Page 96 of Letters to Molly (Maysen Jar 2)

Finn had asked once. Kali. Sweetie, what’s wrong?

Cue the waterworks. Apparently, there was a girl at her middle school who’d been teasing Kali about her body during recess. Kali hadn’t started to develop breasts yet, and this other girl had teased her for being flat chested. All the other girls were in training bras.

As I’d listened in on Kali telling Finn all about it, I’d fought the urge to track down this little brat’s mother and chew her up one side and down the other. But I’d stayed quiet. I wasn’t sure why Kali hadn’t told me, maybe because Max had been in the car with us. I knew my daughter and she would have opened up to me eventually, but she and Finn had this connection. Even when talking about bras and breasts and getting older, she trusted him completely.

He didn’t have to coax things from her. He was her confidant. Her safe zone.

Max loved having Finn around too. He was as carefree and jovial as always. I swear that kid had the strongest cheek muscles in the world because he could smile for hours. But with Finn home, it was more. Max’s light was set to high beam.

Soon, that would end.

Across the room, Finn took a pair of crutches from Ashley and fitted them under his arms. Determination was written all over his face. He was leaving the chair behind today. He wouldn’t need my help for much longer. He couldn’t drive yet, but that would happen before long too. His leaving was only a matter of time.

We needed to prepare the kids.

He shot me a smile as he took one step, then another. Ashley loomed close, touching his arm.

My eyes narrowed on her hand.

She always touched him. No, she felt him. It had rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. It was too intimate, not the way therapists should touch their patients. It reminded me of how the head cheerleader at my high school had always found ways to touch the football team’s quarterback.

Besides, wasn’t she supposed to be helping him walk? On. His. Own?

I turned my attention to the computer screen, refusing to look up, because I knew the expression on my face wasn’t pretty. My skin was probably turning green.

Ashley’s irritating giggle sailed across the room. I should have brought my earbuds to wear so I could listen to music and block her out. But I was stupid and had forgotten them today in the bag I’d packed for the gym.

Packing and unpacking that bag had become part of my routine these last few weeks. I was determined to take advantage of having Finn around in the mornings. I could go to the gym before the kids woke up because he was home if they needed something. So I packed my bag each night, set my alarm for four and fell asleep. I woke to the beeping and reset it for five thirty, and before drifting off again, I promised that backpack tomorrow would be the day.

Tomorrow was never the day.

But I still packed that bag.

Ashley laughed again, snagging my attention, and I clenched my jaw. It wasn’t just her laughter that grated on my nerves. It was the way she purred his name, adding an unnecessary number of ns. And it was how he always laughed back. He always smiled around her.

Of course he did. She was beautiful. She was fit underneath her navy scrub pants and simple white tee. She probably made it to the gym each morning at four. I bet she was the perky one who smiled as she ran or climbed a mountain of never-ending stairs. Her and her sleek brown ponytail.

Whatever. My hair was never going to be sleek and shiny. I was never going to grow the motivation to go to the gym at four in the morning. And I was never going to be okay watching another woman flirt with Finn.

“You did it!” Ashley squealed, clapping and jumping up and down. The ponytail swung wildly.

Finn had just crossed the room using his crutches. Usually it took him longer to go that distance, but he was motivated today. He wanted out of that chair and nothing was going to stop him.

His smile was blinding, so beautiful it stole my air. He flashed it at Ashley and her cheeks flushed.

My heart plummeted. No. Finn and I had built such an easy relationship lately. It had been easy to pretend the past had been forgiven. That he didn’t want to find a new woman for his life, because I was that woman.

But here we were. I had a sinking feeling that I would be stuck with Ashley.

He’d get through this physical therapy and start driving on his own. I bet after a few appointments where his ex-wife wasn’t in the room, he’d ask her out to dinner.

I was going to get stuck with that ponytail as Finn’s new girlfriend.

The happiness I’d felt for Finn seconds ago fell away. Because if it wasn’t Ashley, it would be someone else. I focused on my laptop for a few moments, taking a break from the soon-to-be couple.

“Thank you.” Finn’s deep voice was nothing more than a whisper but it carried across the room. It almost sounded like it was meant for me, not her. I looked up just in time to see Ashley rush to his side and touch his shoulder.

“I’m so proud of you.” Her hand traveled up and down his arm.