Letters to Molly (Maysen Jar, #2)(33)

Deb looked at her daughter but didn’t seem to see the smile. “She looks tired.”

“Oh-kay,” I drawled. There was no point arguing with Deb. The woman would never concede a point. “Well, I’m going to go and say hello.”

I stood from the chair and made it three steps away from the table when she stopped me again.

“Finn, I told Molly, but I’m telling you as well. You both need to watch Kali closely.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I turned. “What?”

“I’m concerned about Kali. The last three times I’ve seen her, she’s been quiet and withdrawn. I think you and Molly need to consider putting her in counseling. I’m worried this behavior is a sign she may be depressed. The last thing we want is her acting out and doing something drastic as a call for help.”

My hands balled into fists. “Kali is happy and healthy. There is nothing wrong with her.”

“She’s troubled.”

“She’s not troubled. She’s a ten-year-old girl. Her moods swing all over the place depending on what’s happening with her friends or her teachers or her brother. But she’s a happy and healthy kid. And I am telling you right now, Deb. If you say anything different to her, if you plant these ideas in her head that she’s unwell, you’ll never see my daughter again. Are we clear?”

My chest heaved as Deb’s jaw fell open. Dr. Deborah could diagnose her own daughter all she wanted but my child was off limits. I wouldn’t have her twisting up Kali like she did with Molly.

“I’m simply looking out for Kali.” She huffed.

“No, you’re pulling your psychobabble bullshit. It stops. Now.”

Deb’s eyes widened as she stood. “I will not be threatened.”

“This isn’t a threat.” I stepped closer, then I spoke loud and clear so there was no mistaking my position. “You will not talk to Kali about counseling. You will not talk to Kali about her moods. You will not talk to Kali about anything other than what Kali wants to talk about. If I find out otherwise, you won’t see her again.”

“Hey,” Molly hissed, rushing over to my side. “What’s going on? You two are making a scene.”

“Finn is threat—”

“It’s nothing,” I barked. “Your mom and I were just coming to an understanding.”

Molly looked back and forth between us. “Mom, is this about Kali? Did you tell Finn? I told you. She’s. Fine.”

“I disagree.”

“She’s—” Molly sucked in a calming breath. “You know what? I appreciate your concern, and I’ll keep an eye out. We both will. Then we’ll decide what’s best for our daughter.”

I opened my mouth to take them both on but stopped as Molly’s words sunk in. Had she really just taken my side? Against her mom? I did my best to keep my expression neutral but it was a battle. I couldn’t remember a time when Molly had taken my side in a battle of Finn versus Deb.

“In my professional opinion, you’re making a mistake,” she said.

Molly nodded. “So noted.”

Deb frowned at Molly, waiting for a different response. When she didn’t get one, she spun around and collected her purse from the table. “I’ve got to be going. We’ll discuss this again at a later date, Molly.”

I scoffed. “Just as long as you don’t discuss it with Kali.”

Molly shot me a look that said shut up, then she escorted Deb to the door. As her mom walked outside along the front windows, Molly scowled at me.

“What?” I held up my hands.

“Do you always have to argue with my mother?”

“Hey, I didn’t start that.”

She shook her head. “You never do. Mom is always the antagonist, isn’t that right?”

“That’s not—you know what? I’m not having this fight again. I came down here to talk to you.”

“About?”

“The letter.”

She shook her head, walking away from the door and through the restaurant to the counter. I followed, saying nothing as she led me into the kitchen.

“Hi.” Poppy smiled from her side of the table as she mixed something in a large silver bowl. “Want some lunch?”

“Hi. I, uh . . . maybe in a minute.” Molly was marching toward the office, so I held up a finger to Poppy and hurried to catch up.

Molly was waiting in the center of the room when I got there. She stayed tight-lipped until I closed the door.

“I’m sorry about the letter.”

“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “It took me by surprise. But it’s fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re pissed at me.”

“Because you came into my workplace and picked a fight with my mother. Can’t you just avoid her?”

I gritted my teeth. “I didn’t pick a fight with your mother. I was trying to be civil but she crossed the line. If you want to swallow the shit advice she feeds you, that’s your choice. But when it comes to Kali and Max, I won’t have it.”

“She gets paid a lot of money to give that ‘shit advice.’”

My blood pressure ticked up a notch. I fucking hated air quotes. And this fight. We’d had it so many times but never come out on the same side. Molly always stood on her mother’s, which left me standing alone, wondering how a woman with so much confidence and intelligence could let someone manipulate her.