Taming Molly: Heroes of Henderson ~ Book 2.5 A DuVal Cousins Quickie (3 page)

Sure, she would arrange the
DuVal-Cousins-Take-On-Raleigh Night
each year. Molly, Lilly, Lucy, Jacey, Lolly, Tipi, Vivi, and Tinley would gather in her tiny apartment for drinks and dinner, catching up before heading out on the town. Standing back and watching her younger sisters and cousins take over the dance floor at The Charlie Horse or Solas made her wonder how she was the one with the bad rap. It certainly wasn’t like she was dragging a pack of wallflowers around town. Oh, she was happy to see them all having fun. She just wished she were still like them. Fun.

Because something had truly been crushed over the years since she was forced to move out of Henderson.

At first, her friends would come and spend the weekend. They’d go out and really raise hell on Fayetteville Street and Glenwood South. She wondered why she hadn’t moved to Raleigh earlier.

But then life started to happen. Everybody took on real-life jobs and the time between visits stretched longer and longer as everyone’s responsibilities increased. It wasn’t like Molly could reciprocate with the travel and make the drive home to Henderson to play. She had to wait for them to come to her.

Rent came due every month and not just for her apartment, but for the tiny artist’s co-op space and equipment she used to indulge in her crafts. Though she eventually made some new and interesting friends through the artistic connections in town, it still felt lonely.

Her hours at the art gallery weren’t long, so she began focusing on her ceramics. Never one to do anything casually, she ended up spending a lot of time in quiet solitude, throwing clay. Eventually she started spending her extra cash on art supplies rather than club cover charges and drinks.

Perhaps that was the silver lining in all of this.

Because her pottery was now selling. And selling at outrageous prices from the gallery in which she worked. Which was really just a happy accident—because in a panic, Lana Bristol, the store owner, had strategically placed a few of Molly’s brightly colored, hand-painted, and glazed pottery pieces in the empty spaces when store merchandise was low. The crazy prices they’d slapped on her items were simply in keeping with the range the fine art store was known for. So when the first piece was purchased not two days later, Molly and Lana spent the afternoon in total shock, laughing over the sale.

The fact that patrons had the opportunity to meet the artist seemed to be a bonus and a selling point. After they conversed with Molly, they’d want her to sign the bottom of her piece with a Sharpie right next to her signature stamp. If they were purchasing it as a gift, they’d ask her to personalize the plate or vase with her Sharpie. Then they’d special order her pieces in certain colors and sizes, which Molly was only too happy to fulfill at a premium. And just when Molly thought things could not get better, calls began coming in from other art galleries in other cities, asking for information about ordering her pottery.

It was all quite thrilling. And so very, very lonely. Because no one she cared about had any idea this was going on. It just wasn’t something she could bring up to her starving artist friends. “Guess what? I made real money this month doing exactly what I love to do.”

No.

Nor had she told her long-distance friends and loved ones about her success. That she wanted to share in person.

But she had a plan. A plan to get herself moved back home. And Aunt Genevra’s wedding provided the perfect opportunity.

Chapter Four

Molly was a little flustered that the parking valet was at her door so quickly, opening it up and helping her out of her little truck. She’d anticipated parking in one of the many fields surrounding Hale Evans’ mansion. Apparently that wouldn’t do for Mr. Evans’ guests because everywhere she looked there were smartly dressed young men providing valet parking from the front door of the Evans’ estate, or readying golf carts to drive guests to the site of the outdoor wedding.

She asked for a moment, slipping off her worn out flip-flops and donning her emerald green heels. Then she grabbed up the pretty tulle overskirt she hadn’t wanted to wrinkle on the long drive from Raleigh. She wrapped it around her waist, fastening the satin emerald bow over her belly button. It was what turned the sexy, little body-hugging green dress into a lovely confection even old Evie Jackson would approve of. Between her poofy tulle skirt, her high heels, and the French twist she’d pulled her blonde hair into, her ladylike appearance could not be faulted.

Just like she’d planned.

The last thing she grabbed, in addition to her matching clutch purse, was the wedding gift she’d made especially for Aunt Genevra and her new husband. It was an original “Molly DuVal Piece,” which was starting to mean something in North Carolina, and there was only one like it. She knew her aunt loved to cook, so she hoped what was lying inside the large, beautifully wrapped, pizza box would suit her.

“Need help with that?” her sister Lucy said, snatching the box out of her hands. One look at her youngest sister made Molly want to melt with joy. They hugged around the box as best they could and were soon pounced on by Lilly, their middle sister, and Jacey and Vivi, their cousins.

“We are so happy you came,” one of them exclaimed, getting in on the hug. The five of them huddled together, jumping up and down with excitement over the wedding, over Molly being there for it, and over just being back together.

“I’m sure Lolly is with Aunt Gen, but where are Linley and Tinley?”

“Savin’ us seats, of course,” Lucy said. “Let’s squeeze into one of these golf carts and head up.” Lucy handed over Molly’s gift to one of the staff who stood at the front door for that very purpose, and then all five of them started to crowd onto a golf cart meant for three and a driver.

“Wait,” Molly said, balking. “Y’all go ahead. Lucy and I will take the next cart.”

“But why?” Lucy complained. “We can all fit. Here, just sit on my lap.”

Molly bit her lip, torn. There wasn’t anything she’d rather do than climb on board with her sisters and her cousins. But she knew it didn’t fit with her plans for the day. She couldn’t be seen arriving in a passel of silly girls, laughing too loud and having too much fun before the wedding even commenced. No, she had to look the part of the reformed party girl. Project the image that the eldest DuVal cousin had finally grown up and had her head on straight. There would be no sitting on laps today. Prim and proper were the keywords for this event.

“Y’all go on. We’ll be right behind you,” Molly said, grabbing up Lucy’s hand and dragging her to the next golf cart. She and Lucy arranged themselves in the back, and at Lucy’s expectant look, Molly confessed everything.

“I’m lonely, and I want to come home.”

“Thank God,” Lucy breathed.

“In order to do that, I have to show Daddy I’m over the running-around-with-boys thing. Today I want him and everybody else to see that I have matured and will no longer be fodder for the Henderson gossips.”

Lucy looked a little stupefied. “Well, that just sounds boring. I think I speak for the entire family and the rest of your friends too when I say we don’t want any dumbed-down version of Molly DuVal back. We want the real thing. Good Lord, this town is dying enough already. Please don’t change your spots to try to fit in. Just be yourself and breathe some life back into this place. Besides, Tinley is causing more trouble than you could have ever dreamed up, so…whatever…it’s all relative—literally.”

The two sisters laughed at that, holding on to the sides of the cart as they were transported up a steep hill to the beautiful football-field-sized tent glistening in the sunlight.

“Wow,” Molly said.

“It’s air-conditioned,” Lucy responded. “I swear Aunt Gen has fallen into a pot of gold with Mr. Evans. He’s better looking than Vance and sure knows how to throw a party.”

“I haven’t seen Vance since he helped me break my engagement.”

“Is that how we’re remembering it now? Vance helped you break off your engagement? Not that you ran off for one last fling with Mr. Great in the Sack?”

“You say tomato….”

“I’ll say anything you want as long as you move back to town and share an apartment with me. I am too old to be living at home.”

“Just run interference with Vance, okay? I’m not interested in picking up where we left off.”

“Yeah, well as I understand it, he’s now Lolly’s best friend and there is some chick from out of town he’s working hard to impress, so you're safe there.”

“Good.”

Lucy hopped off the cart as soon as it stopped, but Molly waited for their driver to give her a hand down onto the grass. Luckily, there’d been little rain, so her heels didn’t dig into the ground. The two of them met up with their cousins and wandered down the rose-strewn aisle where Tinley and Linley held a whole row of seats for them. Right behind all of their parents.

It was the sort of spectacle Molly had hoped to avoid. Her mom and dad and her aunts and uncles fawned over her return to Henderson—right in the middle of everyone. There wasn’t one eye turned in another direction as Molly was embraced, kissed, and welcomed back with literal open arms.

So sue her. It felt good.

Chapter Five

It wasn’t long into the reception before Vance performed as promised, stealing two minutes from his wedding duties in order to point out Molly DuVal to Josh. As if Josh hadn’t been aware of the woman the moment she’d stepped out of her girly little truck. He’d been at the right place at the right time to see what she was really wearing underneath that frothy skirt she was floating around the party in, looking like a damn fairy princess.

“Be bold,” Vance suggested. “She might look like refined sugar at the moment, but mention skinny-dipping and I guarantee she’ll have your butt naked and in the pool before all of these guests go home.”

“Really?” The thought completely intrigued Josh. “Is that something people actually do?”

Vance turned his entire body toward Josh. “What the—?” He shook his head and mumbled, “This will not do,” as he pushed Josh by the scruff of his neck ahead of him. Straight toward Molly.

“Molly,” Vance said without preamble. Then he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Welcome home. Here’s a little present from me to you. His name is Josh, and he just fell off the turnip truck. Now, I’ve got to go keep this party running smoothly, so I expect you two at the after-party around the pool. We’ll catch up then.”

He slapped Josh on the side of his arm and left the two of them at the bar.

“Molly, I’m Josh—”

“I know who you are, Josh McCourt,” the fairy princess said right before she ordered her white wine. “We met back in high school. On the breezeway at Henderson. I showed you to the auditorium so you could give us some sort of scholarly beat down.”

“I remember.” Josh grinned.

“Really?” She cocked her head in an inquisitive gesture, her green eyes flashing. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I’ll have a beer please,” Josh said to the bartender. Then to Molly, “Why would you find that hard to believe?”

She shrugged one shoulder as she picked up her drink and turned to go. “Because I did just about everything I could think of to get you to ask me out. And you didn’t.”

It took a moment for that to sink in. And in that moment, the fairy princess sprouted wings and flew off into the crowd. Josh wanted to leave his beer and follow her—hell, he wanted to grab her shoulder, spin her around, and get right up into her face because that was complete bullshit. Bullshit, by the way, he would have paid good money to make true.

He was finally given his beer, all fancy in a glass for God’s sake, and turned, intent on searching out Miss DuVal when a large, meaty hand landed on his shoulder.

Dear God—the Father.

“Josh, my boy. A word please.”
 

Big Jim wanted a word. During a wedding reception. At the exact moment Josh just happened to be honing in on his eldest daughter.

“I understand you’re looking for some Booster funds so you can make up your fancy Google-like glasses in order to benefit the football team.”

Josh blinked, dragging his mind off Molly and on to his team. “That’s exactly right. I believe if I’ve got someone wearing them up in the press box, and I’m wearing them down on the field, I’d be able to see what’s going on defensively a whole lot better. It could be a big help to decide which offense to run.”

“Might be misconstrued as cheatin’.”

“I like to think of it as communicating.”

“Huh. Well, now—here’s the deal. You might not be aware, but that lovely young lady you were just talkin’ to at the bar? The one in green? She’s my daughter, Molly. Now, Molly loves a good party
—
hell, she’s just a chip off the ol’ block when it comes to that. And this wedding has the makings of a great party. But she’s ruffled some Henderson feathers in the past and those feathers are eyein’ her up tonight. Now you—you’re the sort of fellow it might do Molly some good to be seen with. Someone who has kept a low profile and won’t do her reputation any harm.”