Page 115 of Letters to Molly (Maysen Jar 2)

“What?” I asked gently.

She gave me those sad eyes, the ones that melted my heart. “I wish you didn’t have to go to your house.”

I tossed the knife aside and put my hand on her shoulder. “Me too. But that’s where I live.”

“Do you . . . never mind.” She dropped her gaze to the dirt, spreading some beneath her fingers.

I gave her time, letting her work up the courage to talk. That was the way with Kali. She’d always open up if I didn’t rush her. She was like me in that way. She pondered things before she spoke. She kept more inside than I wished she would.

“This sucks,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, sweetie. It does.”

She looked up at me, her bottom lip worried between her teeth. “Do you think you and Mom might ever get together again?”

My shoulders sank. More than anything, I wanted to tell her yes. To tell her that we’d be a family again. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I love your mom.”

“You do?”

I nodded. “I’ll always love your mom. She’s the best person I’ve ever met. And she gave me you and Max.”

“Then I don’t understand. I know Mom loves you too. So why can’t you be together? Don’t you like living here with us?”

“More than anything.” I gave her a sad smile. “I know it’s hard to understand. We love each other, but we have to be able to make each other happy too. And right now, we don’t. Does that make sense?”

She shrugged. “Sorta.”

That was a no. It didn’t make sense. I was struggling to comprehend it all myself. And I was dreading the end of this day.

After our fight two weeks ago, Molly and I had been avoiding one another. It had given me plenty of time to ponder our situation. To dig deep and decide if I could truly forgive Molly for what had happened that night.

Fourteen days, and I wasn’t any closer to the answer.

So today, after the yard was finished, I was going home.

Alone.

“What’s up?” Molly asked as she stepped through the patio door, following Max as he raced toward me and Kali.

“We’re ready to plant the lilac bush.”

She smiled, doing a sweep of the yard. “It looks so wonderful out here.”

“Yeah, it does.” The best yard on earth. Not because of the landscaping, but because of her and the kids. Because we’d built it together.

Molly came over and knelt down next to me and Kali. Max hovered around us, bouncing from one foot to the next as I lifted the bush above the hole.

“Need help?” Molly asked, her hands reaching out.

“I’ve got it.” With the bush placed in the hole, I gave the nod to start pushing in dirt. “Okay, guys. Fill it in.”

Four pairs of hands dove into the dirt, shoving and packing it around the roots.

“That’s it?” Max asked when the hole was filled.