Marrying Molly

“Sucking up? Maybe not. But that crazy mother of yours just might.”

“You only need to know how to make up to her. You need to know her likes and dislikes. Her secret yearnings…”

“Dusty O’Dare has got secret yearnings?” The idea kind of scared him.

“My mother’s tough as a roll of barbed wire, but she is still a woman in her heart.”

“Oh, yeah?” Could have fooled Tate.

“Now, Tate. That there’s a big part of your problem. You need to get yourself in courting mode. And courting mode means you are always polite and respectful when referring to or addressing your darlin’ one or any member of her family.”

Tate wasn’t sure he liked the idea of sucking up to Dusty. But he was getting the picture. “And that’s why you’re here? To help me make nice?”

Dixie got a kind of wistful look. “I could never have another child after Molly. It was a tough birth and…well, as a result, she is my one and only. I have been somewhat…distracted, when it came to being a mother. But like all mothers, I do want to see my only child happy, with a good man who’ll love her till she pleads for mercy and provide her with a platinum no-limit credit card. I think you just might be that man. And I do believe that deep in her heart, Molly would prefer to be married to her baby’s daddy. You say you want that, too.”

“I do want that, Dixie,” Tate said quietly.

The sad look vanished as Dixie smiled her dazzling smile. “Then grab a pen and a full-size piece of paper. This will be a long list….”

The next day, which just happened to be Friday the thirteenth, Molly got a lot more advice at work—and couple of expressions of deep disappointment that she’d gone and crawled into bed with Tate Bravo, of all people.

And like the day before, she kept waiting for Tate to come barreling through the door, demanding that she marry him on the spot. Also like the day before, he never appeared. Maybe, she thought philosophically, as time went by and he didn’t come busting through the door, she would learn to relax a little again—if her customers would ever shut the heck up about him.