reflexes, she’d thought over and over since then.
“I can understand. Mind if I ask you something?” Ty gestured to an empty corner of the room where they could speak in private.
“Of course not.” She stepped toward the area he’d suggested. “What is it?” He had her curious.
Ty leaned close. “How’d Dumont take it when you told him about Lilly being alive?”
She tried not to stiffen. She attempted not to become defensive. She tried and failed even though he was entitled to have that question answered and a whole lot more. But the truth was, Molly didn’t have the answers he sought. She’d asked Marc the bare minimum-what she could handle hearing and no more. Molly hadn’t considered herself a coward but faced with losing the inroads she’d made with getting closer to her mother and having a family, she discovered she was definitely a coward and more.
“Why do you want to know?” she asked Ty warily.
“Because,” Ty said.
“Because isn’t an answer and you know it.”
He gave her a curt nod. “Because the last time something happened that screwed up Dumont’s plans, he reacted. Lives were changed as a result. And he might be playing the role of the good, repentant uncle by inviting Lilly here, but I’m not buying into it. And I intend to make sure she doesn’t suffer again because of some revenge scheme he has going.” Ty ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the wall, his gaze locked with Molly’s.
She admired his defense of Lilly and wondered if anyone would ever love her enough to look out for her that way. She’d certainly never experienced it before, not even as a child, which probably explained why she fought to keep her mother’s love now.
“Let me tell you something,” she said, focusing on Ty’s words. “You and Hunter might think I’ve been taken in by Marc’s charms but I haven’t been. I weigh facts and I make up my own mind.” Except this time she hadn’t asked. But Ty didn’t need to know that.
He grinned. “That’s good to know.”
“What’s got you smiling all of a sudden?”
“You’re feisty.”
“So?”
“You could give a man like Hunter a run for his money,” Ty said, his dark mood lifting just for a moment.
She was shaken by his perceptive words. “We’re not talking about me and Hunter.”
Ty nodded. “I wish we were. That kind of conversation would be much more fun.”
She had to laugh, then, because he’d mentioned Hunter, she decided to tell him the truth. “Look, I went to Marc and told him Lacey was alive, just like Hunter expected me to do.”
“And?” Ty prodded.
She drew a deep breath. “He was stunned. At first, he was angry, then he controlled it,” she said, remembering. “Finally, he asked me to leave so he could be alone. I did. That’s all I know.” Molly brushed her hand over her black dress, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles. Then she toyed with the fringes on her bright lavender belt.
That conversation had been one of the most painful she’d ever had, mostly because of all the questions she hadn’t asked. She couldn’t look at Ty head-on knowing what Hunter claimed Marc Dumont had done to him and to his friends. And she hated feeling selfish because she had every right to the close-knit family she desired. Didn’t she?
Marc had become an important part of Molly’s life. A father figure of sorts, someone who seemed to want her around. After a lifetime of being pushed away by the adults in her life, that mattered. Even as she struggled to reconcile the monster these people claimed Marc had once been with the man she knew now.
Molly glanced at Ty. “You have to understand that I met Marc at a different stage in his life. He said he goes to an AA meeting every week and I believe him. And yes, I know getting Lacey’s money was a part of his plan when he proposed to my mother, but he seems accepting of how things are now that Lacey is alive.”
“Okay,” Ty said at last.
“That’s it? That easily?”
He pushed himself off the wall and straightened. “I know you believe what you’re telling me, and that’s good enough for now. Just watch your back,” he said by way of warning.
“Not to worry. I can take care of myself.”
He glanced at his watch. “Lilly’s been gone awhile.”
Molly glanced toward the doorway. “Why don’t you go find her,” she suggested.
Because she could definitely use a stronger drink.
TY FELT BAD about grilling Molly, but he’d needed to push her in order to gauge her honest reaction to Dumont and to the situation they all found themselves in. He’d also been assessing her for Hunter’s sake. Ty was looking out for his best friend who had strong feelings for this woman. Her mother was marrying into a snake pit and he wondered where Molly fit into the family.
Which brought him to another question. Where in the world had Lilly disappeared to in this monstrosity of a house? Ty couldn’t imagine what she was feeling now any more than he could envision growing up in a place like this. The house was a mansion, the grounds seemingly endless. He wondered if Lilly could separate the later years she spent here from her childhood and remember the place held good memories, too. Either way Ty was certain the absence of her mother and father made this visit extra difficult for her now.
After he checked the downstairs bathrooms, he climbed the long stairs in the foyer and began searching the empty rooms upstairs. There were bedrooms that looked as if they’d been closed off for years. He’d look in, find it empty and move on. At the end of the hall, there was a double door that must lead to the master bedroom suite and he started heading in that direction.
Although there was a crowd downstairs, the low hum of voices receded as he walked further away. As he came closer to the master suite, he realized there was another bedroom adjacent with a light shining from inside.
Bingo, he thought. He slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
LACEY SAT in the middle of her old twin bed, a stuffed animal she’d been forced to leave behind in her arms. She’d spent the time since she’d walked out of the party wandering the old rooms upstairs. Not much had changed, except for the master bedroom. That Marc had transformed into a bachelor’s room with dark colors and old wood furniture. She remembered her parents’ bleached-wood, light-blue-painted furniture and she immediately began to cry.
Not quiet tears but big, gulping uncontrollable sobs, caused in part by being in her own home, surrounded by strangers. It had been years since Lilly had fallen apart or even let herself become so immersed in memories that she cried. She couldn’t afford to be weak when she’d needed to be strong in order to keep going on. Forward. Living life no matter what stood in her way.
But the complete change of her parents’ room had thrown her badly and when she closed her eyes, the memories of all she’d lost flooded through her.
“Lilly?” Ty asked quietly. “I’ve been looking for you.”
She opened her eyes and met his somber gaze. “I got distracted,” she whispered, her fingers digging into the ratty fur of her old stuffed pet.
He strode forward and seated himself beside her. “Your old room?” he asked.
She nodded.
“It hasn’t changed,” he said, glancing around.
“I know. Either he didn’t have the money or…I don’t know why.”
“Are those ladybugs on the walls?”
“Red, white and royal blue ladybugs,” she said proudly. “I chose the wallpaper with my mom.” Lacey bit down on her lower lip. “She said bright colors would keep me cheerful all the time.”
He looked around some more. “Looks like a happy place to grow up. Was she right?”
“Until she and my father died.” Without warning, Lacey swung her feet off the bed and stood. “Let’s get out of here, okay?”
“You’re the boss.” He rose, following her lead.
“Don’t lie. You don’t let anybody call the shots,” she said.
“Unless it’s you,” he muttered.
