Free The Chocolatier's Secret (Magnolia Creek, Book 2) by Helen J. Rolfe

of the page and she clicked onto it. It was Ben.
     
    Ben: How are you feeling today? Any thoughts on strategy for operation flight time?
    Molly: It’s all I’ve thought about. I think I’ll do what you suggested to someone the other day … the guy whose fiancée wants to get married on the Amalfi Coast.
    Ben: So you’re going to spend time at the airport?
    Molly: Seems stupid when you put it like that. I sound like a train spotter … except plane spotter.
    Ben: Molly, nothing about this is ‘stupid’.
    Molly: Stop using my name, it’s freaking me out! You sound all serious.
    Ben: Molly, Molly, Molly, Molly … okay, I’m done. It’s a nice name.
    Molly: Thanks. The plan is to go to Heathrow airport tomorrow with my friends. They’re all off to Malta on holiday.
    Ben: It’s a good starting point.
    Molly: I hope so.
    Ben: So come on, where in Australia does this guy live? I could be related to him and then we’d have to stop this online relationship we’ve got … it could be bordering on incestuous.
    Molly: Uh-uh … no specifics! Got to be careful with online groups. You could be some weird stalker who gets totally obsessed by me.
    Ben: And vice versa … no specifics from me, or you could begin stalking me!
     
    This is what she enjoyed so much about chatting online with Ben – the most serious topic of all could end up feeling much lighter when he was involved. He could see the serious side of being scared of flying, but his responses were upbeat, helpful, talked about from firsthand experience. She wondered, again, what he looked like. Was he cute?
    Molly signed off with Ben wishing her luck when she went to the airport tomorrow. The plan sounded totally insane now, to be going to Heathrow when she wasn’t even going anywhere! All she was going to do was look at the airplanes taking off and coming in to land, to watch people calmly (she hoped) getting on and off flights. But she really hoped it was a starting point, one she could work from to get her to where she needed to go.
    *
    The next day, Molly drove her friends to Heathrow. Freya hauled suitcases from the boot and handed one to Lucy, the other to Katy.
    ‘I still can’t believe you’ve come here to watch planes,’ said Katy to Molly.
    ‘I know, sounds crazy, right?’
    ‘It’s not crazy.’ Lucy smacked Katy on the arm.
    ‘None of us have the same fear as Molly,’ Freya interjected, ‘so we don’t know what it’s like. Fears often sound irrational to those who don’t share them. Katy.’
    It didn’t matter how Molly’s fear had started. It was as real to her as monsters under the bed were to a kid.
    ‘Thanks for that,’ said Katy, who had an odd fear of buttons.
    Molly grinned. She was glad of Freya’s comeback on her behalf. ‘You’re proper weird, you are, Katy.’ She pulled at a button on her shirt and put it closer to Katy, who winced.
    ‘Shut up or I’ll make you fly in my place, right now,’ Katy assured her.
    They made their way into the airport, and Molly tried to take in her surroundings, let the noises of the airport settle around her. Ben’s top tips were to imagine being inside each of the aircraft she saw taking off and landing. She should be imagining the noises, sounds of parts of the aircraft adjusting.
    Molly tried to remember everything Ben had told her as she waited for her friends to check-in. Once they’d done so, she would be able to spend a couple of hours here watching the planes. She felt like a five-year-old boy obsessed by aircraft! She couldn’t help wondering how much fun this would be if Ben were here in person, and she took out her iPhone to message him but then put it back in her handbag. She was here for a reason and she needed to focus.
    She watched a flight crew walk by, immaculate, with their uniforms ironed perfectly, the women with their make-up precise, nothing out of place. They were orderly and it instilled a sense of calm, a sense of order for Molly, who hoped that when her time