Authors: Kristen James
Bev’s call muddled things up. Molly caught a sob in her
throat. She was losing everyone as quickly as she found them all again.
Trent knocked on her door and, sighing, she got up and stood
next to it. “I don’t think I want to talk right now, I just want to be by
myself.”
“I don’t want to be by myself.”
“You don’t get to decide.” She folded her arms, shifting
from foot to foot. The bubbling feelings inside her made her feel antsy.
“I already lost you. I didn’t get to decide then. So I’m
deciding now. I can’t lose you again.”
Why was he doing this to her?
“Mol, I need you. Just imagine if I told you when you came
back. A complete stranger telling you we were married.”
That day felt like a long time ago. He was right. The
information would have made her suspicious. She cracked the door and walked
back to her bed.
He followed her and sat next to her. “I think about things
too much and, for some reason, I always think the worst outcome is the only
one.”
“That’s why you didn’t tell me?”
“I finally found you. No, you found me. You just walked back
into my life.”
Molly nodded, stared down at her folded hands while Trent
sat nearby but didn’t dare touch her. When she felt calmer, she asked him,
“Promise me something. Promise me you’re not holding anything else back. Is
there anything else I don’t know?”
“Mol.” He pulled her face up. “I was scared to tell you
about getting married, but I promise I didn’t mean to lie to you.”
She searched his eyes, felt herself believe him, but she
didn’t know if she could be a good judge of character when she didn’t remember
all the time she spent with him before. She’d trusted her parents and tried to
rebuild her life and identity on the things they told her. Now she knew they
were holding something back. Her parents had known about her marriage, though
they never even chose to tell her about her engagement. They’d put the ring and
the license away, along with her mother’s divorce papers. She covered her face,
wishing she could push her thoughts away.
Pulling her face up, she looked at his hand and asked, “What
happened to your ring?”
He closed his eyes a minute, then reached into his left
pocket and pulled out a plain gold band. Slowly he slid it on his finger. “I
was so scared that first day. We were so happy, then you left and disappeared.
It looked like something really bad happened at the house. When I saw the
police cars and everyone there, I put this in my pocket. Every night it goes on
my nightstand, and every morning it goes back in my pocket.”
She touched the ring and thought of hers downstairs.
He held her until she asked to be alone again. She wanted to
be with him, but she couldn’t think clearly with his arms around her.
Later, when Trent came to her door and asked if she wanted
dinner, she declined. She wasn’t sure if he cooked or ordered in, or even left.
An hour or several passed, she wasn’t sure, when the phone rang. She rolled on
the bed and picked it up, her heart jumping when she heard Karen’s voice.
“That hello didn’t sound good, how’s it going?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve found out a lot, but now I’m more
confused than ever. Will you come over?”
Without pushing for an explanation, Karen agreed and arrived
within twenty minutes, coming up to Molly’s room. Molly was still
sprawled across the bed, so Karen flopped on her stomach
next to her.
“Where’s Trent? I didn’t see him
downstairs.”
“I’m not sure. I asked to be alone
to think about things.”
“Okay, so spill. Did you guys have
a fight?”
Molly rubbed her eyes, feeling
tired now. “No, not really. I’ll get to that. First, let me tell you the other
outrageous events that have happened today. I found out my mother was married
and divorced before she met Arnold. Or I assume she was divorced when they met.
Anyway, her first husband was named Kenneth Webb, and it looks like he was my
actual father.”
Karen gasped. “But how?”
Molly raised an eyebrow and asked, “You don’t know about the
birds and the bees?”
Karen rolled her eyes and waited, her face looking serious
and business-like with her shoulder length brown hair framing it.
Molly sat up and explained about the divorce date and her
birth date and ended by spilling all her doubts about her parents. “I just wish
they were here to explain.”
“I can imagine.” Karen gave an exasperated sigh. “But Trent
can verify all this for you.” She didn’t miss the way Molly’s eyes averted the
other way at the mention of Trent’s name. She noticed it wasn’t a shy
I-like-him
look, either. Karen pulled herself to a sitting position. Four years of
being friends had woven a strong bond between them, and Karen had felt
protective of Molly since the beginning. “What happened?”
“It’s not anything you’d think of.” Molly toyed with the
blanket. “We found something else with my mother’s divorce papers. She
had a marriage license. Mine. Eve
n the ring taped to
it, for crying out loud.”
Molly’s shoulders shook as she spoke and her head collapsed
down into her hands. Karen grabbed her in a fierce hug.
“Trent?”
Molly nodded through her crying.
“And he didn’t tell you? Did he
intend to?
”
Molly grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and tried to
breathe normally enough to quote Trent’s explanation. She continued. “I found
Trent, Alicia, their friends, and fell right in with them, felt at home. I
trusted them right away. Now I don’t know what to think. Trent promised no one
else knew about us eloping.”
Karen stopped Molly. “Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“The timing explains it, if you believe his story. I
disappeared before we could tell anyone.”
Except her parents.
“Well, he has had four years to work on it.” Karen looked
skeptical, and Molly wished she weren’t. She wanted someone else to be
supportive of Trent so Molly wouldn’t question him so much. Karen added, “But
that doesn’t mean he’s not telling the truth. You know I’ll play the devil’s
advocate, for your sake, but I think he’s the good guy.”
Molly’s head dropped again.
“Do you feel some of the old feelings for him?”
“I do. I’ve remembered events growing up, and he was there.
There’s an old, long connection between us. I don’t have to remember everything
to feel it, but I can’t act on it anymore without knowing everything that
happened.”
Karen smoothed a hand over Molly’s back, comforting her.
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you, talks about you. I think it’ll work out.”
“But what could have happened?” Molly asked, knowing Karen
couldn’t answer that. And Trent promised he didn’t know anything else that he
wasn’t telling her.
“Is Trent finding out who and where Kenneth Webb is?”
Molly shivered, wondering if she really wanted to know, to
meet him. “He called Mark Stone, his partner, back in Ridge City to look into
it.”
Karen lay back on the pillows, eyes up to the ceiling, and
wondered how all of it tied together. “You found a lost husband, a lost father,
but you don’t know why you lost your memory. Do you think you knew Kenneth
before?”
“Wouldn’t that be even weirder since they never mentioned
him?”
“So you rate the different degrees of weirdness in all
this?” Karen laughed, but stopped so quickly that Molly half sat up on her
elbows to look at her and see why. “What if finding out about Kenneth caused
your amnesia?”
They looked at each other, both thinking, before Molly said,
“That doesn’t seem drastic enough.”
“But he has to have something to do with it.”
That’s exactly what Molly had been thinking. “Maybe he came
and harassed my parents in Ridge City and that’s why we moved without telling
anyone.”
“Hmm.” They both knew they were looking at a picture with
holes in it and gave up the conversation.
Just then Trent knocked and opened the bedroom door. “Mark
called back. Mind if I take your car to the nearest police station?”
The women shot each other a glance and Molly asked, “Do you
know something?”
“He’s faxing a picture, background information.” They
couldn’t ignore the weight of this news, couldn’t pretend it wasn’t a big deal.
“Do you want to come?”
Thoughts crashed into her mind at the same time. What would
she say to Trent while alone in the car? How would she feel about seeing her
birth father? What if it didn’t do anything, or what if she remembered him?
“Ahh, I think I’ll wait here.”
“I’ll bring the information back, okay?” He gave Karen a nod
and left.
They listened to the muffled, somehow sad, sound of the car
pulling out of the driveway, then Karen suggested lunch. “I’ll fix something,
or we can order in.”
“The cupboards are pretty bare.”
“Alright, I’ll call someplace.” Karen rose while adding, “I
thought you might like to call your friend in Oregon and tell her what happened.”
“Call Alicia? I should,” Molly agreed. Karen smiled and
left, adding she’d use her cell to order lunch.
Molly called and got a cheery hello from Alicia. “Did the
drive down go okay?”
“The drive, yes.” Molly searched for words now. “The call
from Bev, no.”
The phone line seemed to freeze.
“Molly, why did she call you?”
Once again, Molly spilled, sharing about the conversation
with Bev, not pausing to hear what Alicia had to say about it until she reached
the end. “Is it true about David?”
“Yes.” Molly’s heart sank before Alicia went on, “And he
told me about his fiancé for the first time, while drunk, actually.”
“Is it true he doesn’t want us to be friends? Bev said I’m
ruining your marriage.”
“You should know better than that! She makes everything
sound worse than it is.”
“Well, forget about what Bev said, I want to hear from you.
Do you think I’m causing you problems?”
“We’ve talked quite a bit, and he told me everything about
why he’s been so cautious of you. But he doesn’t feel like that anymore. I promise.
We’ve worked it out.”
Molly started breathing again. “And Trent? He’s your
brother. Am I messing his life up?”
“Don’t you know you’re all he’s ever wanted?”
She’d heard it from him and seen it in his eyes, in his
actions, but she was still human and had doubts.
Alicia said, “I think my dislike of Bev reached a new level
just now. She gets into everything. I don’t know why she wants to hurt everyone
around her.”
Molly didn’t get it either. Maybe she shouldn’t worry about
it anymore. “Could she still be mad about Trent?”
“Seems petty.”
“It is. So let’s not waste another breath on her.”
“Okay, how’s the investigation going?”
“I’ve got another can of worms for you.” More like a six
pack of worm cans. “It starts with my neighbor watching my house. Then someone
shot at Trent outside a restaurant when we went out for lunch.”
“What?”
Molly tried relating everything from Justin Atwood getting
Trent riled up to the shooting.
“Okay, I think I’m following all that. That’s scary.”
“That’s not all,” Molly actually felt nervous and happy
about this news. “Right before I disappeared, Trent and I eloped. I found the
ring and license in the basement here.”
“Did not!”
“Yes, we’re married. But it sounds like we spent just a
couple of days together before ...I vanished.”
“Wow. Married. I’ve been pushing Trent to tell you that you
two were engaged.”
“So I never confided anything like that to you?”
“No, never. We just knew about your engagement. I was
helping you with the wedding plans and going over bridal magazines.” She almost
asked if Trent explained why he had never told anyone, but her words caught in
her throat as she realized she shouldn’t put doubts in Molly’s mind. She said
instead, “You’ve got a lot to adjust to.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about my engagement?” Molly asked.
“Trent asked me not to. He wanted you to hear it from him. I
really had no idea you were married, though.”
“Alicia, this will sound silly, but I feel left out of my
own life.”
She heard Alicia whisper her name. “We used to tell each
other everything. You wouldn’t believe how much I miss that.”
Molly couldn’t answer.
“And there is something I want to tell you.” Alicia paused,
and Molly thought she heard her smile. “I’m pregnant.”
Molly sucked in her breath. “Pregnant? I’m so happy for you.
When are you due?”
“The middle of December, but I’m hoping for a Christmas
baby.”
“I hope so too.” Wow, a baby. She could have missed that and
never even known about Alicia and her life.
“I found out right before David came home and told me about
losing his fiancé. So I didn’t tell him that day. I wrapped the pregnancy test
in Saran Wrap and put it in his lunch the next day.” She stopped abruptly. “I’m
so sorry, I’m going on about myself, after you found out – found out so much.”
“I don’t mind a bit, I’m glad you’re telling me.” Molly had
listened with a big smile on her face. “And I’m so happy I get to be a part of
it!”
“So, when are you coming home?”
“Soon, I hope. I don’t know. There’s so much to sort
through, figure out.”
It’s such a mess here.
“You’re so lucky. I mean
that in a good way, I’m so happy for you.”
“What about you? You and Trent were made for each other.”
Molly felt tears spring up and run down her face. Maybe they
were, but what if they were and they couldn’t be together? She still didn’t know
why she lost her memory. What horrible event could do that? Now that she’d
found her old life, she didn’t want to lose it all over again.