The annoying thing was that they did ring a bell—all sorts of bells, actually. Each time, Molly had assumed that John just happened to be in the right place at the right time to help, thanks to him chasing her skips. She grimaced, feeling the first tentacles of guilt snaking through her. It was getting clearer and clearer that her sisters had been—obnoxiously—right. Molly had been oblivious. “I thought you just wanted to steal jobs from me.”

His expression softened minutely. She wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been staring at him, just inches from his face. Sometime during the argument, without realizing it, she’d moved closer to him…really close. “Well, that was a fun side benefit, but you started it.”

Molly sucked in a breath, bracing herself to apologize, but the front door swung open before she could get any of the words out. She turned around to see Cara leaning against the doorjamb, wearing her sleep shorts and a tank, her dark-brown hair rumpled from moving restlessly against a pillow. “If the two of you get any louder, Mr. P is going to call the cops again.”

Seeing her sister’s sleepy face instantly drained all of Molly’s adrenaline, her utter exhaustion waiting to take its place. “Ugh. Sorry. C’mon, let’s go in.” She directed her words to both John and Cara.

Cara took a step back, swinging the door open wide to allow them room to enter, but John gestured for Molly to go in first. His expression was mostly wiped clear, but she could tell there were storm clouds hiding behind his neutral visage. He didn’t immediately follow her in, and Molly turned around to look at him. Their gazes snagged and held, making her pause as she tried to read his thoughts. She was a little overwhelmed by the knowledge that he’d been trailing after her this whole time with the intent of keeping her safe, rather than—well, in addition to—wanting to steal her skips. Her expression must’ve shown her remorse because, with a sigh that she couldn’t interpret any more than she could read his expression, he lost more of his tension and stepped inside.

Molly found herself exhaling a relieved breath, not knowing exactly what had just happened, but glad that it had ended the way it had. If he’d stomped off into the night, she would’ve felt unsettled and antsy and, she admitted grudgingly, she would’ve worried about him until she’d heard that he’d gotten home safely. Even though he was a grown man with a cell phone and a brain who was perfectly capable of getting from one side of their small town to the other, she still would’ve been concerned.

As a fill-in mom, she couldn’t help it. Worrying was what she did. Besides, now that he was neck-deep in the mess her mom had created, he was in as much danger as she and her sisters were. Even though John had willingly helped out, fully knowing what he was getting himself into, Molly couldn’t help but feel guilty—and grateful—that he’d made that sacrifice.