Mollywood (16 page)

“How are those babies doing?” I was thrilled that he’d moved on to another topic.

“They’re good. Growing like wildflowers,”

“Do we get pictures soon? Are you doing one of those 4-D Ultrasounds? You’d better send me a dvd!”

“We have another ultrasound in about three weeks. It’s
the big one
…where we get to find out the sex.” When the subject came up, I told Joe I couldn’t wait to know if they were boys or girls. I was itching to see my babies and how they’d grown, and every time I thought about it, I had a hard time containing my enthusiasm.

Dan chuckled happily. “Good. I’m
so
ready to shop for tiny little booties and I want to know whether to buy bonnets or baseball caps.”

“You and me both.” I took a long drink of my sweet tea. I knew Joe would be on me about it, but I was in desperate need of the sugar and caffeine. It was the first I’d had all day and I needed the boost since I wasn’t used to working in the evenings.

“You wanna come down for a visit?” Dan’s thick Louisiana accent was like cool water on a sultry day.

“I could use some sun. Why?”

“David bought a bar.” Dan’s brother, David owned a posh French restaurant on Galveston Island. Dan had left Seattle to come down and be his sommelier.

“What? That man’s crazy as hell. Doesn’t he have his hands full with Madeline’s?”

Dan sighed “He gets bored easily, just like you. I’m gonna level with you. He’ll make it worth your while. He wants to talk to you about franchising Wrapgasmic.”

“As in a Galveston Wrapgasmic?”

“Yes. But without wheels
and
with a liquor license.” Dan replied.

I leaned back against the warm steel of the food truck and tried to imagine a brick and mortar place that sold margaritas and my wraps. I could see the concept working well in the land of wide brimmed hats and sandy flip flops.

“Sounds interesting. I should be able to head that way after my next appointment.”

“I’ll get the guest room ready. And I’ll buy all of your favorite treats. Should I stock up on pickles and ice-cream?” He’d no more said the words when I felt as if a gold fish was swimming in my abdomen. I gasped and put my hand on my lower left side.

“Molly?” Dan sounded alarmed, and the sensation happened again, this time more centralized and stronger than the time before. I let out a tickled squeal. “What in gay hell?”

“I think I just felt the babies move for the first time!” I blurted into the phone.

“Seriously?” I could imagine his jovial expression.

“Seriously!”

“Oh my God!” He exclaimed. “See? It’s a sign that you need to get down here and hang out. Knowing you, you haven’t been putting your feet up like you should.”

“Oh, trust me. I’ve been very lazy.”

He laughed melodiously. “What did your doctor say about drinking wine?”

I felt the fluttering feeling travel all the way across my lower abdomen and I chewed my lip to keep from giggling. “Dan, let me call you back. I really want to call Joe and tell him about the babies.”

“Of course. I’ll tell David to start getting his proposal together.”

“Sounds good. We’ll talk soon.” I hung up and immediately dialed Joe, pacing with excitement.

“Hello?” His gruff greeting barely registered.

“Hey, guess what?” I was bubbling over with glee.

“Molly…I really don’t have time for guessing games.” He sighed so heavily it seemed to come from the depths of his soul. I felt my smile evaporate. It was clear that I was pestering him. His rebuke stung, and I’d never been so caught off guard by a reaction of Joe’s.

“Oh…okay.” My voice sounded too high, and hollow. I felt a little lightheaded and realized I’d been holding my breath.

“I’m sorry, babe. I’m in the middle of something kind of complicated. What’d you need?” He pressed on, still all business.

“It c…can wait. I’ll see you soon.” I hung up. His reaction to me had stolen all the joy from the moment.

Hurrying back into the truck, I jumped in to help Sanchez. I hadn’t wanted to think about the changes I was seeing in Joe. I’d been trying to tell myself it was all in my head. A product of my insecurities and remnants of my time with Draven. But something was undeniably shifting. For the past couple of weeks he seemed to be avoiding me. Some days everything felt normal…happy even. Then on a dime, he’d pull away. I felt my grip on him slipping and it seemed like the more I tried to talk about it the more he’d retreat. The more he acted like nothing was wrong the louder his silence seemed.

Sanchez and I worked through another mini rush, and all the while I found myself feeling numb. Shifting from shock to anger, I was about to call Joe back right before my brother Mason turned up at the window with his wife, Robin and their three kids.

“Hey! I smell Hildebrandts Barbecue” He called in his booming voice, His referral to my father’s old restaurant made me grin. He tipped his cowboy hat out of his eyes and smiled.

“Hey. I didn’t know you were coming!” I called over the sounds of the grill.

“You think I’d miss Mac victory lap? Hell no!” He pulled out his wallet and asked the kids what they wanted.

“Put your money away, Mason.” I stared at him emphatically, and then turned my attention to the kids. “Y’all just tell me what you want.”

We’d finally sorted out their orders as the first wave of finishers and their dogs began to appear.

“Molly…you have to make this more often.” Mason proclaimed, then his eyes widened. “Better yet! Ribs!”

“It is so good! I wanna take a bath in this sauce.” Robin said around a mouthful of wrap, She nodded in the direction of the athletes sprinting toward the finish line. “Oh, we’d better head over!”

Mason snorted. “I think we’ve got a little time. Somehow I think Mac’ll be bringing up the rear.”

“Yeah…carting Bones across his shoulders like a casualty of war.” I agreed and Mason fist bumped me. Robin made a scolding sound with her tongue and tossed her highlighted mane out of her face.

“Oh, ye of little faith.” She drawled. Considering she was Mason’s wife, it was comical how Robin always defended Mac. “Miss Betty says he’s been training every day.”

“That’s our mom…the next sports commentator for CNN.” Imaging my mother in a blazer with a microphone and camera crew made me giggle.

“Two weeks on a treadmill won’t make up for the fact that he hasn’t done cardio since high school.” Mason laughed.

“You two are downright awful.” Robin replied to her husband, giving him a sly smile and a paradoxical kiss on the lips. Mason Eskimo kissed her in return, and I found myself jealous of this airy and uncomplicated interaction. Mason squinted off in the direction of the parking lot and grinned. “Here comes Joe.”

A westerly wind barreled into us and I pulled my open hoodie tight around me. I turned and didn’t see him at first. Then I noticed heads turning, and knew to follow the female adoration. Joe sauntered in our direction, completely oblivious to the female population of Austin drooling in his wake. Soccer moms and teenage girls stopped to stare at him as he passed, and I didn’t need to see him from that vantage point to know the view was equally good behind him. His casual bow legged gait served to showcase his perfect ass.

Joe held up a hand in greeting when he spotted us, and I realized Francis was with him. Francis gave me a friendly wave. Mason took a few steps in their direction so he and Joe could do their usually hand shake/clap-on-the-back greeting.

“What’s up, Broseph.” Mason called enthusiastically, and Joe gave him his signature lopsided grin. “Little sis hasn’t talked you into running off to Vegas, yet? You’d better get a ring on that finger of his, Molly. The cougars are starting to circle!”

Joe eyes pinned mine and when I pried mine angrily away, I shot Mason a dismal glare. My oldest brother’s smile faltered as he realized he’d just stepped in some shit. I could almost see him backpedaling. Mason turned to Francis. “Francis, how ya been? Are we going golfing before the weather turns?”

I shook my head and looked at Robin with a huff. She was staring at my belly with eager eyes. “Molly. Girl, you’re already so damn
big
!”

“Robin, I love you. You’re my favorite sister-in-law…” I cautioned.

“I’m your only sister in law.” She interjected, and her tone was punchy.

“But I’m about to grab a fist full of your hair and yank it clean out.” I smiled like I was joking, but her comment hit home. The way Joe was acting, I already felt like some inconvenient burden. With Robin’s jab, I felt like an undesirable one at that. It was the last thing I’d needed to hear, and the look on my face must’ve been wretched, because she frowned.

Seeming in a hurry to redirect me, Robin launched into nurse-mode with twenty questions about the progression of my pregnancy. My rapid-fire responses seemed to satisfy all of her second trimester requirement. Her last question gave me pause.

“How’s Joe?” Her seasoned eyes penetrated me when I hesitated. In my defense, what reply could I give?

Detached…silent…smokin’ hot?

It was a sobering revelation that I would have responded to her the same way almost a year before. Yes, we lived together now. Yes, we were about to bring new lives into the world. No…I had no idea how Joe was or what was happening behind those mossy green eyes of his. I found this deeply disturbing and I recalled something he’d said during the first real conversation as adults.

“You never really know anyone.”

Luckily, my nephew intercepted the conversation and ran with it.

“Look! There’s Uncle Mac!”

I turned and shielded my eyes against the last rays of the setting sun. Sure enough, my brother’s neon green Under Armor stood out like a festering eyesore. Bones trotted along ahead of him and Mac was booking along at a surprising clip. Robin and I exchanged a baffled glance.

“Hurry, y’all!” My bombshell sister-in-law called over her shoulder, grabbing her son by the hand. We rushed in the direction of the finish line. We were about 20 yards away, when I felt a familiar large and calloused hand grasp mine. I slowed, and tried to turn toward him. This was a simple maneuver that I would normally have executed flawlessly. Instead, I nearly tripped, since my center of gravity had been hijacked by two avocado sized babies.

“Whoa, there, Crash.” Joe chuckled, and displaying all of the grace that I lacked, he rescued me easily with one arm. When he didn’t release me, I tried to wriggle away. He held me firm, and I was left with no alternative but to look up at him. He wore the puppy dog eyes that could usually disarm me, and the two sides of my personality held a brief tug of war. Joe’s avoidance wounded me, and I was tired of acting like there was nothing the matter with us. Part of me wanted to stand and fight and part of me wanted to brush it all under the rug with a cliché girl response like ‘I’m fine’. For the first time in a long time, I struggled with which course of action was best for us. I wanted my choices to be best for us, especially since fate continued to throw Molotov cocktails in our direction. Lost in my own indecision, I stared absently at his chest, trying figure out my next move.

“Molly.” His soft chide had a condescending edge that I’m sure he thought was playful. It instantly pissed me off, which I later assumed had a lot more to do with remnants of Draven than Joe... My face felt like it was on fire. I tried to pull away, but he didn’t loosen his grip.

“I felt the babies move today. That’s why I called you.” Joe stiffened and then heaved a heavy sigh. He reached his hand up toward my face and I twisted out of his grasp. “Mac’s about to finish the race.” I rushed after Robin and the kids. I despised hurting Joe. My personal battle since we’d moved in together had been balancing my compulsion to take care of him with the need to retain my own identity. Though Joe was nothing like my ex, I vowed not to make the same mistakes with him, namely molding my life entirely to suit his. Destiny, it seemed, took this mission of mine as some sort of a challenge.

I narrowed my eyes and threw my hood over my head. Joe needed a taste of his own medicine. Admittedly, I was feeling particularly vulnerable. Rehashing Draven’s betrayal and the evisceration of my self-worth all day long had exposed a lot of raw nerves. Joe had been so hot and cold I didn’t know what to expect from one interaction to the next. Worst was his repeated refusal to interact with me at all.

My chest ached, but I didn’t look over my shoulder at him. I felt like a petty child for how I had told him about feeling the babies move. What should have been a joyous, important milestone, with him was yet another example of our dysfunction. Instead of feeling close to him I felt further apart.

As I neared the finish line, I saw Mac was running in stride with Kelly. I tried to contain my wonderment, but I couldn’t help but be impressed. I can’t say that seeing him compete was a foreign experience. Mac had always been a natural athlete, a great football player in school and still pretty sought after when it came time to pick players in his softball league. Granted, he’d also partied hard for a lot of years, which explained a great deal about his catastrophic marriage. His ex-liked to party even more than he did, and situations like theirs never end well.

Mac murmured something to Kelly and her dark eyes narrowed in a fierce and competitive manner.

Hmmm…maybe I underestimated this girl.

Her plump lips curled in a wry grin and they both broke into a final sprint. The two of them made a striking looking pair, and I wondered if I’d missed the mark when I assumed they were incompatible.

We all whooped and hollered as they crossed the finish line. Mason and Joe crept up behind Mac as he walked off the pain, and I couldn’t help but laugh when they teamed up and dumped a half full water cooler over his head. Kelly laughed too, and Mac pulled her into an exaggerated bear hug, squishing his sopping clothes against hers. This made her squeal in mock outrage. Mason’s children fell into giggle fits and Mac proceeded to chase after them, as if to do the same to each one of them.

“Don’t even think about it, Malcolm!” Robin shouted after him. “Those hellions have to ride home with me and I just had the minivan detailed.”