“Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays that would otherwise have been spent alone,” Evelyn finished, as if they could read each other’s minds. “We don’t have to be alone — most of the time.”
Tears streaked Molly’s face. Hearing their story was so heartbreaking, but equally breathtaking — the kind you read about. “You’re in love.”
Ben chuckled, pulling Evelyn into a tight embrace. “So it seems!”
“Why hide it?” Molly asked. “Why all of the Facebook stuff?”
“Oh, it would be indecent to carry on like a couple fools,” Evelyn replied
“Why? You’ve waited a lifetime — what’s indecent about that?” Molly reasoned. “Everyone deserves to love and be loved.”
“Perhaps. Well, there you have it. My big scandal to go with that picture.” And ornery Evelyn was back.
“Evelyn…” Seth said.
“No, no…do what you set out to do. Do you think I didn’t know it was you with the toilet paper? That I didn’t see you parked down the street that night, or any of the other nights? Who do you think called the sheriff?”
It was all coming together for Molly. “That’s why you were home, not at the garden club meeting with Cady.”
“Well, that isn’t entirely true. We went out of town ourselves that night,” Evelyn admitted. “Hiding in this office gets a little…claustrophobic. We just get away when we can where no one will recognize us or our vehicles, and no one here misses us.”
“Ahhh, you come here because your car blends in. It’s a service station and always has a handful of cars around,” Seth offered, pieces all falling into place for him too.
“Facebook,” Molly added. “It’s to throw everyone off. Why would they suspect anything when you’re so—”
“Harsh?” Evelyn finished. “I’m just being neighborly and letting the people of Pine Valley know what’s really happening in their town since the Gazette doesn’t breathe a word of it.” Evelyn took pause before admitting her truth. “And maybe so nobody suspects anything…”
Ben chuckled, offering a sweet smile like he always did. “Whelp, seems you blew our cover!”
Seth grabbed Molly’s hand. “We should go.”
The young couple turned to walk out the door, not sure how to reconcile all they learned. Molly stopped, having one last thought on the topic to share.
“Evelyn? You can have love again. My mother died of a broken heart, never getting another chance at love. You have a chance at it again when not many get to know love once, much less three times. It’s standing right next to you. You…deserve it.” And she walked away after leaving them with a sweet smile and her sincere thoughts.
The ride home felt long, even if it was only a handful of minutes. There were so many emotions to consider — too many new realizations. Molly and Seth had their own epiphany only hours before, but that felt like old news given what they just learned about Evelyn and Ben.
Evelyn may be wicked in nature, but her bitterness was born of heartache and loss. It certainly didn’t justify her behavior, but it absolutely explained it. Love, a love like that, was rare.
Molly saw its power through her parents and had wanted that all-consuming passionate love herself. It was what brought her to Pine Valley in the first place. She was chasing the past, seeking her own happily ever after like her parents once had, and like Evelyn had a chance at again, not that Molly wanted to mirror the mean old lady.
“You okay over there?” Seth asked softly, grabbing Molly’s hand in his.
She smiled back at him, giving his hand a squeeze. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“What’s next?” he asked, full of hope.
“I don’t know, but I think this is a start.” Molly pulled up the pictures of Evelyn and Ben on her phone and deleted every last one of them. “We can’t post these. It needs to be their decision.”
“Agreed. It wouldn’t change a thing, and hey…she brought us together.” He pulled her hand to his lips and dropped a sweet kiss across her knuckles.
“Yeah she did.” Molly sighed with relief.
CHAPTER 15
Molly stood behind the counter at Reading Grounds the next morning, finally seeing a break between customers. She was searching Facebook to see what damage super sleuthing did the previous night. To her surprise, Evelyn’s first status update of the day was a profile update that read: In a Relationship. Molly smiled, pleased that maybe she and Seth had something to do with that. As if on cue, Evelyn walked into Reading Grounds, her hand in Ben’s. They ordered coffee and a morning pastry — something Evelyn had never done before.
“Can I get you anything else? Help you find a book?” Molly asked, pleased to have them in her store.
“I don’t read that pornography you young people read.” Classic Evelyn. It was good to see her.
“I’m sure you don’t. There are some new mystery novels in the first row, Evelyn, and a few westerns just behind there you might enjoy, Ben,” Molly said, gesturing to the shelves she was referring to.
“You read me like a book, dear…” Ben winked before walking in the direction he was referred.
Clearly, they still weren’t friends, probably never would be, and that was okay. This was, however, some sort of statement, a truce perhaps — Evelyn style. Molly’s phone pinged. It was another Facebook notification from Evelyn’s #RumorHasIt.
Enjoying coffee and a good book at Reading Grounds, but the scones she gets from the Savory Sweets Bistro are dry. Have you all seen the ungodly sight in the park? Perhaps the groundskeeper should get a book on gardening. The fall mums are atrocious.
Molly found herself laughing out loud. She was still Evelyn, all right.
“What’s so funny?” The familiar voice of Seth warmed Molly’s heart and put the kind of smile on her face that was hard to break.
“Seth…” Molly leaned over the counter to meet his kiss, then nodded in the direction of Evelyn and Ben. “Nothing much.”
“Progress?” Seth asked.
“Maybe!” Molly was satisfied, even if this was the extent of things with Evelyn.
Seth’s jaw dropped, and Molly laughed when they saw Evelyn and Ben standing in the row of romance novels, sliding one between their mystery and western novels.
“So…I was wondering, would you like to go out with me?” Seth said, bringing his attention back to Molly. “I was thinking we could start with dinner, but work toward a forever?”
Molly crossed her hands over her heart and giggled. “I would love to…on both counts! But maybe leave the cheesy forever lines alone. You don’t need them.”
Seth shrugged, pulling her hands back in his. “Are our sleuthing days over?”
“For now,” Molly said with a glance Evelyn’s way.
“So, tell me…read anything new lately? I could use a good book,” Seth teased.
Molly’s head fell back in a roaring laugh that delighted him. Seth wanted nothing more than to hear that sound over and over again.
“Just this one,” she said, pointing between them. “It’s one of those happily ever afters.”
“Now who has the cheesy forever lines?” Seth leaned in to kiss her, but paused to say, “I love you, Molly Anna Sexton.”
“I love you too…”
The End
ABOUT STEPHANIE ST. KLAIRE
Stephanie St. Klaire is a Pacific Northwest native currently living in Portland, Oregon with her husband, five children, and two ferocious lap dogs that are used to the finer things in life like sleeping all day. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found with a plate full of taco’s, a side of bean dip, and probably some gummy bears while being a little bit hippy and a lot bit busy mom’ing and wife’ing.
When she’s not tossing around gritty crime show inspired serial killers and diabolical bad guys, she likes to make people pee their pants a little with a good romcom. Sometimes, her worlds collide, and she writes really funny stuff right before she kills people off on the pages! She loves murder and ma
yhem as much as a good laugh and HEA! That’s why she’s a die-hard Hallmark junky but loves her gritty crime shows – balance!
Stephanie has always been a story teller, with the gift of “gab”, and a life-long goal to be a writer. Unfortunate circumstances with her health, finally afforded her the time to do so. Irony at its best, she began writing her first novel at an adverse time, to escape her circumstance and explore the stories in her imagination for relief. She is happy to share those stories with her readers, and bring a little fun, entertainment, and of course smexy characters to the pages.
Follow Stephanie St. Klaire on Social media to learn more about her, how often she really eats taco’s, and to keep up with her work.
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WHAT TO READ NEXT...
PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF IN PINE VALLEY
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START LAUGHING WITH ONE OF STEPHANIE’S STANDALONE ROMCOM SERIES, DILF DIARIES!
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KEEP THE LAUGHS GOING WITH ANOTHER PEE YOUR PANTS FUNNY STANDALONE ROMCOM SERIES FROM SSK...the FAUX-MANCE Series!
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WANT MORE OF THOSE O’REILLY BROTHERS?
Check out Stephanie’s McKenzie Ridge spin-off series, Brother’s Keeper! Get ready to fall in love with these alpha heroes with heart. They’ll take you to the edge of your seat with nail biting suspense, roaring laughter, and steamy h-o-t lovin’!
Brother’s Keeper I: Declan
Brother’s Keeper II: Liam
Brother’s Keeper III: Luke
Brother’s Keeper IV: Dace (2019
Brother’s Keeper V: Wylie (2019)
Sneaking Around Page 13