Chapter Fifty-Three

After Molly had come back from town with Jennifer on Sunday, she tried not to rush over to see Jake. She tried dragging her heels, apologizing for having to cut their weekend short but she'd already promised Beth she'd stop by to help. Jennifer eventually almost chucked her out, having had enough of the apologies. "Just go, hang out with your new friend and help her like you promised," she said simply. She knew she couldn't expect her sister to spend all her free time with her instead of with friends. 

"I'll try not to be too late, but I'll ring if anything changes," Molly promised and set off on her bike. She was hoping one of the Rodgers would insist on her staying for dinner so she could spend more time with Jake, and maybe actually help Beth for a bit so that wasn't too much of a lie. 

She was however uncomfortable hanging out in the open too much. Now that Jennifer had experienced how nice it was to have a picnic in the fields, Molly was worried that she'd go out again at the first opportunity, which meant that she and Jake couldn't really go for a ride directly around the two ranches or stay in the back yard. He managed to convince her that they could leave the ranch from the other side and make their way to the cabin; there was no way Jennifer would wander that far afield. 

Once they'd reached the cabin, they tried to come up with ideas of when to see each other this week, but Jennifer's suspicions meant that Molly kept shooting down his ideas because the lie was either too big or the chances of getting caught were too great. 

"Molls, I'm tryin' but ye ain't makin' this easy," Jake sighed eventually, not sure what else to suggest and he'd be darned if he wasn't going to get to see her at all.

"I know, I'm sorry," his girlfriend responded as she let herself lay back in the grass and fought back tears. She knew she was being overly cautious, but Jennifer was watching her more closely now and, while she knew they'd have to tell her eventually that they were still seeing each other, she didn't want her sister to find out by catching them. Hearing the tears in her voice made him feel bad as he moved over closer to her so she could lay her head in his lap and he could go through her hair to comfort her. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be short with ye," he said softly, getting a small nod back. She knew that, as she shared his frustrations. 

To avoid another Friday night fiasco, they planned all of their next dates to be during the day. Well, as long as Molly didn't get called in to work. Her shifts were picking up as more and more tourists decided to swing by for the warmer weather and other seasonal workers started appearing in the town and its neighbors. She tried to get some of them moved to the evening though, so she could still see Jake and not have to lie to her sister in the evening. But the more frequent the interruptions became and the warmer the weather, the more Jake's temper started to fray, and the more emotional Molly became in response. 

More often than not, they'd spend some if not all of their time together complaining or bickering. It didn't help that Beth and Hannah wanted to see their friend on the odd occasion as well, putting a time limit or a damper on their time whenever Molly mentioned not being able to see him so she could hang with one of them. The weekends should've been easier for them, but as Jennifer had enjoyed the previous weekend so much she wanted her sister to be at home more, complaining when she lied that Chris had called her in for another shift. The juggling act was becoming more difficult and Molly could feel herself starting to slip up at work, in her excuses to her sister and in her moods around her boyfriend. 

This carried on for a couple of weeks until she could barely keep things straight and said the wrong thing to Jake in an off the cuff comment one day. 

"No Molly, don't do that. Don't turn this around on me," Jake said annoyed, seeing red too much to care that there were now tears shimmering in his girlfriend's eyes. He'd tried being patient, but he had pressures too, from his course work and his pa about his work. "Ye know what, I gotta go," he continued, thinking her room was too small for him to pace in and he knew that if he didn't give himself a chance to cool down, he might say something to her that he'd regret. 

"Jake, no… I didn't…" 

"I'll see ye later," he cut her off, before she could drag this situation out. He hesitated one moment before heading out of her room, closing the door a little harder than he meant to (or should with Jennifer upstairs) and headed out the back door. Molly chucked one of the teddies on the bed at the door in frustration before she hid her face in the pillow to smother her tears. She was tired from work and stressed about trying to keep seeing her boyfriend in secret and having to lie to her sister every day. It was all just too much. 

Jake shook his head annoyed as he made his way home, trying not to kick out at things and scuff his boots or hurt his toes. Their latest afternoon together had once again ended in them bickering about … Well nothing, that was the problem. That had been the problem for the last couple of weeks. They needed a break and do something just them, rebuild what they'd started. He needed to think of something.