Butterfly Kisses

by Samantha Hicks

  The sign for her motel came into view and she pulled up into the carpark. She sat for a few moments contemplating her life choices, knowing that working for Billings & Lloyd had sucked her soul dry. The only time she ever felt truly happy was when she sat on the concrete floor of Molly’s first butterfly greenhouse watching all the butterflies flapping around, Molly sat in front of her between her thighs and laughing at some stupid joke Jac had said. That had been fifteen years ago, when she was twenty-two, and Molly’s father had bought her a start-up greenhouse so she could hone her skills at butterfly farming while she looked for a job in the field she loved. Jac had loved to watch Molly interact with the butterflies and caterpillars. Molly would become so engrossed in them she would forget Jac was even there, and Jac was content to just look at her. Molly’s smile had been missing for a long time now, and that was all Jac’s fault. She wondered if it would ever come back.

  .

  Chapter Two

  “You want to talk about it?” Tiffany asked.

  Molly shoved the box of leaflets under the counter a little too firmly and glared at Tiffany who stood just inside the visitor centre doors. They wouldn’t be opening for another hour and Molly needed a distraction from her anger at seeing Jac again after all this time. Re-stocking the information stand seemed like a good plan until Molly realised she was causing damage to the leaflets when she stuck them in their respective holders. She was fine knowing that Barry wanted to sell the land. She had an air-tight lease that she knew couldn’t be broken. Barry was more of an irritant than anything. But seeing Jac stood in the carpark had made her heart race. Barry had obviously contacted Billings & Lloyd and that could only spell disaster. The company Jac worked for had no scruples. It was easy to ignore in the beginning, when Jac was an up-and-coming solicitor, but now Jac led the team, so any decisions were made by her. Knowing Jac had come to apply pressure on her hurt more than she wanted to admit.

  “Why can’t she leave me alone?” Molly lowered her head and when she lifted it again there were unshed tears in her eyes. “Hasn’t she done enough already?”

  “Mol, Jac said she came to warn you about Barry.” She looked away for a moment. “I believe her.”

  “Are you crazy?!” Molly couldn’t believe Tiffany had been duped by Jac. “She’s a liar.” Tiffany came and stood on the other side of the counter, placing her hands over Molly’s tight fists where they rested on the countertop, her gaze filled with sympathy.

  “She’s never lied to you. She told you about Dillon’s, and the other’s leases before she told her boss, so you could warn him.”

  “Yes, but she still told Ralph.” Molly pulled her hands back and ran her fingers through her hair. “Her coming here today is all just a ploy to get me to lower my defences and coerce me into breaking my lease. I can’t trust her.”

  “I think you’re wrong, Molly.”

  Molly couldn’t take any more of this, she had to get out of there and clear her head before the farm opened, not that she was expecting many visitors, but she still needed to think straight without the conflicting feelings of having Jac back in Wolverhampton. She also didn’t want to listen to Tiffany defending Jac. Jac’s betrayal would never be forgiven.

  “I need to go into town to run some errands. I won’t be long.” She strode out the door and headed for her work truck. She didn’t really have a destination in mind as she settled behind the wheel. She started the engine and pulled out. For twenty minutes she drove aimlessly, her mind on Jac. With every second that ticked by her anger increased. The loss of her brother had devastated her and it was all because Jac had found that one contractual anomaly. So intent she was on fixating on the past, Molly failed to stop at an intersection, speeding through the red light. A lorry coming along from her right-hand side smashed into her door, pushing the car out of its way, causing it to flip over three times before settling on its roof.

  Molly blinked, trying to clear the blood that ran from her head into her eyes. She wanted to scream but she couldn’t make her voice work. Overwhelming agony enveloped her whole body and she realised she was pinned between her door and the centre console, her legs off to the side at an unnatural angle. She heard people yelling and horns blasting before mercifully the pain slipped away and darkness surrounded her, calling her into a peaceful sleep.

  ***

  Jac had left the motel five minutes ago and was now on her way to meet with Barry. She hoped she could try and convince him not to sell the land. It was a fruitless dream. From what she remembered about him, he was an arrogant asshole. Jac had been with Molly when she signed the lease ten years ago and she doubted he had changed all that much in the years since she saw him last. Jac was proof you couldn’t change who you were inherently.

  On the edge of the town centre traffic slowed and the lanes backed up. Gradually she made her way through the queue, a man stood at the side of what looked like an accident directing the traffic around the collision. As all good rubber-neckers do, Jac glanced to the side as she passed to gawk at the commotion. A fire engine, two ambulances, and three police cars took up the left lane creating a ring around a vehicle that was overturned onto its roof. As Jac looked harder she caught a glimpse of a brightly coloured butterfly on the passenger door. She recognised that image, it was the one used for the sign of Bloomin’ Butterfly. She slammed on her breaks, ignoring the horn blast from behind. She flung her door open and ran to the truck, knowing instinctively it was Molly inside.

  “Hey, wait,” someone shouted out. “You can’t be here.”

  Jac didn’t take any notice, forcing her way past firemen and police officers. She could see the whole truck now and what she saw dropped her to her knees. The whole right side was crumpled in, ambulance techs were crowded around the door, leaning in, blocking Jac’s view of the driver. Her stomach clenched, pitching her forward as she threw up.

  “Ma’am, are you injured?” Jac looked up, wiping her mouth, at the policewoman crouching beside her. “Ma’am?” she repeated again when Jac didn’t answer.

  “My partner drives a truck just like that.” The officer’s eyes narrowed as she frowned. “I was driving past and saw the accident. Is it her?” Jac’s voice came out in a rush, panic overwhelming her. The officer took her arm and helped her stand. Jac held on fearing her knees would buckle again.

  “Come with me.” The officer led her to her police car and sat her in the back seat. “I’ll be back in a minute.” The officer headed back to the truck and spoke to another officer. Jac couldn’t take her eyes off the truck, watching as the ambulance crew and firemen worked to free the driver from the smashed wreckage. A glimpse of blonde hair came into view, streaked with blood. Molly. Jac didn’t even try and wipe the tears away as they fell in long rivulets down her face.

  “Ma’am?” The officer was back. Jac spared her a quick glance. “What is the name of your partner?”

  “Molly,” she whispered, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Molly Fisher. She owns Bloomin’ Butterfly.”

  “I’m so sorry.” The officer placed her hand on Jac’s shoulder. “From what we can gather from witnesses, she failed to stop at the traffic light. A lorry hit her. She’s pinned in the vehicle and unconscious. We’re doing everything we can to get her out.”

  Jac heard the words but wasn’t really listening. All she could concentrate on was the folded in driver’s door. No way anyone would be able to survive that. All these years she had thought she would finally get a chance to be with Molly again, and now it was all gone.

  Molly was gone.

  For thirty minutes Jac watched as the emergency services worked, the jaws of life cutting away the metal, the ambulance crew calling for a stretcher. What seemed like a lifetime passed before finally Molly was freed. Jac jumped to her feet, the officer trying to hold her back, but Jac shook her off. She reached Molly’s side as they were loading her into the ambulance.

  “Mol?” Jac was horrified at what she saw. Molly’s face wa
s swollen, cuts and bruises marring her features. A large gash bled from her hairline, blood soaking her hair and clothes. Through her jeans bones protruded and her arm hung at an unnatural angle. “Baby, can you hear me?”

  “Sorry, ma’am but we need to leave.”

  “Where are you taking her?”

  “New Cross Hospital.” Jac was pushed aside and the stretcher was lifted into the ambulance. Within seconds they were gone.

  “Excuse me, ma’am.” The officer was back at Jac’s side. “We need to contact her next of kin. Is that you?”

  At one time. “I can make contact with her father.”

  “Okay. Would you like a lift to the hospital?”

  “No, it’s okay. I can drive.”

  Moving on autopilot Jac made her way back to her car and got into the driver’s side. She drove a few feet up the road and pulled over. With her hands shaking she dialled Bloomin’ Butterfly’s number.

  “Good morning, Bloomin’ Butterfly. How may I help you?”

  “Can I speak with Tiffany Grant, please.”

  “May I ask who’s calling?”

  “Tell her it’s Jac and it’s important.” Awful hold music came down the line and Jac concentrated on steadying her breathing. She needed to calm down if she had any hope of making it to the hospital without getting into her own accident. A minute later Tiffany’s voice came on the line.

  “Look, Jac, I don’t want to get into the middle of things between you and Molly.”

  “Tiff, it isn’t about that. There’s been an accident.” Jac closed her eyes and took a breath. “Molly has been in an accident, a bad one. She’s been taken to the hospital.”

  “Oh my God. What?”

  “She ran a light or something and got hit by a lorry. It’s bad, Tiff.”

  “Okay. Tell me the hospital and I’ll be there as soon as I make sure the staff are fine.”

  Jac relayed the information and then hung up. She took a few calming breaths, and when she was sure she wouldn’t throw up again, she pulled back into traffic, heading to the hospital, all the while hoping Molly would be okay.

  Chapter Three

  Jac sat in one of the plastic waiting room chairs, her elbows on her knees, hands wrapped around the back of her neck. She hadn’t been able to think a coherent thought since she had arrived forty minutes ago. All that kept going around her mind was Molly was dead. She had tried to hang on to the hope she would survive, but from what Jac had seen of her before she was whisked away in the ambulance, her injuries were too severe. No way anyone could survive. She told the staff upon arrival who she was and was told to wait, a doctor would be with her shortly. That was ages ago and now Jac feared the worse. She had wasted five years of her life working for Billings & Lloyd when what she should have done was quit the minute she found the loophole in Molly’s brother’s lease. At least then she could have had five years of happiness with Molly.

  She felt someone sit next to her, arms circling her, pulling her into a warm body. It was Tiffany. Jac didn’t say anything, sobs broke free and she clung to her, letting out all of the emotion of the last two hours. Tiffany rocked her, not speaking, and they stayed that way for a few long moments. Eventually, Jac pulled back, scrubbing her hand over her face.

  “Have you heard anything yet?” Tiffany asked, her own tears clinging to her long lashes.

  “No, not yet. God, Tiff, she looked really messed up.” The image of Molly’s battered body flashed through her mind. “Her legs were completely smashed. And there was so much blood.” More tears came and she couldn’t hold them back.

  “She’ll be okay. Molly is the strongest person I know.” Jac was about to reply when a tall, blond-haired doctor with white hair approached them. He glanced at his clipboard as he stopped in front of them.

  “Are you here with Molly Fisher?”

  “Yes.” Jac shot to her feet. “Is she okay?”

  The doctor took a breath and glanced at his notes again. “Molly is in surgery right now having her legs worked on. She’s broken her right leg in four places, with lots of tiny fractures surrounding the breaks, and displaced her hip joint. There is a small fracture to her pelvis and her left knee was shattered.” He glanced up. “She has some swelling to her brain, and if it continues to swell, we will have to relieve the pressure by removing some of her skull to allow the brain room to expand without causing more injury. Her right arm was dislocated and has been reset. Those are the most serious injuries. She has a few cuts and bruises, but they will all heal fine.”

  As the list of Molly’s injuries were reeled off, Jac’s heart beat faster. It was a miracle she wasn’t dead already. Her knees shook and she couldn’t hold herself up any longer, she slumped back into the chair. The doctor crouched in front of her.

  “She’s very lucky. Her legs will be fixed, and as long as the brain swelling goes down, she should be fine.”

  “Will she be able to walk?” asked Tiffany. Jac hadn’t even thought of that. His gaze cut to Tiffany.

  “As I said, her right leg is pretty much in bits, but the surgery will fix all that. We won’t know if there is any spinal damage until she wakes up.” He looked back at Jac. “She’s going to have a long road ahead of her. Does she have family that can help when she gets out of here?”

  At one time that family would have been Jac, but now, as far as Jac knew, Molly lived alone on-site at the farm. She looked at Tiffany hoping she could answer that.

  “Molly is currently single and her father lives in the States. She has no family local.”

  “I’m sorry,” the doctor said as he looked at his clipboard again. “My notes say that you’re her partner,” he said to Jac.

  “We were but we broke up. I’m sorry for the confusion, but I had intended for us to get back together.”

  “I’m sorry but I can’t discuss this with you.” He stood from his crouch. “I’ll need to get in contact with her father to discuss her treatment.” He turned to walk away but Jac stopped him with a grab of his arm.

  “We got married but never divorced, wouldn’t that qualify me as next of kin, even if we are no longer together?”

  “Legally, yes.” He turned to face her fully, eyeing her for a few moments before speaking. “As I was saying, she will need rehab and personal care when she’s released. Do you have the capacity to do that?”

  Jac knew he meant would she be able to provide care for her, but for Jac, the question meant a whole lot more. It would mean leaving her job in London and moving back to Wolverhampton, and did she really have the mental fortitude to care for someone who’s needs would need to be put before her own? On top of that she would need to convince Molly that Jac being around was a good thing. She had no doubt Molly would fight her on this, considering Molly hated her, but Jac wouldn’t be swayed. No way anyone else would be looking after her partner, whether they were separated or not.

  “She’ll be in safe hands.”

  “Okay. I need to get back to my patients. Molly will be in surgery for a couple of hours. I’ll have someone come get you when she’s in recovery and then you can see her after she’s settled in ICU.” The doctor strode away leaving an angry-looking Tiffany glaring at Jac, arms folded across her chest.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “What?”

  “You just offered to look after Molly.”

  “I know.” Jac didn’t see why this was such a big issue.

  “Have you forgotten she doesn’t want to see you? What were you thinking?”

  Jac slouched back into the chair, her gaze locked with Tiffany’s. “It’s the only option, you know this. You can’t do it as you’ll need to run Bloomin’ Butterfly while she gets better, and she has no other family. Who else is there?”

  Tiffany blew out a breath and sat next to her, letting out a groan, Jac’s reasoning making sense. “The business is doing crap anyway. It’ll probably be best to just close-up and let Barry sell the land.”

  “No!” Jac turned to fac
e her. “That place is her life. If she gets out of here and finds her business is gone, it’ll crush her. Barry has no legal standing to sell before the lease is up and there are no loopholes in it Billings & Lloyd can exploit.”

  “That’s why they sent you up, isn’t it? To try and convince her to break the lease, and with business being slow they assumed she’d give in without a fight.”

  Jac hung her head, shamed by her previous underhanded tactics. She might have done that very thing before to other businesses, but she would never do that to Molly. “Yes, that’s what my boss wanted. But as I told you this morning I wasn’t going to do that to her. I could never.”

  “I know, but back to our original problem. Molly isn’t going to want you around.”

  “Then I’ll just have to convince her.”

  “What will you tell your boss?”

  Good question. Jac no longer wanted to work for Ralph, but she would need to make sure Bloomin’ Butterfly wouldn’t be assailed by anyone else from Billings & Lloyd. To do that she would need to talk to Barry, try to get him to back off selling. Once he agreed, Jac would be able to leave Billings & Lloyd with a clear head and be able to concentrate on Molly full-time.

  ***

  Three and a half hours later Jac and Tiffany stood outside the ICU ward. Molly’s surgery had gone well and now she was settled in for the night. The doctor from before stood before them, again reading his notes before making eye contact. Jac wished he would hurry up and let them in to see Molly. She wasn’t sure her nerves could take much more.

  “I have other patients in here so unfortunately only one of you can go in, and only for a few minutes.” He looked at each of them respectively, waiting for an answer. Jac turned to Tiffany, raising her eyebrows in question.