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.

nodded, understanding. "I get it, Mom. It's a lot for anyone to take

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

bed, looking at the

a 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 with less

remembered how she had a sweet tooth in high school but couldn't handle anything too cold or hard because of her

used to 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

sugarcane offered to him, saying, "One's enough for Molly and

refusing to buy

was always 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 really live without

bed, reminiscing

running across a green field in a white princess dress, a colorful pinwheel in her hand, with her mother's gentle warning of "Molly, slow down, watch out for falls"

his youth, not the stern

Andre vanished, her parents were gone, and instead of a lush field, she stood above an abyss, reflected in a mirror-like

called in the

voice, she cried, "Chad,

her, "Molly,

It's so dark, I can't

nightmare, the voices faded, and she was left alone

Molly woke with a

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

she

his shift, Chad hurried back to the

had taken his keycard, so

even his calls could wake her. Worried, Chad asked a cleaning lady to open the door with her

asleep with a steam eye mask on,