On Wednesday morning, Zeke arrived at the office to find a temp from the employment agency waiting outside. Apparently, Molly had made the arrangements yesterday and had left detailed instructions since he’d only made her cutoff by a minute. The temp was experienced and pleasant, but every time Zeke walked toward the reception area, he felt both a sense of shock—who was this strange person?—and sadness. You brought this on yourself, genius, he reminded himself.
On Thursday, he went through the motions at work, grateful he could do some of his job on autopilot. The sight of someone else at Molly’s desk kept doing him in, though, making mincemeat of his concentration. He took long walks down Main Street and then drove around to relook at the houses Danica had shown him, trying to imagine himself in one of them with a family. But that icy shield seemed to wrap around him again and he drove back to Dawson Solutions, forcing himself to focus.
On Friday Zeke stared out the window of his office, stared out the window of his bedroom, stared up at the ceiling. Had he ever felt like this before? Like he was being torn apart? Not like this. He saw Molly’s face, Lucy’s brown eyes, constantly. Thought of them constantly. And this certainty that he wasn’t cut out for marriage and fatherhood—it was better than this torment that he was going through? He felt like hell. How could this be better?
Saturday at noon was Ford’s housewarming party, so Zeke headed into town to find something Ford might like for the new place and to buy presents for his nieces and nephews, who’d all be there. For a split second he almost called Molly to ask what he should get Ford. Candlesticks? A hearth set for the fireplace? He wandered around Main Street, going in and out of stores until he saw it—the perfect gift for Ford. A good-size abstract watercolor painting of a man in a rowboat out to sea. Then he realized that was actually himself; Zeke was the one out to sea. He put that painting back and chose the watercolor of a man walking in the woods. He headed to the toy store next and got each little relative something small but special, wrapped in bright paper. But when he passed the teething toys and board books, especially the ones with chewable edges for teething babies like Lucy, his heart sagged and dropped.
He missed Molly. He missed Lucy.
He still didn’t understand what had happened at her house, why he’d reacted the way he had. On one hand, he did understand—the reality that that would be his future had grabbed hold and he couldn’t shake the echo in his head: not cut out for fatherhood. You’ll fail. You’ll disappoint them. You’ll hurt them.
He sat in his car in the parking lot, thinking, thinking, thinking, and then it was time to head to the party.
As he glanced around the living room, looking for Ford, he did a double take. Danica Dunbar was standing beside the buffet table, chatting away with Ford, and unless he was seeing things, there was something going on between the two. He’d told his brother that his crush on Danica was over, that he’d very unexpectedly fallen for someone else.
He figured Danica knew all about what a heel Zeke was; she was Molly’s best friend and she must know what had happened. But as he approached them, Danica smiled warmly and said it was nice to see him again.
Zeke managed a smile. “Nice to see you, too.”
“I mentioned to you that Danica is the one who showed me this house,” Ford said. “Can’t have a housewarming without the Realtor who found you the perfect home.” His brother glanced at Danica, and yesiree, he could tell Ford was interested. Of course, Zeke didn’t know Danica very well, but she sure seemed unable to drag her eyes off his brother.
With two hands he gave Ford the cumbersome painting, which the store owner had nicely wrapped in silver paper with a big red bow. “Happy housewarming,” Zeke said. “This is for you.”
“Is it a vase?” Ford joked, taking the painting and leaning it against the wall of a console table so he could rip off the wrapping paper. “Wow, I love this painting. In fact, I think it would look great right above this table. Thanks.”
Ford’s attention was back to something Danica said, about the blues and greens in the painting. He wondered if Molly knew that Danica was here, surrounded by Dawsons.
Molly had once said she couldn’t see Zeke and Danica together. Now, of course, that made sense. They’d never been a match. But Ford and Danica—he could definitely see it, and that was despite what his brother had said the day Zeke had come to see the farmhouse for the first time: I said black, she said white. I said up, she said down. Given the way they were looking at each other, the adversarial thing was working for them. Chemistry was funny that way; you just never knew.
Except for the part where Danica had told Zeke that she wasn’t sure if she wanted kids. And Ford definitely did—six, in fact. But like Zeke had always said, the right person could turn you around.
He froze again. The right person, the right person...
Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he ended up chatting with an old neighbor, then he found his siblings one by one and handed out the toys he’d brought.
“One of the best uncles in the world,” his sister said with a grin as she watched him hand her baby son, Tony, his gift, an orange-and-yellow stuffed dog with floppy ears.
She held out Tony, clutching his new stuffy, and Zeke took his nephew, cuddling him to his chest. This didn’t feel remotely scary. Uncle: safe. Father: terrifying.
“How did you, Noah, Axel and Rex do it?” Zeke whispered. “Go from feeling just like I do to being great parents? Why can’t I? What the hell is wrong with me, Daisy?”
His sister patted the big easy chair by the window, and Zeke sat, giving Tony a little bounce. She sat in the chair beside his. “Are we talking about Molly?”
He nodded. “I took a step forward, thinking I could do this, that I could look forward to a future with her and her baby daughter. But then the other night, I froze. I was taking care of Lucy in her nursery, just holding her like this because she’d woken up in the middle of the night, and I just felt wrong. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. How could I feel like that when I love—”
Zeke froze again.
...her.
He loved Molly. He loved her with all his heart. And he loved her baby girl.
“Well, there you go,” Daisy said with a gentle smile. “That’s why you’re scared out of your mind. You love Molly and you love Lucy and you’re afraid you’re going to be like Dad. Just like we all were. Until love won out.”
“How does love win out? I mean, how do you make the fear of being a bad parent, a bad spouse, go away just like that?”
“Love wins because you can’t imagine living without them. Because they’re a part of you. They become more important than anything else. And no offense, Zeke, but given how crappy you look with your mussed hair and dark circles under your eyes, you’re clearly miserable without them. Unable to think, sleep, eat. Isn’t that nuts? All you have to do is be happy and yet you’re standing in your way. Breaking the heart of the woman you profess to love. Breaking your own heart.”
Breaking Molly’s heart... He couldn’t bear that.
“God, Zeke, if you can’t do it for yourself, do it for Molly. Let the past go. All of it. It’s just a tiny piece of who you are.”
You decide your own path... He kept hearing it, echoing in his head.
“Call her right now,” Daisy said. “Go see her. The way you feel when you look at her, Zeke—that should call the shots.”
He missed Molly so much. He needed her. He loved her.
Love. All this time, that was what he’d been so afraid of. Not marriage and not parenthood. Love.
He pulled out his phone and texted.
Can we talk? Please?
His held his breath. He deserved all her anger, all her hurt, all her disappointment. He had no idea how she’d react.
His phone pinged a second later.
I’m at the taco truck in PC. It’s a family affair today.
Family affair.
“Go,” Daisy said. “Your future awaits.”
At her tiny station in the food truck, Molly diced the last tomato for the chunky salsa, wondering what Zeke would say. He’d apologize, she figured. For how he acted. For leaving. Her. Them—her and Lucy. He’d probably ask her to come back to the office. Danica had texted her about an hour ago to mention that Zeke had arrived at Ford’s housewarming party and looked like absolute hell, which had made Molly feel better and then worse. She didn’t want Zeke to be miserable.
I’m sticking to my dating hiatus, Danica had added, but wow is Ford hot.
That had made Molly smile. She’d give the dating hiatus another day at most. Maybe even by the end of the housewarming party. Dawsons were simply that irresistible. And nice—even if some of them, one of them, was beyond stubborn.
Molly finished the tomato, trying to keep her mind on her task so she wouldn’t cut her finger off. She was now helping out on weekends during the lunch rush, chopping, slicing, replenishing the napkin dispenser. It was past two o’clock and the line had quieted down. Molly’s mom was sitting up front in the passenger seat with Lucy, who’d just had her own lunch while Nana read her a story.
“Isn’t that Zeke’s car?” her dad said, gesturing out the order window.
Molly came over and looked out. “Yup. He wants to talk.” Her eyes welled, and she tried to blink back the tears.
“A guy that smart isn’t going to let the best thing that ever happened to him go, Molly.”
“Oh, Dad,” she said, throwing her arms around him.
She went up front, put on her peacoat and hopped out. Zeke looked as bad as he could look, which meant still gorgeous but very tired.
“You might not want to stand too close,” she said to him. “I probably smell like tomatoes and onions. I’ve been chopping for salsa.”
“Oh, I want to get very close. I love everything about you, Molly Orton. Your hair, your face, your body, your brain and the fact that yes, you do smell like salsa right now. I love you. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize what I have.”
Molly stood stock-still. “You love me?”
“I love you and Lucy more than anything. I built up some strong defenses against what scared me most. I thought that was fatherhood. But what I was really scared of was love. In general. And specifically. But I do love you. If you’ll forgive me, if you’ll give me a second chance, I’ll spend my life proving to you how much.”
She threw her arms around him and kissed him.
“I’m so sorry I hurt you—twice,” he said, wrapping her in a hug. “I’ll be making that up to you and then some.”
“Yeah, you will,” she said with a grin. “And at least it was all part of getting us to this moment. I love you, too, Zeke. So much.”
Molly’s mother came out of the truck, holding Lucy. “Your dad needs me on lettuce shredding, so would one of you mind taking the baby?”
“Ba ga!” Lucy said, holding out her arms to Zeke. She wore thick fleece pj’s with a bear ears hoodie.
“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Zeke said, holding out his arms. Of course, the moment he had her snuggled against him, Lucy reached her little fingers to his ear and grabbed on with a giggle. “Hey, Lucy, if your mother agrees to marry me, I’m going to be your stepdaddy. I promise you right now, I’ll love you and care for you with all my heart.”
Molly gasped, her eyes welling.
“My precious girl,” Zeke continued, his eyes so tender on Lucy. “Whenever those arms of yours reach out to me, I’ll be there. I’ll never let you down, I’ll never neglect you, I’ll never disappoint you. I love you and I’ll be the best stepfather there ever was. Know why? Because I said so. If only I’d known a lot earlier it was that simple. That I decide my own path.”
“Oh, Zeke,” Molly whispered, dabbing away tears.
Molly caught her mom’s eyes widening, Abby’s hand flying to her heart.
“Oh, my goodness,” Abby said. “Am I actually interrupting a proposal?” She hurried inside, and Molly glanced at the order window to see her parents staring out, moony expressions on both their faces.
Zeke touched Molly’s cheek and the errant spiral curl that had escaped her ponytail. “So I was thinking we could be partners in life, partners in business, partners in parenthood. If you’re interested.”
Molly actually swooned. She might faint with happiness. “Oh, I’m interested.”
“Maybe you could take Lucy for a minute? I need my hands for this.”
She took her daughter, holding her close, barely able to breathe, to think.
Zeke got down on one knee and held out a black velvet box. He opened it, a gorgeous diamond ring sparkling in the February sunlight. “Will you marry me, Molly?”
She was speechless for a moment. “You think I’d say no to making my own twenty-year-old dream come true?”
He slightly tilted his head. “Wait, your twenty-year-old dream?”
“I’ve been secretly in love with you since seventh grade, Zeke Dawson. So yes, I will absolutely marry you.”
“Ah,” he said with a smile. “Suddenly a few things make more sense. Yup, Molly Orton, I’ll be making up a few things to you. Count on it.” As he stood, his gorgeous blue eyes sparkled like the diamond ring, which he slid on her finger. He kissed her, then kissed Lucy on the cheek. “Like I always said, I knew the right woman could turn me around.”
“I kind of love how neither of us knew I was the right woman. Well, I did after a while. But I waited twenty years, what was another couple weeks?” She kissed him, her heart so full.
And for someone who’d never believed in fairy tales, Molly’s longtime crush on Zeke had a very happy ending.
Don’t miss Melissa Senate’s next book in the Dawson Family Ranch Series, Wyoming Matchmaker, available April 2021!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Their Second-Time Valentine by Helen Lacey.