A Very Special Delivery

Patsy turned her back on the woman, opened the car door and got in, slamming it a little harder than necessary.
    As Hazel stalked away, gait stiff and insulted, Molly noticed what she’d missed during the confrontation. Ethan. Standing at the back of the car, expression stricken.
    Molly’s stomach hurt and her knees trembled for him. She was angry at the woman but ached for Ethan.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said, going to him. “She shouldn’t have said that.”
    His jaw flexed. “I’m okay. I’ve heard worse.”
    He had? “What she said was cruel and wrong. She hurt your feelings.”
    He jerked one shoulder. “I have thick skin.”
    Not all that thick. She could see he was disturbed. Words wounded, even when they were untrue and the recipient didn’t deserve them.
    “Come on,” Ethan said with false joviality, tugging on her hand. “I’m starving.”
    Molly tiptoed up on her new spring shoes to kiss his cheek.
    “I love you,” she whispered against his freshly shaved skin. No matter what anyone else thought
of him or of his former life, Ethan Hunter was a
good man.
    Ethan rubbed his cheek, his eyebrows arching high. Mischief replaced the hurt in his eyes. “Maybe being gossiped about is not so bad after all.”
    “And then again, maybe it is. But there isn’t a thing you can do about it anyway.”
    “Except to win her over with my devastating charm.”
    Gesturing to his robes, Molly teased, “You’re Pontius Pilate. You could have her executed.”
    “No,” he said. “Banished. No Easter-egg hunt for her. No chocolate bunnies. No marshmallow eggs.”
    Molly pressed a hand to her heart in pretend horror. “Cruel and unusual punishment. You are a wicked ruler indeed.”
    They both laughed and climbed inside the car, letting the banter soften the sting of the woman’s cruel comments. At least for now.
    * * *
    By six o’clock that evening, Molly had eaten more chocolate bunnies and marshmallow eggs than she could count. She had also, along with Ethan, participated in an adult egg hunt at the Slater Farm that had been more fun than she thought possible. Who would believe grown men would tackle one another in pursuit of a plastic, candy-filled egg?
    Now, as she plopped down on the couch in Ethan’s apartment and kicked off her shoes, she said, “Wasn’t this a great day?”
    She leaned back and ran both hands through her messy hair, tired but content.
    Ethan stood in the adjoining kitchenette, staring into the refrigerator. When he looked up and smiled, Molly’s heart did a happy dance.
    “Aren’t you glad you went?”
    “Mmm. Very glad. What are you doing in there?”
    “Making the queen a bottle. She’ll wake up howling any minute.”
    “After the day she’s had, being passed from person to person and played with by every kid in town, I thought she might sleep all night.”
    “She will after she eats.” He added cereal to the bottle and gave it a shake. “There she goes.”
    Sure enough, a restless whimper turned to a loud howl. Ethan plunked the bottle onto the coffee table, trotted to the small nursery and returned with a squirming, squawling baby.
    “Let me have her,” Molly said, holding up her arms. “I’ll feed her.”
    Something she’d never thought possible had happened. She wanted to hold and feed a baby. For once, the fear only flitted across her mind and disappeared.
    Ethan’s smile lit the living room. He tossed the burp towel over her shoulder, lowered Laney into her arms, and handed her the bottle. The baby’s pudgy hands batted at her dinner, trying to pull it into her mouth.
    “Hold on, Miss Greedy.” Molly slid the nipple between the bow lips.
    “There you go,” she crooned. “There you go.”
    Ethan stood before them, smiling down. “You two look all cozy.”
    “We are.” She kissed Laney’s forehead. “Aren’t we, sweetie pie?”
    Laney’s answer came in contented slurps and grunts.
    “I’m gonna run out to the truck for a minute,” Ethan said. “To get that CD Jesse loaned me. Be right back, okay?”
    Molly tensed. It had been a while since she’d been alone with Laney, but she loved Ethan and if they were to have any future together, she had to take care of his baby—alone. The attacks were gone. She needed to act as though they were.
    “Sure. Go ahead. I wanted to listen to it, too.”
    He bent forward to kiss her hair. The pleasant mingle of aftershave and chocolatey marshmallow made her smile.
    As he slipped out into the darkness,