“Don’t apologize. I understand.”
He walked around, stepping over the suitcases and boxes she’d managed to pack in a short amount of time.
Without warning, he turned. “Damn it, Molly, don’t do this.”
She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “I have to.”
“You do know that you’re leaving without giving us a chance?” he asked, his tone imploring.
Molly closed her eyes. She hadn’t wanted to hurt Hunter. She’d avoided him for years to prevent doing just that, yet here they were anyway. “I need to find out who I am and what I want out of life. I can’t do that here, in a place where all I see are my childhood wishes for the family I never had.”
“I never had family, either. I understand what you’re going through. Why not work through it together? Unless of course, I’m mistaken in thinking you care about me, too.” A flush rose high on his cheekbones and he shoved his hands into his front pants pockets.
Molly knew how difficult it had been for Hunter to lay his heart on the line and it hurt her to have to reject him. But one day he’d thank her for doing it.
“It’s because I care about you that I’m leaving.” She met his gaze, silently begging him to understand her reasons. “I need to grow up.” And to do so, she needed time alone.
Time to heal and put her mother in her past. She absolutely had to learn to stand on her own two feet without old hopes and expectations weighing her down.
He stepped closer. She inhaled and smelled his sexy cologne. Wherever she ended up, she’d miss his wit and his persistence. But until she could look in the mirror and like who she saw, Molly had no choice but to leave.
“I have no ties here, nothing to keep me from leaving. Let me go with you and we can start over someplace new.”
It was so tempting. He was so tempting.
She clasped her hands around his face. “You’re such a good man and I wish I could say yes. But finding myself has to be my priority.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Everyone has baggage,” he told her.
“Mine’s just heavier than most. Or at least too heavy for me at the moment.”
“And there’s nothing I can do to stop you?”
She shook her head. “Just don’t think this is easy for me.” Her voice caught in her throat.
And her lips, mere inches from his, were so close to kissing him and letting him change her mind. Which was why she leaned forward and brushed her mouth over his quickly. Then she stepped back before he could react.
He ran a thumb over his bottom lip. “Good luck, Molly. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for.”
So did she, because she couldn’t feel any worse than she did right now.
LACEY LEFT Ty visiting with his mother who was due to be released in another day or so. Because Lacey had a guard following her, Ty hadn’t questioned her when she’d gone for a walk. She just hadn’t mentioned that her goal was a heart-to-heart with her uncle Marc.
Lacey found him sitting in a wheelchair in the solarium, an all-glass room donated to the hospital by a wealthy patron.
“Are you feeling up to a talk?” she asked, waiting in the doorway. Although she knew he wasn’t the one who’d tried to kill her, she still wasn’t comfortable being alone with him.
He glanced up, obviously surprised to see her. “I’m fine and until the nurses decide to take me back to my room, I’m enjoying the view. Please come join me.”
She stepped inside, careful to sit in a chair by the door. Silly, since she was in an open room with a view. He couldn’t hurt her, not that he’d want to. She just had a difficult time believing it.
“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’m not really sure. I guess I needed to say thank you for trying to warn me about Paul Dunne.”
Uncle Marc shook his head. “If it weren’t for me, none of this would have been set in motion in the first place. Paul has a gambling problem. I have a drinking problem.” Uncle Marc adjusted the blanket on his lap as he spoke. “I did things that if not illegal, were unethical and immoral to say the least. He’d rather I inherit than you because he thought he could blackmail me and keep me from informing the police about the embezzlement. You, on the other hand, would have turned him in. He wanted you dead and he wanted me to kill you.”
He repeated the same things he’d said to the police, but Lilly had been so overwhelmed at the time, she hadn’t processed it all. She appreciated hearing it again.
“So he shot you because you refused to kill me.” She nearly choked over the word.
“And because he believed I was about to warn you. He was right.”
She glanced down at her trembling hands. “When will they let you go home?”
“Possibly tomorrow but don’t worry. Once I have the strength to pack, I’ll move out of your house. I called my brother and asked if I could move in with him for a while.”
Lacey opened her mouth, then closed it again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she’d be inheriting not just the money but her childhood home. Paul Dunne had told her as much during their meeting. She’d just never let herself think about the fact.
Now that she was forced to face the truth, she realized something important. “I don’t want the house,” she said, the words coming out before she could stop them.
“Your parents would want you to have it.”
“I want you to stay there. It’s your home, not mine.”
He wheeled his chair closer to her. “That’s awfully generous.”
Lacey wasn’t sure she’d call it an act of generosity. It was more like one of necessity. When she’d attended his engagement party, she’d shut the door on that part of her life.
“It’s not part of who I am anymore and you’ve lived there for so long, I can’t see any reason for you to move.”
“Well, I have one. I can’t afford the house anymore.”
“Uncle Marc…”
“Please. I’m not trying to make you feel bad. It’s just a fact. And you know for the first time I do believe I’ll survive.” He shook his head and laughed, then winced in pain.
“This isn’t a pity party, you know. It’s called moving on in life.”
Lacey rose from her seat. “I don’t know what’s left of the trust fund but doesn’t it cover the house?”
“If you’re living in it, then yes. It’s your money, Lacey. Starting soon.”
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She didn’t know what the future held, but she did know she had very little left in the way of family beyond Uncle Marc. Although the man had been the cause of her childhood trauma, he may well have just saved her life. She didn’t know if they could ever have a relationship, but as gestures went, he’d made a start.
She raised her gaze to meet his. “You can stay in the house,” she said. “As I said, it’s your home, not mine. Whatever basics the trust has always covered, well that can continue as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure my parents would want it that way.”
“I doubt it after all I’ve done to you.” His gaze shifted out the window, his embarrassment and humiliation clear.
“Actually I think my father would be grateful you saved my life, so let’s just start from here, okay? From where I stand, you don’t have any more family than I do.”
He blinked. “Your parents would be proud of the woman you’ve become,” he said. “Through none of my actions, that much is for sure.”
She thought his eyes were moist but she couldn’t be sure. Before she could reply, a knock at the door startled her. She turned to see Ty and the chief of police standing in the entry to the solarium.
“We didn’t want to interrupt, but I’m glad you’re both here,” the chief said.
Beside him, Ty scowled but said nothing.
Lacey felt sure he’d overheard at least part of her conversation with her uncle and didn’t approve, but the money was hers to spend as she wanted. Or it would be soon.