His hands knew her, remembered her, missed her. It was heartbreaking how bad she wanted him, but she just couldn’t rush things.
He kissed her nose, then her forehead. Sometime during their kissing she felt a buzz from the wine and was content to lay cuddled with him, his hands slowly tracing circles on her back. They realized the movie credits were starting. He said, “This is where you playfully slap me and tell me it’s time to go home.”
She smiled, wrapping her arms around him, and pulled him close, “Kind of a long drive, isn’t it?”
She saw him raise one eyebrow in surprise as she kissed him. His hands, on her back, slipped under her shirt to feel her soft skin.
Just as he leaned back, pulling her with him, the doorbell rang. They both jerked, looking at each other, and Trent asked, “Think Karen is coming back over this late?”
“She usually calls.” She went to the door and found Justin Atwood waiting outside, hands in his pockets. He rocked on his heels like he was anxious.
“Justin, hi.” She couldn’t imagine what brought him over.
“Hi, I thought I saw someone outside your house.”
“Really?” She wasn’t sure what to say to that. Thankfully Trent came to the door and she repeated what Justin had said.
“I can go check.”
Molly sensed that Trent, too, knew Justin had made it up on the spot, but she wondered why he’d come over. Checking up on them?
“Did I tell you Trent’s a police officer?” she asked Justin, hoping it sounded like a reassurance.
Trent went around the house while Justin tried to make conversation with Molly on the porch. She didn’t invite him in. Though he was cordial the entire time, she’d seen contempt flash across his face when he first saw Trent. She wished Trent was with her suddenly, even though she’d never been frightened around Justin before. Without anything else to say to Justin, she folded her arms and walked to the edge of the porch, looking off into the yard like she’d spot whoever was lurking around. Trent finally came around the corner.
“I don’t see anything, but we’ll keep our ears open. Thanks for coming over to tell us, Justin.”
“Just doing my neighborly part.”
They watched him leave, but even with the front door shut, Molly felt unnerved. So he watched her house and made up a story to stop by.
She looked up into Trent’s eyes and knew they didn’t need to discuss it to be on the same page.
He nodded. “I’ll double check the locks. Close the curtains.”
With her arms still folded around her, she headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Minutes later, she opened the bathroom door and found Trent waiting in the hallway in a pair of shorts. Just a pair of shorts.
He watched her slowly take him in and said, “I don’t like the thought of you alone tonight. There is something seriously creepy about that guy.”
She nodded, then turned and led the way to her bed and slipped under the covers, yawning from the wine and sleepiness. He checked around her room before crawling into bed with her. “I’ll be glad when I’m not living next door to him anymore.”
In answer, Trent rolled onto his side, laying his arm over her and kissing her temple. She felt herself mold into him as need rose up inside her.
“You’re buzzed, aren’t you?” he whispered and she could tell he was smiling.
“Maybe a little, but that’s not why I’m ....” she lost her nerve to say anymore. His arms felt so good and reassuring. She yawned again and he followed suit.
“There’s things I need to tell you before we do ... certain things.” His arm pulled her closer. She wanted him but wanted to know more. With so much confusion swirling around her, she gave in to the sleepiness.
“I’ve been dreaming about you,” she confessed as she drifted off. “But I haven’t been sure if they were memories or dreams.”
Another kiss on her temple. “I’ve been dreaming about you, too, since the first grade.”
Chapter Ten
Trent woke with the sun and startled at finding Molly curled up in his arm. Then he remembered the night before. Man, they had some self-control. Unless they were just too scared to move forward. Either way, he felt good about their decision now in the daylight, especially since he still had time to tell Molly a few things. Big things. He kissed her head and slipped out of bed. He felt restless and she looked deep asleep. And beautifully peaceful.
Downstairs, he brewed coffee and scanned the living room windows before moving onto the kitchen. They never did find any reason to think Molly was in danger, but he was being careful. Justin’s late night visit might have been nothing more than a nosy neighbor with a crush, but Trent’s gut told him to watch him closely. Yesterday evening, he’d looked out the window and saw Justin pulling out of his driveway, looking the house over too closely as he drove by.
Trent used a window in the back of the house to see Justin’s backyard. Through the leaves of a tree, he could see Justin’s spiky blond hair and the sun’s glint off sunglasses. No, binoculars.
Trent slammed his coffee mug down on the counter and headed upstairs. Molly must have awoken and was running the shower in a bathroom that faced away from Justin’s house, so he made sure every last curtain was drawn shut. He dialed Mark on his cell, got voice mail, and left a message about Molly’s snooping neighbor.
He paced the hallway till the bathroom door opened. He was about to tell her about seeing Justin when she gave him a rueful smile, opened the door all the way, and strolled to her room with a small towel wrapped around her. Just enough to cover.
Molly still loved teasing him. He followed her slow saunter to her room where she swung the door almost shut.
“Don’t come in yet, I’m as naked as a new born babe.” Oh yeah, he heard the laughter in her voice.
“What do you think, pink or red panties?”
“Molly, you’d better keep quiet or I’ll come in.”
She gasped, loudly, “And I thought you were a gentleman!”
“You’re not being much of a lady.” He had to force the smile off his face while he spoke, or else he’d start laughing. Her door swung open and she stepped out in a coral silk tank top and khaki shorts with her hair still up in a towel.
“I went with the pink ones, thought they matched better.” She didn’t hide her grin as she went to the bathroom to blow dry her hair.
Didn’t he come up here to tell her something? Instead he watched, fascinated, while she flipped her hair around under the dryer’s heat.
“No curls today?” He asked when she put away the blow dryer and pulled her hair up into a pony tail. She looked so young and happy, summery, tempting.
“No time. We’ve got work to do.” She eased by him, called for him to come, and headed to the basement.
“Molly, I caught your neighbor watching the house.”
She spun around, quickly losing the temptress smile. “Can’t we do something about it?”
“I’m getting a background check. The doors are locked, the curtains shut.” His mind kicked into overdrive as he thought about Molly’s house sitting empty while she was in Oregon. Justin could have snuck in. Trent didn’t always carry his weapon off duty, but he felt better knowing he had it on him now. “I think he’s just a pervert, but we’ll keep an eye on him.”
She wore an uneasy expression on her face as she turned and went down the stairs. The light flicked on and they saw the walls were lined with mostly boxes, but also a wide file cabinet.
Slowly, they walked to the center of the room, looking around, and Trent said, “Your mother always was a neat one. That’s good for us today.”
Curious, Molly went to the nearest box and pulled it down, finding it labeled on the back side. “Look at this.”
“Even better.” He started on the stack where she’d removed the box and turned them all around. Some were old household items, other boxes held pictures and school certificates. Molly found albums with pictures of Trent, Alicia, and some of th
e other friends that were at Trent’s house that night.
“I can’t believe this. Why didn’t they show this to me?” She didn’t give Trent time to answer. “They didn’t want me to remember.” She flipped through the pages, finding shots of a young Alicia and Molly in swim suits. She’d loved that orange one piece, wore it two summers before she grew out of it. They loved to swim, especially at that lake. “Trent, I remember this!”
“This is great,” he agreed. “I think we were a little worried or nervous about what we’d find, but this could be fun. All these happy moments from your childhood, that seems like the best place to start remembering, right?”
She looked over at his warm brown eyes. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”
“Me too.”
He joined her on the floor to flip through the rest of the pictures. They pulled out an album with her early school pictures, laughing at how cute they all looked.
“It’s hard to tell what a rascal you were from these pictures,” he teased, laughing. “There we are smiling with Alicia in that one, but right after you guys chased me with mud pies.”
“Did you deserve it?” she said back. He hid a snicker. “Oh! You poured ice cubes down the back of my shirt first!”
More and more memories were coming back, at a faster rate, giving her hope. Tears stung her eyes and she wiped them away several times before he reached over, turned her face towards him, and kissed her cheek softly. She whispered, shaking, “If I’d seen these a few years ago ....”
“Maybe there’s a good reason you didn’t.”
Maybe, but she needed to know that reason. Her parents had kept the basement door locked and told her there were only old tools and painting supplies below. Since she’d trusted them, she never thought of snooping until after they were gone. She looked back down at the photo album.
“We had Mrs. Moore that year.” She remembered her teacher, the field trip. Excited, she kept turning the pages, but the rest didn’t bring back any memories. “I don’t remember these. Isn’t that weird?”
“Well, now that you’ve found these, you can keep going over them. I’m sure more and more will come back to you.” He spoke over his shoulder now as he looked through other boxes and stacks.
“You’re right.” She decided things were moving along better now, and she remembered her decision not to try too hard. “It’s when I’m not trying to remember that something just clicks back on. I won’t push so hard.” She picked up the albums to place them back in the box and saw a paper lying in the bottom.
“Trent, come look at this.” She held it out. “Cindy Talbert, and it has a number. Think this could be the Cindy Dean who left the house to me?”
“Let’s call and ask.”
“Just like that? She could lie. Shouldn’t we check into her or something?” Molly knew Mark would do research for Trent. She didn’t want to mess this up - their first real lead.
“I can identify myself with the police department. I think we should jump on it now.” As he spoke, Molly saw the large packet of papers he held in his hand.
“What did you find?”
He motioned toward the step and she sat down and took the stack.
“But where? You looked in the cabinet already?”
“No.” He sat down next to her. “That’s the weird part, it was under the cabinet. I saw a corner sticking out.”
“Looks like legal papers.” She looked over the first page and flipped through quickly, then returned to the front of the divorce papers. “I don’t understand. I mean, this doesn’t make sense.”
“It might explain some of this.”
“This is about my mother. And a man I’ve never heard about, that I know of. He must have been her first husband.” The information sounded almost too strange to be true. “Mom married Dad when they were both young, our age. Imagine how young she must have been when she married this man.”
“Seventeen, I think it says.”
Molly shook her head. Her mom had so many layers and secrets. She hurt again, missing her, and wishing she could get to know her, not just the memory of Ellen.
Ellen’s ex-husband was named Kenneth Webb, a name that meant nothing to Molly. Her parents hadn’t mentioned it, but she couldn’t say if she knew about her mother’s previous marriage before she lost her memory. She flipped through the settlement, knowing Trent’s trained eyes would see more than hers, but she felt compelled to read it. From the corner of her eye she saw Trent sitting, leaned back on the door frame. She felt he was waiting for her to see something, whatever it was that caught his eye.
That’s when it clicked, hit her like a giant fist to the chest. The dates. The papers were dated one year after her birth, unless her parents had lied to her about her birth date.
Kenneth Webb wasn’t a stranger. He could be her father. Tears in her eyes, she looked up to see Trent intently watching her, ready to come to her side once he saw she would let him. Just before her tears spilled onto her cheeks, he pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair.
“It doesn’t change things – about your parents, your family, growing up. This man wasn’t a part of your life, Arnold was your father.”
“You’re right, it’s just a lead,” she said the word to convince herself. “Speaking of leads.”
She glanced at the paper in her hand with Cindy Talbert’s number and suddenly started upstairs. Startled, Trent followed and took the phone she handed him. She was covering, he knew. Pushing ahead so she wouldn’t have to think about it right now.
Molly decided they were one step closer to the truth. Two steps, really, because Kenneth Webb and Cindy Talbert were two leads. She watched Trent call and introduce himself as Detective Trent Williams from the Ridge City police department. “I’d like to talk to you about Arnold and Ellen Anderson.” After a minute, Trent said, “I’m not investigating their deaths. I’m helping their daughter, Molly.” Another minute later, after a couple ‘yes, ma’ams,’ Trent hung up.
“What happened?” Molly thought they had rushed things and the women had hung up on him.
“She asked if we’re here, and wants to come talk in person.”
“Now?”
“Yes, apparently she lives a few miles from here.”
Molly turned and went to the living room to sit down. They still had the job in the basement, but what else could they find?
Someone knocked, they locked eyes, and Trent went to the door. He welcomed Cindy inside while Molly stood back.
Cindy Talbert entered silently. She stood much shorter than Molly, but the only thing Molly noticed was her dark hair that looked just like mom’s. The older woman hesitated as well as she searched Molly’s face. Cindy stared at her and Molly felt so close to knowing something. Finally Cindy asked, “Molly, did your mom tell you about me?”
“No, not that I remember.”
“I think you’d remember. It seems like she’d explain about me after you moved here. She told me a little about your memory loss, but we still weren’t on the best of terms.”
“How did my parents know you?” Molly had so many questions and didn’t know where to start.
“Ellen was my sister. I’m your aunt.”
Molly and Trent glanced at each other and back at Cindy.
“I probably have a lot to tell you, but first, how did you meet a detective from Ridge City?”
Molly gestured to the living room and asked if Cindy would like anything to drink. She declined curtly.
When they sat, Molly retold how she went to Ridge City looking for answers and discovered her life there, and that her parents had hid so many things from her. Trent must have sensed that she needed his support. He sat close and took her hand. Cindy listened intently, nodding here and there during the story.
“Your turn,” Trent said. “Are you Cindy Talbert and Cindy Dean?”
“I’m afraid so. Two different failed marriages.” She didn’t explain further.
“Why did you help the Andersons?”
Cindy sighed, seeming to weigh her options. “I feel I owe Molly the truth, but I don’t want to get into legal trouble for helping my sister.”
“I introduced myself as a Detective to make sure you’d talk to me, but I’m helping a friend, not trying to arrest anyone here.” Trent said. “We just want to know what happened.”
Molly leaned forward, not wanting to push for answers, but she knew this was her best lead. Slowly Cindy nodded and looked out the window for a minute. They watched Cindy fall into the past. After a long, thoughtful pause, she said, “Well, I’ll tell you everything I know and we’ll see if it helps. It started with a man named Kenneth Webb.”
Molly glanced at Trent. “Is he my father? Birth father, I mean.”
Surprised, Cindy said, “Yes, she told you?”
“No, we just found her divorce papers in the basement.”
“Papers don’t tell the whole story,” Cindy said. “Don’t be mad at her.”
“I don’t know what I should feel about all of this, especially since I don’t know much of my life or why all this happened.”
Trent scooted closer to Molly, resting a hand on her back, and told Cindy, “Start from the beginning. Did you know Molly?”
“No, I have to say I didn’t. Ellen and I had a stupid fight during her first marriage. I didn’t want her to marry Ken, she thought I was jealous. An age old story, I suppose. Well, there’s more.” She stopped and fidgeted, clearly torn about sharing this part.
“It’s okay,” Molly tried. “It’s the past. I just want to understand everything.”
“Fine, okay. They split up for a while, before they got married mind you, and Ken and I got together, just for a few weeks. He didn’t tell her until later on, during their marriage, and that caused even more problems in a rocky relationship. Things really fell apart for them. And of course she wouldn’t forgive me. Or trust me, so she didn’t want me around her family at all. I knew from my parents that Ken got violent after that. He didn’t think it was his fault, or anything he could control. He didn’t take his medicine all the time.”
More Than Memories Page 11
