“Really.” He took her hand and motioned for her parents to follow. “Come see.”
He led them to the office where an additional folding table was set up in the middle of the room. Cole sat in the corner working on the computer while Michelle packaged orders, filming herself while doing so.
Michelle looked over when they entered. “Hey! I’m making social media content. I figured with the uptick in sales, we might as well ride the high.”
Molly stared wide-eyed at the stack of books. “That’s twelve orders?”
Michelle nodded. “Can you believe it? Most of the orders were for more than one book. It seems like a lot of people want to support a small, family-owned bookstore.”
Cole spun around in his chair. “It also helps that Kelly is promoting it as well. The Wintervale Resort shared it on its social media page.”
Molly hadn’t met Eli’s sister, Kelly, yet, but had heard a lot about her. She worked for a resort in Wintervale, Montana, where she had met her now-boyfriend, Miles, the previous fall. Molly stared in disbelief, and then a ding sounded.
Cole spun back toward his computer. “We got another order.”
Eli, Cole, and Michelle tossed their hands in the air and cheered. Molly laughed in disbelief, and then a hand touched her shoulder.
She had completely forgotten that her parents were there.
“Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. Everyone, these are my parents. Mom, Dad, these are Eli’s siblings, Cole and Michelle.”
After they all shook hands, Ashley turned toward Molly. “You created a website that did all this?”
“Apparently.”
“No, seriously. She can take all the credit. We’ve never done online sales prior to today. Cole, pull up the website,” Eli said.
Cole loaded it onto his computer, and her parents went over to click through it. After a moment, they looked back at Molly.
“Molly, that’s wonderful,” Jared said. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you,” Molly said, tears springing to her eyes again. She had never cried so much as she had that day.
Eli tugged her to his side as her parents chatted with his siblings. “I’m proud of you too, and so incredibly thankful that you came into my life.”
She tipped her head up to look at him and sniffled. “Even though I’m just the escort?”
Eli reared back, and Katie snorted from the doorway, having overheard them.
“Not to break up the meeting, but there’s a line at the register,” Katie said.
“I’ve never thought of you as an escort,” Eli said.
Molly giggled, and Katie snorted again. “I know.”
Molly introduced her parents to Katie as Eli left to handle the register. Then Katie excused herself to get back to the cafe.
“Shall I show you the town?” Molly asked.
“That would be delightful,” Ashley said.
16
Eli stepped inside Rousseau Paradis and made his way toward the table in the back where Molly had told him they were seated. He spotted Molly and her parents with glasses of wine in hand as they chatted animatedly with each other. He smiled softly. Her parents had been in town for four days and were heading back to Denver tomorrow morning. She had spent all her time with them when she wasn’t working. When she was working, they would come by the cafe for their morning coffees and again for lunch.
The way Molly glowed since they had come around had his heart beaming for her. She was truly happy, and he couldn’t be more thrilled for her.
Eli approached the table. “I’m so sorry I’m late. We got several more orders at closing.”
