Letters to Molly (Maysen Jar, #2)(97)

“The letters.”

Cole tried to hide his grin behind his beer bottle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We went for a hike today and Kali almost slipped up. She caught herself, but it was enough to get me thinking.”

There was no way my daughter could have done it alone. There were no dates to put them in order without more context to our relationship. There was no way she could have timed their delivery to the mailbox just right. But if she’d had help, if she’d been the mailbox delivery person, that I could believe.

There were few people in the world Kali trusted. Her uncle Cole was one. My guess was that he’d found the letters, and Kali had become his little mouse, helping him sneak them into the mailbox.

“When did you get them?”

“Remember that year we played city-league softball?” he asked and I nodded. “You forgot your cleats. You were working and didn’t have time to run home, so I stopped to get them.”

“That was . . .” I mentally tallied the years. “Four years ago. You’ve had them all this time?”

He nodded. “I was just waiting for the right time. When you broke up with Brenna, I decided it was now or never. You’d been so hell-bent on dating someone for so long. Every relationship was a disaster. Poppy was pushing Molly to date her neighbor, and I thought I’d give it a shot. I asked Kali to keep a secret. She was more than happy to be my minion.”

“Did she know what was in them?” Say no.

“No,” Cole promised. “She never knew. I just asked her to deliver some letters that would be good for her mom to read. She never knew they were from you, just that I hoped they’d make Molly happy.”

They hadn’t at first. But in the end, they’d been the catalyst to heal our hearts. To mend them together.

“Why?” I asked him.

“I’ll do anything to make my wife happy.”

My jaw fell open. “You did this for Poppy?”

“And for you.” He shrugged. “When Poppy and I first got together, it was right after you and Molly divorced. You’d just found kind of a truce and you’d decided to start dating again. Poppy told me it was because you wanted to find happiness again and love, like she had with me.”

“Not my smartest move,” I muttered.

“Honestly, at the time I thought it was smart. You and Molly were divorced. You were moving on. Eventually she would too. Poppy had such a hard time with it. She knew you both still loved each other and thought you were wasting love.”

And for a woman who had lost love unexpectedly, it was no surprise Poppy had taken it hard.

“Our opinions swapped, Poppy’s and mine,” Cole said. “At first, I’d thought it was a good thing. Poppy struggled with it. Then she started to accept that you and Molly were through. The more I was around you both, all the years you’d look at each other across the room and smile, forgetting for that split second you were divorced, it started to make me crazy. But I didn’t want to get involved.”

“Then you found the letters,” I guessed.

“That’s right. I found those and took a wild guess that Molly had never seen a single one. I figured, maybe if she did, you two would stop fucking around.”

I chuckled. “Quite a gamble.”

“Nah. I knew you two wouldn’t let me down.” He brought his bottle to his smiling lips. “How’d you figure out it was me?”

“After Kali said that today, I knew it had to be someone close. I started thinking back to all the times Molly and I confronted you guys about the letters. Everyone denied it. Over and over. Everyone except you. You evaded.”

Cole had acted shocked. He’d had alibis for his whereabouts every night. But he’d never actually come out and said No, it wasn’t me.

“I don’t know what to say,” I admitted. I set my beer aside and stretched out my hand. “Thanks.”

“Do right by Molly. And by yourself.” He shook my hand. “That’s all the thanks I need.”

The door to the garage opened and Poppy poked her head outside. “Cole, you can start the grill.”

“Okay, beautiful.”

Cole and I left the garage with fresh beers. While he went to the grill, I found Molly standing in the kitchen, eating chips and salsa.

“Hey.” She took my beer away for a healthy swig. “Poppy and I were thinking of throwing you a party to celebrate your ‘retirement.’ We could have it at the restaurant. You could invite anyone from Alcott. What do you think?”

“I’m game.”

She smiled. “Good. We’ll get planning.”

The kitchen was buzzing with activity as people gathered around the spread of appetizers Poppy had laid out. My parents were here. Cole’s were too, along with his sister’s family. It was guaranteed to be a fun night, but before we got to the good times, I had to talk to Molly.

I had to tell her that Cole had been the one to send the letters. For that, I didn’t need an audience.

“Come with me for a sec.” I grabbed her hand, threading our fingers together as we snuck away to the front porch. Then I told her about how Cole had sent the letters and how Kali had helped.

“A part of me wants to hit him upside the head for putting us through everything. But I’m grateful. So very grateful.”