Page 22 of Amazing Grace
“Yes, Daddy. Thank you. I love you, and I love Mom, too.”
“We love you. Stay out of trouble.”
“I will.” She ended the call.
“My dad is going to email me the list of names he has,” Molly said. She leaned against Grace, resting her head on Grace’s shoulder. “We can check around to see if any are in town.”
“I don’t know if it’ll help, but it can’t hurt,” Grace said. “Hey, listen — and you can tell me to shut up or go to hell if you want — but are you out to your folks?”
Molly nodded. “Yeah, but they still think it was a phase. Being with Jeremy made them think I was straight.”
“Da-yum. Your taste in men sucks.”
Molly chuckled. “Yeah, but my taste in women seems much better.”
Grace pulled back and looked at Molly. “Are you talking aboutmoi?”
Molly giggled. “Oui. Shouldn’t I be? I thought we had a, you know, connection.”
“Oh, baby, we do,” Grace whispered. Then she leaned in and kissed Molly. It was more than just sweet kiss. It was deeper, more passionate, and served to remind Grace that she had a concussion and a whopper of a headache. “And I swear as soon as my head feels better, I’ll give you a proper kiss.”
“That felt pretty proper to me,” Molly said softly. She tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of Grace’s eyes. “Now, lay down and take a nap.”
Molly’s phone beeped, and she found the email from her father. Grace tried to take it, but Molly held it out of her reach. “Oh, no. You nap. We’ll go over the list later.”
“Then you nap, too. You were in the same accident I was in, and you broke your arm,” Grace said. If she couldn’t look at the list, Molly couldn’t either. It might be petty and kindergartener-y, but that’s the way it was.
Molly smiled at her. “Can I trust you not to open that email while I get undressed?”
“You can trust me with your life,” Grace said solemnly, and nodded, holding her hand out for the phone. She knew if she peeked, Molly would never trust her again, and that wasn’t something, Grace realized, she ever wanted. She wanted what she’d told Molly to be true.
That Molly could trust Grace, with her life if necessary.
***
Naptime flew by. Before Grace knew it, Zoe was calling her softly from the bedroom door.
“Grace? Grace, hon, it’s suppertime. I’m going to bring you and Molly up plates.”
“No, no. We’ll come down. Seriously, it’s okay,” Grace answered. She waited for Zoe to leave, then turned to Molly, ignoring the stabbing pain in her head. “Molly? Wake up, babe.”
Molly yawned and stretched her good arm over her head as she sat up. “Time for school, mom?”
“Very funny. Zoe says it’s dinnertime. Let’s go down. We don’t want them waiting on us, do we?”
“Nope. And oh! We have an email to open, don’t we?”
“That we do, hon. That we do.”
They made their way to the dining room downstairs, where Zoe and Emily had set out four place settings and a highchair.
“Sit anywhere, but be aware, if you sit next to the magic chair, you get to feed Lily,” Emily said with a smile.
“Magic chair?” Molly asked, returning Emily’s grin.
“Yup. It takes Lily on exciting gastronomic journeys, from CheerioLand to Fresh Strained Peas Country.”
“Oh, yum!” Grace said, with more than a trace of sarcasm in her voice. “Can I pass Fresh Strained Peas Country and go straight to Chocolate Pudding Place?”