Page 42 of Tangled Up In You

As she turned a corner, she had to quickly sidestep as she almost ran into someone. It wasn't Adam this time, but as she looked into the man's face, her heart stopped. The short crew cut, the scar over one eye, the dark hair, and the warm brown eyes all added up to Neil Loeffler, her mother's former boyfriend, the man she'd once picked to be her stepfather.

He'd aged in the last decade. He had to be in his fifties now, with silver strands of hair in his sideburns.

He stared at her with the same surprise. "Molly?"

"It's me." She felt a wave of mixed emotions. She'd been angry with Neil for letting her mom go, for letting her go without a word, not even goodbye. But she'd also cared a lot about him at one point.

It suddenly felt like way too much. She was overwhelmed. She couldn't handle everything that was literally coming at her.

"How are you, Molly?" he asked.

"I—I have to go." She broke into a run as she pushed past him. She jogged down the street, turning another corner, and once again almost running into someone. But, of course, this time it was Adam.

"Whoa," he said, grabbing her arms. "You never walk slowly, do you?"

She stared back at him in confusion, still lost in her thoughts, and in the past. "What?"

His gaze narrowed. "What's wrong, Molly?"

"Nothing. Sorry. I'll walk slower."

As she moved past him, he fell into step alongside her. "What's going on? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I did. I just ran into Neil Loeffler, my mother's ex-boyfriend, the one I thought might be my stepfather."

"How was that?"

She stopped to look at him. "Well, I ran away from him, so not good." She let out a breath. "Seeing him again brought back a lot of feelings, and I couldn't handle them all, so I bolted. He must think I'm crazy. Maybe he always knew that. That's why he let both of us go." She was rambling, and she felt even more off-kilter. "Sorry. Go do whatever you were going to do."

"I was going to get something to eat at the Red Sombrero. Do you want to join me?"

"The Red Sombrero?" she asked doubtfully. "That's quite a name."

"The food is excellent."

She hesitated. "I thought you wanted to keep your distance from me."

"Well, the universe seems to have other plans," he said dryly.

"You don't believe in the universe having plans," she pointed out.

"True. But we're both here, and the restaurant is across the street, so…what do you say?"

She hesitated. "I am hungry. But are you meeting someone?"

"No. I was hoping to have dinner with Drew, but he just texted me he's meeting up with some kids. I'm not sure that's true, but it's clear he wants to spend as little time as possible with me."

"Actually, it is true. I was with him when a girl invited him to meet up with her and her friends at Giovanni's Pizza tonight."

"Seriously?" Surprise ran through his gaze. "Where did this happen?"

"In front of the store. Cassie was with her grandmother, Delores, and two other women, Grace and Bea. Cassie is very pretty and apparently goes to the local community college. Drew was quite taken with her, and she seemed interested in him, too."

"I guess that's good," he said doubtfully.

"It is good. You want him to make some friends, right?"

"Yeah. But I don't know Cassie. And a beautiful girl could cause more problems."

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