“Here’s the thing, Nate,” she replied softly and leaned forward. “If you ask Molly right now, she’ll tell you that she wore a coral dress with white piping. It was simple and elegant. She left her hair down, no fancy updo for our Molly, but with her hair, why would you tame it? You had a tie to match, and the both of you looked…” She sighed and glanced away. “Well, you looked like you belonged together, and she looked at you like she knew it.”
Nate couldn’t do this anymore. “I have to get down to the park for the float, so if you don’t mind getting to the point, and I’m going to assume there is a point in there somewhere, I’d appreciate it.”
His mother got to her feet and walked toward him. She gave him a hug from behind and dropped a kiss to his cheek. “The point, my darling boy, is that sometimes the thing we need, the thing that completes us, is right in front of us. It’s not shiny or new or exotic, something to draw the eye and distract. It’s so much more than that. It’s real and solid and true.”
“That still doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered, getting to his feet and staring down at his mother.
She smiled up at him, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You’ll get it, Nathan. I promise you will.” She took a step back. “I just hope when you do, it’s not too late.”
An hour later, Nate was still thinking about his mother’s words. Not just the words, but the look in her eyes when she’d said them. As if she knew something he didn’t and was disappointed when he didn’t clue in. He hated feeling like he was a step behind, and he really didn’t like her insinuation that he was jealous of Molly and Kyle. It wasn’t that. Jealousy. He was being a good friend, end of story, and he was damn well sick of reminding everyone of that particular fact.
He decided that the best course of action was to forget about it, to not give it any more life. He also needed to square things away with Molly. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d done that’d warranted the silent treatment all week, but he’d take a hit if it meant an end to the freeze out.
The sad truth was simple. He missed her. A lot.
He pulled into a parking spot and quickly made his way over to the starting point, where Stu and his wife, Zach and Jess, and the rest of the guys were set up. His plan was to hop onto one of their floats since he was solo. The park was busy, filled with folks of all ages, but then this particular event had been a mainstay since the seventies. His parents used to do it, and a lot from that generation still did.
Brad was busy fidgeting with his large speaker, trying to get the plastic bag he’d stored it in watertight, while Mike was already elbow-deep in a big bag of Cheetos. Nate tossed Mike his cooler and headed toward Zach.
“Perfect day, my friend,” Zach said, his arm around Jessica as he grinned widely. “I’m loving life right now.”
“I hear ya.” Nate glanced over his shoulder. “Where’s Molly at?”
Zach pointed behind him to the food truck set up near the pavilion. “You guys still fighting?” He took a shoulder punch from Jessica. “What?” Confused, he looked at Nate. “Are you?”
Nathan shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out.” He bypassed a bunch of guys trying
to get his attention and headed for the food truck, giving a quick wave but not bothering to stop. He spotted Molly right away. Hard not to with those legs and that hair. She was fixing up a couple of hot dogs, which he didn’t pay attention to, because if he had, that would have got him to wondering at the double count before he opened his mouth and looked like a complete idiot.
“Hey,” he said softly.
She turned and stared at him, and for a moment or two, that awkwardness that had permeated the airspace around them since he came back home made itself known. It was thick, and he nearly choked on it, but then she straightened up, wiped her hands on the front of her jean shorts, and smiled.
“Hey,” she replied, and in that instant, relief flooded him. She sounded normal. His old Molly was back. The world was right. Hal-le-fucking-lujah.
“We good?” Nate watched her closely, looking for any sign this was about to go sideways. But there was nothing. No sliding eyes. No tight mouth. No accusation.
“We’re good.”
“I don’t like it when things are weird.”
“I don’t either.” She shrugged. “Kyle was an idiot. You were right.” She scooped up her hot dogs, and he fell into step beside her as they made their way back to their group.
“Can I ask you something?” Nate cleared his throat, thinking of the best approach.
“Sure.”
“This is going to sound crazy, but humor me.”
Molly laughed and glanced up at him. Had her skin always been so damn smooth? And those lips. That Kardashian chick had nothing on her.
“What is it?”
They stopped near the water fountain, and Nathan almost dismissed his question, because really, did it matter? But then he remembered the look in his mother’s eyes and the insinuation that he’d missed something all those years ago.
“What color dress did you wear to prom?”