“That’s what we’re going to discuss.”
“Meaning you tell me what I have to do,” Kendra said.
“No. Meaning we all talk about it and reach a decision together,” Joe said.
“And I get a say?” she asked, clearly surprised and not entirely convinced.
He nodded. “An important say. Maybe not the deciding vote, but definitely a say.”
Kendra seemed to weigh his words before finally nodding. “Okay, then, let’s talk.”
Molly exchanged a look with Daniel, who gave her a brief nod, suggesting that he thought things were going okay so far. She felt the first faint stirring of relief. Maybe everyone was going to be reasonable, after all.
When they walked into Jess’s, Daniel and Joe headed for a booth as Retta flew out from behind the counter and hauled first Molly and then Kendra into an embrace. “You two scared the living daylights out of me,” she scolded. “Don’t ever do something like that again. Leave a note, even if you have to put it someplace other people won’t find it.” She cast a pointed look in Daniel’s direction.
Kendra stared at Retta with shock. “You were worried about me?”
“Well, of course I was,” Retta said.
Kendra immediately looked distraught. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
“Oh, baby girl, it’s okay,” Retta said. “You’re here now and you’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
But Kendra didn’t look reassured. Molly tucked a hand under her chin and studied her expression. “What’s wrong?”
“I guess it just hit me,” Kendra said. “If Retta was that upset because we went off fishing without telling her, my parents must be really crazed by now.”
Molly nodded slowly. “I imagine they are. Does that mean you want to go home? Or at least call them?”
Kendra immediately shook her head. “No. Can’t that cop call them and tell ’em I’m okay? Or Daniel? He could do it,” she said, clearly warming to that idea.
“Ask him. That can be one of the things we discuss as soon as I get everybody something to drink,” Molly said. She glanced at the booth where Daniel and Joe were clearly arguing, though trying hard not to raise their voices.
She put three cups of coffee and some hot chocolate on a tray, then carried it to the booth, Kendra trailing along behind.
“Okay, fellows, here you go,” she said, setting the coffee in front of them. She glanced at Daniel. “It’s still Retta’s. Nice and strong, just the way you liked it.”
Joe took a sip and nodded appreciatively. “Better than what I had in here the other day,” he said, then regarded her apologetically. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Molly said, resolving to get Retta to give her lessons in making coffee to suit impossible men.
As she slid into the booth next to Kendra, the girl sat up a little straighter and regarded Joe without flinching.
“I want you to call my parents,” she said.
Daniel choked on a sip of coffee, and Joe looked startled.
“That’s it? You’re ready to go home?” Joe asked.
Kendra shook her head. “No. And I don’t want them to know where I am, either. I just don’t want them worrying about me. Tell them I’m fine.”
Daniel gave her an understanding look. “That’s very thoughtful of you,” he said. “But it’s not that simple. If we let them know we’ve been in contact with you, then we’re also obligated to take you home.”
Her eyes widened. “But you said…” She frowned at Joe. “And you, too. You said I’d get to have a say in what happened.”
Joe nodded. “Which is why I’m not calling anybody until we’ve heard your side of the story. Now’s your chance to get everything out in the open, Kendra. Why did you run away from home? What did your parents do that was so awful?”
Molly gave her hand a squeeze, but Kendra just sat there, biting on her lower lip.
“Did they hit you?” Joe asked.
“No,” she said at once.
“Punish you?”
“Not really.”
“What then?” Joe prodded. “Is there a boy in the picture, someone they don’t think you ought to see?”
Clearly, he was running through a litany of the usual reasons a teen might run away. Kendra maintained that none of them were the reason she’d left home.
“Kendra,” Daniel prodded. “Stop stalling. Tell Joe what you told me.”
“They’re sending me away,” she said, her voice catching. She looked imploringly at Molly. “Please, don’t make me go back. I don’t want them to send me away.”
Molly glanced at Daniel, praying that he would signal her what the right response would be, but his gaze was on Joe.
“Where are they sending you, Kendra? I don’t understand,” Joe said, his tone gentle.
When she remained stubbornly silent, Joe turned to Molly. “Do you know?”
Molly shook her head. “She refuses to say another word.”
Daniel regarded Joe with confusion. “I thought you were going to talk to her parents about this. What did they have to say?”
“I tried to talk to them, but they said going away couldn’t possibly be the problem, that Kendra had agreed to all the plans.”
Kendra said, her voice climbing, “They decided. They never asked me! They don’t want me at home, so why should I go back there when I could stay with somebody who does want me?” She turned to Molly. “It’s okay if I stay here forever, right? You want me.”
“Honey, I’d let you stay here in a heartbeat, but it’s not that simple,” Molly said.
“Please, you’ve got to let me stay,” Kendra pleaded. “I could help here, the way I have been, and I can go to school. I won’t be any trouble.”
Molly’s heart was breaking at Kendra’s increasing agitation. It was so plain that she didn’t want to be sent back to her family, but at the same time she cared enough about them not to want them to worry about her. None of it was making a bit of sense, not that thirteen-year-olds were known for the depths of their logic. Too many hormones and not nearly enough life experience.
Molly turned to Daniel. “What do I do?”
“It’s not up to you,” he said quietly.
Kendra regarded him with alarm. “You’re making me go back?”
“No,” he said very firmly, startling Molly and Joe. “Here’s what I think. Joe, you need to go and meet with the Morrows again. Get to the bottom of this. Tell them that without a straight answer, we’re going into court to explore whether their custody needs to be challenged in Kendra’s best interests.”
“And what if they tell me they’re going to have my badge for not turning her over the second I found her?” Joe asked. “Dammit, Daniel, this limb you and I are on is starting to crack.”
“I’ll call your boss,” Daniel said. “I’ll make it very clear why we’ve handled it this way, that there are some serious questions about what’s going on between Kendra and her parents. I’m not saying they’re bad parents, just that we both saw that there’s an issue that requires some professional intervention.”
“Yeah, that and a million bucks might not be enough to keep me on the force,” Joe retorted.
Kendra’s lower lip quivered. “I’m sorry I’m causing so much trouble.”
Joe looked chagrined. “Kendra, it’s not your fault. This is what I do. It’s what Daniel does. I’d just like to know for sure that we’re on the side of the angels.”
“I think you are,” Molly said quietly.
Kendra smiled. “Me, too.”
Daniel grinned. “There you go, Joe. Two endorsements.”
“Too bad they’re not unbiased,” Joe said as he slid from the booth. “I’ll be in touch.” He feigned a scowl for Kendra’s benefit. “Don’t get lost.”
She shook her head and regarded him with a serious expression. “I’ll be right here.” She sketched a cross across her heart. “I promise.”
He nodded. “Good enough for me.
”
As soon as he’d gone, Kendra turned to Molly. “Can I go in the kitchen with Retta?”
“Sure,” she said at once, sliding out to let Kendra out of the booth.
To Molly’s surprise, Kendra wrapped her arms around her waist. “Thanks. You’re the best.” She beamed at Daniel. “You, too.”
After she’d gone, Daniel gave Molly a brooding look. “That kid has a lot of people tied up in knots. I hope to hell we know what we’re doing where she’s concerned.”
“We do,” Molly said confidently.
His expression turned thoughtful. “What about us? Do we know what we’re doing about us?”
Molly shrugged. “Probably not.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
She grinned. “For now, I’m fine with the one-day-at-a-time approach. Can you live with it?”
“If I have to.”
“That’s the only choice I see,” she said, unwilling to commit to anything more, especially when Daniel was the one who was incapable of making the kind of commitment she might want at some time in the future.
“In that spirit, then, how about playing hooky with me this afternoon?” he asked.
Molly glanced worriedly toward the kitchen. “What about Kendra?”
“She’ll be fine with Retta.”
Molly knew he was right. In fact, it wasn’t really Kendra she was anxious about. She couldn’t help worrying about whether she would be fine with Daniel.
“I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do,” he said, a teasing glint in his eyes.
“That could leave a lot of room for flexibility,” she noted, thinking about just how badly she’d wanted to make love with him a few hours earlier.
His grin spread. “That’s what I’m hoping.”
“Okay, then. Let’s say I were to agree to go out with you this afternoon. Where are we going?”
“Now that’s the quandary, isn’t it? Your place is pretty much out of the question, given the likelihood of unexpected traffic. Mine’s a total mess.”
“You’re assuming that my agreement to play hooky requires privacy,” she teased. “Did I give you that impression? Maybe I just want to go someplace for a burger and a game of pool.”
He scoffed at that. “We could do that here. Retta makes a great burger, and the pool table’s not in use. I think we need to improve on that plan.”
“Steak, a glass of wine, maybe a chocolate mousse?”
“You’re getting warmer,” he said. “I hear they have excellent room service at the new inn on the outskirts of town.”
Molly considered the suggestion. She’d heard about that inn, seen pictures of it in the local paper. No question about it, it was an idyllic romantic hideaway.
“Have I met the owners?” she asked.
“I doubt it. They lived in Portland till they bought the property.”
“What about you? Do you know them?”
“Nope.”
“That ought to eliminate the gossip factor, especially if you pay cash and register under a phony name.” She grinned. “Sounds intriguing.”
“You just like living dangerously. I knew the whole sneaking around bit would appeal to you.”
She sobered at that. “It’s not that I’m ashamed of what we’re about to do, Daniel. It isn’t.”
He reached for her hand. “I know that. You just don’t want to answer a lot of prying questions.”
“Exactly, and there are bound to be a slew of them. From Retta. From your brother. Even from your folks. We’re not ready for that yet. I don’t even have all the answers for myself.”
He lifted her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “Maybe we can start to figure out a few of them this afternoon.”
“Maybe so.” She grinned, getting into the spirit of things. It had been a lot of years since she’d had to slip out of the house to avoid her grandfather’s questions about some boy. “Wait for me in the parking lot. I’ll sneak out in about five minutes.”
He laughed. “As if that’s going to keep Retta from suspecting a thing.”
“It’s worth a try,” she insisted. “Now go.”
After he’d gone, she slipped into the kitchen and casually picked up a sliver of carrot intended for the vegetable soup Retta was making for dinner. Kendra was dicing potatoes with total concentration.
“Everything okay in here?” Molly inquired.
“Doing fine,” Retta said, glancing up from the biscuits she was rolling out. “Daniel gone?”
“Uh-huh.” She picked up another sliver of carrot. “Do you need me in here? I thought I might go out for a while.”
“Kendra and I will be just fine,” Retta assured her. “You go on and do whatever you need to do.”
“I shouldn’t be too long,” Molly said. “A couple of hours, max.”
“No problem.”
“That’s okay with you, Kendra?”
The girl blinked as if she hadn’t even realized Molly was in the room. “What?”
“I’m going out.”
“Okay, whatever.”
Molly gave them a wave and headed for the door, convinced that no one was the wiser about her intentions. She was just congratulating herself on her subtlety, when Retta called out to her.
Molly glanced at her. “What?”
“I’m gonna want to hear all about that inn when you get back, you hear me?”
Molly regarded her evenly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Retta laughed. “We’ll talk about you fibbing to me, too. Now go on and have yourself some fun. It’s been a long time coming.”
“It has been, hasn’t it?” she said mostly to herself.
As for Retta and her ESP, Molly had known the woman her entire life. She should have realized she’d never be able to put anything over on her. Maybe it was for the best. Somehow it felt better going to meet Daniel and knowing that she had Retta’s blessing. She knew full well that it wasn’t something Retta was likely to give lightly, which meant she’d seen the same thing in Daniel that Molly had seen—a changed man, who was no longer afraid of love.
Chapter Eleven
Daniel watched Molly emerge from Jess’s, her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkling with once-familiar excitement. How long had it been since he’d seen her in a carefree mood like this? Maybe she’d had happy times in the years since they’d split up, but he didn’t think so. Nothing he’d heard suggested that she’d allowed herself to do something or to go out with someone for the sheer enjoyment of it. He had apparently robbed her of the free-spirited joy she’d always found in trying the unexpected. It was one more regret he’d have to live with.
He turned on the engine as she climbed into the passenger seat and faced him with pure, uninhibited mischief in her eyes.
“What?” he asked.
“I got caught,” she said, grinning and sounding not the least bit repentant.
“Caught?”
“Retta’s on to us. She figured out what we’re up to.”
Daniel stared at her, not sure he was comprehending what she was telling him, especially since she didn’t seem particularly upset. To the contrary, she sounded like a kid on a lark. “Retta knows we’re going to the inn to sleep together?”
“She does,” Molly confirmed.
“How could she? She never heard a word we said. She was in the kitchen the whole time.”
“What can I tell you? She’s always had a sixth sense about these things.”
“Then I’m surprised she didn’t come charging into the parking lot with a meat cleaver,” he said, barely able to contain a shudder as he glanced worriedly into the rearview mirror, not entirely sure that he wouldn’t see Retta chasing after them, apron flapping, deadly cleaver in hand.
“Apparently she doesn’t disapprove,” Molly said.
He got it then. He understood why Molly looked so remarkably happy and at ease. “And that makes you feel a lot better about things, doesn’t it? I mean things be
tween us.” He couldn’t hide his own relief, either. Retta’s approval meant everything to Molly, and a lot to him, as well.
She nodded. “I know it’s ridiculous at my age to care about anyone’s opinion, but I do. Retta was like a mother to me when I was growing up. She knows how badly you hurt me, so I know she doesn’t take our relationship starting up again lightly. More than that, she’s my one link to my grandfather. I guess it’s a little like having his blessing, too.”
“Then I can stop worrying about the meat cleaver?”
She grinned. “Unless you hurt me again.”
“Then I will definitely try not to do that,” he vowed. He glanced sideways at her. “Retta’s approval aside, are you okay with this? We don’t have to go to the inn. We could just go somewhere and talk. We haven’t had a lot of time to catch up. Most of our conversations have been about Kendra.”
She laughed. “I’m a modern woman, in case you haven’t noticed. I can multitask. I can talk and have sex at the same time.”
Daniel barely managed to bite back a smile. “Good to know. In fact, that’s excellent.”
Her expression suddenly sobered. “Daniel?”
“What?”
“Do you really think we can get it right this time?”
“We’re going to try like hell,” he told her. “Because this time losing you is not an option I can live with.”
Apparently satisfied by his declaration, she settled back against the seat and closed her eyes. A minute later she was asleep.
Daniel sighed. Apparently, exhaustion from her all-night fishing adventure had caught up with her. A nap would do her good. It was a forty-five-minute drive to the inn. As he recalled, Molly could revive pretty quickly after even a brief catnap. Given his own state of near exhaustion, he would be doing well to keep up with her, but he intended to give it one hell of a shot. He’d been waiting way too long for this chance not to give it his all.
The inn looked as if it had been around for a century or more. The owners had done a fabulous job of creating a sprawling white clapboard country home that looked as though it had welcomed thousands of guests, even though its doors had been open only a few months.
Filled with guilty anticipation, Molly stood back while Daniel registered, then asked if it was possible to get room service at this hour. The young woman working behind the counter grinned.
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