“You never did trust me.” Molly nodded, the movement slow and drawn out.
“It’s not...” His voice was weak. His defense inadequate.
“Just to be clear so we’re on the same page.” A quick slice of her hand out in front of her body cut him off. “You think I paid Gina off to testify. And now that I notched another win, Gina’s future doesn’t matter.”
“Ms. McKinney.” The prosecutor called Molly’s name. He walked toward the same door Gina and the court clerk had used.
Molly signaled to the opposing counsel, holding up her finger to request one more minute. Then she swung back around to confront Drew. “Your silence is very telling.”
“You gave me your word we wouldn’t involve Gina further.” And she’d broken her word. How could he overlook that?
“And I broke it to save your life and reputation,” she charged. “But that’s hardly relevant.”
“I’m grateful.” He spread his hands out. “Truly.”
She curled her fingers around the strap of her briefcase. Her words were whispered through her clenched teeth “But I don’t want your gratitude. I wanted your respect and I wanted your love. But you can’t give me that, can you? You were never willing to give me that.”
Love. Drew blinked and knocked aside his panic. The discussion was about Gina and the fallout the woman now faced. And how he could best help the former legal assistant. Not love. Love was never involved here. “This is not the time or place.”
“There’s never going to be a time or place.”
“We need to talk about what happened here today. The ramifications, for everyone.”
“You can’t give me something you don’t feel. Something you’re incapable of feeling.” She stepped backward. Once. Then again. “There’s nothing more to say. Excuse me. I have a meeting.”
She turned and walked off. Head held high, shoulders straight. Not one wobble on her heels. Not one small stumble. Not one misstep as if she struggled. Only Drew struggled. He should let her go. She was right about him, wasn’t she? Drew called her name.
She turned, but before he could say anything, she spoke, “Let me know where I should send my invoice.”
Then she disappeared through the side door.
Drew stood inside the courtroom. The court reporter finished her notes and slipped out, leaving him alone. He stepped outside and two of Judge Bartlett’s assistants shook his hand. Another clerk offered a greeting as she passed. He was no longer the pariah in the legal community.
The charges against him had been dropped. But the loneliness remained.
Drew pulled his phone out of his pocket. His screen flashed, letting him know more than twenty unread texts and ten new voice-mail messages awaited him. Drew clicked on the first text from Brad. Sophie had gone into labor at the same time Drew’s hearing had started.
More texts included updates on Sophie’s progress. And more demanded Drew fill the family in on the outcome of the hearing. Others were apologies from his mother, father and Evie for not being at court to support him. Throughout the texts and voice mails, he sensed their excitement for the twins’ arrival and their concern for his future. And one thread was constant: their love for each other and for him.
Drew wanted to be only one place in that moment. With his family.
He turned around to look for Molly, to tell her the happy twin news. To take her with him to the hospital.
But she wasn’t there.
He was on his own. Just as he’d always been. Just as he’d wanted. She’d given him exactly what he wanted. He should celebrate. He’d soon have new nieces or nephews to spoil. His old life was his to reclaim. Everything was as it should be.
Why then wasn’t he celebrating?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
WITH MOLLY’S CARE package delivered and new mom Sophie ready for some well-earned rest, Molly slipped out of Sophie’s hospital room. Sophie needed all the sleep she could capture before she and the twins were discharged in a few days.
Molly had stayed for only an hour. Long enough to hold one of the twins, while Sophie cradled the other. That had led the two women to search each newborn boy for a birthmark to distinguish the identical twins. Unfortunately they found nothing obvious to help tell the brothers apart. Molly had then switched to cuddling first Owen, then Evan while she guided Sophie through some breastfeeding basics, offering encouragement and reassurance, as well. Sophie had requested Molly’s help, explaining she was less nervous with a friend beside her.
The visit had ended with Molly supplying answers to a few of Sophie’s pressing questions. No, the baby weight Sophie had gained would not be gone in the morning. Yes, Owen’s head would round out soon and they’d definitely need a different way to tell the twins apart before that happened. And finally, yes, Molly would bring Sophie whatever she craved for lunch tomorrow and the next day.
Molly was touched and delighted she could be there for Sophie as a friend. And as a mom to a mom. She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed a friend until Brooke, Nichole and Sophie and their significant others had come into her life.
Her short time with Sophie and the twins had uplifted and restored her spirits. A reprieve she’d needed after Drew’s hearing and their confrontation. She barely shut Sophie’s hospital room door and her steps slowed. Her good mood dipped and dulled.
Drew stood no more than ten feet away, peering into the long wide window of the newborn nursery. And yet the distance seemed more like an uncrossable chasm. But she’d let the bridge burn after she’d turned her back on him in the courtroom. You don’t trust me, do you?
He hadn’t denied her claim. And she’d had to save her heart.
She’d purposely visited Sophie
