Chapter11
Molly opened the door to the bookstore. The normal happy chime of the bell sounded muffled in the darkness. She slipped the key into her pocket and flipped on a couple light switches. Miguel shuffled in behind her and helped her walk in. It had been a few months since she stepped in here last. Her baby belly was more than just a charming bump. Now it was a full- fledged belly and it constantly gave her balance issues.
“I’m okay,” Molly said. “I’m pregnant, not paraplegic.”.
“You’re getting to be testy. You should stop swallowing beach balls. Then you might feel a little better,” he said.
She smacked him upside the head and laughed. “You’re lucky that I love you. Otherwise, I might just fire you one day.”
Miguel flipped on another switch and the lights to the back of the store flickered on. “So you knew this place pretty well then?” he asked.
“Yeah, the store owner felt like the father that I never had when I was a kid. He’d always save books for me. I even worked for him one summer. Shhh, don’t tell my mom. She always thought that I was spending time at a friend’s house. But I was really paying for my book addiction by working at a bookstore.”
Miguel opened a book and thumbed through the pages. “What was the owner’s name?”
“Mr. Yaeger.” Just saying his name flooded her mind with memories. Her eyes began to well up with tears. “He was such a great guy. I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“No family?” Miguel asked, putting the book down. He looked around. “Then again, this place looked like it was his baby.”
“You know how sometimes you see your old elementary school teachers outside the school and you felt like the whole illusion of school was crushed? Like teachers were just supposed to power down for the night in their classrooms.”
Miguel laughed. “No, but go on.”
“I spent a lot of time in this town square and I don’t ever remember seeing Mr. Yaeger outside of this bookstore. I mean, except for his heart attack. I used to think that he just went into that back room and powered down for the night. Or maybe he just didn’t sleep at all. I could picture that too.” She eyed the door to the back room. The one that she was never allowed to enter.
“Secret dungeon?” Miguel asked, following her eyes.
“I don’t know.” She walked around the counter. “Let’s find out.” She tried to turn the handle but the door was locked. Fishing around her pocket, she found the key to the front door.
“Is that the only key that you have for this place?”
Molly nodded and tried to slip it into the lock but it wouldn’t even fit. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Even in death he tries to keep me from finding out what’s in this room.” She laughed. The tears finally broke through. They streamed down her face like waterfalls. “I can’t…”
Miguel held her in his arms. “Pobrecito,” he said. “I’m sorry, child.” His hug felt comforting and warm like the embrace of a father. She nestled her head into his shoulder.
“I just assumed that he would always be around, you know.”
“He seems to have left quite the legacy for a used bookstore owner,” he said, letting go. He motioned toward the window. Outside were a handful of townsfolk – the family of Pine Falls – who had gathered outside. They held baked goods, picnic baskets, and casseroles in their hands.
A familiar looking woman – Is she a waitress at the diner, thought Molly – knocked on the door and poked her head in. “Hey, sweetie,” she said. “We brought some food. When we heard that Yaeger left the store to you, we were thrilled. We figured that you’d need some sustenance while you go through all this stuff. Yaeger was a sweetheart, but his book keeping was atrocious. Anyway, we brought you something to eat so you wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Can we come in?”
Molly nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks. It wasn’t long before the front counter was filled with food. People who were strangers – but didn’t feel like it – comforted each other with stories and a warm embrace. They hugged each other. They hugged Molly. They even hugged Miguel, who was beginning to tear up as well. Everyone came in to share their favorite memory of the beloved bookstore owner.
“He sold my son his first children’s book and now my son is a famous writer.”
“He would always bring me in out of the rain when I was waiting for the bus stop.”
“He would always donate the best books to the elementary school. He wanted to instill a love of reading, not just literacy.”
Molly sat in an old, leather office chair that she rolled out from one of the back storage rooms. “He was like a father to me. He taught me about so many things and I know that he was trying to teach me how to live a good and happy life but I was just too stubborn to know it.”
“What do you mean?” Miguel asked, munching on a cookie.
“He would always try to slip extra books into my shopping bags. I didn’t normally read them because they seemed silly to me at the time. No high school kid wants to read a self- help book about what it means to be happy. I think I still have them somewhere at home…”
The stories continue for a while with people coming and leaving the store. The bell rang all day but it never sounded the same. Molly began the taxing task of going through the paperwork at around noon when things began to die down.
“I don’t know what I’m looking at,” she said throwing her hands up in the air. The stack of papers in front of her felt as though it was mocking her frustrations.
“Maybe you should hire an accountant to go through the books,” Miguel offered. There was another ding at the front door.
“Maybe. That does sound smart. I don’t want to ruin what he built. This place was his baby and I want to make sure that I’m taking good care of it.”
“I’m sure you will do a fine job,” said a familiar voice.
Molly looked up from the stack to see Justin’s smiling face. “Oh, hey…” Her voice was just barely above a squeak. Her eyes darted back and forth between Justin and Miguel – who just grinned and walked away.
“You must be Miguel,” Justin said.
Molly gasped. What are you doing?!
Miguel cleared his throat and turned around. He held out his hand and replied, “Yes and you are….?”
“Justin.” He motioned toward Molly. “Old…” He cleared his throat. “Friends.”
Miguel laughed. “Fair enough.” He grinned at Molly who just rolled her eyes.
“Oh for fu…” she started. She turned her attention back to the papers in front of her.
“Hey, Miguel,” Justin said as he took his hand and led him further into the bookstore. “There are some great books here that you might like. Molly was telling me that you have a big family and that your wife is preggers with another. He had a great family section back here.” Justin’s voice disappeared behind a few bookshelves as they walked back.
Molly leaned back in the chair and looked out at the store. The aisles, shelves, and walls looked different from back here. She could feel her heart swell. Is this what Mr. Yaeger saw every day? She couldn’t hold back a smile or her tears. I’ll make you proud, Mr. Yaeger.
* * *
Unfortunately for Molly, Kevin was not as excited about the bookstore as she was. “Just sell it,” he said. “There has got to be someone in that town that can buy it from you. Or hire a manager to take care of it.”
“The Book Stop? But he entrusted me with it.”
“You inherited it. You can do whatever you want to it. Just sell the damn thing already.”
“It’s a part of my childhood, Kev.”
“You’re going to be a part of someone else’s childhood,” he said, rubbing her belly. “You can’t be stressing out over some crazy project like this bookstore. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get to work. I expect that you’ll have seller prospects by the time that I get home.” He looked over at Miguel, who sat at the breakfast bar. “I’m trusting you with her.”
Miguel nodded.
As soon as the front door shut, Molly threw her hands up in the air. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said in a loud whisper. “Who does he think he is?! He can’t expect me to sell the Book Stop.”
“Well, you have to figure something out. I don’t think he should tell you what you can and can’t do with it but it is important to remember that you’ve got a pregnancy and a wedding to take care of.”
Molly looked away. Miguel was right. That meant that Kevin was right. And that made her angry. “Ugh.” She sat down on the barstool next to Miguel. “Maybe I can close it up for the time being and tell everyone that I’ll be reorganizing everything. They all know that I’m getting married and having a baby so they will understand.”
“The people of Pine Falls really do seem to be stand up guys. In fact, I told my wife all about it and she said that she would even consider moving there if they had a place open.”
“Well, we’ll have to make sure to keep our eyes open then,” Molly said. “No one usually moves out of Pine Falls. Everyone there is pretty loyal.”
The next couple months were crazy. Molly and Miguel snuck out of the town to work on the bookstore and Nattie came to visit every now and then to keep her up to date with how she was doing with some of the wedding plans. Molly finished it off with some planning of her own at the store. She hired the florist from down the street and the bakery next door because she had always dreamed of having their specialty as her wedding cake: pink champagne. It even matched well with her theme: Pastel Hollywood. It was a pink and gold themed wedding. Kevin fought against it at first but she reminded him that she was giving up her dream elegant wedding for a small intimate setting so he gave it. He even gave up his black tux for a stylish dark grey and greyish blue tux.
“I’m not ready for this,” Molly said, refusing to get out of bed. “I’m not ready for this at all. I’ve only got a week until the wedding and I’m too worried about the books in the store to pay any attention to the floral issues-”
“There are no issues,” said a supportive Nattie, who sat on the edge of the bed with Miguel. “I already told you that I got it all taken care of. Seriously, sweetheart. Everything is taken care of. You don’t have to worry about anything. It is smooth sailing.” She patted the lump of sheets that was mound up next to her. “We did the last minute alterations on everything, bridesmaids and groomsmen. We just have to do yours. Of course, we want to wait a couple extra days just in case. You’re due pretty soon so we don’t want to get it done too early and have the dress not fit you on your own wedding day,” she said with a nervous laugh.
“I don’t want to get married.”
The room went silent. Under the sheets, Molly suddenly felt her stomach in her throat. Had she really said that out loud. She had never said it out loud before. It wasn’t as if she never wanted to get married. It was just that she didn’t want to marry Kevin. As these thoughts were running through her head the sheets were ripped out of her hands and flew from the top of her head. She was suddenly exposed. Exposed for the entire world to see – or at least Nattie and Miguel, who were hovering over her.
“Oh no,” Nattie said. “You’ve had a lot of time to think about this. Why are you saying this now? Do I need to start making some phone calls or is this just cold feet? I am your maid of honor and if I can’t tell, then we’ve got some issues to resolve right here and right now.” She smacked Miguel in the stomach with the back of her hand. “Your turn.”
“I’ll go make some tea,” he said.
“Nooo,” Nattie sputtered. “Give her some words of advice or words of wisdom.”
Molly looked up at Miguel. He always knew what to say. He didn’t necessarily say whatever she wanted to hear but he always said what she needed to hear. She sat up in the bed and looked up at him with her big brown eyes.
“I’ll go make some tea,” he repeated, and quickly left the room.”
“Look what you did,” Nattie said, not taking her eyes off of Molly. “You left him speechless. Do you know what it takes to leave a man like him speechless? Gurl, you need to talk. Now.”
“I don’t want to marry Kevin.”
“Because you don’t love him? We’ve already been over that and you said that you need to marry him because he will give you and your little girl everything that you need to live a good life. In fact, after you finally convinced him that it’s not a mistake that you are going to have a girl, you even convinced him that it was a good idea. Remember? You want to raise a rich and powerful woman that can bring any man to his knees.”
Molly nodded. She couldn’t say anything else.
“I don’t want to stop you if you feel like not marrying Kevin is the best thing for you. But I do want you to know that this is a once in a lifetime chance and I don’t want you messing it up. You hear me?”
Molly nodded again.
“So before I go making phone calls, you have to tell me why you don’t want to marry him.”
“There’s no love there.”
“Your mother and I are born of the same cloth, sweetpea. We both know that you don’t need love to get or stay married. Now come on. What is it?”
“It’s not that I don’t love him. It’s that I actually think I may hate him. Did you know that there was a point in time where I felt nothing but pity and anger toward him? Isn’t that a warning sign?”.
“Honey, he’s a man. Of course you felt that way. Don’t kid yourself.”
“Ugh. But I still feel that way.”
“What would you say if I told you that you’ll grow to love him?”
“I’d tell you that sounds like one of my mother’s relationships.”
“Well, she seems happy right?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, but by happy, I meant rich.”
Molly gave Nattie a cockeyed look. “Why do those things equal the same thing?”
“Listen to me.” She stared at Molly in the eye and gave her the most unwavering look that she had ever seen. “You are having Kevin’s baby and he will make sure that you live a safe life. He will make sure that your child will be looked after and… Wait. Look at me. Why can’t you look at me in the-” Nattie jumped off of the bed and put both of her hands over her mouth. Her hands left for a split second. “That’s-” she started but then covered her mouth again. She shook her head and muttered through her hands. “That’s not Kevin’s baby?!” she said in a loud whisper.
Molly shook her head. She covered herself with the sheets again but she hadn’t even settled in before the sheet went flying back. Nattie looked her straight in the eye.
Her tone was as unwavering as her previous glare. “Does Kevin know?” Molly shook her head again. Nattie looked back at the door and then whispered to Molly, “Does Justin know?” Molly shook her head again. Nattie stood upright and let go of her best friend. “Then no one can know.”
“No one can know what?” Miguel asked as he walked through the door.
Molly and Nattie jumped. Nattie sat on the bed next to Molly. “What?” Nattie asked.
Miguel squinted at both of them. The girls huddle together. “Oh,” he suddenly said. He sat the tray of tea servings down on the dresser and shut the door. “That Molly isn’t having Kevin’s baby?” he said in a loud whisper.
“How did you know?” Molly squeaked.
“Because I’m not braindead,” he said. “I can add and I can read the timeline well enough. I’m around you every day, Miss Molly. I know who’s baby you’re having.”
Nattie swallowed. “Are you going to tell Kevin?”
“Of course not. Do you think I have a death wish?”
The girls sighed.
“Not that my opinion means anything but I do think that you should tell Justin though,” he said. “If I was in his position, I think he should know.”
“He does know.”
“What?” Nattie and Miguel said in unison.
“What did he say?” asked Miguel.
“He told me that I need to marry Kevin. That we’re destined to be together and that Kevin can take care of our baby. He said that he couldn’t take care of her and that he can barely take care of himself.”
He squinted. “He said our baby, or he said your baby?”
“He said…” Molly thought for a moment. “He definitely said ‘our baby’. Why?”
“Because that means a lot.”
“It’s just one word,” Nattie said.
“Yes, but that one word can make a whole lot of a difference.” He turned to Molly. “When Kevin used to say my boy instead of our boy, it hurt didn’t it?”
“Well, what does this mean, then?”
“Maybe you should go ask him,” offered Miguel.
“No, no. He already said to go to a different man. He obviously doesn’t want the responsibility. You can’t go back to him now.”
Miguel elbowed her and shot her a dirty look.
“Stop it, guys,” Molly said. She rolled her eyes. “It’s too late anyway. I’ve made my bed. Now I have to sleep in it.”
* * *
One thing was definitely true, Molly had to sleep in a bed. She had fallen asleep on the couch and was so sore, she could barely get up. She wasn’t sure what had woken her up since the TV was turned off and Kevin was staying at his best man’s house. It was the night before the wedding and he wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly. Tradition states that he shouldn’t see her before the wedding and he loved a good, wholesome tradition.
Nattie was staying in the pool house out back. Molly turned around on the couch and looked out through the windows. She could see the pool house from there are the lights were still on. Maybe Nattie woke me up, she thought to herself.
Standing up, she felt an odd sensation that brought her back down to the couch. She reached for anything to grab but couldn’t. Instead she found herself clutching a pillow. Is this it? Is this a contraction? she thought. She doubled over in pain for a moment before it subsided enough for her to stand up and try to make it to the pool house. She needed to get someone and no one was inside with her. The glass doors of the pool house reverberated as she pounded on them.
Nattie opened the door. She was on the phone but as soon as she saw the look on Molly’s face she quickly hung up. “Oh my gawd, you’re having your baby, aren’t you?” She raced around in circles, trying to figure out what to do. “Do I need to boil some water or cut up some sheets or something?”
“Call the doctor. My bag is in the closet right by the front door,” Molly said. She took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure if it was her anxiety flaring up or if she could sense another one coming. The feeling of panic and helplessness didn’t subside so they decided to make it to the front door together. Molly placed her arm around Nattie’s shoulder and they walked through the house, grabbed her bag, and exited out the front. It wasn’t until they were actually in Nattie’s car that the second contraction came. Molly screamed in pain. The second one was definitely worse than the first. Nattie joined in on the screams, not knowing what else to do. When the pain finally subsided, she placed her phone in the handy cradle that came with her car and called the hospital, then Miguel. As they made their way to the closest medical facility – not the Seattle hospital that Kevin insisted they see – she dialed Molly’s fiancé’s number.
The line picked up and a drunk Kevin answered the phone. The noise in the background was so loud that they could barely make out Kevin’s voice.
“I don’t know if you can hear me,” Nattie yelled into the receiver. “But, we’re on our way to the hospital. Molly is having the baby. I’ll text you the details when we get there.” She swiped the screen of the phone, effectively hanging it up. “Who else do I need to call?” she asked as she merged into traffic.
“I don’t know. No one I guess. I don’t care about anyone else.”
“Your mom?” Nattie asked.
“No, she’s just going to freak me out even more and I don’t need that in my life right now.”
“What about Justin?”
“You want me to have my fiancé and the father of my baby – two very different people – in the same room while I’m trying to deliver my baby?”
“We need a little bit of entertainment in the waiting room while you’re in the delivery room having all that fun.”
“All that fun,” Molly repeated with a forced chuckle. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”
“Yes, yes I do,” Nattie said. She continued to drive for another five minutes until she pulled into the front entrance of a massive white building. “The closest hospital,” she said. “They have an excellent maternity ward and cafeteria so we can all have lattes while we wait for you.” She pocketed her phone and hopped out of the driver’s seat. She grabbed the bag from the trunk on her way to open the door for Molly. They both waddled inside where they met a nice security guard with a wheelchair. “My best friend’s having a baby,” Nattie screamed at him. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Stop trying to make jokes, for one thing,” Molly suggested. “They just make me want to slap you and kick you out of a moving car.”
“Duly noted,” Nattie said, breathing heavily.
“Do we need to get you a wheelchair too?” asked the security guard, who was now wheeling Molly further into the hospital. The nurse at the sign in station waved him on.
“How come he gets to make jokes but I can’t?” asked Nattie.
“Because his don’t make me want to punch him in the face.”
As soon as the three of them got into an elevator, Molly felt another contraction coming on. She grasped a hand from each of them and squeezed tightly as her body went through the painful motions. All three of them screamed as the elevator lurched upward. As soon as it was over she let out a chuckle. The elevator doors dinged and opened.
“What’s so funny?” asked the guard, shaking out his hand.
“I was just imagining all of the people’s faces as we passed by their floor, on the elevator. Just three different pitches of screaming.”
They all laughed. They wheeled her to the check-in station at the maternity ward. Nattie ran past Molly and the security guard so that she could talk with the nurse. “Hi. My name is Natalie James. This is my best friend, Molly Richards. She’s going to have a baby. I called from the car. Please help her. She keeps screaming. Then she told me that I couldn’t make any jokes and she keeps looking at me like my head is going to explode.”
The nurse help up her hand and tried to stifle a laugh. “Yes, I remember talking with you. We have a semi-private labor room ready and waiting for her.”
“Wait, semi-private? Um… Kevin’s not going to like that.” She turned to Molly. “Semi-private?”
“I really don’t care. I don’t care about the view or the cafeteria. I don’t really care if I have to share the room with a stranger or a platypus. Please, just get this baby out of me already.”
The nurse grabbed a clipboard with some paperwork. “Let’s show you one of these rooms and get you all comfortable then.”
* * *
Molly had never been to a maternity ward before so she was surprised to see that it looked like the rest of the hospital. The labor room was sweet enough. The walls were the sterile white like the rest of the hospital but there was a bouquet of flowers waiting for her on her nightstand. “Oh, are those from Kevin?” she asked.
“Someone named Miguel dropped them off,” the nurse said. He went to the cafeteria and said that he’d be right back. They all got situated and by the time that Miguel reappeared in the room, Molly was comfortable in bed – or as comfortable as she should be considering she was dilated three centimeters.
“The nurse said that this is going to be a while,” she said, her face long.
Miguel chuckled. “You’ll be fine. Just take it step by step and we’ll be through this in no time.” He looked around. “Where’s Kevin?”
The girls shrugged.
Nattie pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I texted him and told him where we are but he hasn’t texted me back yet.” She looked up at Miguel. “Well, I called him too but he was out partying and I don’t know if he heard me.”
Nattie and Miguel milled around for a little while, fluffing Molly’s pillow, holding her hands and caressing her back during and after contractions, and tidying up. They had finally sat down when the door flung open. They were about to sit up to welcome Kevin but a woman in a wheelchair and her husband walked in, instead, followed by a nurse.
“Hi,” the husband said. “My name is Ashmore. This is my wife, Monica.” He motioned toward the spare bed. “I guess we’re going to be roomies.”
“Yay,” Molly said, her voice a little lackluster.
“How are you feeling?” asked the nurse.
“Not any more dilated than the last time…” Molly said with a frown. She watched the husband as he held his wife’s hand. “Where’s Kevin…?” she whispered.