Just as she was about to move to the next resident’s room, a familiar voice caused her heart to skip a beat. Jack stood at the nurses’ station, smiling like a star on a dark night. How could she not fall in love with such a handsome man? Even though she saw him every day, her heart still fluttered when he was near.
“Hey, you,” she said with a broad smile.
Jack turned at the sound of her voice and returned her smile. “How’s my best girl?”
“Busy. How’d it go this morning?”
Something flickered in Jack’s eyes, but he shrugged it away. “Same old story. Got time for lunch?”
Molly’s heart fell a few inches. How hard it must be for Jack to keep up his spirits after so many rejections. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and cuddle him close, but the hallway was becoming unusually crowded with geriatric spectators. “No lunch until I finish the meds. I thought you were meeting your grandmother at the building supply this afternoon.”
Jack moved to her side and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m not meeting Nana until two o’clock. Besides, I think better when my stomach isn’t growling.”
Molly smiled at the man she loved. She’d known him since junior high, but she’d never given him more than a passing thought. Jack Stewart had been a year older, active in every sport Poplar Bluff High School offered, and not in her circle of friends. But college had been a different story. There, she’d discovered a tenderhearted boy hiding behind Jack’s athletic swagger. “Go to the dining room and order a spinach salad for me. I’ll be along in a few minutes.”
Jack leaned down and placed his mouth close to Molly’s ear. “How about a kiss for your future husband?”
Molly grinned and stepped back. “Later,” she whispered. “When we’re not being watched.”
Jack straightened and scanned the area, his cheeks growing an adorable shade of peony pink as he realized every resident’s gaze was fixed on him. “Good idea,” he muttered as he turned and walked toward the dining room.
