More Than Memories Read Online Free Page B

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?”
    “Is it really her?” Bev questioned again.
    “Yes, it is her. She’s back. Let me come in and
explain.” He followed them inside and saw his dad. Of course he had called his
parents about Molly’s reappearance, but he’d been so excited he probably didn’t
explain everything well. Since Bev didn’t know any of it, he repeated the
appropriate parts of Molly’s story while Bev kept her eyes narrowed and lips
twisted.
    “You’ll check into her story, right?” she asked
when he’d finished.
    Trent shook his head in disbelief, but upon
glancing at his mother’s expression, said, “Already am. The case needs to be
closed, you know.”
    Bev sighed, sat back, and continued to glare at
him. “We all know what she did to you by leaving, and now you’re welcoming her
back, no questions asked. She could hurt you all over again.”
    Trent sprang to his feet. “Didn’t you