Page 110 of The Birthday List (Maysen Jar 1)

I’d begged Molly to let me do it, but she’d refused, claiming her mascara and foundation would not be victims of Jamie’s birthday list. So when Finn had come in with a clean face and a hungry belly, I’d given him a free lunch in exchange for his assistance.

“Okay. I’d better get back to work.” Finn came around the table and gave me a hug. Then he smiled at Molly. “See you tonight?”

Tonight? What was happening tonight?

She nodded. “Come over whenever. The kids are really excited.”

“I’m excited too.” He waved to us both before leaving the kitchen.

The second the door swung closed behind him, I spun on Molly. “Tonight?”

“He’s coming over for dinner.”

“What? That’s great!” My arms shot in the air. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

She shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“Yes, it is. You two seem to be getting along great lately and now dinner. What if he wants to get back together?” My spirits nearly shot through the roof at the possibility of a Finn-and-Molly reconciliation.

“Poppy,” she sighed, “this is just a dinner for the kids. We’re not getting back together.”

“But you might.”

She shook her head. “No. We won’t. Finn is coming over for dinner tonight so we can show the kids that we can all get along, even if we don’t all live in the same house anymore.”

“Oh.” My spirits came crashing down. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. We had a long talk a while ago and decided that we need to do a better job of putting the past behind us. We’re divorced but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

“Friends?”

“Friends,” she declared with a nod.

I didn’t buy Molly’s confidence. This friendship idea was Finn’s—I’d bet the restaurant on it. “Is that really what you want?”

“I’ll take anything he’ll give me just to get us past these awful last few months. He’s looking at me again. He’s starting to talk to me. And at the end of the day, if it makes it easier on the kids, then I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

Molly would put her heart through a meat grinder if that meant making Kali and Max smile. “Those kids are lucky to have such a wonderful mom.”

She smiled. “Finn and I love them so much, and they deserve better than we’ve given them lately.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re doing your best.”

“We can do better.” She stepped away from my side to take a seat on one of the stools. “I actually have you to thank for Finn’s change lately.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“A lot, really. The night of the paint fight last month was the night he came over to talk about us being friends again. The kids had so much fun that day, laughing and playing. Maybe it was because we were there for you or for Jamie—I don’t know—but that was the first day in a long time that he acted like himself. No anger or resentment. Just the Finn I remembered.”

It had been like old times with them that day. We’d all had fun, and I was thrilled that Jamie’s list had given their family one day of joy. I just wished they could get over the past and find that joy every day. Did they even know how much they were missing?

Molly started fiddling with the towel Finn had used to dry his face. “I think he finally clued into how much the tension between us was impacting the kids.”

“He’s only got himself to blame for that. You’re always nice when he’s around, even when he’s acting like a jerk.”

“Don’t blame him. He’s just hurt.” Molly always defended Finn’s bad behavior, but I wasn’t quite as generous with my loveable, yet infuriating older brother.

“So you guys are going to start doing family dinners?”