by Rachel Hanna
There was a time where Eddie’s father tried to take him in, but the stupid foster care system failed him yet again and wouldn’t allow it. Instead, he bounced from house to house, each one worse than the last.
He tried not to think about it now because it made him mad at all the years that were wasted. He hadn’t seen any of his siblings in eleven years now, but he thought about them a lot. He hoped they had experienced better situations than he had, and he hoped that one day he might see some of them again. As the oldest, he often thought about trying to find them, but right now he just needed to get his own life on track. He didn’t feel like he had anything to offer his brother and sister until he was more stable.
After high school, which he barely finished, he had bounced from job to job until Eddie’s father, Mac, offered to teach him the trade of building. He worked every day, riding with Mac in his beat up old truck. But it was one of the best times of his life so far, getting to spend time with a real man who cared about him.
Ballard Development was one of the largest real estate development companies in the southeast now, and he knew this opportunity in January Cove would probably be one of the biggest of his life. Mac had given him the gift of a lifetime and he wasn’t going to squander it.
As the project manager of the fanciest new restaurant in January Cove, he would be responsible for making sure the property got built and was done right. And as soon as it was complete, he’d move on to the next thing and hopefully back to a bigger city.
He’d been pretty surprised when Mac had told him about the job in January Cove because it wasn’t exactly the kind of place that Mac normally built in. He was more of a big city kind of guy, even though he drove that beat up old truck.
But for some reason, he really wanted Austin to take some time away from Atlanta and get his feet wet handling an entire project on his own. Austin could only assume that he sent him way out here to the boondocks to get him away from some of the bad influences that he’d been around his entire life.
But Austin also had a problem – an attitude problem. He knew it was a problem, but he never would’ve admitted it in front of anyone else. He was deemed too cocky by most women and way too arrogant by most men.
And while he would’ve liked the world to believe that he didn’t care what anyone thought of him, the truth was that he did. He desperately wanted to build the family that he never had, but he also wasn’t about to let any woman come close enough to make him feel the least bit vulnerable.
The court ordered counselor that the judge forced him to see the last time he got in trouble for punching a guy in a bar said that maybe he was protecting himself from women because the only important woman in his life had abandoned him.
He had rolled his eyes, convinced that counselors were quacks, but deep down he knew this man was right. And he had absolutely no idea what to do about it.
Molly pulled up in the parking lot of the vet clinic and shut off her car. She sat there for a moment, because she was 10 minutes early – like always – and stared out her windshield. It was misting rain, as usual, and the gray overcast Seattle skies were making her tired and a little blue. She had grown up in the Seattle area, and there were parts that she loved about it, but sometimes it was downright depressing.
The altercation with her parents the day before was still weighing heavily on her mind. Why was it that no one could believe in the love story that she was currently living? It was like they had all conspired against her, trying to make her believe that there was no way any man could be so in love with her as to propose before even meeting her in person.
Okay, so it did sound a little bit outlandish but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true.
She decided to let it go for the day, opting instead to enjoy her time with the animals. They always helped her, taking her out of her own problems for a few hours.
But today was different. She saw her boss’s car in the parking lot, and he was never there that early. Usually the vet techs came in a good hour before he did so that they could get everything ready for the work day.
Walter Hartford, the veterinarian who owned the clinic and worked with her father for his financial planning services, was a nice-looking man in his 50s. Tall and lean with salt-and-pepper hair, he made the veterinary clinic a very popular place for middle-aged women looking for some eye candy.
Most of the clientele was upper-class, blonde, tennis playing suburban mothers who loved to flirt with Dr. Hartford. He looked a little bit like George Clooney, Molly thought, and Olivia was forever trying to flirt with him which never worked because his wife was the perfect Barbie doll.
“Good morning, Dr. Hartford,” Molly said as she passed him at the front desk.
“Molly, I need to speak with you… Privately,” he said, a solemn look on his face. She didn’t know what was going on, but she could already feel her stomach starting to tense up. This wasn’t going to be good.
They walked into the small office that was behind the front desk, and Dr. Hartford shut the door. Molly sat down at the round table, the florescent light beaming down making her feel like she was in an interrogation room at the police station. Dr. Hartford sat down across from her, tapping his fingers on the table at first as if he was more anxious than she was.
Finally, he took a deep breath and gave her a sad smile. “There’s just no good way to say this, Molly. I’m going to have to let you go.”
For a moment, she was unable to speak and felt like someone had completely shut her throat off because forming words seemed out of the question. Instead, she stared at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. She truly was shocked because Dr. Hartford had always praised her on doing such a great job. When she finally felt like a little bit of the air was back in her lungs, she spoke.
“I… I don’t understand…” was all she managed to get out.
“Business is down, and I had to make a choice between you and Olivia. The fact of the matter is, Olivia has been with me for almost three years now and has a lot more experience. You know that I’m planning to retire early and hand the business over to my nephew in the next couple of years. After talking with your father, I realized that I needed to cut back to make the business more profitable for my nephew…”
Her father? He’d had this discussion with her father and somehow the result was her getting fired? She felt like she wanted to throw up.
“My father told you to fire me?” she asked softly.
Dr. Hartford shook his head vigorously. “No, of course not! He had no idea that I was going to let someone go. But after looking at the numbers with my wife…” There it was. His wife. Victoria was her name, but everyone called her Tory. And she was the most snobby person that Molly had ever met. And she hated Molly with a passion, that much was obvious.
“So… When is my last day?” Molly asked.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to need your badge and keys today. I’ll pay you through the end of this week because I know you weren’t expecting this and you must have bills.”
Must have bills? You mean rent? And food? Yeah, those are kind of important.
“Dr. Hartford, I really need more notice than this.”
“I can’t, Molly. I’m sure your parents would be more than willing to help you out until you can find another job. And of course I’ll give you a great reference!”
She cut her eyes to the side and noticed Olivia standing at the front desk looking through the glass window of the office with a confused face. Obviously, she didn’t know what was going on yet which made Molly feel a little better that she wasn’t in on it.
And then she cut her eyes to the left and noticed the coffee machine in the corner. The pot was full and piping hot, and for one split second she really thought about pouring it in his lap. But she thought better of it, not wanting to have a police record and be known as the girl who burned off the local veterinarian’s private parts.
Instead, she stood up, and dug her keys out of her purse along with her badge an
d laid them on the table. She was going to just walk out without a word, looking for a dramatic exit, but she decided to say one more thing.
“You know, I used to really admire you, Dr. Hartford. And while I should probably be very nice right now so that I can have my little reference from you, I’d like to tell you what a complete jackass I think you are. And your wife? Well, she has more aftermarket parts on her than a ’69 Mustang. Everybody knows that she’s just with you for the money, so it probably is important to cut my salary out. You might be able to keep her around for an extra year or so with that money.”
Now his mouth was hanging open and his eyes were bugging out, which made Molly a little bit giddy inside and almost made her rethink the coffee pot idea. But instead, she turned and walked out of the office, past Olivia who was standing there with a confused look on her face, and straight back out into the parking lot.
And in that moment, she made a decision. She was tired of life passing her by without her making big decisions and bold moves.
She was going to January Cove, Georgia, and she was going to prove everyone wrong by being with the love of her life.
Olivia sat across from her and sighed. “I’m so sorry, Molly. I had no idea Dr. Hartford was thinking about letting anyone go, much less you. I wish he would’ve let his silly niece go. She’s the worst receptionist we’ve ever had.”
As the two women sat at Kirkland’s, their favorite local bar, Molly continued to seethe with anger at what had happened to her in the last few hours. After Olivia had found out about her being let go, she had left work and immediately met her for a drink.
“It’s not your fault. Obviously, he just didn’t want me there anymore.” As much as she wanted to be angry and resentful, there was a small part of her that was excited about the fact that she was going to go meet Blake. Even if it wasn’t in the best of circumstances, maybe this was her chance at happiness.
“Well, I still feel terrible. I wish there was something I could do. Maybe you can get on at the new veterinary office over on Sycamore. I know a girl…” Olivia started to say.
“No thanks. I have other plans,” Molly said, finally cracking a smile. She ran her fingertip around the top of her margarita glass, gathering a little bit of salt onto her index finger and touching it to her tongue.
Olivia looked at her speculatively. “I’m not sure I like the sound of your voice right now.”
“I’m making a run for it, Liv. I’m going to Georgia to surprise Blake.” Molly smiled broadly, all the time knowing that her friend would be completely against the idea.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Positive. I need to start a new life, and what better place to do it than in January Cove?”
“I’m so worried about you. I love you to death, Molly, I really do. Our friendship means a lot to me, so can I be honest with you?” Olivia asked, looking her in the eye.
“I would expect nothing less.”
“I know the problems that you’ve had with your parents. I mean, we’ve talked about all of that. I know you had a hard time being accepted in high school. I’m just worried that you’re putting on rose-colored glasses, thinking this guy is some perfect being who’s going to complete you. But things could go terribly wrong. He could be an awful person, maybe even dangerous. Or he could not exist at all. I just don’t want to see you get stranded all the way across the country in a town that you don’t know.”
Deep down, Molly could understand her concerns because she’d had them herself. She knew that she was prone to “flights of fancy”, as her grandmother would’ve said. She’d always been a romantic at heart, reading romance novels at every chance she got as a teenager. But there was still a part of her, a very large part, that believed Blake was real and they would ride off into the sunset together on white horses, galloping across a sandy beach. Yeah, maybe she had read too many romance novels.
Molly reached across the table and touched Olivia’s hand. She really was grateful for her friendship, even if Olivia had been chosen to keep her job while Molly lost hers. It didn’t affect their friendship at all. Olivia had been there for her, there was no doubt about that.
“I appreciate that you’re concerned, but I promise I’ll make good decisions. This is the chance of a lifetime, to be able to go where I want to go and meet new people. And if things don’t work out with Blake for some reason, at least I’m living in an adorable beach town. It’s a new start, and I need that. I’ve needed this for a long time.”
Olivia nodded, the trepidatious look still on her face as she squeezed Molly’s hand and smiled.
“Then I support you. And if you need backup, I’m just a phone call and a plane ride away.”
Chapter 3
Molly rolled into town on fumes, everything she owned packed into the back of her compact little car. Her parents had thought she was crazy when she announced that she was driving cross country alone to be with the love of her life.
Olivia had tried everything to get her to stay, including offering to give up some of her own hours so that she could maybe get her job back. It was a crazy plan, and one that wouldn’t work, but Molly appreciated the offer nonetheless.
And it had taken her almost four days to get from Washington to the small coastal town of January Cove, Georgia. She was exhausted, and her car had sputtered into town like it had emphysema. It certainly wasn’t equipped to drive cross-country like it did, and she knew it happened on a wing and a prayer.
Luckily, she’d saved enough money to pay for gas and food and the little raunchy motels that she’d stayed at along the way. She hadn’t told Blake that she was coming, and she couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she showed up at his house. But first she had to find a place to stay and get herself settled in so that she could look – and smell – good. Right now, she was hot and sticky and sweaty and not at all ready to meet the man of her dreams.
She tried a couple of smaller hotels on the way into town, but apparently some kind of convention was happening in Savannah and all of the hotels were booked nearby. But when she got into January Cove, she saw a beautiful bed and breakfast just off the main square and decided that she would try that. It was probably out of her price range, she thought, but it was worth a shot anyway.
She parked her car on the street, locked it up – although it didn’t look like a very dangerous place – and headed up the walkway to the front porch.
The place was beautiful, an older Victorian home that reeked of historical value, and the front porch was just about as inviting as any place she’d ever been. She reached up and pulled back the enormous wrought iron door knocker, letting it go with a thud.
A beautiful woman answered the door, a baby on her hip and a smile on her face. She looked like the epitome of Southern grace and style, and Molly could see just past her into the wide-open foyer that was decorated straight out of Gone with the Wind.
“Hello! How can I help you?” the woman asked. The baby, obviously a girl because of her pink attire, smiled a toothless grin.
“I’m looking for a place to stay…” Molly said.
“Wonderful, that’s exactly what we offer here,” the woman said with a smile. “How long do you need a place?”
It was a question Molly really hadn’t considered. Her plan had been to drive cross country, fall in love and maybe ride off into the sunset in one of those carriages. Although she’d been in town for a few minutes and not one carriage had passed. Maybe her visions of the South were a little different than modern-day reality.
“Honestly, I have no idea. But I would think at least a week or two until I can find a place of my own around here.”
“Come on in. I’m sure we can accommodate that.” The woman opened the door and Molly followed her in, through the foyer and into the kitchen. She offered her a seat on a bar stool and put the baby in a high chair with some Cheerios in front of her. The baby happily giggled and grabbed at the Cheerios as the woman walked back behind the co
unter. She reached out her hand and said, “I’m Addison Parker. My boyfriend and I own this place.”
“I’m Molly. It’s beautiful. I can’t wait to stay here.” Molly was always uncomfortable when she met new people, especially women who were more attractive than she was. Growing up the way that she did, it was almost impossible for her to feel worthy around beautiful women.
“So, you’re moving here permanently?” Addison asked as she started the coffee pot. It was mid afternoon, and Molly couldn’t help but want to ask for a cup when it was finished brewing. She was a caffeine addict, that much was sure.
“I think so.”
“You sound unsure. What brings you to January Cove?”
Molly wanted to be one of those people who could talk to anybody about anything and feel totally confident. But she wasn’t. She was a little too introverted and private, and she honestly didn’t know how to answer the current question that was on the table. Addison must’ve picked up on her unease.
“I’m so sorry, Molly. I don’t mean to pry.”
“No, it’s just that I don’t really know how to explain why I’m here. You’re going to think it sounds kind of silly, just like my family and friends.”
“Well that sounds intriguing, but I won’t pry anymore. If you want someone to talk to, just know that I’m here. I’ve lived in January Cove for my entire life, so if I can help you with anything around town please let me know. In the meantime, let’s get you set up in a room.”
She scooped up her baby and took Molly upstairs. She showed her the second room on the left, which was a beautiful space with hardwood floors and pale pink walls. The thick moldings and tall windows truly made her feel transported back to the 1800s when the house was built.
After going over the cost to live there, it became really clear to Molly that she needed to find at least a part-time job quickly. She could survive a couple of weeks, but anything longer than that was going to require a regular income.