“Amen.” Lacey grinned. She had no intention of revealing she tried hard to charge little and pay off fast. She hated being in debt. She’d lived from hand to mouth for so long, she rarely let herself let go. Even though, these days, she could afford to do so now and again.
“I have to admit you’re different than I thought you’d be.” Molly’s astute gaze appraised Lacey without shame.
Apparently it was time to discuss the past. “You mean because I don’t have the word ‘trouble’ stamped on my forehead?” Lacey asked, laughing.
The other woman grinned. “At least not anymore.”
So now they’d reached the crux of things. “I wasn’t trouble then, either. What do you think of Hunter?” Lacey asked, the subject change not as off topic as it seemed.
Molly’s brows furrowed. “I thought he was a good guy.”
“He
“I have many reasons to want to get to know you better. They don’t all involve Hunter.” Molly absently blotted some spilled coffee from the table.
Lacey knew her uncle was the
Molly nodded, but she eyed Lacey warily, obviously uncertain of whether to believe whatever she was about to hear.
Lacey decided to keep the story short and succinct. She summed up her life, her time with her uncle, her stint in foster care with Ty and Hunter, and their elaborate plan to fake her death to prevent her from being returned by the state to her uncle’s care. But she couldn’t stop the occasional lump that rose in her throat or crack in her voice as she told the tale.
“My God.” Molly stared at Lacey, shock etched on her face. “Three teenagers pulled that off?”
“Well, two of those teenagers had street smarts and one had connections.” Lacey crumpled her napkin and tucked it into her now empty cup.
“You must have been desperate to have run off to New York alone.” Molly’s voice sounded distant, as if she were having difficulty comprehending. “And Ty and Hunter risked so much to help you. I mean if the police had found the car or linked them to the theft-”
“They didn’t.”
“But they had to have known there was a risk.”
“We were kids. I’m not sure how far out any of us thought things through,” Lacey said honestly.
She hated being reminded of how naive they’d been, how little they knew about the ramifications of their actions. Molly was right. Despite how her uncle had turned on Ty and Hunter, they’d been damn lucky they’d gotten away with their plan.
“I guess what I’m saying is, both Ty and Hunter had to have cared about you a great deal to do what they did.” Molly rose, empty cup in hand, and started for the garbage pail.
Lacey followed and they headed back into the mall. “We cared about each other,” she said to Molly.
As Lacey rushed to keep pace with the other woman, she realized what had Molly so agitated all of a sudden. Molly was threatened by Lacey and Hunter’s relationship.
The good news was that Hunter’s feelings for Molly were obviously reciprocated. The bad news was that the other woman still hadn’t come down on one side or the other when it came to Marc Dumont. For Hunter, Lacey and Ty, there was no middle ground.
“Molly?”
“Hmm?”
“Wait. Can we stop here and finish talking for a minute?” Lacey asked.
Molly came to a halt, folding her arms over her chest.
“You don’t need to worry about my feelings for Hunter or his for me. We’re friends, that’s all.”
She shook her head. “I’m not worried. I was just realizing what kind of bond you must share, that’s all.”
Lacey reached out and touched Molly’s arm. “Sometimes you form that kind of connection when you don’t have anyone else.”
“Maybe. But I saw something special in his eyes when he spoke about you.”
“Which I’d lay odds is nothing compared to what I saw there when he talked me into going shopping with
Molly sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually so insecure but I’m not, I mean, I haven’t been involved with a lot of guys and although Hunter’s asked me out-”
“Often, from what I hear,” Lacey interrupted.
Molly laughed. “Although he’s asked me out often, he never pushed when I said no. It became like this game between us and we both enjoyed the tension.”
“But neither of you ever acted on it.”
She shook her head. “Not until the night after he discovered that my mother is about to marry your uncle. Then he showed up on my doorstep, food in hand and a lot of questions on his lips.” Molly kicked her booted foot against the floor in disgust. “Before that he couldn’t be bothered to push the dating issue.”
“Well, you did say you’d turned him down before. And the Hunter I knew had-” Lacey bit down on her bottom lip fast. She had no business telling Hunter’s secrets.
“The Hunter you knew what? Tell me about him,” Molly urged.
Lacey frowned. She had been about to say the Hunter she knew had an inferiority complex and desperately needed others to love and believe in him. But what did Lacey really know about Molly? And how much could Lacey trust her with Hunter’s past?
She drew a deep breath. “Hunter’s a great guy. He’s sensitive even though he tries to hide it and he needs people he can trust around him.” And that was as much as she was willing to reveal. “But I’d bet if he shows interest, the slightest interest, it’s real.”
“After ten years apart you know him that well?” Molly asked.
Lacey nodded. “Like I said, he’s my family.” Ten years couldn’t erase that feeling. “So forgive me for saying this to you. If you’re playing a game, if you just like messing with the flirtation, then let it go. Don’t bother acting the part of someone who’s been hurt. Just leave him alone and let him move on.”
Molly’s eyes widened, partly in surprise, partly in admiration. “You’re protective of each other. I respect that.”
“You care about Hunter.” Lacey decided they’d talked about so much, she might as well lay it all on the line.
“Our relationship is complicated,” Molly said.
“Name one that isn’t. The thing is, if you care about Hunter and you trust his judgment, then you need to know one more thing about our past.”
Molly raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“After I left, Uncle Marc was furious that he’d lost any hope of gaining access to my trust fund.”
Molly’s shoulders stiffened.
Lacey refused to be deterred. “He was angry and needed to blame someone. That someone turned out to be Hunter and Ty but Hunter got the worst of it. Uncle Marc had Hunter removed from Ty’s mother’s home.”
“How do you know Marc was behind his removal?” Molly asked.
Lacey remained silent.
“So it’s like you said earlier about the car theft-there is no proof.”
“Touche.” Lilly smiled grimly. “But I think you need to allow for the possibility that there’s truth in my story. In our story.Talk to Marc. Ask him. And talk to Hunter. I’ve never known him to lie.”
A smile curved Molly’s lips. “I’ll do that.”
They started walking again, this time toward the exit of the mall closest to where they’d parked. Lacey felt as though she’d accomplished a lot with Molly, from telling her the truth about the past to opening up the possibility of a relationship with Hunter. In her heart Lacey believed that even if Hunter had ever had feelings for her in the past, he considered her just a friend now.
