Page 43 of The County Line
Molly nudges me playfully. “It’s the thought that counts. Thanks for thinking of us.”
Jenni smirks, holding up a card like a trophy. “If a drink has the right amount of carbonation to it, I expect the fizzy bubbles to burn my nostrils from an appropriate distance away. I could tell that was flat the second you set it down.”
I chuckle despite myself, rolling my eyes at the little menace. Molly’s laughter joins mine, and for a moment, it’s like nothing else exists. Just us three and this lightness, laughter and the absurdity of the whole situation.
“So, how do you two know each other?” Jenni asks, her curious brown eyes prying in a way I know will get her in trouble someday.
Molly smiles and takes it in stride. “We went to high school together. Growing up, he was best friends with my older brother, so we spent a lot of our time together as kids on his family’s farmstead.”
I appreciate the fact that she’s left out that part about her being my current parole officer. Jenni doesn’t need those details though I’m sure she’s already figured that out.
“You live on a farm?”
I nod. “An egg farm.”
She wrinkles her nose. “What’s that?”
“We raise chickens and sell their eggs.”
She thinks for a moment, and I can see the wheels turning. “Interesting. And did you guys ever date?”
Molly shakes her head. “No, we’ve just always been great friends.”
“Why not? Don’t they say the best relationships are ones that start out as friends?”
I hear Molly hesitate and know I should help her out here but I’m curious to know what she’s going to say. She reaches across the table and pats Jenni’s hand gently. “While I’m sure that’s true, sometimes getting in a relationship with your friend can ruin the friendship if the relationship ends up ending.”
Well, damn.
“Why would you assume that it’s going to end?” Jenni pries.
Molly glances at me, eyes wide like she’s silently begging for backup, but I just sit back and smirk.
“Um… well…” She flounders, her panic obvious, which only makes me chuckle and shake my head.
Luckily, Jenni doesn’t wait for an answer before barreling right into her next thought.
“So why is Colt volunteering? Usually, it’s either people who love this kind of thing or people who are forced to.”
I choke mid-sip on the god-awful orange soda—partly because it’s disgusting, partly because I didn’t even realize I’d grabbed another sip just to avoid answering Jenni’s question, and mostly because I wasn’t expecting her to call me out like that.
“I’ll let Colt answer that one,” Molly volleys the question to me.
I hum for a second, gathering my thoughts. “I did something and got in trouble for it.”
Jenni’s eyes narrow.
Molly turns back to Jenni. “Colt was defending someone who was in a lot of trouble and couldn’t defend themselves. And sadly, sometimes the law doesn’t do the right thing. They put the blame on him for doing a good thing. Remember what we talked about?” she asks and now I’m infinitely more curious at what they were discussing while I was gone.
She nods. “I see… So, people in authority don’t always get things right.”
“Sort of. Sometimes, you just have to keep looking, keep pressing, to find the right person who believes you.”
Before I can prod further, I hear a voice calling Jenni’s name from across the center. All three of us turn to see the same woman that I’d seen at the grocery store, calling Jenni’s name and waving her over.
Her foster mother.
“Okay, so I guess that’s it for me today,” Jenni says pushing to stand up. “Thanks for coming, Molly. I hope I’ll see you again next week?”
