Molly nudged the plate across the counter, away from the woman. Nothing dislodged the panic gripping Molly.
Gloria’s glasses slipped down her nose, the attached silver chain catching the morning light and glinting. The woman counted the lightbulbs in the ceiling, then twisted away from Molly. “Do you always bring your work home with you?”
Molly squeezed her throat to stop her sudden gasp. She’d forgotten about the dry-erase board. The very one detailing the Van Solis murder trial. Molly forced her words around the knot in her throat. “I’m a criminal defense attorney.”
Gloria offered her a one-sided flat smile, more grimace than grin.
Molly rushed on, “I will be moving into a suitable office space soon.”
Gloria scrawled another note across her clipboard, then lifted her gaze over the rim of her glasses. “Do you have a date you’ll be moving into your office space?”
Molly bit into a chocolate-chunk cookie to keep from lying to the woman.
Gloria pursed her lips, scratched her pen across her clipboard and headed toward Hazel’s nook. She stopped once to press the toe of her serviceable black flats into a spot on the carpet. Then she studied Hazel’s space and scratched more notes. Lifted her head, scrawled more notes. As if she were a renowned artist making a sketch for a commissioned piece.
Molly finished her cookie and reached for another one. Surely, the double-fudge goodness would calm the temporary distress she had.
“It’s quite a quaint space for your daughter, isn’t it?” Gloria wondered out loud.
Molly wasn’t certain she meant quaint as in cozy and cute. More like peculiar and bizarre.
Molly finished two more cookies while Gloria surveyed her bedroom and bathroom. She wished she’d taken Dan’s EMT lessons about how to properly make a bed with hospital corners. Gloria would’ve most likely appreciated the orderliness.
Gloria reappeared and fiddled with the lock on the bedroom door. She eyed Molly. “What are your childcare plans?”
Molly took a deep drink of her coffee. The coffee only clashed with the chocolate and swirled unpleasantly in her already upset stomach. “We had a not-so-positive experience at a local day care. I’m in the process of interviewing nannies.”
Again, Gloria flipped to a new page on her clipboard and wrote a few lines.
“Ideally, I’d like to hire a live-in nanny,” Molly added. Then pressed her lips together.
Was that good or bad? Was the woman writing that Molly intended to hire out her mother duties? That wasn’t her plan. A live-in nanny simply offered more flexibility for those late nights when Molly was prepping for a trial. Or for unexpected client calls. “But I intend to be fully involved in my daughter’s life.”
Gloria offered only a drawn-out, “Hmm.”
Molly wiped her damp palms on a kitchen towel and waited for Gloria to finish her seemingly endless notes. She’d seen court reporters with less paperwork from a yearlong trial.
Finally Gloria lowered her clipboard to the counter. She took a napkin from the holder, placed three cookies in the center and neatly wrapped the stack. One wink at Molly and she said, “I believe I have everything I need.”
“Are you sure I can’t answer any other questions?” Molly reached for her smile, knew it was strained.
“I’ll be in touch if I have any. Thank you for your time.” Gloria stuck her cookie stash in her purse, picked up her clipboard and walked to the door. She looked back at Molly. “This might be out of line, but I have a step-niece on my husband’s side. Lovely child despite her no good parents.”
Molly braced her hand on the counter and waited, unsure what to say or how to respond.
“She’s putting herself through community college right now for her associate degree. She wants to eventually become a lawyer.” Gloria paused and eyed Molly, a glint in her eye.
Molly nodded. “I would be happy to sit down with her and talk about law school and her career options.”
Gloria’s mouth shifted into the smallest of grins. Just a bare twitch. “My step-niece, Rebekah, that is, is also one of the best babysitters I’ve come across. She’s good with children of all ages.”
Molly discovered her first smile of the morning. “Do you think she might consider becoming a nanny?”
“If she could get out of her parents’ house and keep going to college, she’d be wise to accept a position like that.” Gloria stepped onto the porch. “And she’s always been the smartest one in the family. Have a nice day, Ms. McKinney.”
“You too, Mrs. Serrano.” Molly walked to the front door.
Gloria stepped off the porch and glanced back. “And Ms. McKinney, that worry inside your chest about whether or not you’re a good mom. Well, it means you already are one.”
With that last sage comment, Gloria Serrano exited through the backyard, pausing to admire the puppies Brooke had corralled on the grass. Gloria lifted one from the blanket, accepted several puppy kisses on her nose before returning the dog to her siblings. Then she departed, a smile on her face.
Molly joined Brooke and Hazel in the backyard. The puppies played around Hazel on the large blanket. Nala watched Hazel and the puppies as if they were all hers to mother.
Molly sank onto the blanket and stretched out on her back.
Brooke picked up a bottle of bubbles. “How did it go?”
“You should’ve brought her a puppy sooner.” Molly set her arm over her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun.
“Was it that bad, really?” Brooke rose to sit up straighter.
“She never stopped taking notes.” Molly picked up Wish and set the little puppy on her stomach. “Then she offered up her step-niece as a nanny.”
“That’s good, right?” Brooke blew bubbles with the wand for Hazel to catch.
Molly smoothed her fingers over Wish’s head. The tiny puppy closed her eyes and sighed. “I have no idea. Was it a test? A bribe? Do I fail or pass if I hire her step-niece as my nanny?”
“What if
