Page 84 of Tangled Up In You

"I think you're just afraid, Molly. If you don't want it, you won't be hurt if you don't get it. And it's not just Adam that falls into that mindset—it's probably the success of the store, too."

She looked into Hannah's perceptive brown eyes. "You might be right. I want to succeed, but I don't know if I will. And moving has always been the answer to a problem. In some ways I like goodbyes, because it means I'm going somewhere new, and in other ways I hate goodbyes, because I'm leaving people behind." She let out a sigh, confused by her own thoughts. "I don't know. I've made a lot of changes really fast, and to be honest, my head is still spinning."

"You don't have to decide anything tonight, or tomorrow, or even this year. I know you're not leaving that fast. You just got here. And I think you're going to fall in love—maybe not with Adam, but definitely with Whisper Lake. You loved it once before, probably more than any of us who stayed."

"And that love broke my heart. I almost didn't come back because of that, but Phoebe forced me to take another look. She always thought I belonged here."

"Maybe you do. Look, I'm the last person to give relationship advice. It took me ten years to get over hating Jake enough to let him back into my heart. But I will say this: love is always a risk, and you love to take risks. You love to leap into the unknown."

"But Adam doesn't make moves like that. He's not about fun for the moment; he's about planning for the future. I don't want to hurt him. He should be with someone stable and solid."

"That sounds boring as hell."

She smiled. "Am I wrong? You know him better than me."

"I think he hangs on a little too tightly to predictability. And sometimes we all need a kick in the ass to change our perspective."

"I don't think he needs a kick in the ass on his birthday," she said dryly.

"True. Let's get a drink, and I'll introduce you to one of my friends from the clinic. He just moved here a few months ago. He's single and not nearly as weighed down with emotional baggage as Adam."

She could use a drink. She wasn't all that interested in meeting another guy, but maybe she should. She could at least look at someone else for a while and that would be a small victory.

ChapterTwenty

Adam felt incrediblylucky to have so many people at his birthday party. It wasn't a party he'd wanted, but his sisters had, of course, gotten their way, declaring that big birthdays were always a Cole tradition, and he couldn't mess with tradition. He'd had no argument to that because they were right. Traditions were big in his family, and he liked the sense of continuity, of keeping things going from one generation to the next.

As the sun set, the food bins were emptied, all the drinks had been poured, and the party wound down. He said a multitude of goodbyes and gave a lot of hugs, until the only people left cleaning up were his sisters, their spouses, and Molly. He'd barely spoken to Molly. She'd always been on the periphery of whatever group he was in. He'd caught her staring a few times, and she'd caught him looking at her, too. They'd shared a lot of smiles but not a lot of words. And he wanted words. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to spend the rest of his birthday with her, and he was glad she'd stuck around.

He walked over to the picnic table where she was pulling up the paper tablecloth. "You don't have to clean up, Molly."

"It's fine. Your sisters did so much work. I want to help."

"I never got a chance to talk to you tonight."

"You were very popular." Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Lots of pretty, single women wanted your attention."

"Jealous?" he asked hopefully.

"No. You're free to do whatever you want."

"So are you. But that guy from the firehouse—Mark—not for you." He shook his head to add to his point.

She raised a brow. "Why would you say that? Mark was very nice. And fun-loving. He told me all about the six months he spent backpacking through Europe. He seems to have a real sense of adventure."

"He's into adventure, yes, but he's also into serial dating. He goes from one woman to the next, and he brags about his numbers."

"You mean like how many women he sleeps with?"

"Exactly."

"If he's such a jerk, why are you friends with him?" she challenged.

"He's on my basketball team. He's not a bad guy. Mark is fearless when it comes to fire. You just don't want to date him."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Did he ask you out?"

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