Page 15 of Rekindled

“Okay, that sounds exactly like a prepared response, rather than an answer with substance,” Molly pointed out. “I want to know why you made the choice you did? There must be a reason you decided to use your law degree the way you have.”

Spencer shifted in his seat, then crossed his arms. He looked visibly uncomfortable with her question.

“Maybe you should just let it go,” Rick suggested. “Can’t you tell the guy doesn’t want to go into it?” Giving Spencer an apologetic look, he added, “She’s naturally curious. Sometimes she doesn’t realize she comes off pushy.”

Molly’s head snapped to her boyfriend as her eyes narrowed. Geez, Rick was on a roll and about to get a medal for being the biggest jerk in the room.

“It’s okay,” Spencer said with a shake of his head. “I’m just not used to people wanting the details of why I became a public defender. Usually, I just tell them that general info and they move on to something else.” He took a sip of water, then continued. “During my first year of law school, my older brother ended up getting hooked on heroine. No one in the family knew, so when he got arrested for possession, it came as a shock to all of us. My parents had just lost all their money in some bad real estate investments, and they didn’t have the finances to hire an attorney. He was assigned a veteran public defender. We thought he would be fine, but the guy completely botched the case. My brother should have done rehab and gotten probation. Instead, he ended up getting six months in jail.”

“That’s awful,” Molly said with shock. “I remember you telling me how important your brother was to you.”

Spencer nodded. “It doesn’t end there though. The worst part was that while he was halfway through his sentence, a fight broke out in the jail and my brother was stabbed to death. It destroyed my family. They moved away shortly after that.”

Both Molly and Sarah gasped at the shocking news.

“I never knew that,” Sarah stated with sympathy. “Why don’t you talk about it?”

“It’s too painful,” Spencer stated plainly. “The best way for me to honor my brother is to not let what happened to him, happen to anyone else. It’s why I moved back to Bayfield and took the position as a public defender here. I do my best every day, to keep other families from feeling the loss we did when that public defender failed my brother.”

Molly resisted the urge to reach across the table and take Spencer’s hand. All this time, she only thought about how hard the last ten years had been for her, but she never stopped to think about what Spencer might have gone through during that same time.

She could see from the tension in his body and face, he was fighting back the emotions raging just below the surface. Though she knew he was vulnerable right now, and asking follow-up questions would catch him off-guard, she couldn’t bring herself to dig any further.

What was going on with her? Her whole purpose for coming here was to find out the truth about Spencer’s dealings as a public defender. Yet, the first moment he revealed something personal, albeit tragic and devastating, she put her purpose on the back-burner. She felt bad for her target, and was surprised by it, because she was usually tougher than this.

Not liking her reaction to his story, Molly decided she needed to take a few moments to clear her head. She jumped to her feet as she said, “Excuse me. I need to go to the restroom.” She glanced at Sarah and asked, “Is it still in the back?”

“Here, I can go with you,” Sarah offered as she joined her, and they moved towards the back of the diner.

“You really didn’t know any of that about his brother?” Molly asked.

Sarah shook her head. “I’ve been going to church with him for years and he never talked about it. I just always assumed his brother moved away.”

“I kind of feel bad, pushing him like that. If I had known it would result in him having to talk about that, I wouldn’t have.”

“I know that. You’ve always been a kind person, Molly.”

They entered the restroom. Molly glanced around and realized that just like the rest of the diner, it hadn’t changed much. There was a small area with two sinks and a mirror. Further back were two stalls with toilets inside.

“I can wait for you out here,” Sarah said.

“That’s okay. I don’t really have to use the restroom. I just needed to get away for a few minutes.”

“Why? It’s surprising you’re having such a reaction to Spencer’s story. Don’t get me wrong, it’s sad and all, but you two didn’t part on the best of terms. To be honest, I’m surprised you agreed to come here at all.”

“Believe me, you’re not the only one, but Spencer still has a way of getting me to agree to things I never thought I would.”

Molly’s mind instantly recalled the fact that she agreed to carry on a secret relationship with him, despite all the warnings her head told her heart. Why couldn’t she say ‘no’ to Spencer Conrad?

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. You should know, Spencer isn’t like he was when we were kids,” Sarah stated. “He’s really changed for the better. You don’t have to worry about what he will do anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m only here for a few days. Once I’m back in Seattle, all of this won’t matter anymore.”

Even as she said the words, she realized she wasn’t sure if they were true. The moment she first saw Spencer in the library the day before, something rekindled in Molly’s heart that had been extinguished for over a decade.

* * *

Dr. Rick Colson was an ignoramus.As Spencer watched him flirt with the young, brunette server named Sandy, the anger built inside him. This idiot somehow convinced the most perfect woman in the world to be with him, and yet he wasn’t content.

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