Chapter 6
6
With a plate of spaghetti in one hand, Jake picked up his phone with the other and answered it without checking the caller ID. “Jake Sinclair.”
“Jake, it’s Annabelle Sutton.”
“Annabelle, what can I do for you? Are you still working?”
“I’m always on the clock, you know that. Anyway, I finally met with Molly Parker yesterday.”
He set his plate on the table. After weeks of not knowing whether the elusive Ms. Parker would ever show up, now everything seemed to be hurtling along at breakneck speed. “How did that go?”
“Okay.” The way she drew out the word told him otherwise. “Understandably, she was visibly upset. I didn’t realize no one had told her about James. I imagine it was quite a shock.”
Jake hated it when people referred to his twin as James. The name didn’t suit him. Never had. So much so that by the time the boys started school, even their parents called him by his middle name, Jesse. “Yeah, I’m not sure what to think about that.”
“Her reaction certainly appeared genuine.”
A memory of his recent encounter with Molly surfaced. He’d assumed she’d known about Jesse all along and that one day soon, she’d appear to collect her spoils, but ever since that incident in the bar, the occasional flash of doubt would cloud his judgment. “How long’s she here for?”
“I have no idea. She just said she’s living here for the time being.”
“Right.”
“Anyway, I’m not sure she understands how wills work. She seems reluctant to be involved, so I thought perhaps you could talk to her. I gave her your number, and I’ll send you her details now.”
Given the sum involved, this news surprised him. Nothing seemed to add up. The text alert chimed on Jake’s phone, and he glanced down at Annabelle’s notification.
“Do I really have to make contact?”
The lawyer chuckled, something he’d seldom heard her do. “I believe so. But give it a few days. She still needs a little processing time.”
“Yeah, okay. I understand.”
“I’ll call you next week to check progress. Goodnight.”
“Thanks.”
Jake ended the call and headed through to the kitchen, where he picked up the blue envelope from the counter. Although curious by nature, he’d so far resisted the urge to peek inside, but now that curiosity wouldn’t be denied. He opened the flap.
The card bore signs of wear, as if it had been opened repeatedly, and it smelled faintly of lavender. The writing inside was compact, both in font and content.
Sweet Molly,
Our parting forever stilled my heart.
Love,
Jesse xxx
Jake frowned as he reread the message written in his brother’s hand. Its meaning was clear: Molly Parker had broken Jesse’s heart right when he needed her most.
However, as Jake busied himself cleaning up the kitchen and putting on a load of laundry, he questioned his initial assessment. If Molly Parker hurt Jesse so badly, why would he reward that behavior with a substantial bequest?
Later, he found Jesse’s phone and searched through his photos from eight years prior. Because even though Jesse had said very little about the woman who was now in line for a share of his estate, one thing Jake did know was that his brother had met Molly the summer he’d lived in Tulloch Point, the same summer of his diagnosis.
If he hadn’t known what to look for, Jake would have missed her completely. But as he scrolled through the images of bands and surfers and small-town bars where Jesse played on tour, there she was.
Artistically put together and with breasts spilling out of her crop top, she had the pretty barely-twenty look nailed, but her immature face was nothing compared to the stunning beauty she’d become.
Next to her stood Jesse, a beer in one hand and the other arm draped around Molly’s shoulders as they both grinned into the lens.
A lump formed in Jake’s throat as he held the gaze staring back at him. Jesse was the younger twin by almost twenty minutes, and Jake had forever been his protector, often saving him from scuffles and life’s minor mishaps.
But when the leukemia struck out of nowhere, forever became redundant, and the option to intervene was taken from him, even after a bone marrow transplant bought Jesse precious extra years of remission.
With Jesse’s phone still in hand, Jake lounged on the sofa and scrolled through more recent photos, feeling like his heart would burst. His brother had always lived life to the max, with music being his one true love. At times, Jake wondered if his younger twin might stop touring, settle down, and perhaps even embrace a long-term relationship. But in the end, time wasn’t on his side.
So why, after all those years, was it Molly Parker occupying Jesse’s thoughts in the weeks leading up to his death?
Jake leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment, and as he turned off his brother’s phone, that cliché plastered all over social media sprang to mind: fuck cancer.
That same evening, in the garden suburb of Clifton East, Molly couldn’t settle. Jesse was dead. How had she not known this? Over the years, she’d often felt his presence—a gentle reminder of her past—and would smile as she recalled some of the things they’d said and done. Now, as she sat outside in the early evening light, Molly once again smiled sadly at the memory of him.
Back inside a while later, she grabbed a mixing bowl from the kitchen cabinet and turned on the oven. Baking was her happy place, and from the age of twelve, Molly had baked for her family most weekends: cookies, cakes, and apple desserts—all the things her parents and brother loved.
After whisking together sugar and eggs, Molly added melted butter, flour, oats, flaked almonds, and coconut. For tonight’s mix, chopped dried apricots from Lime Tree Hill’s farm-gate store and a dash of almond extract also made the cut.
With the cookies rolled, pressed with a fork, and browning in the oven, Molly sat with a chamomile tea and waited for the timer.
At the end of the island, in her basket of odds and ends, Jake Sinclair’s business card rested atop a pile of flyers. Blue lettering on white: the card was simple and to the point. She wondered what kind of person he was. Jesse had been roguish, not in a negative way, more in the endearing sense, but she’d never quite got the essence of him. Was Jake the same or more conservative in nature, like his dress sense and haircut?
The ding of the timer pulled Molly from her thoughts. She’d eat one cookie, maybe two, then give the rest to Gloria for her next mahjong night.
But as she transferred them from the baking sheet onto a wire rack, she discovered she’d suddenly lost her appetite.