Page 30 of Rekindled

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Molly dabbed on the last of her perfume, then pulled her hair forward around her neck to frame her face.

She turned sideways, glancing at the burgundy dress in the mirror. It wasn’t exactly her style with the flower pattern and tiny rhinestones along the neckline, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She was just grateful her mother had a dress that fit her.

She slipped on her black heels and grabbed her matching clutch. Her phone buzzed on the vanity. With a glance at the screen, she knew she had to take the call.

“Hello, Bernie, I got your voicemail, but I didn’t have a chance to call you back.”

“Obviously,” her boss said on the other end, “or I’m sure you would have called me back immediately.”

Molly could tell from his tone that he was perturbed. It wasn’t like her to stay dark while working an investigation, so he must have figured something was up. It explained the phone call and the attitude.

“What can I do for you, Bernie?” Molly asked, trying to keep her own tone casual.

“You can finish up this story and get yourself back here to Seattle,” Bernie demanded. “I have another story brewing, and I want you on it.”

“I’m moving as fast as I can. It’s a delicate situation, and I don’t want to mess it up.”

There was a heavy sigh on the other end before her boss said, “You know, when I first decided to assign this story to you, I thought your connection to the town and the fact you went to high school with Conrad would prove useful. Now, I’m beginning to think sending you there was a mistake.”

“It’s not,” Molly stated defensively. “I’ll get the story, and it’ll be the best one I’ve ever written for you.”

“You better, and I want it in three days. If you end up botching this one, I won’t hesitate to can you. Reporters are a dime a dozen. There’s tons of bloggers and writers wanting to make a name for themselves,” he warned.

“I understand,” Molly said, forcing herself to keep the apprehension out of her voice.

The silence on the other end let Molly know her boss ended the call without saying goodbye. He wasn’t much for pleasantries. A holdout from the old days of printed news, Bernie Watts was tough but fair.

He had won his fair share of awards. It was the very reason Molly had taken the job as one of his field reporters. She had wanted to learn from the best. Unfortunately, he had a reputation of running through reporters like scissors through paper.

Molly was going to do whatever was necessary to get the story on Conrad. She didn’t want to be Bernie’s next causality.

Her phone buzzed again and she got ready to argue with Bernie. When she looked at the screen, Molly realized it was Spencer calling instead of her boss. She waffled on whether to answer, and decided there was no upside to spending more time with him. She hit the ignore button. For good measure, she quickly texted him that something came up and she wasn’t going to be able to accompany him to the dinner.

As soon as she sent the text, she regretted it. What was wrong with her? Part of her wanted a second chance with Spencer, but her heart kept throwing up roadblocks in an attempt to keep from getting hurt again.

Her mind drifted back to the aftermath from the last time she had let herself open up to someone.

“You ready to head out?” her Uncle Craig asked as he loaded her last box into the car.

Molly nodded her head as she took one last look at her house before climbing into the back of her aunt and uncle’s Ford Explorer. Her parents waved as they pulled out of the driveway.

She couldn’t believe her parents were making her move away. Her father said it was for her own good, but she wondered how good it could be to leave everything she loved and knew during the middle of her senior year. She had wanted to argue with them when they told her they had made the arrangements for her to move, but all the fight had been sucked out of her when Tiffany had attacked her in the hall two days prior.

“Are you all right, Molly?” her Aunt Susan asked with concern. “I know this is difficult, but you’ll like living in Seattle. There’s so much to do and see. I already have plans to take you to a couple of museums as well as some great hiking trails I looked up.”

Molly knew she should be grateful her aunt was trying to give her a pep talk, but it didn’t penetrate the thick wall of pain residing in her heart. Instead of responding, she turned her head to look out the window.

That was a mistake. As they pulled out of the driveway, she saw her mother crying into her father’s shoulder. He was patting her back, but lifted his hand to wave goodbye with a disappointed look on his face.

Molly couldn’t muster the effort to wave in return. The last image she had as she left Bayfield was of inconsolable parents.

Her phone buzzed and she looked down to see several texts flowing in from Spencer, all of them asking her to respond or call him back.

No matter how much she wanted to let Spencer in, she couldn’t help but remember how hard it had been to get over the pain of what he did to her. It took six months for her just to get comfortable living with her aunt and uncle, then another six months to work up the courage to sign up for college classes. She distrusted people so much, she never made friends. She even picked a major based on this distrust. She knew being an online reporter would mean she would have very little contact with people, and when she did, it would be strictly business.

Molly put the phone away and started to get out of her clothes. No point in staying in her mom’s dress when she wasn’t going anymore.

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