Page 19 of October (New Orleans #10)

“O h, I don’t know,” Juliet said. “You know what you should do, though?”

“No. That’s why I called you,” Molly replied.

“Text Gwen and ask her. She’s always got good ideas for dates.”

“She does ?”

“Yeah, she’s been coming up with cool stuff for us to do even when I’m here and she’s there.”

“FaceTime sex isn’t a date, Juliet.”

Juliet laughed and said, “Not that. She finds these virtual events and stuff. It’s just something she’s been doing this week because we’re apart for the first time since getting together, but I’ve been enjoying them. Anyway, I’ve got to get back to class. Text her. I’m sure she can help.”

Molly let her go and looked around, checking for anyone from the office who might have overheard her asking Juliet what kind of date to plan for her and Finley. Texting would be easier, so she pulled up one of the most recent contacts added to her phone and sent a message to Gwen.

Gwen Benedetti : Oh, yeah. I can help with that. Finley’s not really from New Orleans, right?

Molly Jewel : No, she moved here for work. Why?

Gwen Benedetti : Has she done any of the silly tourist things since moving here?

Molly looked down at her phone in confusion.

Gwen Benedetti : I realize you might not know, but odds are, she hasn’t.

Most of us who live here don’t do any of it, even if we move here.

I’d recommend booking something with NOLA Guides.

Myra did that for a date with Elisa, and Elisa loved it.

She was new here, too, and it was a fun way for her to learn about the city and be with Myra at the same time.

Myra knows the owner of the company, and they have a ton of options, so I’m sure you can find something Finley would like.

Maybe do the food tour. That’s dinner and an activity rolled into one.

Molly nodded because that was, surprisingly, a good idea.

Molly Jewel: Thanks! I’ll go check them out right now.

Gwen Benedetti : Good luck!

Molly tucked her phone away and got back to work.

Part of her wanted to surprise Finley in the same way Finley had surprised her, and the other part wanted to ask her if a lame tour around the city was something she’d even like.

Deciding to go with the surprise option and take a small risk for once, she packed up her things at five and left, not seeing Finley around.

Finley had been bouncing from floor to floor all day, so Molly decided not to say goodbye, but to say hello in a couple of hours.

When she got home, Molly pulled out her laptop again and did her research.

NOLA Guides had several options, but most of them were available during the day; only a few were evening options.

There was the food tour Gwen had mentioned, but while it did sound great, Molly wasn’t sure she wanted to condense their date by combining the activity with the meal.

She’d already shortened their first date by pulling away from Finley, and she didn’t want to make that mistake again.

Then, she spotted the one that would work, smiled, and quickly booked it because it would be perfect given the time of year.

◆◆◆

“Why are you picking me up? I asked you out,” Molly said when she opened the door to Finley.

“Because I offered, and you said okay,” Finley replied, holding out another flower.

“This one, I bought at the store. I thought about getting you a dozen of something, but I decided it could be cooler if I just bring you a different one for every date until you get to a dozen.” Finley shrugged both shoulders.

“If we get to a dozen dates, I mean. You could be annoyed with me by then.”

“I doubt it,” Molly said with a smile. “Do you want to come in for a minute? I’ll get this one in the vase with the other one so that they can get to know each other.”

She started walking over to the vase where she still had Finley’s first flower, and Finley walked through the door and closed it behind her.

“Will I be getting to know you more tonight?”

Molly turned back to her with a lifted eyebrow.

“Not like that,” Finley corrected herself and waved her hands. “Not sex. I didn’t mean that. Not that I wouldn’t want that. I didn’t even mean kissing. Kissing would be nice, but not a requirement or anything.”

Molly laughed and asked, “Why are you so nervous right now? It’s usually me.”

“I don’t know.”

Finley shook her head and looked adorable.

“What did you mean if you didn’t mean kissing or sex?”

“I just meant actually getting to know you because we started that a little last night, but then you went another way by pretending to like salad with dressing on the side, when I know you wanted extra dressing, at least, if not something else entirely.”

Molly rolled her eyes at herself and said, “True. I’m still sorry, by the way. I can promise you that I will be myself tonight and order all junk food.”

Finley laughed a little and held out her hand for Molly to take.

“Good. Are you ready? And you look great, by the way. I haven’t said that yet.”

“So do you. Did you do something with your hair?” she asked as she took Finley’s hand. “It looks a little different.”

“Oh, I added more stuff to it tonight.”

“Why?” she asked, giving Finley’s hair a closer look. “It always looks so good when you don’t do anything with it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Molly replied with a smile.

“Well, honestly, I did it by accident. I think the nerves you’re sensing are because this is our second chance at a first date, in my opinion, and I want it to go well.

I showered when I got home from work and planned to put only a tiny amount of product in my hair, but I squeezed a bunch instead and wasn’t paying attention.

I rubbed it in before I checked the mirror and realized what I’d done. ”

“It’s sexy. I won’t lie to you that you with slicked back hair is sexy, but you with your normal sort-of-messy waves is also sexy to me, so I don’t know that I can really judge.”

Finley smiled and asked, “What if I went into your bathroom real quick and washed it out? My hair takes ten minutes to dry. I just didn’t want to be late, so I didn’t have time to do that at home before I drove here.”

“Would that make you feel better?”

Finley nodded.

“Then, let’s do it,” Molly replied. “I’d recommend the kitchen sink because it’s bigger, but I’ll get you a towel and shampoo.”

“This is the weirdest start to a date I’ve ever had.”

Molly swallowed and asked, “ Too weird?”

“Kind of perfect weird,” Finley replied.

Molly nodded and walked briskly into her bathroom, where she found her shampoo and a fresh towel.

Back in the kitchen, Finley was standing at the sink, letting the water run until it got hot.

Molly watched her as she wrapped the towel around her shoulders.

Finley stuck her head under the water to wet her hair and shifted over a bit.

“Little help, Molls,” she said.

Molly opened the shampoo bottle, but instead of putting some in Finley’s outstretched hand that was waiting for it, she squirted a large amount on the back of her head.

“Hey!”

Molly laughed, and Finley moved to catch the soap before it slipped into the sink. She scrubbed her head with it for a minute and rinsed it off before she stood up and wrapped her head in a towel.

“I’m jealous if your hair really does dry in ten minutes,” Molly said while Finley towel-dried it.

“It does. But if we get in the car and the air is on, it’ll only take about seven.”

Finley held out the towel as if she didn’t know what to do with it.

“I’ve got it. Then, we can go.” Molly went into the bedroom, tossed the towel on the floor by her closet, and then asked as she emerged, “Ready?”

“Yes,” Finley replied with a smile and held out her hand again.

“Wait. Can I just do one thing before we go?”

“Um… Sure?” Finley asked more than said.

Molly took a few steps toward her and ruffled Finley’s hair, causing her to laugh, but Finley also leaned forward more to let Molly have her way.

“I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Mess up my hair?” Finley asked.

“No, run my hands through it. But it’s wet right now, so I thought I’d help it air-dry faster so that I can run my hands through it later.”

Finley smiled at her, and there was a moment where Molly thought Finley might lean in and kiss her for the first time. Finley even licked her lips as she stared into Molly’s eyes, so Molly swallowed and licked her own lips on reflex, preparing for the connection.

“We should go,” she said, taking a step back.

“Yeah, okay,” Finley replied and held out her hand once more.

As much as Molly wanted Finley to kiss her, she didn’t want their first kiss to be in her embarrassingly small kitchen, by the sink, where Finley had just washed product out of her hair.

She’d waited to have a real chance with this woman for so long, and she’d already screwed up last night.

She wanted that perfect romantic kiss, with soft music and maybe candlelight or something close to that, at least. Maybe she was asking for too much, but she knew that she didn’t want it to be in her kitchen.

So, she locked up after them and took Finley’s outstretched hand as they walked downstairs and outside.

Finley opened the car door for her, and Molly thanked her before she climbed inside.

“Okay. Where am I driving?”

“I’ll direct you. We’ll have to park and walk.”

And they were off, driving toward the French Quarter and parking a few blocks away from NOLA Guides. Molly held out her hand this time for Finley to take, making Finley smile when she did.

“So, any thoughts about Wells?”

“Adopting her?” Molly asked.

“We didn’t really talk about it at dinner.”

“You blurted out something about adopting an older dog,” Molly reminded.

“And I’m seriously thinking about it. I just want to make sure it’s the right decision.”

“Me too. Puppies go faster, though, so there’s this pressure. If I want that particular puppy, I might not have long to decide.”

“True,” Finley replied, and they joined the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk. “So, you mentioned your dad and the Saints last night. He was a big fan?”

“He was the biggest,” she replied.

“Is it hard to talk about him? We don’t have to.”

“It used to be, but now, I feel like I want to talk about him to keep his memory alive. He was a great dad. I miss him a lot.”

“You mentioned he couldn’t go to the games.”

“He had an anxiety disorder that prevented him from doing a lot, unfortunately. My mom never wanted to go to a game without him. She never really wanted to go anywhere without him. My dad was on medication for a while and tried therapy, so he was able to handle more and more in a lot of ways, but a giant stadium with thousands of fans and yelling wasn’t something he was ever able to do. ”

“I’m sorry. I wish he could have.”

“Me too, but sometimes, I’m glad that he couldn’t.

It’s strange, but it’s like we were more bonded as a family because of it.

We did more together at home. He was always present.

We watched the games together and cooked together.

It was a lot when I was a teenager and just wanted to be on my own most of the time, but every time there was a game on, I’d forget that, and we’d watch it together. ”

“My mom and I watched the Reds growing up. She was more of a baseball person and loved Cincinnati. It wasn’t a ritual or anything, but it was nice when we managed to watch a game together.”

“And you somehow ended up a massive football fan?”

“Somehow,” Finley said with a little laugh. “So, where are we going?”

“I hope that this is okay and you won’t find it totally lame, but I booked us on a tour.”

“A tour of what?”

“The city. Well, not exactly. It’s a spooky Halloween tour. There are ghosts, witches, and vampires, I think, and even a cemetery.”

“What? Seriously?” Finley asked, sounding excited.

“Yes. Was that a good idea or a bad idea?”

“A great idea! I love spooky stuff. My favorite movies are cheesy horror flicks.”

“Really?”

“I love the campy 80s ones, with all the blood and gore.”

“Well, let’s hope that this has none of that,” Molly suggested.

“Do you like this stuff, too?”

“I do. Good horror movies are great. Not a big fan of the blood and gore part, though, as I have to remind myself that it’s not real,” she shared. “I can handle it, but it’s not my favorite thing about the genre. My favorite overall movie is Notting Hill .”

“You’re so cute,” Finley replied, smiling over at her. “There’s this haunted house I went to with some friends last year. Would you maybe want to go with me sometime?”

“Haunted house? I can watch a movie just fine, but that’s real life. Won’t guys with chainsaws and hockey masks come out and try to get me?”

Finley laughed, and then her arm moved around Molly’s shoulders to pull her more against her as they walked.

“I’ll protect you. And they can’t actually touch you,” she replied.

“You really love all this stuff?”

“I do. You didn’t know?”

“Nope,” Molly said. “I just got the idea for a tour from Gwen and went with it, thinking it might be nice because you could get a different view of the city. You haven’t lived here all that long, so I took a chance that you hadn’t done anything like it before.”

“It was a good guess. I haven’t,” Finley confirmed. “I know my way around, and I’ve spent some time on Bourbon, but I’m at home most of the time, working on my computer, or with–” She stopped.

“You can say her name, Finley.”

“Can I? I don’t want you to order a salad again.”

Molly laughed then and wrapped her arm around Finley’s waist, pulling her in even closer.

“I won’t break if you mention her, but tonight, maybe we just focus on us.”

“I like the sound of that,” Finley replied. “Now, where are the ghosts?”

Molly tucked her face into Finley’s neck, and it was then that she realized that Finley’s hair was already dry, and when the breeze picked up and headed her way, she could smell her own shampoo in Finley’s hair.

She waited until they arrived in front of NOLA Guides and turned toward Finley before she finally ran her hand through Finley’s soft hair and watched as Finley closed her eyes at the touch.

“I’ll go check us in,” she said. “Wait here.”

“Okay, but only if you do that again later.”

“That’s a promise,” Molly replied.

Feeling like she was on cloud nine, she turned around, walked inside, met the guy at the counter, who looked to be about eighteen, and got their tickets.

When she turned back, she saw Finley standing outside, looking in through the glass at her.

Finley had a smile on her face, and Molly smiled back at her.

She still couldn’t believe this was her life right now.