Page 39 of As They Are
“No!” She shook her head. “Absolutely not. You should definitely save it. Being sentimental is a good thing sometimes.”
“There were some scrapbooks in the closet of the guest room. Can I save this in one of those?”
“Yes, of course. And maybe when I get flowers back in the fields, we could add some there too.”
When I went back to Nashville, I would need that. “Yeah, I’ll save all the memories from here. I wonder if Henry has any more things to give me.” Mollie went silent, and I realized how it sounded. “Like, in a friendly way,” I added.
“You sure arefriendlywith him.”
“So?”
“Tammy said he was single. And he’s cute.”
I gasped. “You’re a taken woman.”
“I am, but I have eyes. He’s sweet and dependable. Though ... you’ve never dated a hot nerd, but there’s a first time for everything.”
“Yeah, because my normal type has gotten me a lot of places lately,” I muttered. “Henry would be ...” I shook my head. “Why are we even talking about this? It’s not even like I could do anything. Whether this grant goes through or not, in a few days, I’ll be dating Jude again.”
Mollie rolled her eyes. “You already know how I feel about that. We’re bringing out the body hiding spots if he says anything else to upset you again.”
“You’d have to take Madison, the director, with you. She’s the one who wanted the romance.”
“The spots can be for more than just men. I’m an equal opportunity murderer when it comes to you.”
I laughed. “It’s so good to hear you sound like yourself again.”
“That’s what happens when you start to take your needs seriously.”
“Iam,which is why I’m pushing for this season to be filmed here.”
“But if you find an out, use it.” Her voice was firm. “There’s always something you can do to make things work.”
I thought about it but hit a wall the second I remembered the contract. A renovation show with a side of love. That was what had been promised.
“Let me get this grant figured out,” I said. “Then we plan the rest out.”
She nodded, and we lapsed into silence as we got closer to the farmhouse. I tried not to let my thoughts slip to Henry as she drove.
By the time we were at the farm, my thoughts turned to the grant. I went inside and looked up everything I could on it, and only found an email address to send my inquiry to. I shot that off, asking for at least ten years of funding, just to see what they would say. It was more than they’d give, but I would work with five. Then I went outside to install the patch on my truck’s tire.
Mollie was busy working with Cain, catching up on all that she’d missed. Apparently, she was hard at work diversifying the crops at the farm and hoped to join the vendors at the local Saturday farmers market soon.
I tried to only feel joy at Mollie’s new life, but it was tinged with the regret that I had missed it. Hopefully, the season gave me enough time to catch up with her. I was so happy she had alife and home out here, but I had no idea what life would be like once I went back to Nashville and she remained here.
“Hey,” a young voice said, and I turned to find Eric. “Mollie said you build things.”
A distraction? Perfect.“I do. Need something?”
“Only the greatest marble run of all time. Can you do that?”
“A marble run?” I was hoping to work with wood, but I would take anything I could get. “Sure, lead the way.”
Eric took me upstairs to his room where he had more toys than I could count. He showed me the pieces of the plastic marble run and described the massive setup he wanted.
“I might need a few more if I’m gonna make something this big.”
Just as I said that, he pulled out a huge container of parts.
