License to Love (33 page)

“So tell me.”

He rested his forehead against hers. “I’m trying.”

That cleared her head a bit as she felt a sinking feeling
inside her. Finally, she knew she should feel guilty, but she didn’t. “So I was
making you wait.” She’d wondered many times if they’d been together that way.
Knowing they hadn’t been made her sad for some reason.

“It was important to you.”

“What about you, now?” she asked, wishing the past didn’t
have to matter so much. “You believe in things now that you didn’t when I knew
you, right?”

“It’s not just about what you used to believe. I feel wrong
about this.”

“Because I don’t remember?” she asked. Trent didn’t have an
answer and they were left listening to their breathing. Bev’s mean words came
back to Molly. Along with them were her doubts about herself. She knew about
now, and knew she hadn’t been taking the easy way through things.

“So I wanted to wait before, and you’re saying we need to
wait now? Till we’re married, if we do?” Did she just talk about marriage? She
thought a question like that would surprise him, but he came right back.

“I need to talk to you about that.” He creased his brows and
didn’t start explaining. The phone rang while she waited. And kept ringing.

“Darn it.” He sighed. “It rang a while ago, too. I asked
Mark to call me back.”

“For what? Something new?”

“Your neighbor. And I want him to find out about Kenneth
Webb.”

Molly sighed, too, and stepped back. “Go call him back.”

“I’ll be right back.” He headed downstairs and heard her
bedroom door shut.

Trent picked up and heard Mark say, “Hey, there you are. Got
your voicemail.”

“Have you got anything yet?”

“No, so far nothing’s turning up for that name. There was a
Justin Atwood in Vermont that died last year at the age of seventy.”

“Keep trying then. I have a bad feeling about him.” Trent
paused, knowing he needed to be honest with his partner. “He’s had a thing for
Molly for a while now, despite her efforts to convince him she’s not
interested.”

“Is that where the bad feeling’s coming from?”

Trent saw that coming. “No, I’ve seen him watching the
house. I want to take every precaution. I could be wrong, but that’s better than
not checking and regretting it.”

“Alright. I’ll also get in contact with the nearest precinct
over there.”

“Thanks, Mark. There’s more.” He summarized what they’d
discovered through the divorce papers. Since he wanted Mark to check into
Kenneth as well, he spelled Kenneth’s name and gave the case number from the
paperwork.

“Good work,” Mark said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this
before you know it.”

Half an hour later, when she heard Trent knock on her door,
she didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure why, but she just lay on the bed, waiting to
see if he’d come in because she didn’t know if she wanted to see him just then.

She glanced at the clock, realizing it was only eleven in
the morning and they had all day to spend together.

Trent opened the door. “You’re awake.”

She rolled onto her back and watched him come and sit beside
her.

“I talked to Mark. He’s going to see what he can dig up.”

“You think Kenneth might be looking for me?”

He rubbed his eyes and looked out her window. “It must have
been his blood on the floor in the Ridge City house.”

That hadn’t crossed Molly’s mind yet, but it made sense. “So
he was looking for revenge and killed my parents.”

“Hey now.” Trent put a hand on her arm. She wasn’t ready for
him to touch her, and he could tell. He pulled his hand away. “We can’t think
like that. We can list it as a possibility, but we need evidence. More leads.
Proof. We need to find him.”

“Okay.” She sat up and rolled her neck to loosen her
muscles.

“Do you remember anyone at all that you’ve talked to in the
last four years who may be old enough to be your father?”

“A lot of men are old enough.”

“Mol, I mean anyone that didn’t have a reason to talk to
you. Not the mail man or your neighbor, but someone that came to the house,
maybe to sell something. Anything like that?”

She thought a minute, but no one came to mind. She told him
as much. “Do you think I’m not safe?”

His pause made her worry.

“Trent?”

“I don’t have real reason to think you’re in any danger. We
still don’t have proof that your parents’ accident was anything but that.”

She flopped back down on her back, sending her hair flying
out around her head. “Seems like I’m finding things out, but I’m not getting
any closer to the truth. Now there’s so many things to worry about.” Justin.
Kenneth Webb. Her parents’ accident.

“It only feels like that,” he said. “But I agree, I’m
frustrated, too. I only wish I knew right now if you’d be safer here or back in
Oregon. I just don’t know.”

She stared at the ceiling while he thought things through.
At last he reached to her hand and held it softly. He said, “I’m sorry about
earlier. I imagine most guys wouldn’t turn you down.”

She closed her eyes over tears, not wanting to admit even to
herself that she was hurt. “I need you now. I need a friend, and I need you in
particular.” Her voice cracked.

“I’m here.” He lay down next to her, pulling her against
him.

“You won’t get weird?” When he promised he wouldn’t, she
added, “We can cool things, try to figure this out. We don’t have to decide the
future of the world right now.”

“Agreed. Don’t worry about anything between us. We’ll get
this case figured out soon, and we’ll get us figured out, too. But there’s
nothing to worry about, okay? I’m here for you and it’ll be okay.”

She loved him for saying that. In answer she turned into him
and nuzzled closer.

Trent stood outside Molly’s door the next afternoon, tapped
lightly, and said, “You sure like to hide in there.”

The door swung open and Molly stepped out in jean shorts and
a pretty orange shirt with little flowers embroidered on it. “Let’s go out for
lunch.”

She breezed by him, headed for the door, calling back, “Are
you ready?”

He yanked his hat off the counter and ran after her. She’d
started the car already when he stepped outside.

“Any preferences?” she asked as they took off.

“Is this a seafood run?”

She laughed – a loud laugh. “No, I wanted to get out of that
house.”

“Oh.” He paused, wondering just how hard it was on her to
return to the house she once shared with her parents. “Does Italian sound
good?”

“I know a good place,” she said, taking the next turn. “I
thought we could relax and stop talking about this mess.”

“Mess?” he asked. “The case?”

“Yeah, let’s talk about other stuff for a change.” She
pulled into the parking lot and they went inside. They were quiet while being
seated and looking over the menus.

She caught him gazing at her, then he caught her. They spent
more time glancing at each other than talking. Yes, the case seemed like a
complicated mess, and now it seemed to be getting in the way of them. The new
them. He wanted to move forward. Hell, he wanted to make love to her. It’d
taken all his strength the night before to not take her to bed.

They got drinks and ordered lunch. She seemed busy people
watching and losing herself in her private thoughts.

“So can we talk about us or is that part of the mess?” He
thought she could see what he was thinking about, and he should be embarrassed,
but he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“I ….” She fiddled with the straw in her drink before
looking up at him with those dark brown eyes. “I’m happy.”

Did that mean happy with the situation and didn’t want it to
change? Or happy they were making progress?

He didn’t know where to take that so he said, “I’m happy,
too.”

After lunch, he took her hand as they walked to the car. He
searched her eyes to see if she was returning his feelings, if she could feel
the huge void in his life that she filled.

“I’m going to run back in to the little girl’s room.”

That girl sure had a habit of running right when he wanted
to say something, or hear something from her. She threw a grin over her
shoulder at him as
s
he
left him standing halfway to the car. She probably heard him laughing. Yeah,
that was his Molly alright.

Screeching tires out on the road reminded him that he was in
the parking lot. He turned and slowly started to the car, hearing another
squeal that sounded closer, and then he saw a streak from the corner of his
sight. A silver SUV ripped into the parking lot.

He swore and dodged down behind a van because the speeding
vehicle came right at him, fast. Just a second after he jumped back, a shot
startled him. Other people screamed as he pulled his gun. The SUV sped to the
other end of the parking lot.

“Trent!” Molly ran into him from behind as he tried to see
the SUV. “What just happened?”

“Get down!” Spinning to face her, he pulled her close,
listened for tires, and kept them both down. Her eyes saw his gun and opened
wide. He touched her lips with a finger, still listening. The vehicle, he
didn’t get a good look at it, turned and raced through the parking lot again,
coming back. He waited till it headed for the exit on the opposite side of the
lot before standing and trying to get a make.

“It’s alright, Mol, you’re safe. Just wanted to make sure of
that.” Molly’s fingers dug into his arm while other people ran from the
restaurant to investigate. He pulled his cell and dialed 911. After a short
explanation, he described the vehicle.

“Are you okay?” he asked her, not missing the way she
watched him with big eyes.

“Me? Are you?” She took him by the arms and ran her hands
over him, visually inspecting him too, despite the fact that he was standing
and appeared fine. “Did someone just try to shoot you?”

Trent was busy thinking but shook his head, which wasn’t an
answer but his way of telling her he didn’t know why that happened. He picked
up his hat as the saw a police car pull into the lot.

Later he sat in Molly’s living room with her curled in his
lap and his arms around her. They were both quiet. Thinking. Wondering. He
stroked her back to comfort her, bu
t the event
had
him shaken as well.

Finally, he said, “It could have been a random shooting,
someone getting a kick. Maybe they mistook me for someone else.” He didn’t like
making speculations without evidence. He’d talked it over with the local police
and they’d avoided making any assumptions as well.

“Or?” She lifted her head and met his eyes.

He didn’t like the
or
. “Or I have an enemy, but I
don’t think I’ve made anyone mad enough to want me dead.”

“Trent, don’t you think this could be connected?”
That had been one of his first thoughts, but it didn’t make sense that someone
after Molly would take a shot at him. “It could be, but then this would be the
first proof that something sinister is going on.”

“What about my family tearing out of Ridge City?”

“You’re right,” he said, exhaling. “I worded that wrong.”

Molly sat up. “Alright, so what do we do?”

“I’ll call Mark, let him know. The police are looking for
the car I described. In the meantime we stay put.” He stood next to her, pulled
her close. His very first thought after he heard the shot was to look for
Molly. He couldn’t believe she ran right to him, putting herself in danger.
Trent didn’t know if he was mad at her for it or touched that she cared that
much.

When the phone rang, Molly ignored it, wanting to linger in
Trent’s strong and warm arms.

He nudged her about the third ring. “Could be important.”

“Alright, alright.” She didn’t hurry to pull herself away
from him, and threw a glance back to see him watch her walk away. After her
hello, she got a start when Bev answered back. “Bev?”

“Yeah, your trip going good?”

No, it wasn’t, but why would she talk to Bev about it? Bev
didn’t give her the chance.

“Well, hope you’re having a fun time running around with
Trent because David’s not so good.”

“Is he sick?” she asked while thinking
you sick little
brat.

“Not sick, but tired of being second to you all the time.”

Molly’s dread had been right on. Bev liked to mettle, didn’t
she? And hurt people. “I’m not sure I’m the person you should be talking to.”

“I just thought I’d give you a heads up. Especially since
you caused all this.”

“Heads up about what?” Molly kept her irritated sigh to
herself and decided to play along. She surprised herself, impressed for
slanting her thinking into detective mode like Trent would do. He’d see an
opportunity here. With so many unanswered questions, she might as well listen
to Bev and see if she will get anything out of it.

“David lost a fiancé once. She drowned. And if that’s not
enough for him to deal with, now you’re taking Alicia away from him. You think
you have the right to walk back into town and pick up where you left off. But
not after you caused everyone so much pain.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Molly interjected, hurt and unable to
hide it.

“You don’t know that, do you? For all you know, maybe you
took off laughing at everyone as you left. And we shouldn’t have to let you
come back like nothing happened. David shouldn’t have to either. So he wants
Alicia to choose. You and I both know she’ll pick you. I just wanted you to
know what you’re doing to her.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Molly asked, irked, hot with
anger.

“Think Alicia’s going to?” Bev laughed. “She wouldn’t want
you worrying over something else. Everyone thinks we have to protect you, like
you deserve that.”