moment, if she was looking for a rich husband, the way Suzy had been. But it wasn’t fair to compare her to Suzy, so he thrust the thought aside.
And when she’d come down to the lobby, a bright smile on her face, he’d nearly swallowed his tongue. She was stunning, even wearing simple figure-hugging jeans and a bright green blouse. He appreciated the curves that had previously been hidden by her baggy scrubs. And she’d left her red-gold hair down, gently framing her heart-shaped face, leaving him to wonder if the strands would feel as silky soft as they looked.
Did she have any idea the effect she had on him? How distracted he’d been by her the entire time they’d played therapy games with Josh? He’d hardly been able to tear his gaze off her long enough to catch the ball. He didn’t even care that they’d ganged up on him, not when the sound of their laughter rang through his home.
He couldn’t remember the last time Josh had laughed so much. Too long, he decided. Far too long.
And he had Molly to thank for it.
He pulled into the jammed parking lot, realizing that many other parents must have had the same idea to bring their kids here to play. Normally, he’d avoid these types of places like the plague, yet for some reason, tonight he was looking forward to it.
Something else he could thank Molly for.
He pulled out Josh’s wheelchair, and quickly unfolded it. He’d become an expert over the past few days.
“Wow,” Molly murmured in awe, when they took the ramp into the building. There were games lining all the walls, a bouncy house in the middle of the room and of course plenty of picnic table type seating. “This is amazing!”
“It’s loud, that’s for sure,” Dan mumbled with a sigh. He had to smile at the way Molly glanced around in awe, as if she’d never been inside a place like this.
“What do you want to play first?” she asked Josh.
“I want to hit the gophers!”
He grimaced and led his son and Molly over to the video game where several gophers popped out of holes and the goal was to bop them on the head to push them back in. The player scored a point for every gopher they hit.
Molly giggled as Josh started smacking the gophers. “Get ‘em, Josh, get ‘em!”
“Are you hungry?” Dan asked, once Josh had finished his game. “There’s an empty table right over there.”
Molly nodded, and quickly crossed over to the table. He was impressed at how well Josh managed to finagle his way through the games room with his wheelchair.
“What will you have?” he asked.
“Well, Josh wants pizza, so that would be fine with me,” she admitted.
“No problem. I’ll put in our order.” He felt a little guilty that the only food he’d provided for her so far had been fast food, but when the pizza arrived, she and Josh both dove into the meal with such relish that he suspected she didn’t mind. Besides, there was no point in wishing he could take her to a nice restaurant, where they could enjoy a quiet meal by candlelight.
This evening was for Josh. Not for him.
He discovered Molly was a kid at heart and she threw herself into the games with gusto. She also had a highly competitive streak, getting frustrated when he beat her score on the gopher game. And when she finally topped his score, she jumped up, whooping as loudly as his son.
“I think you’ve lost your voice,” he said, when they made their way back out to the car some hours later.
“I know,” she said hoarsely, with a tired smile. “But it was worth it.”
He gave her credit for thinking that, since his ears were still ringing from the bells and whistles shrieking from the various games.
Josh yawned widely, trying to keep his eyes open. “That was so fun, Molly. I’m glad you came with us.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
Dan watched his son in the rearview mirror, smiling to himself at how hard Josh fought to stay awake on the way home. But they’d only been in the car for fifteen minutes when his head dropped off to the side and he fell asleep.
Now that he was essentially alone with Molly, he found he couldn’t come up with a safe topic of conversation.
“You’re doing a good job with Josh,” she said hoarsely, breaking the silence. “How is it that you’re able to come to all his therapy appointments?”
“I took a leave of absence from work,” he admitted. “And it’s well worth it because he’s responding so well to therapy.”
“Yes. He is.”
He was tempted to reach over to take her small hand in his when suddenly Josh cried out. “Ow, Daddy, it hurts. It hurts!”
“What’s wrong, Josh?” Instantly, Molly twisted in her seat, reaching back for Josh. “What hurts? Tell me what hurts?”
“My legs,” he cried. “Make it stop! They hurt so bad!”
“What’s going on, Molly?” Dan asked, keeping his attention on the road. He’d been about to head for Molly’s apartment to drop her off, but they were closer to his place, which was only five minutes away.
“I think he’s having muscle cramps,” Molly said, with a worried expression on her face. She quickly unbuckled her seat belt and managed to climb into the backseat. “I’ll work on massaging his legs, but it would work better if he was lying down.”
“We’ll be home in less than five minutes,” he told her.
Dan could hear Molly trying to talk soothingly to Josh as she worked on his legs, but his son was still crying out in pain.
“Mommy!” Josh cried, sobbing as he arched his back in the booster seat. “I want my mommy!”
Helpless fury banded Dan’s lungs, making it difficult to breathe. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, listening in agony to his son’s suffering, as he pushed the car as fast as he dared to get Josh home.
CHAPTER SIX
MOLLY DID HER BEST TO massage the cramping from Josh’s legs, knowing that it was her fault the child was in pain. She wouldn’t blame Dan for switching therapists after this. She barely registered the fact that they’d arrived back at Dan’s until he opened the door of the backseat and reached for Josh.
She unsnapped the belt holding Josh in. Wordlessly, his features tense, Dan scooped Josh from the booster seat and into his arms before striding toward the elevator, leaving her to scramble along behind them. Thankfully the elevator arrived quickly and she continued to massage the muscles in Josh’s legs as they rode up to the thirty-second floor.
“His room is this way,” Dan said gruffly, as he swung through the condo to Josh’s bedroom. The boy had ceased screaming for his mother, but he was still crying. Each gulping sob broke her heart.
“I
