“Good, thank you. I’m so sorry to hear about your accident. But you look amazing. Leave it to you to have a terrible injury and still look gorgeous as always.”

Her mom blushed. “Oh, well, Molly’s been taking good care of me.”

Molly smiled. “I did nothing. My mother has tons of energy and hates being cooped up in the house.”

“I know this about her. And what about you, Molly? It’s so wonderful seeing you back here in Hope. Will you be staying permanently?”

Molly shifted on the balls of her feet. “Oh, I don’t know . . .”

“Mom,” Carter said, directing his mother by the elbow, “what do you think of the Christmas tree? Do you think it’s big enough? Are you going to stay for the lighting ceremony tonight?”

Carter moved his parents ever so subtly to the tree, and then over to the playground, giving Molly an out from that question.

“People are going to start asking now that I’m recovering,” her mother said. “Eventually you’re going to have to give them an answer.”

She was surprised her mother hadn’t asked. But her mom knew her better than most people.

“I don’t have an answer, Mom. I don’t know. You know what my life has been like all these years. I’ve gotten sort of used to it.”

“Which doesn’t mean you can’t stay.” Her mother grasped her hand and squeezed it. “I’ve gotten used to seeing your face all the time. And you have a job here. You could get a nice apartment and give it a try for a while.”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

Even as she said the words, she felt walls closing in on her, and that familiar sense of needing to flee.

But that was the norm, what typically happened whenever one of her bosses offered her a raise or a promotion. It meant permanence.

And Molly just didn’t do permanent.

Chapter 30

“OKAY, WE’RE ON a quest tonight,” Chelsea said, a fierce gleam in her eyes. She dug into her purse and pulled out her phone. “In here, I have my list. How about the rest of you?”

They stood just inside the entrance to the mall in Tulsa. Molly, Chelsea, Emma, Jane, Samantha, and Megan. A small band of weary but determined women, armed and ready to shop.

“I’m sorry Des can’t be here,” Emma said.

“Yeah, but she’s not sorry, since she and Logan are off on a two-week cruise in the Caribbean for the holidays,” Chelsea said. “It was such a sweet surprise Logan gave to Des as an early Christmas gift. We’re all going to take a few seconds to be supremely jealous of them.”

Jane sighed. “Can you imagine? Multiple ports of call, lots of sun and sand, and all that time for hot sex every day, with no kids to knock on the door saying, ‘Mom? What are you and Dad doing in there with the bedroom door locked?’ ”

Everyone looked at Jane, who squirmed. “Okay, so maybe Will and I need a vacation without kids.”

Emma laughed. “You definitely do. You should make that a priority after the new year.”

“I agree,” Chelsea said. “Emma and I are going to bug you about it, and we’ll even help with the babysitting and dog sitting. Now, everyone ready?”

“I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be,” Jane said. “I’ve gotten stuff for the kids, but I haven’t shopped for Will yet. Why are men so hard to buy for?”

“Because whatever they want, they go out and get for themselves,” Emma said, wrinkling her nose. “I asked Luke for a list. Do you know what he told me he wanted?”

“A new gun?” Samantha offered.

Emma laughed. “No. Socks. The one thing he doesn’t buy for himself. Does he honestly think the only thing I’m buying him for Christmas is socks? The man is delusional.”

“You could buy him some sexy and slinky lingerie and put yourself under the tree,” Chelsea said as they made their way past the food court and toward the first store they’d targeted.

“I like the way Chelsea thinks,” Megan said. “But that’s probably because neither of us is having sex with anyone.”

“Hey,” Chelsea said. “Speak for yourself.”

Megan stopped. “Okay. Who are you currently having sex with?”

Chelsea lifted her chin, then shrugged. “No one. That’s why I have all the sex ideas.”

Molly laughed and shook her head. “I have a list. I’ve bought a few things for my parents. And for my lovely sister over there.”

“Yay,” Emma said with a grin.

“But I still have a few things to get.”

“Like something for your hot boyfriend?” Samantha asked.

“Okay, yeah. Something for Carter might be nice. But he’s not my boyfriend.”

They stopped at the bath and body store. Everyone looked around. “I could go in there,” Chelsea said, “but it would just be for me.”

“I could use some body lotion,” Megan said.

Samantha nodded. “Me, too.”

“I need lip balm,” Emma added.

Thirty minutes later, they came out of the bath and body store, with bags filled with non-gifts.

“That was fun, but not very productive,” Chelsea said. “Maybe we’ll have better luck at the next store.”

“I think we should split up,” Molly suggested. “Compare lists, and see what stores we all have to go to. Otherwise, we could be here all night. And who wants that?”

She was not a shopper. She liked to pop in, get what she needed, and get the hell out.

“Well, it’s probably more productive,” Chelsea said, “but not nearly as much fun as it would be if we stayed in a group.”

“I’m with Molly,” Samantha said. “This is a chore, the mall is crowded, and I need to get this list done.”

In the end, they agreed to split up. Molly and Samantha had similar lists, so they headed off to one of the major department stores together. They had two hours before they were all going to meet up again.

“My grandmother needs new pajamas, though if you ask her, she thinks the old raggedy ones are still perfectly suitable.”

Molly laughed. “That’s because she’s stubborn. And from the Depression era, where they used items until they fell apart.”

“This is true.”