Edmund did not see Molly or call her the rest of that weekend. Saying good-bye that way once was enough. As his flight was about to leave Monday morning, though, he called.
Molly was at work when his call came. She didn’t get to answer, but after finishing taking an order, she ducked into the dry storage closet and called him back.
“We’re about to take off,” he said. “This will probably be longer than last time. I’ll call you on my trip back.”
“Ed, please be careful. I’m scared.”
“I will be, Molly. I promise.”
Molly leaned back and felt the edge of the storage shelves digging into her shoulders. She bit back the words, Please don’t go. You don’t have to go.
But she realized that the fact that he did have to was the very thing that drew her to him, and if, by some miracle, she persuaded him not to, years from now, she would come to hate herself for that, maybe even hate him.
Her throat tightening, all she could say was, “Come back to me.”
“I have to turn off my phone now. Molly?”
She sniffed, “Yeah.”
“I love you too.”
The line went dead, and Molly closed her eyes, took several deep breaths, and headed back out to work. As she was grabbing a tray of meals to take to a neighboring section, Lucas passed going the other way.
“Trouble with your new boyfriend?” he asked. “You know, I could—“
“Fuck off, Lucas,” she said, barely raising her head.
He turned and bit his lip, ready to yell at Molly, but then realized he had never heard her use that kind of language before, and decided maybe she needed some space.
The Mayor of Christ Mountain 
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