In front of them.
“For how long?” Ethan asked.
He laughed.
“A couple years. She started working here at nineteen, six years ago, and it was right about then. At first, it was flirting, but it became something more.”
They weren’t judging him, but he had to be in his late forties—early fifties.
Megan was barely mid-twenties.
“I know she was half my age, and that’s why we didn’t flaunt it around. Molly would shit herself and kick my ass, but the heart loves who it loves.”
That posed a question.
“Are you and Molly’s mother…?”
He stopped him.
“She died of cancer when Molly was sixteen. It’s only been me and Molly since then. When I met Megan, she breathed life into me again. Molly has her own place, so most of the time, Megan can come to my place, or me hers, and we are not noticed.”
They let him talk.
“When I sent her off shift, she was heading to my place, not her apartment. That’s why I was so freaked out when I saw her car. Honestly, I believed she changed her mind and went home. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I let her go alone,” he whispered. “I loved her. I just didn’t know how to tell Molly about her. That was the last obstacle.”
They could see that.
The man was incredibly emotional.
“And she wouldn’t be happy?” Ethan asked.
Mitch laughed.
“I don’t know. Molly is unpredictable. Since her mother’s death, she hasn’t been the same. They were so close, and she watched her mother slowly die. It was traumatic.”
Well, Ethan understood that.
Cancer had taken his mother, too.
“Keep telling us about that night,” Gene said, giving him a chance.
Mitch did.
“When I got home, I was in a panic. She was supposed to show up at my place. I don’t live near the pub. At first, I thoughtmaybe she took a cab. She’s done that before when she’s gotten off before me. She’ll leave her car, and…”
Gene got it.
“I called her phone a bunch of times, and I even drove back into the city to see if she was at her home. When she didn’t answer, I assumed I’d pissed her off when I sent her home. She really didn’t want to leave. I know she would have rather stayed and Molly gone home, but I had to choose. I have to watch the business's budget. I figured in the morning, she’d call and forgive me.”
Well, he’d figured wrong.
“And no one was bothering her?”
He was to the point.
“I would have broken their necks had they been bothering her, so I’m not sure if she would have told me.”
Ethan was curious.
