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.

understanding. "I get it, Mom. It's

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 yourself that

at the bags of fruit and snacks Chad had bought for

the years, Chad had learned even which brand of chips she preferred, carefully

in high school but couldn't handle anything too

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

any sugarcane offered to him, saying, "One's enough for Molly and me. She can't finish it

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

she couldn't, peeling the ones she couldn't open.

bed, reminiscing about

dress, a colorful pinwheel in her hand, with her mother's gentle warning of "Molly,

in his youth, not the stern figure he had become,

dream turned dark. Andre vanished, her parents were gone, and instead of a lush field, she stood

Molly," someone called in

voice, she cried, "Chad, I'm here. Andre,

her, "Molly, Molly,

are you? It's so dark, I

alone in the dark,

helpless, Molly

and tears, her hair 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, leaving the lights on all night

she finally drifted

Chad hurried back to

his keycard, so he had

her. Worried, Chad asked a cleaning lady to open the

eye