“Damn straight. And if you can’t, I’ll be very disappointed.”

He came up behind her, letting her feel how very performance ready he was.

She grinned. “I knew I could count on you, Carter.”

Chapter 25

AFTER A DOCTOR’S appointment this morning, Molly’s mom was in the best mood she’d been in since Emma’s wedding.

“You watch, Molly,” her mom said. Molly held on to her mother as she practiced walking—albeit extremely slowly—around the living room. “With this new walking cast, I’ll be out and about in no time.”

Her mother lifted up her arm. “Plus, a shorter arm cast, without all the bells and whistles. I feel so much freer now.”

“I know Mom. This is great progress. But you’re going to have to be a little more patient, and wait for your physical therapy appointment tomorrow so they can work with you and show you how to manage these new casts.”

Her mom waved her off, then lost her balance a little and grabbed Molly’s arm for support.

“Careful, Mom.”

After about five minutes of very slow ambling, her mother took her spot on the sofa.

“That was shockingly exhausting,” her mom said.

“You’ve been on your butt for six weeks, Mom. It’s no surprise you’re so weak.”

Her mother huffed out a sigh. “I thought I’d be dancing by the end of the day.”

Molly grasped her hand. “Knowing you, it won’t take much time at all. As long as you don’t try to push harder than your body allows.”

“I suppose. But I’m so tired of being stuck in the house. This has been frustrating.”

“I know it has, Mom. But look at you. Six weeks out from a major injury, and you’re already in a walking cast for your leg, and a regular cast for your arm. That’s progress, and you have to look at it as being halfway to being completely out of those casts.”

“You’re right. Of course, you’re right. I just want life to get back to the way it was before.”

“It will. I’ll bet your therapist will be so excited to work with you tomorrow.”

“She’ll torture me. She loves torturing me.”

Molly laughed. “You love every minute of it, too. You enjoy the challenge.”

“What I’m going to enjoy is getting out of this house.”

A week later, her mother was beside herself with excitement. She’d had daily therapy visits, and was getting around on her own with her walking cast. The therapist had been working on her core balance, plus they were doing work with her arm as well.

It had been grueling. Molly had gone with her mother to her appointments.

Her mom was such a fighter. She knew it was going to get worse before it got better, especially after the casts came off. She had every confidence her mother would completely recover from her injuries, because Georgia Burnett would accept no less.

Her dad was almost as excited as her mom when he came home that day and saw her moving around the house on her own, noting her progress after a week under her new physical therapy regimen. They were going to celebrate with a pot roast Molly had prepared for dinner. Mom had even helped, insisting on slicing carrots at the counter. She’d called it part of her therapy, and though she’d been a little slow at it, she’d done a great job.

But Carter texted her saying the new cabinets had come in for the bathroom, as well as the wall tiles. He was going to do some installation after work. He asked if she wanted to come over to see it.

“Of course you should go,” her mother said. “You’ve already taken me to the therapist today and cooked dinner. You’ve spent every day with me for the past week. Go enjoy time with your boyfriend.”

Molly was about to object that Carter was definitely not her boyfriend, but her mother waved her hand in dismissal.

“Go. Spend some time with Carter.”

Anxious to get out of the house and not wanting to argue relationship status with her mom, she texted Carter that she’d be over shortly.

She changed clothes, then drove over to Carter’s house. His garage door was open, so she went through that way and knocked on the door.

No answer.

She knocked again, but still no answer, so she tried the knob. The inside door was unlocked. Since Carter was expecting her, she stepped inside.

The sound of hard rock music smacked her ears. No wonder he couldn’t hear her. The light in the bathroom was on, so she headed in that direction and found Carter. The shell of the vanity was already in. “That dark wood is going to look so good with the tile we laid on the floor the other day.”

With the pale beige tiles and the dark brown cabinets, plus the cream color on the walls, the room was starting to take shape.

He looked up and smiled at her. “Thanks again for helping out with that. And for coming with me to pick out all this stuff.”

“Are you kidding? I had fun spending your money.”

“Now you sound like a girlfriend. Or a wife.”

“Bite your tongue. Would you like something to drink?”

“How about iced tea? I made a fresh pitcher after work.”

“Okay.”

She slipped off her jacket, then went into the kitchen and fixed them each a glass of tea.

When she handed Carter his drink, he took a couple of deep swallows. “Thanks.”

“What do you need me to do?”

He handed her a drill. “Will you screw in these brackets so we can start putting the drawers in?”

She loved that he didn’t question her ability to use power tools, though she was glad no saws were involved. In short order, they had the drawers placed.

“We need to finish up the tile work on this wall,” he said, pointing to the area above where the tub would go. “Painting’s already done, and they’re going to deliver the countertop tomorrow and put the sinks in.”

It was almost finished. “I’m so surprised how quickly it’s all come together.”

“Bathrooms don’t generally take too long once you have the demo portion complete. You and Luke really helped a lot.”

“I can’t wait to see it all.”

They worked for a few hours on the tile, and took a break while Carter ordered pizza, since he hadn’t eaten yet. Molly filled Carter in on her mother’s therapy visit earlier in the day and her revised cast situation.