The Last Autograph (A Reluctant Kiss #3)

Chapter 9

9

As it turned out, Jake didn’t have to wait a few days to pick up the phone and call Molly Parker because the very next day, the woman herself paid him another visit.

After noticing her presence from the kitchen, he observed her through the one-way glass. She appeared distracted as she spoke to one of the counter staff. Jake wondered if this was out of remorse for how she’d treated Jesse but then reminded himself that he didn’t know the details of her relationship with his brother and to speculate was a reckless game.

When the staff member called his name, Jake removed his apron and tossed it into the laundry basket. It was now a quarter to four, so they were about to close for the day, and while he’d intended to stay behind and catch up on paperwork, that bone-tired feeling of late never seemed to dissipate.

Molly stood motionless as he entered the store. Dressed in black pleated pants paired with a cinnamon-colored top and carrying a large messenger bag, she looked like she’d just come from a business meeting. Stunning.

She smiled softly as he walked toward her, and even though he’d vowed to keep an open mind when they finally met officially, given his brother’s message in the card, Jake struggled to return the gesture.

“Hello, I’m Molly.” She offered her hand, and he reluctantly took it, her handshake soft, like her smile, but confident. “Jake, isn’t it? I was wondering if we could have a word.”

“Sure.” It occurred to him that she’d asked the same question at the bar, and look how that turned out. “Through here.”

Molly followed Jake out into the courtyard. He certainly wasn’t looking forward to this conversation. After all, the least she could have done when Jesse died was send a card. But there’d been no card, no phone call. No acknowledgment of any kind. And to find out she was now in Clifton Falls hadn’t helped his impression of her.

“Can I offer you a drink? Coffee, tea?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

Jake led her to a table at the back. He pulled out her chair, and, once again, she thanked him before sitting. As silence fell between them, Jake noticed Molly clenching and unclenching her fists.

She glanced down at her hands, then up again, her expression one of sadness. “I’d like to apologize for the other night at the bar. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Apart from a curt “thank you,” Jake remained silent. He’d let her speak until he had the measure of her, because her connection to his twin was a topic of intrigue, and he wanted the full story, good or bad.

“It was such a shock when the lawyer told me Jesse had passed away. When I saw you that day at the traffic lights and again in the bar, I mistakenly thought you were him. He never really talked about his family. I didn’t realize he had a twin.”

Jake nodded. That didn’t surprise him. Jesse had been a closed book until he got to know someone well. Outwardly, he was the life and soul of the party, but he could also be reserved, almost distant.

“Annabelle Sutton said you’d fill me in. I don’t even know what happened. How… how he died.”

Given how easy it was to find information on social media, despite the scene in the bar and her explanation that she’d thought he was Jesse, the skeptic in Jake questioned this once again. While the family hadn’t posted an announcement on Jesse’s social accounts, there were many tributes from his friends. All she had to do was look.

“Was he in an accident?” Molly continued.

“No.” Jake hesitated. There was no point being confrontational, although the thought had crossed his mind. “He died from a rare form of blood cancer.”

“Blood cancer? You mean leukemia?”

“Yes.”

“Was it sudden?”

Again, her sorrow seemed genuine, but for Jake, the doubt remained. He glanced across the road, through the pines to the shore, where an afternoon haze softened the strength of the sun.

Jake released a deep breath before giving her his attention once again. “He was diagnosed the summer he lived in Tulloch Point. The first eighteen months were difficult, but after that, he was in remission until last year. The end was swifter than anyone anticipated.”

“I’m so sorry. I can’t begin to imagine the sorrow you and your family have endured.”

Interesting. She wasn’t pretending to understand exactly how he felt , and because of that, Jake’s stance shifted a little. Everyone grieves differently, and for Molly to acknowledge that was a gift.

“Yeah, it’s been tough, that’s for sure.”

Another nod. “The lawyer mentioned Jesse’s will—that I’m named as a beneficiary.”

And there it was. The real reason for her visit. Money. The root of all evil— or the path to true happiness, depending on your perspective. “That’s correct.” Jake failed to suppress the curtness in his response, and Molly recoiled a fraction.

“It was all quite a shock. I hadn’t heard from Jesse in years?—”

“Apart from the card?”

She held his gaze as if trying to gauge his mood. “Yes, apart from the card, but I only received that recently, so… Were you aware that he’d included me in his will?”

This was neither the time nor the place for that discussion, and all Jake wanted was to shut down their conversation. The initial rawness he’d felt still remained, and he wondered if grief, once experienced, clings on for dear life—pun intended. “I was, but we barely discussed the details. In the end, time wasn’t on our side.”

Molly nodded, and in the silence that followed, Jake took a moment to study her. With minimal makeup and exuding an understated sophistication, she seemed too demure to be Jesse’s type. But then, people could change, and this version of the woman was a stark contrast to the much younger one in that grainy image on his brother’s phone. Her hair, while still well below her shoulders, was a softer blonde, and she seemed smaller somehow. More delicate.

“Anyway, it’ll be a while before the will’s settled,” he continued. “In the meantime, once you receive a copy, I suggest you seek independent legal advice.”

Molly rested her elbows on the table and clasped her hands under her chin. He recognized the pause-for-effect tactic. “I take it you don’t approve.”

At least she’d caught his drift, so that was one point in her favor. In all honesty, Jake struggled to reconcile his own behavior. He seldom judged people harshly, but something about this seemingly perfect specimen of the female form annoyed the shit out of him.

And while Jesse had every right to do whatever he wanted with his assets as his last dying wish, with Molly about to inherit a tidy sum from his life insurance, Jake couldn’t help but question why. “Whether or not I approve is irrelevant. Jesse had his reasons, and it’s not for me to second-guess his decision. But I won’t lie—you turning up after the fact does seem a little too convenient if you ask me.”

She sat ramrod straight, both hands now flat on the table. “And it seems to me that second-guessing is exactly what you’re doing, which I find particularly unfair.”

“That’s your prerogative.”

“Perhaps, and sure, we got off to an unfortunate start, but while I regret my outburst at the bar, I have no desire to sit here and argue my case. I know what happened between Jesse and me, and I don’t need my truth verified by someone who isn’t even prepared to listen.”

Jake rubbed the back of his neck. The last thing he needed was one of Jesse’s exes throwing her weight around while waiting for her payout. His sigh escaped louder than he’d intended. “Look, it’s been a long day, a long few months, in fact, and I should lock up.”

“Of course.” Molly stood, her posture straight and tense as she shouldered her bag. “Thank you for your time.”

Jake stood as well, slipping his hands into his pockets as he willed himself to calm down. He followed her through to the counter, picked up a business card as an afterthought, and offered it to her. “Here’s my card. If you have any questions, text me.”

Molly hesitated before taking the card, then pushed through the door and out onto the street without so much as a goodbye. And as Jake watched her walk away, tossing his business card into a recycling bin as she passed, he couldn’t fathom why Jesse would shove him and Molly Parker together.

He glanced up at the heavens. “Seriously, Bro? If this is some kind of joke, I’m not laughing.”

That evening, the air was heavy and silent—earthquake weather, some would have called it—and as Jake sat on the deck with a glass of wine and melancholy for company, his thoughts turned to Molly. Her outburst at the end aside, she was gentler than he’d imagined, and for the second time that day, her elegance surfaced. With soft hazel eyes and a fair complexion, she possessed an air of quiet confidence that reminded him of the French. And yet, something about her just didn’t add up.

The ping of a text alert brought him back to the present, but he resisted the urge to check his phone. It was now almost nine, the time he normally silenced his notifications. Anyone who knew him well knew he went to bed early.

However, as he sipped his wine and mellowed along with the evening, he relented and looked anyway.

Molly: Thanks for your time earlier. I’ve added your number to my phone.

Jake wondered how when she’d tossed his card but then remembered Annabelle had mentioned giving Molly his contact details.

Jake: So I see.

Molly: I have a question.

He wanted to say, “ Just one, ” but…

Jake: Which is?

Molly: You said Jesse was diagnosed the summer he lived in Tulloch Point. Was it before mid-January or after?

Jake held her question aloft for a moment. Was she serious? Why did it matter now? He thought back to that first week in January, eight years earlier. Feeling in his gut that Jesse’s symptoms were serious, he accompanied his twin to the Clifton Falls oncologist’s appointment to lend his support.

With the day hot and humid and City Beach packed with people, they’d sat in the air-conditioned reception area for no more than five minutes before the doctor called them in.

The date: January fifth.

The worst day of Jake’s life, or so he’d thought at the time. In hindsight, he realized it was only the beginning of many more horrendous, grueling days. Days of little sleep, of grief and anger.

Jake: Before.

Molly: Thank you.

Jake waited for her to elaborate, but as he returned to the kitchen and placed his wineglass in the dishwasher, his phone remained silent.

Later, with the moon high and bright in the ether as he searched for sleep, no matter how hard he tried to push all thoughts of her aside, Molly Parker wouldn’t get the hell out of his head.