Chapter Thirty-Eight

"So what are you doing this Saturday while I'm at work?" Jennifer asked as she started getting dinner ready. 

"Hannah's draggin' me to San Antonio," Molly answered without thinking, still feeling a little glum. It had been three days since she'd last seen Jake. 

"Why dragging? I'd have thought you'd love to go," her sister asked surprised, making her feel a little like she'd been caught. 

"Yeah, I mean I am lookin' forward to it," she quickly corrected. "But it obviously means spendin' money and..."

"Molls, don't worry about it. I've got a job for now and so do you. Go have fun," Jennifer stopped her in her tracks. "Just maybe don't go nuts though," she added with a laugh, making her sister chuckle as well. 

"Okay deal." 

They made dinner together and started going through things to do in San Antonio, to make sure Molly properly saw the sights. 

"Has Hannah been before?" Jennifer asked, as all they came up with were the ultra tourist activities. It needed to be fun for both of them, after all. 

"She didn't say, but I'm guessin' she probably has," Molly shrugged. "It'll be fine. I can bring the list to suggest things and if she's been already, we can do something else," she added. She wasn't worried. 

At precisely nine on Saturday morning, Hannah pulled up outside of the house and honked the horn. She wasn't worried about waking up the neighbors as most people round here would be up already anyway. 

"Come on Molly," she called as she honked the horn again after a minute or two. 

"Yes, I'm comin'," her friend called from inside and came running out. Molly had gone with her friend's wardrobe suggestion but had teamed it with a wide brown belt. 

"Lookin' good there, girl," Hannah said with an appreciative whistle, before she pulled away.

"Thanks. Shame Jake won't get to see it," she responded wistfully. 

"I'm sure he will some other time. Like I said, we'll think of summit," her friend promised as she took the road that would take them north out of town. 

"I hope you're right," Molly nodded. "So I checked some of the activities they have up there. Figured it might help us spend our day wisely," she told her friend now. 

"We can always come back some other tahm Molly," Hannah said with a chuckle. "It's only a 50 minute drive or so," she explained. 

"Oh good. It's too warm to spend long cooped up in the car," her friend reacted relieved. 

"I wouldn't have offered if it took much longer," she teased, turning her ancient radio on. "Ye mind country?" 

"Nah, I've gotten used to it," Molly shook her head casually, trying to stop herself from dwelling on the memory of Jake that threatened to bubble to the surface. 

They both ended up just listening to the music, only occasionally talking to point something out on the way. They arrived in San Antonio just before ten. 

"D'ye mind if we go to a café or summit first? I haven't had any breakfast yet," Hannah asked after she'd parked her truck. 

"Sure thing," Molly agreed, feeling a little peckish herself if she had to be honest. 

"Great. This one looks nice, don't ye think?" her friend pointed out as they were about to pass the Lone Star Café. It was on the corner of the street, just by one of the river crossings. "Looks good," Molly nodded and together they crossed the street to sit at one of the outdoor tables. "This all looks good," she sighed as she looked over the menu. 

"It sure does," Hannah nodded, doing the same. "I'll get this one," she offered once they'd both decided what they wanted. "Hold the fort," she told her and headed in. 

"Thank you," Molly said, getting a small wave in response. She sighed content, conceding to herself that it had been a good idea to come here today – exactly what she needed. She looked around her as she waited for her friend to come back. She quite liked the vibe around her, it reminded her a little of Phoenix. She frowned when a cowboy walking towards her looked a lot like Jake... until she realized it was him. "Jake?" she called out tentatively, his face first lighting up before frowning. 

"I can't believe ye got pa to make me take ye here," Jake complained, for the umpteenth time, as he parked his truck. 

"Oh stop bein' borin'. Ye needed to get out of the house as much as me," Beth set him straight as she got out and lead the way towards the River Walk. "Food first, yeah?" she suggested, seeing her friend sat at the table that Hannah had just text her about.

"But that means we have to stay..." her brother started to complain. "Fine, food first," he agreed when she gave him a glare. 

"That sounds better," she laughed. "Let's go there. Ye find a table, I gotta pee," she continued and quickly headed into the Lone Star Café before he could object. 

He sighed and headed towards the tables, surprised to hear a familiar voice call out his name. He could feel his face light up when he saw it was Molly, before frowning as he tried to figure out how she was here too. "Did ye set this up with Bethy?" Jake asked accusingly when he got closer, knowing he was wrong as soon as he saw the hurt look on her face. 

"I came here with Hannah for the day," Molly answered, annoyed that he'd think she'd stoop to this. 

"Okay fine, but it surely can't be a coincidence that we're both here," he said now. 

She had to admit that he probably had a point. "Hannah's just inside, I'm sure there's an explanation," she said, taking her phone from her pocket, surprised to see she already had a text from her friend. 

Have fun today! ;) I'll see ye on Tue at work x Han.

"Yeah okay this was a set up," she admitted and held up her phone for him to read it. 

"I'm callin' Bethy," Jake said determined, taking his phone out now, seeing a similar text from his sister, with the additional line that Hannah would be giving her a lift home. "When I get home, I'm gonna kill her," he said now, making her laugh despite it all, which made him smile. He'd missed hearing her laugh. 

"Well ehm... seein' how my ride's bailed on me 'n we're both here anyway..." Molly said now, praying that he wouldn't say no, that he'd still want to spend time with her. 

He looked at her torn. "What did ye tell Jennifer about today?" he asked. 

"That Hannah was gonna drive me, which she did, and that we'd spend the day together, which I really thought we would," she answered. "Jake come on, I've missed ye," she added now, looking a little forlorn. 

"Yeah... me too," Jake said eventually, his look softening now. He gestured for her to sit down at the table that she'd been keeping for her and her friend. "Ye okay?" he asked now, seeing her nod with a shrug, thinking he actually understood what she meant. "So eh... I don't want to ruin today, but any ideas what to do about Jen?" 

"Jake, I …" 

"Molls, come on, it's important to me," he implored. 

"Fine," she said, sounding annoyed. "Come by the house around 12 for lunch 'n I'll introduce ye, not as my boyfriend, but as our neighbor," Molly suggested now. "Hopefully, if she can get her head around us just knowin' each other 'n livin' next door to each other, then I can say we're datin'. I just don't want to have to admit that we've been sneakin' around. She doesn't... need to know that," she added. 

"Okay... I can live with that," Jake nodded, smiling properly for the first time in days. It relieved her to see it and she could feel her lips smile back.