Read Online Tangled Up in Daydreams by Rebecca Bloom - Free Book Online Page B

same side before. Sideways talking had not been her thing, except if she was at a sushi bar.
    â€œMuch better. See, we can still look at each other.” He lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “It’s just closer.”
    â€œAlmost too close. I feel like you can see every pore on my face!” Molly laughed. “Thank God I happen to have great skin this week.”
    â€œExcept for that little zit on your …”
    Molly’s hand flew up to her face and she turned crimson.
    â€œReally!?”
    â€œRelax, I was kidding.” Pulling her hands away.
    â€œAsshole.” Pretending to pout as she reached for her coffee. She took a sip and it tasted perfect. “Did you do my coffee?”
    â€œThat’s something no one has ever accused me of, but yes, I did it. Quarter of an inch skim milk, half a sugar, and a dash of cream, right?”
    â€œYeah.” Taking another sip. “How did you know?”
    â€œPaid attention.”
    â€œI love you.”
    â€œI love you, too.”
    It had become that easy to say it. Her certainty came down to him knowing how she liked her coffee. It was always those small things that sucked Molly in. Not the grand gestures of love and romance, but the little things that make up a boring life. Buying her shampoo to keep at his house, her kind of toothpaste. Stocking the fridge with things she liked, or bringing her magazines when she was sick. All the tiny details that made the biggest statement of all: “Hey, I am listening, I am watching, I am remembering all of you, I see you.”
    Molly blinked hard and screamed at herself for remembering yet another instance that made her fall in love with Liam. She stuffed a piece of the doughnut in her mouth and vowed to keep her mind as still as possible for the duration of the drive. Molly looked at the clock in the car and estimated that she had about two more hours to go. She surprised herself by getting this far without stopping. She couldn’t believe she was still awake. Molly rolled her neck and rubbed her shoulders, trying to squeeze the tension from them. The knots were impenetrable, like small stones imbedded in her muscles. Pretty soon she would be the Thing from the Fantastic Four , her body coated in an armor of stress. Everything was so tight that one wrong move and she would snap both mentally and physically. She prayed she would arrive in one piece. Molly flipped to the last CD in her changer and began singing along to No Doubt. Molly’s head bopped to the beat. It was easy to get lost in the rhythm, easy to get lost in ambient noise that didn’t recall some moment, some memory. If she could focus just on the sound inside her car, she knew she would make it home.

three
    I t was four A.M . when Molly pulled into the familiar driveway. She smiled when she saw her mom’s old-school, navy Mercedes sedan parked under the port-korshere. She was finally home and the much-needed comfort of a parental embrace was minutes away. Molly raced to the door and fumbled for her house key. She slipped it into the lock and quickly turned the metal handle, every step pulling her closer and closer to the moment of coveted release. In her haste, Molly forgot to turn off the alarm and within thirty seconds of her early morning entry, the shrill bleating of Alert One disrupted the quiet. Molly’s fingers slipped on the small buttons as she tried to shut it down. Lights flicked on and feet pattered down the stairs two at a time.
    â€œWho’s there!?!?” Molly’s dad, Henry, shouted. “Helen, grab the phone! Hurry!!!”
    â€œDad, easy,” Molly yelled over the siren. “It’s me.”
    â€œMolly?” Henry looked around the corner and saw her standing there.
    â€œYeah, I forgot the code.” Staring at the key panel. “I’m so sorry for scaring you.”
    â€œI got it.” Henry walked over to her and shut the system down. “You always did