Authors: Kristen James
They switched once more and then Molly drove the last small
stretch into Redding because she knew the way. She grew nervous as she pulled
into her driveway, wondering what Trent would think of her home here.
When he remained sitting after the car died, she gave him a
questioning look and got out. He followed after hesitating and said, “Kind of
bland.”
Molly looked from the house to Trent without comment.
“Just not like you,” he rephrased.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said, unlocking the
trunk and pulling her bag out.
“Hey, Molly!” Justin Atwood’s excited voice called out as he
jogged down his front porch steps. Molly sighed. Trent’s right eyebrow rose as
he eyed her neighbor. Justin was dressed in a bright green tank top, short
spiky blond hair, and running shorts.
He looked like
the type of guy who spe
nt the majority of his time at home working out
while watching himself in the mirror that covered the wall in his weight room.
Molly noticed Justin slowed his pace the moment he saw
Trent.
“Hi. Justin, this is Trent Williams, from Ridge City.”
Knowing the two men were sizing each other up, she stepped closer to Trent and
slipped her hand into his. She hoped it reassured Trent while giving Justin the
polite ‘take a hike’ she’d been looking for the last few years. Words hadn’t
worked. She told Justin more than once she wasn’t looking for a romance, that
she needed a good friend. She could tell he thought she’d come around though.
Truth was she couldn’t imagine feeling anything for Justin even if she’d
considered dating.
Trent and Justin nodded to each other and Trent said, “Hey,
nice to meet you.”
Justin didn’t respond directly but spoke to Molly. “Met
someone that quick?” Justin’s smile wasn’t so friendly.
“I grew up with him. I grew up in Ridge City it turns out,
and left a lot of friends there. People I didn’t know about till I got there.”
“Well, that’s great,” Justin said without the tone or
expression to back it up. “It’s what you’ve been looking for. I guess I’ll let
you two be.” He shook Trent’s hand and walked quickly back inside. Molly almost
felt bad, but she’d never led him on.
She felt Trent’s eyes on her as she unlocked the front door,
but he waited until they were inside to speak.
“You described him as an annoying neighbor.”
“You didn’t think he was?” She set her keys on the table by
the door. “I told him countless times I wasn’t going to date. I didn’t tell him
this, but I wouldn’t date him anyway.”
“Annoying, yes, but also built like a body guard.”
She rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you see his hair? And clothes?
He’s looking for a pretty girl for decoration. He’s in love with himself.” She
glanced at the window even though she knew it was shut. “I don’t want to hurt
his feelings, but he wouldn’t take a hint. More than a hint.”
His eyes stayed on her a minute. Deep, serious eyes. “You
spent a lot of time with him?”
“A little. I didn’t have people lining up to be my friend,
you know.”
“So do looks matter to you?”
She gave him a funny look. Didn’t he know how handsome he
was? “It’s not about looks. It’s about the feeling you get around a person. You
gotta have that feeling, at least to start with. Then things build from there.”
“Attraction?”
She breathed out slowly, feeling like he was teasing her
with that one word. “I don’t think you can help who you’re attracted to.”
“Are you saying we’ve each got a soul mate?”
“I don’t honestly know.” She didn’t want to leave it that
open. “I like thinking people have someone out there that suits them perfectly,
but I don’t like the idea that we might not be able to find that person.” She
turned away from him before she glanced back at his face. She wasn’t sure about
soul mates, but somehow she’d found her way back to him. Did they have a
chance? She felt unsure about life right now so maybe the big decisions could
wait a few days.
She looked around the house. It felt different now that
she’d learned so much about her old life in Ridge City.
“Glad to be home?” he asked.
Di
d this ever feel like home to
her? It did before she found the life she used to have. Now it felt empty and
like a big lie. She shrugged to his question, averting her eyes. She thought he
still saw the loneliness she felt. She struggled here in this house after her
parents were gone. The solitude, the quiet. Even though Karen had been there
for her, she still had felt alone. She’d been able to forget that feeling while
in Ridge City.
Trent
tried to look around
the house through detective eyes. It didn’t work too well. He just saw the
house where she’d lived without him, not knowing about him or her life. He
didn’t like to think about her here alone. They faced stairs with the kitchen
off to their left and the living room off to their right. A plain beige couch
faced the front window with a coffee table sitting in between. It wasn’t the
furniture that stuck out as strange.
“Sparse.” Trent commented under his breath. “Not many
pictures.”
Molly’s eyebrows creased together as she gave Trent a quick
look, one that said she hadn’t noticed before. “No, I guess not.”
He wanted to, but didn’t, say that seemed odd since pictures
might have helped Molly. Instead he mentally logged that thought with all the
other information he’d gathered about this case.
“I’ll take you up to the guest room.”
Hmm. She did want to take things slow, not that he wanted to
be anything but a gentleman to her. On the way up, Trent said, “There’s a guest
room? Did you ever have a guest?” That’d tell him a lot and possibly be a lead.
“It’s really an office with a pull out couch,” she told him.
That sounded like a negative
. They entered the room and he set his bag
down. “I’ll go call Karen and see if she’d like to join us for dinner. It
sounded like you had some questions for her.”
He nodded as she left to return downstairs.
Dialing Karen’s number, she glanced around again. Boy, he’d
visually gone over every detail of the house, and she wondered what he saw that
she’d missed. After talking to Karen, she dialed Alicia’s numb
er. David answered.
“I wanted to let you guys know we made it alright.” She’d
called wanting to talk to Alicia but decided it might help the tension between
them to talk to David.
“Good to hear. I’ll let Alicia know.”
“Thanks…I’m not going to take all of Alicia’s time, if that’s
what you think.”
After a long pause, he said, “Thanks. Bye.”
Well, at least he hadn’t sounded mad. She heard Trent walk
into the room and smiled at feeling so comfortable with him. His arms encircled
her waist and he pulled her against his chest. She let her head fall back
against him. “It’s hard to believe you’re here. In this house. I never thought
I’d have anyone over here that used to know me besides my parents.”
He rested his head against her temple. She felt so safe,
warm, wanted there. They remained still for the longest time before he
whispered, “Do you want to start digging today?”
Her heart rate picked up before she took a calming breath.
“Anxious to get started?”
“I thought you would be.”
“Not today,” she said. “I want to know, but not today.”
“When you’re ready.” He spoke softly, soothingly. “I’m not
sure what we’ll find, either.”
Closing her eyes, she relaxed against him and whispered,
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
When the doorbell rang an hour later, Trent answered since
Molly went to freshen up in the bathroom. The early evening air felt warm and
comfortable.
Karen stood outside dressed in her brightly colored scrubs
and tennis shoes, her hair pulled back in a French braid, and holding bread and
salad makings. Her face struck him as serious, not sad or mean. A
matter of fact kind of woman.
“You must be Trent.”
“I am, come on in. Nice to meet you in person, Karen.” He
took the food from her and offered a hand, giving her a warm welcome.
Molly gave a soft squeal when she saw Karen, then ran down
the rest of the stairs to hug her.
“Here, let’s take all this to the kitchen.” They chatted
while Molly cut up chicken and Karen made the salad, leaving Trent with nothing
to do so he sat down at the table and listened. Although he felt awkward, he
loved watching Molly’s face light up while she smiled and talked with her
friend, telling her about Alicia and the other friends she had re-met.
“So I guess you really grew up there,” Karen didn’t look
convinced. She glanced at Trent.
“I did. They have pictures and stories and everyone in town
knows me.” Molly looked stricken at her friend’s doubt. “Why would they ...?”
Karen shook her head as if to shake herself out of
something. “Oh, that does make more sense.” She stopped right there, leaving
both Molly and Trent leaning forward and waiting. Seeing their looks, she
explained, “I doubted what I heard before, too, when I first heard it, but you
know how it is when you hear a new version of a story.”
Well, there was no denying that the Andersons had lied. He
puzzled over it until Karen turned to him and asked, “So you’re a police
officer?” This was the first of many questions about his work, family,
lifestyle. He politely answered each, knowing he’d grill other people the same
way if they spent time around Molly, plus he was glad someone here was looking
out for Molly the way he would.
Molly finally had to laugh and cut in. “She’s very
overprotective.”
Karen added, “And rightly so.”
“Well, I don’t mind if you’re thinking about Molly.” He saw
the look Karen shot Molly, one that said
wow, that’s sweet.
Maybe he
could win her over. He felt he needed to be on good terms with someone who’d
spent the last four years with Molly, because she could help the investigation
and because she was important to Molly.
When they sat down to eat, he asked Karen what she’d thought
of Molly’s parents. Her answers surprised him.
“Both quiet, worried.” She shook her head, looking down at
her plate for a minute. “I didn’t get close to them, and they never shared much
about their lives. I asked about Molly’s childhood, what happened before her
amnesia, but they couldn’t tell me anything helpful. After a while, I found
myself wishing I’d written down what they’d told me because I thought some of
the details didn’t work out.”
Trent jumped on that. “Like what?”
“They said they moved around while Molly grew up, but I
asked them separately and the dates and places they gave weren’t exactly the
same. That’s why I’m surprised to hear you grew up in Oregon.” Karen glanced at
Molly and added, “I wasn’t sure at the time if I should make a big deal out of
it because people can get confused, especially when they lived in so many
places. I guess now I know why it didn’t make sense.”
Molly looked thoughtful as she chewed. Didn’t it hurt her to
know her parents had hid something? She didn’t comment so he asked Karen, “You
felt they were hiding something all along?”
“They were just vague about things. I sensed that they
didn’t want to share.”
“Hmm,” he murmured, keeping his mouth shut about his opinion.
He’d observed in both his line of work and life that people loved talking about
themselves until they had something to hide. Of course, that didn’t mean this
was something illegal. He held onto the hope that while something bad must have
happened, it wasn’t their fault.
Trent offered his help after the meal, but Molly sent him
out of the kitchen, telling him she could handle it.
“You just want to girl talk without me.” He gave them a
knowing smile and stepped out to write down what he’d learned and his thoughts.
They watched him pull out his notebook as he left the room.
“The answers aren’t in there.” Molly said quietly. “We just
don’t have all the pieces.”
“I think your parents had all the pieces.” Karen knew better
than to repeat old arguments, if you could call them that. She just had a
strange feeling about how Molly’s parents never warmed up to anyone in the
community. A couple of loners hiding their daughter. “Think he knows?” she
asked Molly, “that we wanted to talk about how hot he is?”
Molly’s cheeks flushed and Karen gave her a nudge. “How
could you forget a guy like that?” Karen asked as she carried dishes to the
counter.
“I wish I knew. It’s not his looks. It’s how much he cares
about me. How he waited four years, not knowing, but believing he’d find me or
I’d come home.”
“And you did. So are things picking up?”
Molly shrugged, but knew Karen wouldn’t settle for that.
“We’re trying.” She rinsed plates and handed them to Karen.
“Problems?”
“No, it’s just hard. He remembers everything. I don’t. I
want to jump in, maybe even forget about trying to remember everything, but I
don’t know what drove my family out of Ridge City.”
“But how could it have anything to do with him? You trust
him, right?”
“Yes, I do.” She suddenly felt so grateful to have her
friend to talk to in person. “Maybe it’s not directly about him. I have no
idea. A tiny part of me is scared that I’ll find out what happened and it’ll
change things, even if it’s not about him. I might find out something horrible
about myself. I might hurt him all over again. I can tell it broke his heart to
lose me before.”
Karen put the last glass in and shut the dishwasher door.
She turned and pulled Molly in for a hug. “He obviously doesn’t care about
anything like that.”
“You never know. He’s a cop.”
“He loves you.”
Molly knew Karen had been a good judge of character about
her parents, knowing
something
was going on. So the fact that she
trusted Trent gave Molly confidence.