Page 19 of Rekindled

“I’m not saying I don’t want that, but it doesn’t mean I have to give up everything I’ve worked for to have it.”

“Really? What does it matter in the grand schemes of things? I mean, seriously, you only work for a small online news outlet.”

His jab at her job stung. She had no idea he thought so little of her career. Add it to the way he discussed marriage, and Molly realized they didn’t see eye-to-eye on some really important parts of life.

“I don’t have time to argue about this right now,” Molly stated as she turned around to leave. “I have to go get ready.”

“If you go, I won’t be here when you get back,” Rick threatened.

Molly stopped with her hand on the knob to the door. She took a deep breath and then turned back around. “Do what you have to do. With how you’ve behaved over the last couple of days, and what you’ve said this morning, I don’t see a future with you anyway. You should go.”

“Fine with me,” Rick stated as he narrowed his eyes. “I don’t want to compete with a guy from your past, anyway.”

Without responding, she slipped out the door and headed back to her room. Now that things ended with Rick, she thought she would be sad, but instead, she was relieved.

As she gathered her clothes up to take to the bathroom, her anger and frustration over what happened came to the surface, reminding her of the time she felt exactly the same a decade ago.

“Why do we still have to keep us a secret?” Molly asked as she sat next to Spencer in his Camaro.

Turning to face her, Spencer explained, “I told you, it’s better this way. Your parents won’t approve, and everyone at school won’t understand.”

“Who cares if they don’t understand? I love you, Spencer, and I want everyone to know it.”

“I love you too, Molly, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. I like how things are right now.”

Molly’s lips pinched together, as she tried to figure out how to explain to him that keeping their relationship a secret was taking a toll on her. She didn’t sleep well, she had to always be on guard not to let it slip out when talking with people, and she hated pretending they barely knew each other at school.

In a strained voice, she asked, “Is it me? Are you ashamed of me?”

“No, of course not. I just know that right now, we don’t have to worry about anyone else, or what they think. All that matters is you and me.”

Molly wanted to argue with him, but she could see that it wouldn’t do any good. She had two choices at this point: stay with him and keep it a secret, or break up. She cared too much about Spencer to do the latter, which only left the former as an option.

Spencer leaned over and pulled her towards him, giving her a kiss. The moment their lips touched, it pushed everything else out of her mind but the fact that she was undeniably in love with Spencer Conrad.

* * *

Spencer arrivedat the Meadows Inn a little bit early. He wanted to spend a couple of minutes in silent prayer, asking God to help him to handle the situation the right way.

When Molly entered the restaurant at Meadows Inn, she looked good in her plum blouse and black slacks. Her hair was pinned half-back, revealing her slender neck and a pair of small, gold hoop earrings.

She approached the table at the back of the room with a tentative smile on her face.

“Hello, Molly,” Spencer greeted as she took a seat across from him.

“Hi, Spencer,” Molly said in return.

He glanced past her and observed, “I’m surprised Rick didn’t insist on coming along.”

“It wouldn’t make sense for him to do that, since we ended things earlier this morning.”

“I’m sorry,” Spencer said out of politeness. The truth was, he was glad to hear they weren’t together. Not just because it meant he had a better chance of convincing Molly to give him a second chance, but because he didn’t think Rick was a good guy. Molly deserved to be treated better, even if it wasn’t by Spencer, though he would do his best to show her it could be him.

“Are you though?” she asked skeptically as she arched an eyebrow. “Somehow I doubt it.”

He let out a small chuckle. “You caught me. I am glad he’s out of the picture. Why did you break up?”

“Rick thought something was going on between us, which is crazy,” Molly protested. “We’ve both moved on.”

---