Molly expected Liam to go off with Dr. Hamilton, but he grasped her hand and brought her with him. When they reached an empty room and shut the door on the outside world, Liam introduced himself along with his credentials, and the two immediately took the conversation light-years above Molly’s head with medical jargon and hypotheses. The room was a duplicate of Mrs. DiNatali’s, but without the dying woman in the bed, the atmosphere was far less grim.
Molly watched in admiration as the man who had been wrapped around her earlier asked educated and strategic questions. He and Dr. Hamilton discussed at length different the pros and cons of changing her regimen. In the end, it was decided one of the medications could be tweaked so there might be a handful of hours in the day Mrs. DiNatali could be awake, semi-lucid, and relatively pain-free. It wouldn’t prolong her life, but it might give her back a few hours of it.
After they stood and shook hands, Dr. Hamilton turned to Molly. “I was going to call you to see if you could come in tonight to translate for Lisa Beechum after her guests go home, but I’ll call the backup. How long do you need to be off the rotation to stay with Doctor DiNatali’s family?”
“The week should do it,” Molly answered.
“Sorry we worked you so hard yesterday. You survive okay?” Doctor Hamilton turned to Liam. “She had to translate through a cesarean delivery. Did she tell you that? Total pro the whole time, except for the terror in her eyes.” He grinned at Molly. “I honestly thought you were going to faint when you saw the baby come out.” He sniggered at her, taking her stink eye with a grin.
“You and me both,” Molly agreed. She shook the doctor’s hand, thanked him, said goodbye and smiled up at Liam. “Better?” she asked once it was just the two of them in the empty room.
“Much. Except for that doctor. He’s got the glad eye for you. No wonder he’s so willing to help out.”
“Huh? Dr. Hamilton? No. He’s just a nice guy.”
“I guess it plays in my favor that you’re oblivious.”
Molly scoffed. “He’s like, a decade older than me!”
Liam glowered. “Hello! I’m six years older than you.”
“That, I can live with.” Molly took a sip of her coffee and grinned maliciously. “Although, I do have all this newfound sensual deviance. What to do. What to do.”
Liam’s face went stony, and the pliable fingers that had been tangled through hers grew rigid.
Molly faced him and touched his side when he did not further the banter. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” When she did not accept the blow-off, he sighed. “I have no right to… I just can’t stomach the thought of you with someone else.”
He made to move forward, but Molly was stalled in her tracks, her brow furrowed. “But Liam, you’re leaving at the end of the week.”
He turned and locked eyes with her. “What if I didn’t?”
Breath caught in her throat, Molly stared back at him like a deer in headlights. “What are you talking about?”
“What if I stayed? What if we saw where this was going?”
Molly finally snapped to and shook her head. “Liam, don’t say things you don’t mean. You’re not going to leave your job to move back here.” Her heart was so loud, she could feel the pulsing in her ears. “Don’t say things just to make me happy. You’ll change your mind, and I’ll be devastated. Don’t jerk me around like that.”
Liam’s gaze was hard as he took in her response. “It would make you happy if I stayed?”
She harrumphed. “It’s like you’re purposefully not hearing the other stuff I said. Don’t jerk me around. That’s the moral of the story.”
Liam’s mouth was on hers before another word could come out. His heart shifted and clicked into a position of serenity when she confirmed what he hoped. The rest was semantics, details he could work out later. “I won’t. Just hearing you say that is enough.” His hand went under the hem of her shirt to stroke her warm back.
Molly pulled away once his tongue entered her mouth. She put her hand to her forehead. “You’re scrambling my brain, Liam.”
“Don’t worry about it right now. Just stay close to me. We’ll figure it out.” He pulled her forward toward the doorway.
“Hold on! Give me a second.” She straightened her hair and resituated her shirt. “I don’t want your father to think we were doing dirty things in here.”
“Who cares? Trust me. They’re all thrilled about you.”
“Who cares?” she echoed, her frustration showing in her flustered face. “I do! We went to the same high school, Liam. Took the same freshman English class. The Scarlet Letter! It’s a thing, and I don’t want it!”
Liam belted out a laugh at her concern. “Wow. Good thing Nate’s not here. He’d have a field day with that.”
In sheer aggravation at being laughed at, Molly stomped her foot to the ground without thinking through the consequences. Pain shot up her leg, which she tried to hold a stern face throughout.
Liam took her beverage from her and sipped it, smiling casually at her plight. “Isn’t that your bad ankle?”
“I’m fine!”
“Did that feel good? I mean, if I had a sprained ankle, I’d be sure to slam it into the ground as often as possible. Eastern medicine route’s worth a shot every now and then.”
“Would you just shut up?” She flung her hair over her shoulder and tried to stalk past him, but her limp could not be concealed. This only added to his laughter, which did not stop until they reached his mother’s hospital room.
Mr. DiNatali was taking a phone call down the hall, leaving Nate and Jess to greet the happy couple. Nate looked up at Liam’s failed attempt at covering over his laugh. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing.” Liam sniggered as he sat on the windowsill next to Molly. “Molly’s just afraid of The Scarlet Letter.”
Molly gasped and lightly slapped his arm. “Liam DiNatali! You be quiet!”
“What?” Liam said, shielding himself from another girlish blow. “It nearly put me to sleep in high school. I’d be afraid of it, too. I mean, just reading it practically makes you a harlot!” He brayed when Molly voiced her indignation. She slapped his chest, and he gasped in feign horror. “You’re trying to cop a feel, you loose woman!” His laughter filled the room with its deep cadence and obvious joy. “Careful! I’d like to leave with my virtue intact.”
Molly responded by reaching over to his perfect smile and flicking his front two teeth with her hard nail.
“Ow! That stings!” He rubbed the enamel that resounded in his mouth like an unwelcome gong.
She grinned as he held his face and complained about the harsh retaliation. “Serves you right!”
“Is that so?” He responded by flicking her teeth and hopping backward so she could not reach him. It was an impossible game to win. Dinging the other person made you smile, which left you vulnerable for a takedown. They each got in two dings before Liam wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug, pinning her arms to her hips. He pulled her over to his mother’s bedside, still grinning. “Mom, this is my girlfriend, Molly.”
“I am not your –” But her protest was cut short by Liam’s hand over her mouth.
His voice went low and sinister. “Now she’s my prisoner. You’ll be happy I decided to forsake the medical field and take up the call of the pirate, Mom. I know it’s what you always wanted for me. Helping put me through school all those years was perfect training for a life at sea.”
Molly responded by licking his palm, which did not faze Liam. He rubbed her own spit on her face, bellowing with amusement at her irritation when he let her go to catch his breath.
Molly straightened her hair, but her blush could not be tamed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, DiNatali! We are in public!”
His laughter trailed off as his eyes danced with merriment for only her. “You. You got into me.” He reached out and laced his fingers through hers, drawing her to his side.
“Oh, you’
re a giant monkey.” Molly tucked her face into his shirt to avoid the blatant gawking from Nate and Jess.
Chapter Eight
Chinese Food and Flowers
Liam finally succumbed to the somber mood when his mother was moved to hospice. Her medications were tweaked to his specifications, and within a few hours, Mrs. DiNatali was awake. She could not speak, but they worked out a communication method of one blink for a yes, and two for a no. The system worked great until Nate kept forgetting to ask a question with a yes or no answer.
Molly tried to separate herself from Liam when the matriarch was moved, but the family would not hear of it. Warren brought the children, so she made herself useful watching the six of them in the hospice library so Warren could be with his wife and her family.
After a couple hours, Liam, his siblings and Warren decided to give their father some time alone with his wife. Jess breathed a sigh of relief when her eldest son saw her fragile state and hugged her without pause.
Molly looked around at the deflated adults and the stir-crazy children. “I’m going out to grab dinner. Anyone want Chinese?”
Jess looked like she might kiss Molly. “Yes! Thank you. Anything without shrimp for me. Kids will eat lo mein without a fight.”
Everyone chimed in with their preferences as Molly pulled her coat on. Liam mirrored her actions with his own coat, and Nate and Jess noted that where she went, Liam was sure to follow.
Molly turned on her car and leaned her head back, sighing at the quiet.
“You alright?” Liam asked, taking in her temperament as she deflated next to him.
“Me? I’m fine. I should be asking you that. Did you get to talk to your mom? How’s she feeling?”
Liam buckled his seatbelt and reached for her hand, placing it atop his knee. “She’s pretty numb, and a little dizzy. Dry mouth. Things like that. But the tradeoff is we actually got to say goodbye to her. She stopped eating and won’t take a feeding tube.” He closed his eyes. “It won’t be long now. She’ll probably be gone by the morning.”
Molly squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry, Liam. You’re a good son. I’m glad she got to see you and know you were there for her. That’s a powerful thing, your support.”
Liam let out a short noise of derision. “I’m not a good son. I’ve been gone too long. I didn’t keep in touch like I should’ve.” He looked out the window as Molly drove them out of the parking lot toward the nearest Chinese place. “I wanted to get her flowers, but I don’t even know her favorite kind. What kind of a son doesn’t know that?”
“Um, a lot of them, I’d imagine. But we can fix that one. Your mom’s favorite flowers are snapdragons and tiger lilies. She told me when we were replanting the tiger lilies Kyle ran over.”
Liam chewed on his thumbnail, watching the world whip by him in the twilight. “Of course you would know how to fix the one thing that’s been making me crazy. It just figures.”
“What figures?”
“That you’re exactly what I need.” He looked over at her, seeing her thick black hair, curly eyelashes, and all the beauty that could be wrapped up in a pair of blue jeans and an old t-shirt, and he knew. “Is this what it’s like?”
“What?”
“To be happy?”
Molly smiled as she pulled under the neon sign of the restaurant that blinked “Open” at her. “It’s a first for me, too. I guess we’re just late bloomers.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and pecked him on the cheek. “You wait here. You’ve had a long day. I’ll place the order and come right back. Then we can see if there are any flower shops still open while they make our food.”
He grabbed her hand and looked into her lovely eyes. “You know I’m crazy about you, right?”
Molly gave him a lopsided grin. “You’re crazy, alright.” She walked into the restaurant that housed too many cheap Asian tchotchkes, and instantly her stomach groaned. She placed the tall order, noting with a resigned frown the price that was chipping away at her master plan. People are more important. If you can’t build your power grid right away, it won’t kill you. You’ll still get out. Taking a week off of work is a normal thing that most people do from time to time. His mother’s dying. That’s priority. Power grids can wait.
The flower shop two streets down was still open, and thankfully, had a small bouquet of tiger lilies for sale. Liam sighed as if a large burden had been lifted from his shoulders when he brought them into the car. “I know taking time off deviates from your plan. I hope it’s not setting you back too much.”
Molly shook her head, ashamed at how important her plan was if Liam was feeling guilty about it while his mother was dying. “No, no. I have enough for the property. That’s the important part. The rest are just trappings I can save for like any normal homeowner.”
“Still.” He juggled the fragrant flowers on his lap. “I know what you’re giving up to be with me. Thank you.”
When Molly went to pay for the takeout, Liam would not have it. He palmed her face to hold her back and slipped his card to the clerk. His only explanation when they got into the car was, “I haven’t bought anything for my sister in a long time. Seeing the way Kyle treats you? I don’t want Jess to feel that from me.”
Molly linked her fingers through his. “Trust me, Liam. You are nothing like Kyle.”
Chapter Nine
Closet
Molly arrived home sometime after one in the morning. The family decided to stay with Mrs. DiNatali, knowing it would not be long before she breathed her last.
Her hands trembled when she saw three cars she would know anywhere parked outside. One belonged to Gina, who never traveled without at least three henchwomen. Another car brought a group of guys who were permanent fixtures at Kyle’s party. The third was Kyle’s dealer, a janky-toothed unibrow who Molly feared. She decided to grab an overnight bag and head out. She did not need sleep as much as she needed not to get attacked again.
She snuck in through the garage door, trying not to make her presence known. Her heart pounded and her mouth went dry as she tiptoed toward the stairs.
“Why, if it isn’t the virgin queen!” Gina exclaimed, getting up from Kyle’s lap on the couch.
Molly disappeared up the steps without a word, locking the door behind her. Her heart was jumping in her chest at too rapid a pace now, and she was sweating as she tried to think of an appropriate exit strategy. She shoved clothes into a bag, along with a few other personal items. Her palms began to grow slick with nerves.
Hating herself for disturbing him, Molly pulled out her phone and dialed Liam. Her heart nearly broke when he answered with a deep, “Hey, beautiful.”
Her voice came out pinched and high-pitched as she tried to rein in her fear. Gina started banging on her door with an evil laugh, increasing Molly’s panic. “Hey, Liam. I was just thinking that Warren might want to be with Jess tonight. Would it be okay with Jess if I went to your parents’ house and slept on the couch to be with the kids? Then Warren could go be with her. I can tell that’s where he wants to be.” The music was pounding downstairs, and was not adequately muffled through the door.
“Where are you?” Liam asked, his tone losing all lightness.
“I’m in my room. There’re people over, and I just don’t think I’ll get much sleep here. I’d rather be useful to your family, if I can.” Gina’s banging was audible through the phone, as were her threats of what would happen to Molly when she came out.
“Lock the doors. Don’t move. I’ll be there in ten.”
“No, Liam. Stay with your family. I’ll get out and go to your parents’ house, if that’s okay.”
“Molly, I can hear Gina! She almost gave you a concussion the last time she was over. I’m begging you, just stay put and I’ll be there.” He pulled his chin away from the phone. “Nate! Get your coat on. Dad, I need the keys.”
“No!” Molly pleaded, on the verge of tears. “It’s fine!”
“Molly, this is the one time you need to listen to me!” Sh
e could hear the sound of a car starting up. “Don’t hang up. I’m putting the phone on speaker so I can hear if I need to call the cops. I’m on my way.”
Gina was shaking the bedroom door, and Steph was banging on the bathroom door, their laughter matched in its heartless cruelty. Molly hated the moisture that fell down her cheeks as she shoved clothes into her overnight bag. The doors were shaking so hard; Molly was certain the locks would not hold for long. Molly had no exit anymore. Her room was on the second floor, and the jump down would ruin her ankle for sure. And then she would be out in the open, exposed to whatever they had in store for her. She would never make it to her car in time. She opened her window and popped out the screen all the same, hoping they would think she was agile enough for the jump.
Wishing she was large enough to fight her way out of the situation, Molly cringed as she barricaded herself in her closet with her phone and bag. She rigged the folding door with several bent wire hangers, anchoring the center hinges to her immovable safe.
Ten minutes, she told herself, closing her eyes in the darkness. So many times she’d hidden in her closet as a child. When Kyle’s father was in a mood, she’d rigged it in the same way to keep his angry hands at bay. When Kyle broke something, his mother always blamed her if she saw Molly within three hours of the accident. But if she hid long enough, there was a chance she did not have to take the heat. Molly’s stomach churned as memories flooded over her of her uncle-father rattling the closet door to drag her out. She sobbed as her fingers shook around the hangers. She swore she would never hide again after this.
Liam had been talking to her, but she only just now made sense of his voice. “Say something!” he cried into the phone.
“Hurry,” she croaked out. “When I get out, tell me this won’t happen anymore. Lie to me, Liam. I don’t care.”
Liam’s voice was firm with resolve. “When you get your orange grove, no one will bother you ever again. They’ll trash Kyle’s parents’ house and burn it to the ground, but no one will come onto your property. We’ll get one of those signs that say ‘Trespassers will be shot on sight’.”
Unraveling Molly Page 12
