A Very Special Delivery

she’d offered him the grand prize.
    Iris’s voice intruded, “Don’t forget about Mrs. Gonzales’s furnace.”
    “I won’t,” Molly said and started forward, eager to get away from the well-meaning women.
    The delighted chatter of the trio followed them across the room and into Molly’s little office. “Sorry about the ladies. They’re all hopelessly infatuated with you.”
    Setting the boxes on the indicated table, he laughed. “Is that a fact?”
    “Every one of them. You must stop emptying their mousetraps and unplugging their sinks.”
    “Can’t. I’d starve to death without their cooking.”
    “You would not.” She stuck a hand on one hip, realized she was flirting, and let it drop. “It’s nice of you to help them out.”
    “Symbiotic relationships seem to be an important element in my life.” His grin widened as he repeated the word she’d used in describing their time together. “What’s wrong with Mrs. Gonzales’s furnace?”
    “Never mind. I’ll handle it.”
    “Might as well tell me. I’m going to ask her if you don’t.”
    No use fighting it. The man was a born rescuer. “The pilot went out last night.”
    His eyebrows rose in concern and the white scar rose, too. “She was in a cold house all night?”
    “Unfortunately. And on her fixed income she can’t afford to pay for something like that. So I told her I’d find someone to re-light it for her.”
    “Okay. Let’s unload the rest of those boxes and head over there.”
    She liked the sound of that “let’s” a little too much. “I can get someone else.”
    “No need. I can do it in a jiffy. Do you have her key?”
    “It’s under the flower pot on the front porch.”
    He thumped the heel of his hand against his forehead. “Doesn’t she know that’s the first place a thief will look?”
    “Yes, but she thinks Freddy might come home while she’s gone.” Freddy was the son who’d taken off for parts unknown years before and never returned. Mrs. Gonzales refused to give up hope.
    They walked out to the van and carried the rest of the boxes inside. Then while Molly logged in the deliveries on her computer, Ethan moved around the common area greeting the older adults. They all seemed to know him.
    Her eyes kept straying from the monitor to watch his long, athletic strides. Once, he disappeared but a few minutes later, she had spotted him again.
    Although they had talked on the telephone a few times, she hadn’t seen him since he’d brought her home from the ER. She’d forgotten how his presence could fill a room—or at least, she’d tried to forget.
    Encountering him now created a problem. She was much happier to see him than she wanted to be.
    She typed in the last bar code and swiveled away from the desk and the window that looked out on the common room. Maybe he’d be gone by the time she unpacked the boxes.
    “Molly?” His handsome face peered around her office door. “Going with me?”
    Her pulse did a happy dance. Not a good sign.
    “I’d better stay here.”
    “I really need you to come along. This is my first trip to Mrs. Gonzales’s. I wouldn’t want the neighbors to think I was a burglar and call the police. Besides, I went all the way back to my apartment for my own truck so you could ride with me without making my company angry. You gotta go.”
    “Oh.” She gnawed at her lip.
    The pilot had to be lit and Ethan was willing. Only her selfishness stood in the way. Mrs. Gonzales needed this favor badly. With Laney safely at daycare, Molly was in no danger of a panic attack. And they wouldn’t be gone long.
    “Okay,” she said at last. “Let me tell my boss.”
    “Tell her we’ll be back after lunch.”
    Lunch. She usually ate with the seniors, but a meal with Ethan sounded really good.
    What could it possibly hurt?
    * * *
    Thirty minutes later, Molly sat at a round table across from Ethan inside the Caboose, Winding Stair’s most popular diner. The scent of apple pie hung in the air like potpourri, and townspeople she’d known all her life filled the long narrow dining room.
    Tension knotted Molly’s stomach as she gazed around. She hadn’t been here in more than a year.
    At the senior’s center she felt safe. Here, she was open to the speculative stares and whispers of any and all. Maybe this lunch wasn’t such a good idea after all.
    “I thought that dog was going to eat my leg off,” Ethan said with a laugh as he shook out his napkin.
    Mrs. Gonzales’s schnauzer had