More Than Memories (3 page)

As much as me
? The phrase ca
ught her off guard, and he probably
saw it when she turned to stare at him. She didn’t need a memory to know her
eyes usually told everyone what she was feeling. His gaze searched her again,
looking for the old Molly, she guessed, and she had to look away. Alicia would
look at her and want to see her old friend as well. Could Molly give them that
person? Could she face them knowing they so desperately wanted to find the
person they knew? Again, she felt the urge to run back to California and just
move on,
pretending
her old life hadn’t existed.

No, she couldn’t live like that. She knew she
couldn’t hide from Alicia and the other people she no doubt knew here, but she
liked spending time
alone
with
Trent too.

She sighed. “I’ll have to see them at some point,
and I did come here to remember things, didn’t I?”

Trent
watched his
Molly as he led them through the forest, still blown away that she was back
ali
ve and healthy... and happy for the moment
. Yet, so
many questions and doubts stood between
them. Why did she disappear? And why did she come back now? He wanted the
truth, and he wanted Molly to get her memory back. If she remembered their time
together from childhood, maybe all those moments would mean something. Right
now they were just pictures in his head.

He watched her sway with the horse and throw him a
smile. Yeah, she was having fun, and they were making a new picture, a memory
that both of them knew about. Still, the unknowns haunted him, even in the
quiet, misty woods.

He wanted everyone in the town to believe in him
again, and Molly could do that for him if she knew what happened. A few people
were still suspicious and blamed Trent for the Andersons’ disappearance. Things
that big don’t happen in small towns and people needed someone to blame.

She glanced his way and smiled. “I’m so glad we
came out here.” She spoke softly, her eyes glowing with pleasure.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s real nice riding with you
again.” It felt right. It almost felt like they hadn’t lost the last four
years. For a minute, he tried to pretend they hadn’t. But maybe he wouldn’t
appreciate this so much then. As things stood, he had her back, in a way. A big
way, but he needed to get to the bottom of this too.

He’d spent the last four years searching for her
and praying that one day she’d come back to him and clear up all the doubt. How
could she without her memory? She had walked right by him without recognizing
him. Talk about a heart breaking moment. Then, he heard her story and swore
he’d find a way to bring her
memory 
back.
Or more importantly, bring her back to all of them.

Mark Stone questioned Molly’s story and raised
doubts at the precinct. That was his job, plus he was acting in Trent’s best
interests by playing the devil’s advocate, but Trent still felt stabbed in the
back. They’d traded a few angry words over the subject, so it was probably for
the best that he was off the case, and work, for a while. Besides his two weeks
of vacation time, he could also take personal time. His boss made that clear,
if he needed it to deal with all this.

Trent felt
relieved
to keep away from Mark for another reason: Mark had asked what Molly had said
when Trent told her about their relationship
. Thing
was, he hadn’t. He co
uldn’t tell her about them now that he knew about
the car accident that took her parents’ lives. If he revealed some of their
relationship, she might realize he was a suspect in her parents’ case, just as
she was. Her reappearance caused some of the old suspicions about him to come
back to life. She needed a friend to trust right now, and the truth would scare
her.

“Look!” She whispered loudly, pointing at a
spooked deer as it jaunted off.

“I’m surprised that’s the first one we’ve seen
today.”

He could tell she enjoyed the quietness as they
rode the horses slowly through th
e forest. Pretending
to get lost in the beauty around them, Trent thought back to when he and Molly
were together. About a month before Molly disappeared, he’d proposed and she’d
been waltzing around with a modest diamond on her ring finger. There weren’t
many people in Ridge City who had a diamond on their wedding band, which made
Molly even more p
roud.

This new Molly wasn’t anything like the wild one
he knew then. He couldn’t forget how she looked as she sashayed down the
sidewalk, her hips swinging slowly under her nice pants. She looked polished,
like a city girl. She seemed to have more money now than before. Maybe her
parents had life insurance.

Today she looked more like the old Molly, in blue
jeans for riding and her hair damp from the misty air.  Whether in jeans or
slacks, she always looked good. She smiled when she caught him looking her way,
but they still didn’t speak.
They were on the
back end of the path heading toward the stables, and he sadly realized the ride
hadn’t triggered any memories for her. Unless she just hadn’t told him.

She turned her light brown eyes on him. His body
jumped, remembering her red lips on his, and how he tangled his fingers in that
thick, dark h
air.
I can’t take this!
He almost moaned and had to clear his throat to
cover it. Next, he had to force his hands to loosen their grip on his reins. He
shifted in the saddle, restless and tense with want for her. She sat so close
but so far away at the same time.

Her eyes looked troubled when she glanced over
several times in a row. She must have felt his mood. He couldn’t fake a smile
so they remained silent as they emerged from the woods and turned onto the
pasture path, heading back.

At the stables, he got the brushes and they cared
for the horses together.

“This seems natural, too,” she told him, then
added, “But I don’t think…”

“That you’re really remembering anything yet?”

She made an angry sound then.

“Mol, don’t rush it.”

A sigh. “There’s so much to be frustrated about.”

He knew it, but that didn’t change it. Not sure
what to say, he led his horse to the gate and opened it for both horses to
return to the field. They walked back to the truck and he reached an arm around
her, hoping that would ease her tension. 

She looked down and he wanted to pull her into his
arms, love away her sadness. When they reached her door, he held onto her a
minute longer.

“Thank you for today.” Her eyes looked a bit shiny
as she looked up into his.

“Hey, there’s plenty more for us.” He caught
himself at the very last second before he leaned down to kiss her. Shaken that
he slipped like that, he stepped away from her and opened the truck door.

When he reached the main road, an older song came
on that they used to sing together. Molly started humming and looked happier.

“We can come back and ride any time,” he said,
deciding he needed to enjoy their time together instead of brooding over what
they’d lost. He’d headed back to her hotel since they hadn’t discussed any
plans. What was the protocol for this? Act like they had just met, or whisk her
away to his house, like he would have done four years ago?

He settled on, “How about dinner?”

“Dinner sounds great.”

Grinning, he turned around and headed for a little
diner by the bridge. “Does Sally’s sound good? Good country food.” He wanted to
add how they used to eat there all the time, but he’d already decided to enjoy
the evening and not push things.

“Sure.”

Sally, the owner, wasn’t there that night like she
was sometimes, and he suddenly knew that was a good thing. She’d known Molly
pretty well. Their waitress tonight had been hired about two years before, so
she knew Trent but didn’t ask Molly any questions. People had to be talking
though.

Thankfully the two people who stopped simply said
hi and welcomed Molly back. A group of college kids came in and were laughing
pretty loud, so they had something to eavesdrop on and laugh about.

He had always loved her smile and how much her
entire face lit up. She looked at him now, laughing softly. Then tears came to
her eyes.

“I would have never guessed I’d find you here.”

Her serious words sent his heart spinning. “You
remember now?”

Her smile fell, sending his hopes right after it.
“No, I just meant I didn’t think I’d find anyone who would help me so much. I
felt pretty alone, but you’re here.”

He smiled warmly at her then but caught sight of a
tall brunette walking through the diner behind Molly. He stiffened, realized he
was holding his breath and forced himself to let it out. Molly looked worried
and turned to glance behind her.

It wasn’t Bev, thankfully, because she would throw
a hissy fit right there if she saw them together. Molly watched him nervously
now.

“Sorry, I thought that was someone else.” To
explain, he added, “I didn’t want you to face that yet.”

He felt grateful she didn’t press for a further
explanation. A few years ago she would have, but this was completely different.
Like they were two different people, or maybe the same people starting over.

She’d been studying him and said suddenly, “This
does feel familiar.” He could see her searching and reaching for a history to
match this feeling between them. “Maybe,” she added at last with a sigh.

“But what were you thinking?”

“Well, I don’t feel out of place here at all.
Maybe there’s something there. But then why did I forget about it? Why was I in
California? Now I’m not sure my parents told me the truth.”

It seemed all her questions came crashing down on
any hope of recovering her memory. He touched her hand on the table, wanting to
reassure her but didn’t know what to say.

After dinner, Trent had the same urge to stretch
the evening out, but it was getting late and, in reality, she didn’t know him
that well any more. He pulled up to the main door of her hotel and let the
truck idle. Mol reached for his hand first, just a light touch to say goodbye.

“Goodnight, and thanks for today and dinner.”

“Anytime, and I mean it.” He smiled, knowing she
had to be thinking about kissing him. Right? Or maybe wishing he’d kiss her.
Crazy.

She opened her door and slid out of his truck. He
answered her wave with his own and left in the misty evening rain that started
up. That was it, for today anyway.

As he drove to his parents’ house, Trent
unsuccessfully tried to stop the summer four years ago from running through his
mind. He fought this same war every day, trying to not think about Molly.

“But she’s here.” Styled, cultured, but still his
Molly. His mind played games with him and envisioned her in a short pair of
cut-off blue jeans, her long black hair flying around her as the sun shone on
it. She loved anything active that kept her going. Her dark brown eyes held a
mischievous gleam, but the small freckles dotting her nose gave her a
little-girl look. He was really whipping on himself today, replaying the
afternoon he’d proposed to her.

They were hiking up the hill for a picnic, and
Molly was running ahead of him. She made it to the apple tree they always sat
under, the one he carved their names into, and plopped down to wait for him,
her arms resting on her knees.

“Slow poke!” she called with a giggle. “You can’t
be a cop if you can’t chase down the bad guys.”

“Are you one of those bad guys?” he asked upon
reaching
her. He spread out a blanket and set down
their bag.

“Hungry already?” she
asked, her voice teasing that maybe she wanted something else.

“Well ... hey, what’s
this?” He pulled out a shoe box and handed it to her. It hadn’t been easy
packing their lunch around that box, but he wanted to surprise her. A little
box would have ruined it.

She threw him a glance,
a half smile, and lifted the lid. Trent remembered how her face came up, those
big brown eyes filling with tears. When he asked, she just nodded, and he slid
the ring slowly onto her finger. A perfect fit, just like the two of them. She
grabbed him in a fierce hug, kissed his cheek, his mouth... After a long kiss,
Molly jumped to her feet, ran to the edge of the hill, and shouted down to
Ridge City, “I’m getting married!”

He was sure the entire
town heard her.

His daydream ended when
he pulled up to his parents’ house and saw Beverly Marshall standing on the
porch, arms folded, dark eyes set for a fight. It hadn’t been her at the diner,
but it was her for sure now.
Damn it.
He didn’t like how she spent time
with his parents, but so far he wasn’t able to shake her. She was distant
family in a way, in his parents’ line of thinking. His sister Alicia had
married David, Bev’s cousin, and that made it okay for her to hang around.

The porch light right
above her cast shadows on her face in the dark, and he imagined a scowl on her
face.

“What’s got you going this time?” He swung out of
the truck, hoping he could soften her mood before telling her the good news.

“Molly Anderson, that’s what. Was it her?” Bev, he
had to admit, was pretty, but when mad, she looked like a classic TV villain
with her dark eyebrows, which were usually pulled together in a glare. She
tended to overuse the pouting beauty look too.

He was taken aback that she knew so soon. “How?”

“Just got a call, Terry Hill swears he saw you
walking with her on Main Street yesterday.” The door opened behind Bev.

Brenda, his mother, stepped out with an anxious
face. Mom usually had a pleasant face, but Trent saw the question in her eyes
as she asked, “How did today go?”