Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Easton scratched his head, looking puzzled. "What's up?"

Chad flicked the ash off his cigarette. "I'm in a bit of a pickle. How do I convince her folks to let me marry their daughter?"

Easton was momentarily speechless.

The next afternoon, Chad dropped Molly off at the exam center and picked her up afterward, then headed off for his night shift at the station.

He didn't bring up the marriage topic again, which only made Molly more curious. "Chad, did my parents give you a hard time again? Are you getting cold feet about marrying me?" Chad looked at Molly and shook his head. "No, you just focus on your exams. I'll handle the family stuff."

Chad wasn't at the hotel that night; he went out and came back with a bag full of snacks and drinks for Molly to enjoy while he was gone.

After he left, Molly pulled out her phone and called her mother.

No matter how much she tried, her family wouldn't believe that she and Chad were just friends. So she made the call to her mother as his girlfriend.

"Hey Mom, are you still up?"

"Yeah, I am. Are you still staying at the hotel with him?"

Molly said, "No, he's at work. I wanted to ask you something. Did my brother come back to see you and Dad?"

"He did, but I didn't agree to anything."

Molly fiddled with the hem of her shirt, hesitating before she finally asked, "Mom, am I the daughter you're proud of, but not the daughter-in-law you wanted?"

There was a long silence on the other end where Coleen and her husband could hear Molly's question on speakerphone.

"Molly, what you and Chad did really shocked your father and me. It took us days to come to terms with it," Coleen finally said.

it, Mom. It's

be perfect, no matter what role you're in. I'm worried Chad is pressuring you into marriage. I told him that nothing he says will matter unless you tell me

a half-hour call, Molly leaned back on her bed, looking at the bags of fruit and snacks Chad

bag, and started looking through the snacks. Over the years, Chad had learned even which brand of chips she preferred, carefully picking out the ones

high school but couldn't handle anything too cold or

buy, just thick enough for her to grip with one hand, with sweet juice inside the purple-red skin. Her gums would bleed when she tried to bite into the tough skin, and Chad, seeing her struggle, would peel it off for her so she could enjoy the sweet

they visited relatives during the holidays, Chad would politely decline any sugarcane offered to him, saying, "One's enough for Molly and me. She can't finish it by herself, and it's too tough

started checking the ingredient labels on her snacks, refusing to buy her anything that wasn't right for her,

there, biting into the things she couldn't, peeling the ones she couldn't open. He became an inseparable part of her life. Could she

lay on the bed, reminiscing about her

a colorful pinwheel in her hand,

his youth, not the stern figure he had

gone, and instead of

called in the

"Chad, I'm here.

around her,

you? It's so dark, I can't see you. Chad, where are

nightmare, the voices faded, and she was left alone in the dark, sinking, panicking, "Brother, Chad, please

helpless, Molly woke with

damp again despite having showered earlier, she realized it was just a dream. The hotel lights were still on, snacks scattered across the bed. She hugged herself, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart,

dawn neared, she finally drifted off

his shift, Chad hurried back to

taken his keycard, so he had to knock, "Molly,

asked a

asleep with a steam eye mask on,