Page 58 of His Tenth Dance

She shone like a new penny, and Hunter chuckled softly and swept his arm around her waist as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You’re gonna get better really fast, okay, Mols?”

“I’m trying,” she said.

“It’s only been a couple of weeks,” he said. “We just barely moved out of the first stage, and you can start to drive and do a few things around the house this week.”

“I know,” Molly said. “I just can’t believe I have to live like this for eight weeks.”

“It’s okay to be served,” Hunter said. “You don’t always have to be the one providing the service.”

Molly pressed her lips together and nodded. She picked up the bowl and put it in the microwave while Hunter wondered if he’d irritated her with his mini lecture.

“I better tell you something before tonight,” he said.

She turned to face him, a wary look in her eyes that he could barely see in the limited light they allowed in the house during the day.

“I collected a list of people who are willing to come sit inside with you,” he said. “So that you don’t have to be alone. Not everyone loves a huge party with a lot of noise.”

Molly folded her arms and cocked one hip out. “Who’s on the list?”

“Lisa,” Hunter said with a smile. “Opal. She says she can barely do anything after five p.m. these days.”

That got Molly to smile too.

“Lindsay,” Hunter said. “Apparently, she and Keith are going to have a baby in October, and they’ve only told the people they work with.”

“October?” Molly said. “Wow, she must be showing then.”

“I think that’s going to be a surprise tonight,” he said.

“Go on,” Molly said.

“Jane.” Hunter held up one finger and ticked it off. “Deacon—you know he loves sitting with you. Kristie—she said she loves getting away from all the noise after a little while, and she always has something to do on her phone. You know she’s been sitting by Lady pretty much constantly these past two weeks.”

Molly started to weep, and Hunter hated that she was in any distress at all. He moved over to her and gathered her into his chest, glad when she clung to him as ifhewere the anchor in the turbulent world thatsheneeded.

“Your momma and daddy,” he continued in a whisper. “Lara and her husband. Every counselor at Pony Power who will be here. Cosette. Gloria. Matt. Boone.”

“All right,” Molly said in a tinny tone. “Stop.”

“The fact is, Mols, they all love you and want you to heal fast. And if that means you have to sit inside and have someone bring you a hot dog and one of the indoor s’mores, then that’s that.”

“I know,” she said. “Just don’t cancel it.”

“I’m not going to cancel it,” Hunter assured her.

The microwave beeped, and he released her to go stir her marshmallows. She did, then set the bowl in the microwave for another sixty seconds.

“Will you grease the pan?” she asked.

Hunter set about doing that while she measured out twelve cups of crispy rice cereal. He hated stirring it all together, but he loved how his wife put in extra marshmallows to make extra-gooey treats.

When she finished pressing down the cereal, he said, “Come lay down for an hour while I feed the kids. I’ll send them in one at a time to talk to you.”

“Okay,” Molly said.

The fact that she didn’t argue told Hunter how tired she had become by simply making a five-minute dessert where the microwave did most of the work.

He’d just gotten Molly settled when he heard Clay and Charlotte’s voices. He quickly moved down the hall to feed them, remembering that Ryder had been put on a fencing rotation that week and wouldn’t be able to come to the farmhouse for lunch.

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