"Your dad's been calling me," he said over his shoulder as he cracked eggs straight into the skillet. "I didn't know whether you'd want to see him again."
"I-I don't know."
She couldn't reconcile her feelings for her father. He'd left her to fend for herself when he should've been there for her. He'd listened to Sandy instead of trusting his own daughter. And it didn't seem like anything had changed. The way he'd talked in the hospital, it had sounded like he wanted to control her rather than help her get back on her feet and live her life the way she wanted. If anything, she wanted to be back on her feet firmly before she had to deal with him again.
Cord was using a fork to whisk eggs in the frying pan when the front doorbell rang. Screeched actually, an electric jangle that told him it needed to be replaced before a spark from bad writing burned the whole place down.
Another job to add to his list of to-do's.
But instead of frustrating him, today he was grateful to be on the ranch.
"You okay?" he asked Molly. "I'll be right back."
He opened the front door to an older lady he recognized. She used to do readings to kids at the library. By the time he'd arrived in Sutter's Hollow, he'd been too old for that kind of thing. But sometimes he and West had gone to the library after school, and he would hide in the stacks nearby to listen.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"This is for you." She extended a foil-covered casserole dish.
What? He lifted his hands, palms facing her.
"Go on now. Don't be shy," she insisted. "Everybody in town heard about your troubles. How that evil man was trying to kidnap her. A couple of friends from my reading group decided we'd better bring some meals for y'all. Take this."
"I can't…" He didn't get the words out before she had put the casserole dish—surprisingly heavy—into his hands.
"Tomorrow it'll be Norma Sue bringing your supper." She was gone before he could form another protest, into a truck that reminded him a little of Molly's, pre-crash. A younger man who might've been her grandson gave a two-finger wave before he started backing down the drive.
Cord still didn't know quite what had happened when he got back to the kitchen. He set the casserole on the counter and went back to the eggs before they burned.
"What was that?" Molly asked.
"I am... not sure what just happened. The librarian lady just dropped off a casserole for me. For you. For us. And she said her friends from her reading circle are going to be bringing more."
When he looked over his shoulder, her eyes were wide and a smile was playing around her lips. Like it was trying to break out, and she was holding it in.
"What?" He ground out the question.
"It's official. You're part of the community now. There's no way you're getting out now."
He pushed the still-runny eggs to the back of the stove and turned to brace his hands on the counter behind him.
"I guess it's a good thing I don't want out."
She looked down at the table, toying with her coffee mug. It was still full, as if she hadn't touched the liquid yet. "You shouldn't stay for me." Her words were soft, so soft he almost couldn't hear them.
"I'm not staying for you. I'm staying for me."
She glanced up, her eyes asking all the questions.
"I was running hard when I left Sutter's Hollow before. I'm not running anymore. From this place or from this thing between you and me."
She shook her head. Opened her mouth. Shook her head again and lifted her coffee mug. After a sip, she said it down abruptly with a clink on the table. "Did you put cinnamon in this?"
"What can I say? It's growing on me."
She pushed up from the table, using her good hand and giving a little huff at the exertion. He saw her swipe her finger quickly under her eyes before she turned to face him.
His stomach swooped. Had he read things wrong?
"Look, Cord." She swallowed audibly. "Everything happened so fast. Our emotions got tangled up. What if—?"
"It wasn't fast for me," he said, "when I fell for you. It was as slow as raindrops falling softly in a spring storm. It was you making coffee for me every day, your special way. To show you cared. Wiping my forehead when I was running that high fever. Putting in the hours for the tractor repairs, even when I was barely giving you the time of day."
He took a step toward her. "It was every smile. That little wrinkle in your nose when you think I'm being ridiculous. The way you look at me." He came close and brushed her cheek with his fingers, cupping her jaw. "Molly, I was in love with you before Toby showed up on Friday morning and threw all of our plans out of whack. I was just too chicken to admit it to myself, much less to you."
Her eyes welled with tears as she stretched up toward him. He met her kiss gently, conscious of her injuries and not wanting to cause her pain. She gripped his wrist where he still touched her face.
She was the one who scooted closer, folding into his arms.
He snugged his free arm around her waist and kissed her until they were both good and breathless, until hopefully she didn't have any arguments left for why they shouldn't be together.
And when he moved slightly away, he saw the truth in her eyes.
"I love you too," she whispered.
He didn't deserve it, but he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to.
Epilogue
Nearly a month later, Cord stood on the front porch of Noah's little farmhouse.
On the top of the hill at the next horizon, not even a quarter of a mile
