by Jenna Brandt
“Can you guys stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Spencer leaned over and whispered. “It’s pretty awkward to hear people talking about you.”
Both women’s eyes grew wide with shock. Sarah turned to Molly and laughed, causing Molly to join in.
They finished up the meal, and then Spencer got up and announced the auction winners. Each person who had the winning bid, stood up with excitement. After that, the raffle prizes were drawn and awarded.
“I want to thank all of you for coming out again tonight, but the night isn’t over. We still have a candy bar and dessert buffet for you to enjoy along with dancing and a live performance by our special guests, the band, Blindside.”
Molly couldn’t believe her eyes as she watched her favorite band of all time come onto the stage. They shook hands with Spencer before they got into position and started to play.
The familiar melodic sound of Branded Hearts came through the speakers. Instantly, Molly found herself humming along to the beat. What a wonderful surprise.
Spencer moved towards Molly like a magnet being attracted to its partner. She was glowing with happiness as her eyes were fixed on the band. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he couldn’t wait to hold her in his arms.
He reached out his hand to her as he asked, “May I have this dance?”
Molly turned towards him, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked up at him. “Of course,” she said, placing her hand in his, and allowing him to pull her to her feet.
He escorted her onto the dance floor just as the second verse of the slow song started.
“I haven’t had a chance to tell you how beautiful you look tonight,” Spencer whispered as he pulled her close. “It was all I could do to not stare at you the whole time I was speaking.”
Her face tinged pink as she smiled. “You look pretty handsome yourself tonight. I’m still not used to you in suits though. When we were young, you either wore jeans and a t-shirt or your football uniform.” She tilted her head and smirked, “I guess the suits are an improvement now that I think about it.”
He chuckled with a smile. “You’re one to judge. You always wore skinny jeans and shirts with ironic statements on them. If you think about it, you had way worse fashion sense than me.”
Playfully, she slapped him on the side of the arm. “Hey now, you’re supposed to be charming while you’re trying to win me back.”
The smile vanished from his face as he stared deep into her emerald eyes. “Is that what’s going on? Am I winning you back?”
Molly pressed her lips together and he could feel the tension in her body. “Yes,” she whispered barely loud enough for him to hear.
That one word made Spencer’s heart fill with joy. He had dreamed of this moment for years, but never thought it would actually come to be. Molly Price was in his arms telling him they had a second chance.
“You don’t know how happy hearing that makes me,” Spencer said, just as the song ended.
Everyone on the dance floor stopped and clapped as the lead singer of the band spoke between songs.
“I want to thank Spencer and the rest of the Boys and Girls Club board for inviting us here tonight to play a few songs for you. When I was a kid, there wasn’t a lot of safe things to do in the town I grew up in, so I appreciate the time and work of the dedicated volunteers who are making a place where kids can feel safe while having fun. This next song, Only You, is going out to Molly from Spencer.”
Molly’s eyes darted to Spencer as she gasped. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“It’s your favorite song, right? I still remember the first time you played it for me out on the cliffs. It’s one of my best memories.”
Tears formed in the corner of her eyes as he gathered her into his arms.
She shook her head and said with amazement, “Thank you so much. I feel so special.”
“Then all of this was worth it. The regular band will be playing the rest of the evening, but I’m friends with the drummer of Blindsided, so I asked them to come do this for you.”
“I’m starting to see you’ve really changed. The old Spencer never would have gone to all this trouble, let alone make a public proclamation that he cared enough to dedicate a song to me.”
“I really have changed, Molly, and I’m glad you’re starting to see that now.”
Spencer spun Molly around the floor, loving the feeling of her in his arms. Several times, he wanted to lean in and kiss her, but he wondered if she would be upset if he did it in front of everyone.
The night was wrapping up and the last song was playing. Molly shifted her hand from his shoulder to the front of his chest. Her eyes locked with his, and the intensity pushed all rational thought out of his mind. He didn’t care who was watching or how anyone would react, he was going to kiss Molly Price.
His face started to move towards hers, but just as their lips were about to touch, Tiffany’s obnoxious voice said from behind them, “Oh gross, tell me you’re not about to kiss her, Spencer.”
Molly jerked back and the moment was ruined. He was halfway tempted to turn around and yell at Tiffany, but decided against it. He didn’t want to make a spectacle during the event.
Instead, he irritably faced her and asked, “What do you want, Tiffany?”
“I want you to dance with me, for old time’s sake,” she said, reaching out and placing her hand on his arm. “We used to dance really good together, don’t you remember that Spencer?”
His stomach turned at the innuendo in Tiffany’s statement. Why couldn’t she take ‘no’ for an answer? “When are you going to realize I’m not interested in being with you, Tiffany?”
“Don’t say that,” she snapped. “I know you don’t mean it.”
Molly reached out and removed Tiffany’s hand from Spencer. “He said he isn’t interested, which means you’re wasting your time. Why don’t you do us all a favor, and leave us alone.”
Spencer was surprised to see Molly standing up to Tiffany for the first time. It appeared he wasn’t the only one who had changed.
“What are you going to do? Make me?” Tiffany challenged Molly.
“No, I don’t resort to childish tactics to get my way,” Molly stated through narrowed eyes. “You should grow up and back off. Learn the lesson you don’t always get your way.”
Tiffany placed her hands on her hips as she glared at Molly. “You’re just so smug, aren’t you? Just remember, Spencer isn’t great at being faithful. Good luck with that,” she said, before turning around and storming off.
Spencer was worried Tiffany’s words would cause Molly to put distance between them and undo all the progress they had made towards reconciling.
“Tell me she didn’t get to you,” Spencer pleaded.
“She didn’t,” Molly stated, shaking her head. “I know who you are now, Spencer Wilmington, and I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
Her vote of confidence made Spencer’s heart swell with pride. Wanting to be alone with her, Spencer asked, “You ready to get out of here?”
She nodded as he took her hand and guided her to the coat check to grab her jacket. They headed towards his car, but before he opened the door, he turned to her and said, “I’m proud of you for what you did in there. You standing up to Tiffany has been a long time coming.”
“You did it last time at the reunion, but I don’t want to hide behind you. She needs to know she doesn’t scare me anymore.”
“It was really attractive when you took her hand and flicked it off me,” he said, moving even closer to her. “I like it when you’re possessive over me.”
“Good, I plan to be that way from now on.”
“You won’t hear me complain,” he whispered as he stared at her. “You know, when I look into your eyes, it’s like coming home.”
Unable to resist any longer, Spencer closed the remaining distance between them. Molly placed her hand on his chest, then he covered his own over hers. “Can I kiss you?”
he asked hesitantly.
She whispered, “Yes,” just before his lips touched hers. The kiss was tender, and the sound of the ocean hitting the cliff below them made the moment perfect.
As Spencer helped Molly into the car, he realized he was done for. Molly Price was the only woman he had ever, and would ever, love.
Chapter 10
After kissing Spencer the night before, Molly went to bed conflicted over how to handle her investigation into his career. A restless night of sleep didn’t help anything.
As she ate breakfast, she made a decision she was going to change tactics. Rather than try to find out if the allegations were true, she was going to try to prove they were false.
Even if her boss got mad, she would rather know she fought for Spencer instead of letting him go down for something he didn’t do.
Molly started to form a plan in her head. She could go to Spencer’s office and poke around. If she noticed anyone there was acting odd or had a vendetta against Spencer, it could explain what was going on.
Molly rinsed off her plate and mug with soapy water in the sink, then set them in the drying rack.
“What are you doing today?” her mother asked from behind Molly.
“I thought I would go surprise Spencer with coffee this morning,” Molly said as she dried her hands on the kitchen towel by the side of the sink.
Her mother frowned and shook her head.
“What is it?” Molly inquired. “I can tell you have something on your mind.”
“I’m just worried about you.”
“What? Why?” Molly asked with confusion.
“It’s just all starting to happen again. I was excited when you first came home, thinking maybe we could reconnect and build a closer relationship,” Beverly said with concern as she reached out and placed her hand on the side of Molly’s arm. “Then you started spending time with Spencer Wilmington again. I’m worried you’re going to get wrapped up in him like before. I don’t want you to lose yourself. I made the mistake of ignoring the warning signs the first time, and didn’t say anything. I won’t do it again.”
Molly gave her mother an appreciative smile. “Mom, I understand your concern, but that’s not going to happen. Spencer and I are very different people than we were in high school.” She picked up her purse, and headed towards the front door. She stopped, turned around and added, “And for the record, I want us to build a closer relationship too. It’s one of the reasons I decided to stay longer than just the weekend.”
“And what are the other reasons?” her mother probed.
“You already know the answer to that,” Molly said with a smirk. “Spencer Wilmington.”
Five minutes later, Molly pulled up in front of the coffee shop and grabbed six cups of coffee along with a half a dozen muffins. She figured it couldn’t hurt to show up with an offering of good will.
Ten minutes after that, she entered the Public Defenders Crystal Cove office. She checked in at the front desk and asked for directions to Spencer’s office. She made her way through the cubicles until she reached his office.
A brown-haired woman with glasses was sitting behind a desk in front of Spencer’s office. She glanced up and gave her a smile. “Well, if it isn’t Molly Price. How are you doing?”
“I’m great,” Molly replied, trying to mask her confused look.
“You probably don’t remember me. I’m Jane Sternman. I was a class behind you and transferred in mid-year of my sophomore year. We only went to school together for a couple of months.”
“Oh, then how do you recognize me?”
The other woman raised her eyebrows, then shrugged. “Everyone who went to Crystal Cove High knew who you were Molly, after what happened and all. I want you to know, I think it was rotten, and more should have been done to those who did it.”
“Thank you. Not many people are of that same opinion. It’s nice to know I had at least one person on my side.”
“It was more than one,” Jane corrected. “Most of the people I hung out with felt the same. Everyone was just too afraid to stand up to Tiffany and her followers.”
“Again, that does make me feel better about the whole thing. I always felt so alone, like no one cared what happened to me.”
“So, I’m guessing you’re here to see Spencer.” Before Molly could question her how she knew, Jane added, “Allison told me what happened at the dinner last night. He should be back by the end of the hour. He had to go to court on a case.”
Molly offered a cup of coffee and muffin to Jane who gratefully took both. “Why don’t I give out the rest of these, and I can place the last set in Spencer’s office.”
“Sure. You can wait for him inside his office after you’re done.”
As Molly made the rounds, passing out her goodies, she casually asked questions about Spencer. Nothing useful came up, and she didn’t notice anyone who seemed upset with him.
The fact nothing came up relieved Molly, but then she reminded herself that he was really good at keeping secrets.
Molly made her way into Spencer’s office and placed the last two items on his desk. She glanced up and noticed the blinds were drawn. Good, she could quietly inspect his desk.
She rummaged through the papers, making sure to put everything back in its place. Nothing. Where else could she look? His computer might have information, but she wasn’t sure if it was password protected.
A quick touch of the mouse revealed it was indeed locked. She tried several passwords including his favorite band, his team name and number, and also the street he grew up on. None of them worked. Then a thought crossed her mind. She typed her name into the keyboard and the screen opened to his home page.
All these years later and he still used her name as his password. It touched her, and also made her feel a bit guilty over what she was doing. She hesitated fora moment, then reminded herself she was trying to protect Spencer.
Just as she was figuring out where he kept his files and emails, she heard the door open and Spencer question, “What are you doing?”
Spencer could tell Molly was not doing something she was proud of. She froze, her eyes darting up to meet his with a shocked look on her face.
“I was just wanting to send an email. I thought I could use your computer really quick.” She let go of the mouse, then added, “But it’s locked.”
“That’s because most of what is on there is confidential.” He glanced at her hand. “Couldn’t you use your cell phone to send an email?”
Molly averted her eyes and came around the desk. She picked up the coffee and muffin and pushed them out towards him. “I brought you a treat.”
“You can’t dodge the question like that. I’m a lawyer, remember.” He reached out, took the items, and placed them back on the desk.
Spencer didn’t like how it made him feel to find Molly poking around in his office. “Just tell me what is going on,” he urged.
Molly sat down in the chair, leaned back in it and shook her head. “I can’t keep this up anymore.”
“What’s that?” he asked, sitting down in the chair next to her. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“Not in this case. Not this time,” Molly whispered. “You’re going to hate me if I tell you.”
“I’ve known for a while something was going on that you were keeping quiet about. The reunion has been over for a couple of days and you’re still in town. Plus, I’ve had a couple of people tell me you’ve been asking really weird questions about me and my job. I think you’re investigating me, but I’m not sure why.”
Molly’s face scrunched up as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. “There’s been an allegation of corruption tied to your name.”
“What are you talking about?” Spencer asked, confused.
“My boss received an email stating that your high success rate of acquittals is due to you working in secret with the district attorney to cut deals on certain cases to gain wins on others. He assigned me the case because he kne
w I was from here, and hoped I could use my connections to validate the email.”
Spencer’s face turned white as a look of hurt settled on it. “I can’t believe someone would say that. I’ve never done anything that would cause someone to make false accusations like that.”
“I’ll be honest, when I first came here, I was set on proving you did it. I was coming from a place of revenge for what you did to me back in high school. Since I’ve gotten to know you and watched you with others, I know what you care about and stand for now. I know the accusation can’t be true.”
“I’m grateful for that at least, but I hate that anyone else would think that of me.”
“What I’m worried about is if anyone else finds out about this, it could ruin your reputation, not to mention cause a criminal investigation to be opened. I can do my best to keep our news outlet from publishing, but I can’t say that others won’t find out and do it instead.”
“What are my options?”
“I’m not sure. I have my tech guy looking into the original email. If I can figure out who sent it, maybe their motivation will become clear.”
“I agree. Will you let me know when you hear back?”
“I will.” She reached out and placed her hand on his knee. “I need to say one more thing. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It wasn’t right for me to keep it from you, but the longer it went, the more difficult it became to tell you.”
“That’s okay. I can understand why you did what you did. I forgive you. After all, you forgave me. The least I can do is return the favor.”
“Thank you,” she said, leaning forward and placing a peck on his cheek. “I’m glad this is finally all out in the open. I hated keeping the truth from you.”
“Well, you don’t have to anymore. We’re in this together,” Spencer assured her, squeezing her hand.
Though the situation was fraught with obstacles, he couldn’t help but acknowledge it was going to bring Molly and him closer together.
Chapter 11