“There you go again. Playing the hero.Making decisions for others. Except in this case, it’s the right thing. The two of you under one roof ought to give you a chance to revisit the past and see what could have been. What still might be.”
Ty shook his head. “Not a chance.” Lilly had been a sweet girl who needed him. Now she was a grown woman who needed no one and had a life and another man waiting for her in the city.
“You know what they say. Never say never,” Hunter said before walking out the door and slamming it behind him.
HUNTER PAUSED in the hallway outside Ty’s apartment. He needed a minute to pull his thoughts together.
Lilly was home and looked better than ever. Ty was as sucker punched as he’d been way back when. And Hunter, well, his questions were answered. He’d been damn glad to see her, but only as a friend.
A friend he’d do anything for, not just for old times’ sake but also because, as a lawyer, he’d become an advocate of the underdog. Faced with Dumont, Lilly was the underdog and Hunter wouldn’t mind sticking it to the man who’d caused him untold pain. He just didn’t want to cause Molly any grief in the process.
From the day they’d met, Hunter and Molly had been on parallel paths that just couldn’t ever seem to cross. Back in law school, Molly barely took time from studying to do much of anything else. Hunter had been the same way, focused on succeeding. He’d been determined to graduate and make something of himself, mostly because his father had told him he never would. Once Hunter had done a one-eighty in juvie he’d decided to prove everyone who ever said he’d never be anything wrong. And he had, despite the father he’d run away from, and the mother who just didn’t want him. And despite Dumont, who’d pulled Hunter out of the only home he’d ever known.
Despite it all, Hunter had succeeded. And he resented like hell the fact that Dumont would once again cause him to lose someone he cared deeply about. He and Molly never had a chance before and tonight Hunter’s actions would ensure they never would. It wasn’t that he put Lilly and Ty above Molly-he just could never betray his family. They were all he had.
He stopped at The Tavern and picked up a variety of things for dinner, including a bottle of wine, before showing up on Molly’s doorstep. He walked up the driveway.
Just as Hunter had anticipated, Anna Marie, the court clerk and Molly’s landlord, sat on her porch swing. Her graying blond hair was pulled up in a bun. Wrapped in a sweater, she enjoyed the cool September night air-along with the ability to scour the neighborhood for good gossip. Which Hunter knew he was providing.
Still, he strode up the walkway, stopping outside Molly’s door. “Nice night out,” he said to Anna Marie before he rang the bell.
“It’s getting cold. There’s a chill in the air.” She pulled the heavy knit sweater tighter around her.
“Why don’t you go inside then?”
“I might miss-”
“A shooting star?” Hunter asked.
“Something like that.” The older woman winked at him and eased back in her swing. “What are you doing in town this late in the evening? I thought when you weren’t in court or at work, you preferred your swanky apartment in Albany.”
Hunter laughed. “I’m sure you already know why I’m here, so let’s get it over with.” He reached out and rang the doorbell with Molly’s name beneath it.
Under Anna Marie’s prying eyes, Molly opened the door, her eyes widening at the sight of Hunter and the grocery bag tucked under one arm. “Well, this is a surprise.”
“Because I finally decided not to take no for an answer?”
She nodded but pleasure lit up her gaze and for a minute, he let himself enjoy it.
He leaned against the siding of the house, admiring her formfitting jeans and fitted long-sleeved shirt. A far cry from the suits she wore in court, she looked more like she had when he’d first met her at Albany Law. Except now that she was home alone, the bright colors that defined her were nowhere to be found. Hmm. Another intriguing part of Molly to figure out…Wouldn’t that be a pleasure, assuming he was given the chance.
“Well, I can be persistent when I decide to be. So are you going to let me in? Or are you going to keep giving Anna Marie over here a free show?” He winked at the older woman who waved as she continued her swinging.
“When you put it that way, I have no choice.” Molly pushed open the screen and Hunter stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. “Honestly, sometimes I think she’s listening with a glass to the wall,” she said, laughing.
“Do you live the kind of exciting life she’d find entertaining?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” A sly smile curved her lips. “So what’s in the bag?”
“Food.”
She motioned for him to follow her up the stairs and into her home, stopping in the little kitchen area.
“I didn’t know what you liked, since you’ve never allowed me the privilege of buying you dinner, so I’ve got a variety of specials from The Tavern.” He proceeded to unpack a fully cooked steak dinner, a Tilapia fish entree, and chicken Marsala. “I covered all the bases,” he said.
Hunter knew he’d come a long way from the embarrassed, awkward kid that Ty had taken under his wing. Still, sometimes he was thrown back to the state of insecurity he experienced before he’d overcome juvenile detention.
But Molly didn’t laugh at him. Instead she looked over each platter and inhaled deeply. “I’d love a little of each. How about you?”
That easily, she broke through his anxiety and they shared a meal. He asked about her parents and her life, but like a lawyer, she deflected his questions with ones of her own. They sparred and he enjoyed her company. But none of their conversation offered him any openings to ask about Dumont.
“So Anna Marie tells me you know my soon-to-be-stepfather,” Molly finally said, as Hunter handed her dishes and she rinsed them clean.
She’d made it easy on him after all, giving him the entry he sought. He shook his head and laughed. “I forgot gossip runs both ways.”
Molly slanted her head his way. “Meaning?”
“Anna Marie was only too happy to feed me information about your mother’s upcoming marriage. Then she turned around and told you about Dumont and me.”
“Actually all she mentioned was that you shared a past. Care to elaborate?”
“Not really.” He braced his hands on the white Formica countertop. “But I suppose if I want information from you about Dumont, I’m going to have to share what I know.”
Hunter knew the minute she realized his dinner had been more of a ploy to question her about Dumont than a ruse to get that long-sought-after date.
Disappointment clouded her eyes. “So you’re not here just for the company.” Molly placed the dish towel on the counter and turned to face him. “You know what, Hunter? You suck,” she said, plainly. “We may have spent years tiptoeing around dating each other but I never pegged you for a guy who wouldn’t just outright ask for something he wanted.”
Unless he cared about the woman he wanted something from, Hunter thought. He had no answer for Molly. Not one she’d want to hear, anyway.
“So what do you want to know about Marc Dumont that’s so urgent you showed up here tonight?” she asked, her disgust with him clear.
“Do you like the man?” He figured he’d start with basic questions and lead up to his big revelation.
Molly shrugged. “He seems like a decent guy. He may be my mother’s soon-to-be fifth husband, but he’s the first one who’s brought me into the family instead of pushing me out.”
The same man who’d thrown Lilly out of her own home now chose to give one to Molly. What a goddamn mess. Hunter hadn’t known about Molly’s history with her mother but now he had a clue. Like Hunter, Molly’s family proved that sometimes having parents didn’t guarantee a good life.
“Why do you ask?”
Hunter inhaled deep. “Let’s say my past with Dumont doesn’t paint him in a favorable light. But you like him?”
“Like I said, he seems decent. He makes Mom happy and he’s been nice to me. But I can’t say I know him all that well. The romance or whatever you want to call it happened pretty fast. Then again with my mother, all her
