“She kinda comes with the territory.”
“Okay, just as long as you know. I’ll arrange a car to pick you up,” John said.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Safe travels.”
Connor hung up, this time rushing to his room, packing a bag and putting his passport inside his jacket. Nerves nearly got the better of him. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but damn it, family had to count for something, and if he let down those who’d been there for him during his darkest days, then he was no more than a coward.
There were some things in life that never made sense, and going home, right back to where it all began, was in fact a car crash waiting to happen. But who was he to stand in the way of fate?
Chapter Forty-Two
Adelaide had just made a fresh pot of soup when Molly returned from town, carrying a bag of groceries, her face the picture of health. Life in Montana had done a world of good for her. Gone were the dizzy spells, impromptu language, and she’d learned to control some of the bad moods.
“I thought I’d never get away from Mrs. Bradshaw. That woman loves to talk.” Molly laughed as she took out the contents of the bag, then put the eggs in the refrigerator.
Adelaide was a seventy-six year old who had more energy than people thirty years her junior. She still ran the farm, keeping the books in order, and knew how to order her staff around, but she also knew her limitations and was happy to leave those things to Molly.
“Jenna called earlier,” Adelaide said as she stirred the soup.
“Is everything okay?” Molly’s insides twisted. She hated the thought of something happening and being completely out of the loop, but it came with the territory of not being back in San Francisco.
“Oh yes, honey, don’t be going all worrisome over a phone call.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Molly buttered some rolls and set the table. “Is it the hearing?”
“Yes, Barry’s going to call you after supper,” Adelaide said as she ladled out two bowls of soup and set them on the table. “Now eat up. How are you going to get yourself a man if you’ve no meat on those bones?” Adelaide winked at Molly as the two of them ate, enjoying the warm broth.
Molly had taken to country life very well. She’d found herself capable of so many things, and the fact that city life seemed so far away made her feel secure. There was no way her parents would ever track her there. She was safe and that helped her sleep at night.
After they finished, Molly cleared the table, leaving Adelaide time to read the paper and have a nap. Taking out the rest of the soup in flasks, she went to the barn and gave them to Matt and William.
“Here, this’ll warm you up.” Molly handed them the soup.
“Thanks, Molls,” William said.
“How was town?” Matt asked.
Molly laughed. “Your mother is an interesting woman.”
This made William laugh too.
Through the heavy facial hair on his face, Matt went red, only for Molly to pat him on the arm. “Don’t worry, she had only good things to say about you.”
“She never shuts up. I swear she wants to marry me off to anything that moves,” Matt complained.
“She’s probably sick of cleaning up after your sorry ass every day,” William joked.
Molly observed them. William was the elder of the pair and Jenna’s older brother. He still lived with Adelaide, but his life had been a struggle, and from what Molly understood, alcoholism ran in the family. Or so she had been told by town gossips. The farm proved therapeutic to William and he’d been clean eight years.
“Okay, I’ve books to check and a call from Barry in a few hours. I’ll see you guys later,” Molly said, smiling at the men, then she went back to the house.
Filling up a fresh cup of coffee, Molly opened the ledger and began totaling figures. Checking over Adelaide’s calculations, she sipped at her drink every few minutes.
A year had passed since she’d found herself alone and broken. There were times when she often slipped back to that day at the airport, remembering Connor’s cold eyes and his words. Then she’d pull herself back from the memory, not allowing herself to give it any life.
There were days when she’d awaken in a sweat, her heart pounding, her sheets soaking from the dreams. They were few and far between, but no matter how much she placed all the hurt in the far off reaches of her mind, it was in her sleep that it sometimes crept in.
On days like those, it would have been easy to slip off into one of the bars in town and drink herself stupid. But after overcoming so many hurdles, she knew that to go down that road again would have been like dancing with the devil, and she didn’t fancy burning in hell any time soon.
The phone rang, making her jump.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hey, how’s the little farmer?” Barry asked, his voice the same as always—happy.
“She’s doing really well,” Molly replied. “So, it’s happening?”
“Yes, but you knew it was coming. We’ve been over this.”
“Do I really need to be there?” she asked, having almost convinced herself that it would all happen and be done without her being there.
“Molly, we’ve discussed this. Your evidence will put him away.”
“Damn it,” Molly cursed. “I thought I wouldn’t have to be there.”
“The defense will cross-examine you, Molly.”
Shock eased itself inside Molly. “But I’m not ready.”
“Of course you’re ready. We’ve been over the cross-examination, the kind of questions they may ask. You can do this.”
“I guess I’ll have to,” Molly said, sounding defeated already. “When?”
“Wednesday morning.”
“Jesus, Barry, that’s in four days,” she complained.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I tried calling last night, but Adelaide mentioned that you and she went out for dinner.”
“Yeah, I treated her to a steak and ice cream.” Molly smiled.
“That woman does love her T-bones.” Barry laughed, then his voice got serious. “Listen, we need you to fly down tomorrow. I’ve got a flight booked and I’ll pick you up, okay?”
Molly’s head spun as she tried to make sense of all the details. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized she’d be going over the events of the day and that’s when she felt as if someone were squeezing her neck.
“Molly… Are you still there?”
“Yeah.” Molly choked back the tears. “What time do I need to be at the airport?”
“About two-thirty. Your flight’s at three-fifty-five p.m. I’ll have William drop you off. You’ll get in just before eight, and I’ll be there to get you, okay?”
“What about my ticket?” Molly’s head raced.
“Have you got a pen handy?”
“Yes.”
“Here’s your confirmation number, just hand it in at the kiosk.”
Molly wrote down the number as the nerves began to swarm inside her. She had known the hearing would be coming soon, but she hadn’t anticipated having to be in the same room as Eugene. That thought alone made her skin crawl. No matter how much she tried to be brave, having to revisit that day was going to cause some serious problems.
“Just breathe,” she whispered to herself.
Molly checked in on Adelaide before she went up to her room. She packed her case and got ready for what was going to be something she would never want to talk about again.
* * * *
Flying was something Molly hated. The confined space, the close contact of strangers, the thought of crashing, and not to mention the thought of having a panic attack in front of a bunch of strangers.
The entire four-hour flight was uncomfortable. The guy beside her made idle conversation, talking about his wife and four kids, how he still had a two-hour drive ahead of him after landing. The stench of stale alcohol fermented through the air as he spoke to her.
“Man, it’s been a long week. I hate working these long weeks, but I guess I have a few days off, so I get to make it up to the little ones,” the man said as he opened a pack of pretzels.
Molly didn’t want to be rude, but damn, she felt like asking him if he wanted a mint, maybe even a hammer to knock himself out. She was already too wound up and the poor man’s attempts at banter made the journey all the more unbearable.
Finally they landed, and it took a lot of composure for Molly not to clap for joy. Disembarking the aircraft was her main priority—and hand sanitizer.
The gent waved goodbye to her as she made her way to the bathroom. She washed her hands a good few times before applying some sanitizer. If there was one thing Molly couldn’t stand, it was the thought of germs, which also happened to be a newfound dislike, given her past of working in the shelter.
As she walked toward baggage claim, Molly looked at her phone, checking for missed calls—nothing. Standing in the line around the turnstile, she absentmindedly began people watching. Observing an elderly couple who were warm and affectionate with each other, Molly smiled. Even the grumpiest of fools would have found it hard not to.
The turnstile buzzed and began moving. This was the part she agonized over. Having to bend down and try to remove her case without falling over and looking like an ass in the process.
Determined to remain standing, she stepped up close, and eyed the bags as they began moving past her, then low and behold, she saw hers.
Come on,
she thought to herself.
Let me get the hell out of here.
Grabbing her case, she pulled up the handle to make maneuvering through the crowd easier. Molly walked toward arrivals, her phone vibrated in her hand, and as she looked down she bumped into someone, nearly falling over from the impact.
A hand shot out, grabbing her arm, steadying her before she landed on the ground.
“I’m so sorry,” the man said as he lifted her case upright.
As Molly glanced up, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Molly brushed the hair back from her face, her cheeks blushed, and so did his.
“Molly!” Connor muttered in shock.
“Oh my God… I’ve… I’ve got to go.” Molly didn’t waste a second longer. She all but ran from him, looking back at the man she had loved, the one who had let her go.
If this was fate’s way of playing games with her, she certainly didn’t appreciate it.
Chapter Forty-Three
Connor’s heart all but stopped beating. Out of all the people to meet, he had never once thought it would be her. How their stars had aligned and they were both in the airport at the same time was unbelievable. It had to mean something. There had to be some reasoning other than stupid facts. They were destined to be together, he could feel it in his bones.
The ache in his heart was now pressing into his throat as he called after her. “Molly!”
Molly kept running, not once looking back at him, and who could have blamed her? He certainly didn’t, not after how he had spoken to her the last time they had seen each other.
A whole new feeling came over him. The fight he’d thought he’d lost was suddenly restored. Everything reversing itself, and with it came the sudden realization that this was the moment he’d been waiting for, and by God he wasn’t allowing it to pass him by.
Connor ran after her, out into the arrivals lounge, searching for her. So many different faces, people moving to and fro, greeting loved ones, businessmen, not to mention the face of his father’s trusted chauffeur, Martin.
Then he saw her again, looking back toward the crowd as she walked out of the building, Barry by her side.
Connor knew she was glancing back to see him. He could tell. There was something in the way she gazed at him when they’d walked into each other. He’d seen that look in her eyes before and knew that he’d never get another chance.
Connor ran out of the door after them, calling her. “Molly, please wait.”
Barry turned around, getting in between the two of them. Connor put up his hands. His jaw tightened as his fists clenched into tight balls.
“Connor, I think you need to leave her alone,” Barry warned.
“I just want to talk to her.”
Molly stepped back, sneaking a look in his direction before averting her gaze.
Barry’s fist had made contact with Connor’s face before he had the chance to plead. Connor’s eyes watered as the taste of blood filled his mouth. Spitting out a mouthful on the sidewalk, Connor wiped his mouth. His head spun in a daze as he said, “Okay, I deserve that.”
“Connor, just go about your business. She doesn’t need you fucking with her head,” Barry snapped. His eyes were wild with anger.
“I want to hear that from her, not you,” Connor demanded as blood dripped down his chin. “Tell me now, and I swear I won’t ever annoy you again.”
“Fuck you!” Molly shouted as she turned her back on them both and walked away, then she stopped, spun around and glared him. “What gives you the right to come to me, expecting me to forgive you for breaking my heart? Are you on something? Because you are out of your mind.”
“Molly, please, just listen to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve never stopped loving you. All that shit I said, it was just that—shit. I said what I thought you wanted to hear. Those words cut me to the bone. I thought I was doing you a favor.”
“By breaking me? By destroying me? By taking everything I had given you and ripping my heart out? I was in pieces because you didn’t want me. You were over us and you stood there, in front of everyone, telling me you didn’t love me… Do you even know what that did to me? Have you any idea of how much I loved you, even after all the crap with that bitch?”
Barry tried to intervene, but Molly wasn’t having any of it.
“For over a year I’ve been rebuilding my life, getting over you, recovering from the accident, and suddenly this… You telling me you love me.” Tears burned her eyes. “What am I meant to say? What do you want from me?”
“I want you,” Connor said as he stepped close to her. “It’s always been you. I was such a fool to let you go.”
“No!” Molly stormed. “You can’t just expect me to accept this.”
“Then what do I have to do?” Connor held his hands against his chest. His eyes ached. His heart pounded as he silently willed her to forgive him.