Page 14 of Rekindled

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Molly couldn’t keep her father’s words from rolling around in her head. As she entered Ruby’s Diner, she wondered if it could be true that Spencer had changed. If that was the case, could he truly be guilty of the unethical conduct her boss accused him of? She couldn’t see how that would be possible, but it was her job to figure it out.

Across the room, Molly saw Spencer sitting next to a pretty redhead who looked vaguely familiar. She racked her brain to try to figure out how she knew her. Yes, it was geometry class. Sarah Martin sat directly behind Molly when they were both sophomores.

Sarah was one of the few people who was always nice to her, even after what happened to Molly during their senior year. She was grateful for that.

Even though she liked Sarah, the fact she was there with Spencer didn’t sit well with Molly. Suddenly, she regretted her decision to suggest a double-date, and wished she had accepted his offer to go get coffee.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rick. She was overcome by guilt. She shouldn’t care who Spencer was spending time with. She had a boyfriend, which meant Spencer’s dating activities were none of her concern.

As they approached the table, Sarah waved to her as she said, “Molly, it’s so good to see you.”

“Thanks, Sarah. It’s good to see you too.” Molly gestured to her boyfriend and added, “Everyone, this is Dr. Rick Colson. Rick, this is Spencer Conrad and his date, Sarah Martin.”

“Oh, we’re not dating. We’re just friends,” Sarah corrected. “Not that Spencer isn’t a great guy, but we’re more like brother and sister than anything else. Besides, I’m leaving the country for a year anyway.”

“Really? Where are you going?” Molly inquired.

“I’m working with the group, You with Purpose,” Sarah explained. “We’re headed to Uganda to help build an orphanage, along with a couple of houses and a church in an area that was destroyed by a mudslide last year.”

“That’s so great. Good for you,” Molly stated with a smile. “I did a series of stories about women’s rights on the African continent a couple of years ago. It was a challenging, but a rewarding experience.”

“We’ll have to trade notes when I get back from my trip.”

“I’d like that,” Molly stated as she took a seat across from Sarah and Spencer.

“That’s great you get to travel for work, and even better, in that case, you did it to write about such an important matter,” Spencer stated with an appreciative expression.

Rick sat down next to Molly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “That’s my girl. Molly is always trying to break the next big story.”

“That’s not the only reason I do it,” Molly countered. “I write what I do because I think it’s important to inform the public about what is going on in the world, as well as their local community.”

“Come on, honey. You don’t have to put on for them. After all, you said they were your friends.”

Molly looked across the table. She wanted to correct Rick and tell him that he was right about one of them being her friend, but she was uncertain about the other. She wasn’t sure why she had kept the exact nature of her relationship with Spencer a secret from Rick, but she knew for sure, right now wasn’t the time to correct the lack of full disclosure.

The server showed up with glasses of water for each of them, then she took their orders. Once the brunette was gone, Molly tried to relax. If she didn’t get comfortable, she was going to have a harder time questioning Spencer. Yet, even though she knew what she needed to do, she couldn’t seem to make herself calm down.

“So, what type of doctor are you?” Sarah asked with curiosity.

“I’m a plastic surgeon. I have my own practice in Seattle.”

Spencer leaned back in his chair as he gave Rick a look of disapproval. He quickly masked it, but not in time for Molly not to notice.

“He does reconstruction for birth defects, fire victims, and domestic violence survivors,” Molly stated defensively.

Rick either didn’t notice or didn’t care—Molly couldn’t be sure of which one it was—but instead of reacting negatively, he said with a smirk, “Don’t let her fool you. I’m not that noble. That’s like 5% of my patients. The rest of my time is filled with trophy wives wanting to go up a cup size, and rich teen girls getting nose jobs for their sweet sixteen gift.”

Molly wanted to die right on the spot. Sometimes Rick could be so uncouth. What was wrong with him? For being educated and at the top of his field, he sure acted like an imbecile way too often.

As Molly watched Spencer, she could tell he was amused by Rick rather than offended. She wasn’t sure if it bothered her more than if it had been the reverse.

Irritated, and wanting to put Spencer on the spot, Molly said, “Well, now that we have what my boyfriend does cleared up, let’s move on to you Spencer. I know you’re a public defender, but not much more than that.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie. Though she did know he had an unusually high success rate, and was great at getting his clients off or pleaded down to a lesser crime, she wanted to hear his take on it. One of the first things she learned when interviewing people—especially when they didn’t know it was happening—was to get them talking about themselves. Almost everyone liked to, and once they started going, they often would slip up and reveal more than they planned.

“I’ve been a public defender over four years now. I do my best to understand where my clients are coming from, and to help them the best way I can.”

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