Thanks for the review, CAPJHMPAgirl! That was super sweet of you to jump on board so early. :D
This chapter came late because out of the three stories I'm juggling at the moment, this one seems to get dropped the most. Probably because it's not off the ground yet. I'll work harder to update this more often!
P.S. If anyone reading this read my story The Swan Maiden, you'd be a little more prepared with the homance between Molly and Vivi. In this story, Kathy and Molly and a hundred times worse. Just a heads up – it's not romantic, I swear. xD
Thanks for reading!
Chapter Two
"A party?"
Luna downed the rest of her water and grinned, swiveling on the bar stool. "Yeah! I don't want to waste my summer, and I can't stand the heat. It's always frizzing my hair and making me sweat out of my clothes."
Molly had to agree that the heat could be annoying, but she preferred it to the cold. Bundling up and hiding from chills. She watched her friend primp her pink pigtails, adjusting their flowers. Molly forked another bite of the vegetable stir fry on her hot plate. "Who do you think would come?"
"Well, all of you better," Luna huffed indignantly.
Her incredibly shy sister Candace was poking her straw around her water glass, not hungry enough to order any of the bar's entrées. Her blue hair blocked out her expression, but Molly felt that Luna's party idea was a bust for her.
"I think it sounds like a hoot!" Kathy chimed, running up to the counter and laying her tray down. She was slightly out of breath from waitressing the busy room herself. She panted and parted her bangs from her eyes. "I'm sure Papa will think so, too. As long as the bar's open and people are willing to pay a few coins."
"Your daddy's okay with whatever you do," Molly teased light-heartedly. "I can't remember a time you didn't get your way."
"Well, how about right now? Three of the marinated fish, Chase! Hurry up!" Kathy hollered into the kitchen.
Chase soon appeared from the corner, carefully balancing three hot plates of the bar's most popular dish. Kathy loaded up her tray and buzzed off like a worker bee.
"This stir fry's good, Chase!" Molly complimented as he cleared the counter of fallen crumbs. "It could use a little more pizzazz though."
"What do you want me to do?" He snapped. Chase couldn't stand negative criticism, or at least he dealt with it very poorly. But he always asked for honest opinions on the food he worked hard on. "Throw confetti on it for you?"
"Flavor confetti would be great, thanks," Molly smiled sweetly, her elbows propped up on the table.
Chase scowled and went back to work on the grill.
"You sure like to push his buttons," Luna commented, finishing her shortcake. Molly was convinced the girl's sweet tooth would be her downfall. One day she wouldn't fit into any of her adorable, lacey dresses, and her world would end.
"He makes it so easy!" Molly purposefully said it a decibel too loud. She went back to her food, nibbling away as she thought about this party they were apparently having. "So when do you want this party to start?"
"Hm," Luna wrinkled her nose in thought. Molly wanted to squish her cheeks and tell her how cute she was, but Luna hated being treated as a child – when it wasn't convenient for her. "Well, the Summer Festival is coming up in a couple days, so we'll have to plan around it."
"Before is too short of notice," Molly said. She leaned back on her stool to look around Luna and address Candace. "Hey, Candace, what do you think we should do at this party?"
"Oh, um…" Candace bashfully tucked some of stray hair behind her ear that had come loose from her pair of braids. "Well, there has to be food…"
"Cake!" Luna nodded, rattling off items on her fingers. "Cookies, pies, fruit – sweet things! Nothing too heavy or serious. Fun stuff."
"Maybe Chase could cater for us," Molly remarked as the chef passed by to place another ready entrée out. Kathy zoomed by and took it straight from his hand with a quick 'thanks.'
"Cater what?" Chase asked, finding a good place to stop as the orders slowed. He leaned against the counter in front of the three girls. "I don't work for free."
Molly stuck out her tongue. "We're planning a party! For here at the Brass Bar."
"When?" Chase questioned, looking doubtful this bogus plan of theirs would ever come to light.
"Soon after the Summer Festival," Luna piped up, haughtily crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air. "It's going to be an indoor thing. None of the nasty heat involved."
"And we're inviting only the coolest people," Molly lied, playing with her food and trying to build a pyramid out of broccoli tops. "So ask if Luke and Owen are free for us, okay?"
"You're going to celebrate the indoors? Well, knock yourselves out," Chase rolled his eyes, going back to the kitchen after taking Molly's plate from her.
"Hey! I wasn't done yet!" Molly whined.
"Yes, you were," he argued, pitching the rest of her meal into the garbage.
Molly knew she had made one sass too many if Chase was taking food from her. She grumbled to herself, holding her chin in her hands.
"Phew!" Kathy breathed, resting at the bar next to Molly. "What a night! So when's this party happening?"
"After the Summer Festival," Luna reiterated, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "We're having cakes and sweets, and there should be plenty of dancing."
"Dancing…?" Candace mumbled from her corner, her heart falling to her stomach woefully.
"And only the coolest people are allowed to come, so that means Chase can go bugger off," Molly added, still miffed she didn't get to finish her broccoli pyramid.
"I'll dance with ya, Candace!" Kathy blew a kiss to the girl.
"What if I want to dance with Candace?" Molly asked, perking up considerably.
"Well, I called dibs first," Kathy argued playfully.
"Oh, yeah? Well, I'd fight you for her," Molly held up her fists.
"Bring it on!"
At this point, Candace was smiling at her friends' antics to cheer her up. With these girls, she somehow always felt included. Luna hopped off her stool and grabbed her older sister by the hand. "Come on, Candace, we don't need them."
"Aw!" Molly gaped angrily as the sisters left the bar. "Well, come up with your own party ideas, you stick in the mud!"
"You guys are weird! We're leaving!" Luna called over her shoulder.
"You didn't even pay!" Kathy shouted across the room.
"Can't hear you~!" Luna giggled as she dragged her sister into the night, and they disappeared.
"Great," Molly said, digging in her bag. She laid enough money on the table for her meal and the sewing sisters. "Luna owes me."
Kathy laughed, picking up their discarded plates and cups. "You say that every time!"
"My house later?" Molly asked, jumping from her bar stool and brushing off her skirt. "So we can party plan and gossip about Chase."
Chase was in earshot for that comment, so he whipped his head around to glare at her, taking the dirty dishes from Kathy.
Kathy giggled again, her green eyes shining. "Sure thing, doll."
Molly flopped onto her bed, staring up at her ceiling that went straight to the wooden beams supporting her roof. "He is just… so gorgeous."
Kathy rolled her eyes, a pad of paper in her lap loaded with party ideas they had come up with. She was cross-legged next to Molly sharing her bed, both girls in their pajamas. Her bare foot kicked the hot blanket away, and Molly's leg in the process. "You're such a groupie."
The brunette farmer stared at the poster next to her bed behind Kathy's head. Her favorite musician, Mikhail, was elegantly posing with his violin. Not only was he a legend, coming from a small town not too far from their home in Castanet, but he was lovely to look at with his sandy hair, soft features, alluring eyes, and sophisticated glasses. There was a hint of mystery about the man – he turned superstar seemingly overnight for his ability to play the violin like an angel. He had thousands and thousands of fans, and Molly was one of many who was convinced he was the man of her dreams.
Molly hugged her pillow close and let out a sigh. "It's just so unfair he's so far away, playing to millions at concerts, and in a new place every day. Never knowing who I am."
A sharp rap on Molly's head with the yellow notepad was enough to bop her out of her fantasies. "Come on, we're party planning here! Quit yer drooling!"
Molly laughed and sat up, rubbing her forehead. "Okay! So what else can we do at a party? Ooo, maybe we can get a karaoke thing started!"
"Steal some of the stage back from Selena; I like it," Kathy smirked, scribbling the idea down. Looking up to see Molly's reprimanding frown, she smiled wide. "Oh, you know I love her!"
Molly thought for a while in silence. It was difficult pushing her celebrity crush on Mikhail to the backburner so she could come up with activities. It all really depended on who would show up. Knowing Luna, she'd rather have a garden party set with full tea service, but this was a summer gathering at the local bar. And it was right after a rowdy festival full of fishing contests and fireworks, so everyone would be energized and looking for action. Which made it difficult keeping the party indoors…
"What if we opened the doors?" Molly asked.
Kathy cocked an eyebrow, her light cowgirl accent coming out when she was speaking quickly. "What do ya mean?"
"Picture this," Molly spread her arms to create the picture with her hands. Kathy squinted at her demonstration. "We've got the bar here – full of patrons and chatty people taking a break from the dancing happening over here. We've got the stage set up for music and karaoke up front. There's plenty of floor space because all of the tables and chairs are outside!"
Kathy interrupted with excited claps, making a quick sketch and note of the plan with the pencil.
Molly continued in equal excitement, kneeling on her mattress. "The doors are propped open so we have double the room, and people can enjoy the summer night and get some air moving through the inevitably super-hot and sweaty dance floor. Everybody wins!"
"Great thinking!" Kathy nodded. "We can keep the food lined up inside by the doors, so no one has to climb and fight their way through the dance floor. Besides, it's closer to the tables outside!"
"Right!" Molly agreed happily. She snapped her fingers and leapt from her bed, checking her calendar. There were notes written all over it with dates of festivals and events. She smiled in victory. "I knew it! Owen's birthday's the day after the Summer Festival. Think we could make it a surprise party?"
"For his twenty-third?" Kathy was grateful Molly didn't tease her for the fact that she knew.
"Why not? It's more of a surprise that way," she shrugged. "I think it could be really fun! We can even get a big birthday cake. I wonder if Chase would make it?"
"I'm sure he will," Kathy nodded, doodling on the paper. She fondly thought about how sweet and simple Molly was. She knew every person's birthday in town. Mind, the town was small, but even though Kathy had lived here her whole life, she couldn't tell when so-and-so would turn fifty or when a special anniversary was coming up. Molly could, and she moved in with her parents when she was a teenager.
"What are you thinking about?" Molly asked, crawling back onto her bed and settling into the covers.
"Nothing," Kathy shrugged, tossing the notepad and pencil on the floor. She snuggled into the sheets, not feeling like covering up much with the summer heat lingering through the screen windows.
Since Kathy had come when the bar was closed and cleaned up after one, it was nearing the time when Molly would have to wake up and take care of her cow and crops. The farmer let out a yawn and hugged her pillow tight, Kathy finding a comfortable spot next to her after leaning over and turning off the lamp.
"Night, Kathy~" Molly sang, her voice musical and airy in the dark.
"Night, girly," Kathy sang back. She listened to the crickets and bullfrogs outside, chirping and humming in the dewy morning. It wasn't long before she sighed and drifted off to sleep.