had to get home and would see him tomorrow.
“Hey, hey there,” he said. He reached out and took her in his arms. She didn’t resist. Nobody but her own children had hugged her in ages, and she didn’t care anymore about how it looked. It felt good to let it all out. She just sobbed onto his chest while he patted her back. As her sobs died down, she felt mortified and pulled away.
“I can’t imagine what you must think of me,” she said, turning away and using her hands to wipe the tears from her face. He leaned toward her and she was sure he was going to kiss her. But instead, he pulled his shirt tail out of his jeans and wiped her eyes. She felt some disappointment that he hadn’t kissed her, and was all the more embarrassed because, she realized, she wanted him to.
“I think you’ve had a stressful day and you don’t often get a chance to let your guard down,” he said. “I also think you’re a beautiful woman,” he said, and then he did kiss her. It was the softest, gentlest kiss she’d ever had. His fingers were in her hair, pulling out her pins. The library was so silent she literally heard the pins drop, and had a moment to wonder if that’s where the old saying came from — some librarian being kissed breathless and letting her hair down. Her hair fell almost to her waist and he stroked it as he kissed her. She reached up and placed her hands around his face, feeling the rough stubble against her hands. It wasn’t quite worthy of Lori’s romance novels, she idly thought as they kissed — mopping up toilet water together and then making out in the janitor’s closet — but it was the most romantic moment she could remember. The kiss went on and on, soft and gentle and not insisting on anything further. His hands stayed in her hair. He wasn’t trying to do anything but kiss her, but if he did she knew she wouldn’t stop him. An eternity later, he finally ended the kiss.
“I have wanted to do that since the first moment I saw you,” he said.
“You were looking up my skirt, weren’t you? I knew it,” she joked, but her head was still resting on his chest. He was taller than Hank. He was taller than any of the handful of others she’d dated through the years. It felt good to be enveloped in his arms. Even in a dark janitor’s closet smelling of furniture polish and disinfectant.
“It’s not my fault you were wearing a red lace garter belt under that prim little dress while climbing a ladder. Just what do you expect a poor man to do?”
“Now I wonder if everybody in town knows my secret, she said, laughing. “I need to go buy some plain white granny panties or stay off the ladder.”
“Oh, no, don’t do that. I think you need to spend more time on the ladder. Maybe double-check and make sure everything is in order. You don’t want to take a chance that any books aren’t shelved properly. I’ll stand at the foot of the ladder and move it along for you. I take the Dewey Decimal System very seriously.”
She laughed. “You might be the most dedicated library helper I’ve ever hired.”
“You present a very respectable look on the outside, but you’re a very passionate woman on the inside.” His hands had never left her hair as they talked, and now he gathered up handfuls of it and pulled her face to his again and their lips met again. God, he could kiss. Nobody had ever kissed her like this before. He kissed as if there was nothing else in the world he wanted to do but to softly kiss her forever. But this time she broke off the kiss.
“Strictly speaking, you’re my employee and I shouldn’t be kissing you.”
“It’s true. People will think I’m being sexually harassed. Or that I’m trying to angle for a raise.” He nuzzled her neck. “Can I get a raise, Miss Molly?” He pressed up against her and she felt evidence that the kiss had affected him as much as it had affected her.
“It feels like you’ve already gotten a raise,” she teased back. “A big raise!” She knew she was being silly but he had started it. He kissed her again. Gently, but even more passionately. If she didn’t stop this soon, he’d be bending her over the circulation desk. Which sounded wonderful. Their bodies were pressed together, his fingers were in her hair, and her arms were around him. She had to stop this soon or she wouldn’t be able to.
“I have to get home,” she finally said.
“I know. I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he said. “I just couldn’t resist.”
“It was the work boots, wasn’t it?”
“I’ve always been a sucker for women in work boots,” he said
. His hands smoothed down her hair and kept going down, taking the measure of her waist, and then moving to gather up the material of her dress. His hands found the smooth skin of her thighs, and then touched her thong. “No granny panties today,” he said, his fingers tracing designs on her bare ass. She couldn’t help it. Her lips sought his again, and she just enjoyed the sensation of the kiss and of his hands cupping her bare ass, pressing her against him urgently. All Molly wanted was for him to pull down her thong and take her right there. He seemed to have the same thought. But she broke the kiss.
“I really do have to get home.” Her body strongly objected to the idea. Their hips were still tightly pressed together. But he removed his hands and let the dress drop back down. He gave her one more brief, gentle kiss, then another, and then he finally stepped back.
“I know. Your kids are probably waiting for their dinner. And I know you’re not going to make them wait for it. I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow, OK?” He stepped out of the janitor’s closet and held out his hand as if to assist her. She took it. They looked at each other in the brighter light of the library. She knew her hair was a mess and realized she was still wearing the work boots.
“You may want to put your hair up again before you go home. And maybe change your shoes,” he said. She laughed and leaned over to untie the boots and kicked them into the closet. She stepped into the pumps she’d taken off earlier.
“I tell you what. Take tomorrow off. Lindsay is already scheduled, and you can spend the whole day on your research. I think I need to catch my breath, anyway.”
“I didn’t mean to make this awkward,” he said.
“No, no, it’s OK. Really. But I think I need some time to think,” she said. “Really.”
He looked disappointed, but didn’t press. “OK.”
And with that, he turned and walked down the main hall of the library and out the front door. She let out a big sigh of relief. And of disappointment.
Molly called the pizza place and ordered dinner. Then she stepped into the men’s room — no sense slipping on the wet ladies room in her high heels — and combed her hair and put it back into its usual twist. It took some doing because David had managed to tangle it quite a bit. She looked into the mirror. He had said she was beautiful. She had never thought herself so, but tonight she believed it. It was as if his words had made it so.
She hummed to herself as she locked up and got into her car, looking forward to the pizza but not to Lori’s questions. She would want to hear all about the Pirate Man, but Molly wasn’t sure it was a good idea to tell her anything right now.
She pasted a bright, fake smile onto her face as she got home, hiding the tumultuous thoughts running through her head. She wished she could go into the sanctuary of her bedroom and just think about those moments in the janitor’s closet for a bit, but she also knew both Lori and the pizza were likely to arrive any second. She asked her children to set the table and slipped into her room just long enough to change into her comfy sweats. She took off her dress in the dim light of her bedroom and regarded herself in the mirror. Not so bad for a woman close to 40, she thought. The thong and bra set off her body. She had a few stretch marks from her pregnancies and her breasts were not as perky as they once were, but in the lace bra that matched her panties, not bad. She sucked in her tummy a bit. Better, she thought. Impulsively, she pulled out the pins in her hair yet again, and ran her hair down the length to smooth it out. She turned a bit in the mirror. Pretty good, she thought, and wondered what David might think. Did she want him to see her like this? She had to admit that she did. She rummaged through her underwear drawer and located one of the more sizzling bra and panty sets. Maybe she’d wear this tomorrow, just in case.
The sound of the doorbell told her the pizza had arrived and she hurried to put on her sweats. She heard Lori’s voice a second later and as she stepped out of her bedroom, she heard Lori yell “Pizza’s on me!”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Molly said. “I was just changing.”
“Late night for you?” Lori asked.
“I, uh, had some clean-up to do at the library. Toilet overflow.”
“I heard about that,” Lori said, leading Molly to wonder if there was anything Lori didn’t already know. “Did the Pirate Man help out?”
“He did, actually.”
“If it were me,” Lori said, keeping her voice down so Tommy and Beth wouldn’t overhear, “I’d find something for that man to do instead of cleaning a toilet.”
“Ha, ha,” Molly said, turning her head a bit to hide her face from Lori.
The pizzas were delicious, as always. They always ordered from a local place, Sorrentino’s, instead of a chain. Molly kept herself to two slices, mindful of how she wanted to look naked. Just in case. Nothing was going to go to waste. Tommy could eat a whole pizza all by himself and never gain an ounce, and Beth was right behind him. Lori, as usual, nibbled on one piece and did most of the talking.
“I heard some hot gossip about the Pirate Man,” she said.
“David Conrad,” Molly clarified.
“Yes, David.”
“Pirate Man?” Beth asked.
“Never mind,” Lori and Molly said in unison.
“Anyway,” Lori said. “The guy works fast, apparently. I heard he already has something going with Tina Macintosh.”
Molly put her pizza down.
“Oh?”
“Oh, sorry,” Lori said. “I guess it’s not really family-friendly conversation. Never mind. Beth, how’s volleyball going?”
Molly felt the pizza do bad things in her stomach, but pasted a neutral look on her face again as Beth went into a prolonged explanation of the team’s dynamics, of how practice had gone today, and what she thought their chances were of making the playoffs. Molly toyed with her pizza and pretended to listen.
“Tommy boy, how’s everything?” Lori asked when Beth wound down.
“Fine,” he said. It was just about the first thing he’d said all night. A man of few words, Tommy was.
Mercifully, dinner was over soon after, and the kids went upstairs to do their homework. Or, in Tommy’s case, probably to play video games. For once, Molly didn’t even ask. She just poured two glasses of wine and led Lori into the living room. She had purchased a couple of new chairs and lamps through the years, but the sofa was still one her mother had purchased years ago. The dated decor was comfortable but not what Molly would have chosen for herself. Like everything else, it was what it was. She plopped down on the old sofa and Lori took one of the newer chairs.
Molly wanted to know, but she didn’t want to know. She knew she should start a conversation about anything but David, but when she opened her mouth, she heard herself asking about him anyway.
“Word is that she was in his hotel room for quite a while last night,” Lori said.
“How do you know that?” Molly asked.
“Well, I got it from Mildred at work, who got it from her husband who was at The Clipper last night. She said her husband saw them talking at the bar, and then he saw them leave together, and then when he left, pretty late — you know what a drinker her husband is — Tina’s car was still there. So draw your own conclusions.”
Molly did. She took a long drink of her wine, the better to compose her face. “Well, it’s nothing to me who my employees mess around with,” she finally said. “Tina is of age.”
“Is she ever!” Lori said. “I’d think he could do better, though. She might be only 30, but she looks older.”
“Like my age? Pushing 40?” Molly asked.
“Hell, she looks 45, at least,” Lori said. “And not a good 45. I’d have thought he’d have found something better, but there’s no accounting for taste. It’s not like Tina has ever been known to put up much resistance.”
Molly refilled her glass, taking her time about it, hiding her face.
“Good for Tina,” she finally said.
Lori stared at her. “Oh, no.” By the look on her f
ace, she was reading Molly’s mind.
“Oh no what?” Molly asked.
“Oh, no, you’ve got a crush on the Pirate Man.”
“I have no such thing,” Molly said. “He’s just somebody with a lot of library experience who happened to come along right when I had an open position I needed to fill. Nothing more.”
“Come on, Molly. I’ve known you forever. You can never lie to me. I can always tell. Look, you don’t want him if he can be attracted to the likes of Tina. He has bad taste in women, for sure.”
This was nothing Molly wanted to hear. She felt hot tears fill her eyes and plucked at the hem of her shirt, ready to dab them away if they spilled over.
“Hey, did something happen?” Lori asked. Molly felt the tears escape.
“No, of course not. You know I never date.”
“Something did happen. Did he make a pass? Oh, God, he did, didn’t he? He’s probably one of those guys who thinks he can just go around doing whatever he wants. And he probably can, too. Those eyes of his! But he’s an asshole if he’s upset you.” Lori joined Molly on the old sofa and patted her back. It reminded Molly that just hours ago she’d been crying in David’s arms. Then she thought of how close she’d come to just letting David do whatever he’d wanted — a day after Tina had apparently done the same. She put her face into her hands and choked back a sob.
“Hey, hey, he isn’t worth crying over. Oh, no, you didn’t have sex with him, did you? No, you couldn’t have. Did you?”
“No, no, nothing like that. I just … well, OK. He kissed me.”
“That asshole!” Lori was indignant, as if she were the town’s moral arbiter instead of a bit of a naughty nurse.
“Do you know how long it’s been since anybody has kissed me?”
“Two years. Frank Carlson. Am I right?” Lori was, in fact, correct. She seemed to have a spreadsheet in her head of every romantic encounter in Fairview.
“Don’t tell anybody. Really. I’d be humiliated. She wiped her eyes with the hem of her sweatshirt and got herself together. “I was stupid. Kissed him right in the janitor’s closet,” she said, laughing bitterly. “After he mopped the ladies room for me. I couldn’t resist the romantic surroundings, I guess.”
Worth The Wait (Small-Town Secrets-Fairview Series Book 1) Page 4
