More Than Memories (14 page)

Karen put the last glass in and shut the
dishwasher door. She turned and pulled Molly in for a hug. “He obviously
doesn’t care about anything like that.”

“You never know. He’s a cop.”

“He loves you.”

Molly knew Karen had been a good judge of
character about her parents, knowing
something
was going on. So the fact
that she trusted Trent gave Molly confidence.

Karen said, “I think he wants to know what took
you away from him.”

“I do, too.” She wanted to know what went on with
her parents – if she had been a part of something wrong. More than anything she
wanted to remember her parents the way Trent and Alicia described them. She wanted
to remember the Molly that Trent grew up with and knew, the one that made him
fall so wildly and completely in love with her.

“I’m working in the morning, early, but call me
for anything. I’ll come over as soon as you want.”

Molly wiped her eyes and nodded. Karen said
goodbye to Trent and left, leaving Molly in the kitchen thinking about the day
to come, and then thinking about the man sitting in the living room. Everything
between them could change tomorrow if they found something in her parents’ things.

Trent let the women have time for goodbyes while
he reclined on the couch, flipping through the channels. Molly came in and sat
by him and asked, “Anything good on TV?”

“Molly kind of good?”

“Good drama or romantic comedy. Or something
that’s both.”

“Yup, just movies. You hated my cop shows.” He
flipped through and found an oldie but goody they both liked,
Overboard
.
“This was even shot in Oregon.” He stopped short as he remembered that the
storyline revolved around a case of amnesia. “You probably don’t want to watch
this one.”

“No, I like it. She gets a happy ending.”

Apparently she could remember movies ... other
people’s stories. Trent couldn’t help but think the Annie in the movie met the
love of her life due her to amnesia, but Molly was pulled away from hers.

“It’s really fine,” she said when she saw his
face. “I like this movie a lot.” Molly settled in against him but suddenly
wanted popcorn.

He laughed at her, even more so when she said,
“I’m not sure I even have any.”

He went with her into the kitchen and they found a
bag of microwave popcorn.

“Better than nothing,” he said.

“Hey,” she said. “It’s kettle corn.”

“You know I hate that stuff.” He realized his slip
of tongue too late.

Molly didn’t seem to catch it, her head in the
refrigerator. She popped up to say, “Well, good thing I have chips and salsa.
And good beer.”

She handed him a beer and the salsa, then
retrieved the popcorn from the microwave.

She headed to the other room, carrying her bag of
hot popcorn and his bag of chips. Suddenly she turned around. He waited,
surprise still on his face. Her mouth fell open. “You always ate chips and
salsa while I ate popcorn.”

They just stared at each other with the shared
memory in mind. He walked to her and kissed her lips. Several slow kisses later
they went back to the movie, which was about twenty minutes into it now. “It’s
a good thing we’ve seen it.”

She’d watched it herself twice that she remembered
and wondered if they’d watched it together before that. Molly loved how the man
changed during the movie because of Annie’s love for him, how she grew to love
his boys. Maybe she liked it because they became a family, a happy one in the
end.

Halfway through the movie sh
e wandered to the kitchen and fo
und a bottle of
white wine in the kitchen and brought them each a glass. Sharing their evening
felt so right. They snuggled as the movie progressed. Watching the characters
become a family made her think of Alicia and David and their so-far empty
minivan. A normal life, a family. She couldn’t stop herself from imagining her
with Trent in his house: the roses out front blooming, get togethers in the
backyard, and starting a family. There was room. Now she could only see Trent
in that empty house, waiting for her. She turned into him, feeling that she couldn’t
get close enough. He pulled her even closer, nuzzling her face before kissing
her.

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.”

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 the 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
....”