Page 106 of Tangled Up In You

His gaze moved toward the necklace, where her fingers were still touching the heart. "That's pretty. Fiery. Like you."

"That's what Jackie said."

"Jackie?" He raised a brow. "She was in here?"

"She gave me the necklace." Molly couldn't help but give him a smug smile. "I told you I could bring her around."

"She brought you a present?" he said in amazement. "That's unbelievable."

"It was a peace offering. She really appreciated the little gifts I've been giving her. She said that she hadn't been sleeping well, but last night she got eight hours. She was like a changed woman, Adam."

He gave her a look of admiration. "I'm impressed. You didn't kill her with kindness, you actually made her kind."

"I don't know if I'd go that far. But I think we have a chance to get along now, and I'm very happy about that. I didn't want to be in a fight with her."

"That's great, Molly. You're good at knowing what people need and then giving it to them."

"I got most of my insight into Jackie from Phoebe and also a little from Neil."

"But you still used it in the right way. That's a skill. Don't sell yourself short."

She liked that he respected her, that he kept pushing her to be proud of who she was, to state what she wanted, to not settle for less. "Thanks, Adam."

He gave her a quizzical look. "For what exactly?"

"Just…being you."

"I'll take that. What are you doing tonight?"

"I don't have any plans."

"How about we make some?"

"You and your plans," she said with a laugh. "We could just walk out the door and see what happens—which way we turn, where we walk. Who knows what we'll see, where we'll end up?"

"Sounds risky, but I like it."

"You're a cop. I can't imagine that sounded risky."

"With you, I'm never sure what's going to happen."

"Good. I like being unpredictable. I just have to lock up, and we can go." She turned toward the door, then stopped abruptly at the sight of the person peering through the window. "Oh, my God!"

Adam whirled around. "What's wrong?"

She pointed toward the window, to the woman looking right back at her.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"My mother."

"Your mother? I thought she was in New York."

"So did I," she replied as her mom walked through the door with a smile on her face.

"Surprise," her mother said with a gleeful smile. "Are you happy to see me?"

Molly was feeling a lot of things, but happy wasn't one of them.

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