27. Molly
Chapter 27
Molly
“W hat about this flower, Molly?” Hunter holds up a purple flower that I don’t recognize. “Is this okay?”
I nodded, flashing a wide smile. “It looks beautiful, and it’s the color of your mom’s sweater in one of the photos. What do you think?”
“It’s pretty.” He rushed back to the blanket I had laid out and set the flower beside me. “Do we need more?”
I couldn’t help but smile up at him; my chest was so full it was a physical ache. Hunter was so excited about this project, and I was happy to give him a piece of his mom, his history. “If we have too many, we’ll just have to make another, won’t we?”
His smile grew even wider, and he looked so much like Colton that I couldn’t help but pull him close and squeeze him in a tight hug. “Molly,” he groaned.
I released him with a laugh. “Sorry about that, kiddo.”
He rushed off a half dozen more times; every return brought back another brightly colored flower until he had exhausted himself and plopped down on the blanket beside me, his head resting in my lap. “I’m pooped.”
I laughed. “Flower picking is harder than it looks.”
“Yep,” he sighed, his eyes fluttering shut as I brushed his hair from his forehead.
A man-shaped shadow blocked the sun, and I looked up with a smile that died on my lips at the sight of the man who glowered at me. “Travis,” I growled. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He smiled, but there was no joy at all coming from him as he whipped out a shiny blade. “I’m here for you, Molly. Obviously.”
“Well then, you wasted a trip,” I shot back and wrapped a protective arm around Hunter. “You should go home.”
“I will,” he said and squatted down so we were face to face. “But not without you.” Before I realized what he was doing, Travis scooped Hunter up in his arms and stood, putting a few feet of distance between us.
“Put him down right now!”
Hunter screamed, his green eyes wide with fear as his body flailed in an effort to break free of his abductor. “Molly!”
“Travis, what do you think you’re doing?” I knew he was having a hard time letting go, but this was out of character even for him. “This isn’t going to go how you think it will.”
“Won’t it?” He touched the tip of the blade to Hunter’s cheek, and my heart stopped. “This brat will be fine. Every drop of blood will stay right where it is, as long as you stand up and come with me.” To drive his point home, Travis pressed the metal with a little more pressure.
Hunter screamed again, kicking and squirming with so much force I worried he might accidentally prick himself.
I jumped to my feet and held my hands up, reaching out for Hunter. “Yeah, okay, fine, Travis. I’m up, so just put him down and tell me where to go.”
He smiled. “That’s more like it.” Thankfully, he removed the blade from Hunter’s cheek and used it to point toward the copse of trees in the distance. “That way.”
“No, Molly! Don’t go! Please!”
My heart ached, squeezing hard at the anguish in his voice. “It’s all right, Hunter. I’ll be fine, I promise.”
“Yeah, little man, she’ll be fine.” Travis laughed loudly, the sound almost wicked in its intensity. “Keep going,” he motioned again with the knife for me to get a move on.
I stopped and glared at the man I used to look at and think long-term. He was useless, a waste of a man when there were so many others who could use him for parts. “Put Hunter down first.” I folded my arms and stood a little taller, putting on a brave face that I truly did not feel.
“Oh, my little kitten has grown some claws. I like it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Cut the crap, Travis. Put him down and let him go to the house.”
He paused and stared at me in disbelief. “If this is some kind of trick, I’ll make you both pay.”
“Seriously? He’s a small kid and the house is right there,” I pointed at the main house off in the distance. “Let him run back home, and then we can get out of here.”
Travis stared at me for a long minute, indecision warring in his pale blue eyes as he weighed his options. He would have to take the risk that I might run right along with Hunter or hang back and go with him.
Truthfully, I thought about taking off as soon as Hunter’s feet hit the ground, but he’d catch Hunter easily, and we’d be right back where we started. “Let him go,” I said and took a step closer. “Run, Hunter, as fast as you can, okay?”
“Without you?” His brows furrowed. “No.”
“You have to, buddy. I’ll be okay, I promise. You just be big and strong and run real fast, okay? And if you get scared, Billy should be in the barn.”
“Enough already!” Travis was so angry that someone else was getting my attention—a common theme in our old relationship—that he practically vibrated with it. He set Hunter on the ground so abruptly that he tumbled, bracing his palms on the grass. “Go! Run now. Go!”
Hunter gasped, and tears filled his eyes as they swung to me. “Molly?”
“I love you, Hunter. Make sure you tell Peanut Butter I love him too, yeah?”
He nodded and flung himself at me for the second time today. “Love you too, Molly.” He turned and took off as fast as his little legs would carry him, and when the front door closed behind him, I turned to Travis.
“Well, what’s your plan?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he growled, grabbing my arm.
I yanked out of his hold. “I said I would go with you, not that you could manhandle me.”
He frowned. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Gee, Travis, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that we’ve been broken up for months, and now you’re here at my job to what, kidnap me?” I shook my head and walked beside him, grumbling under my breath. “Did you expect me to welcome you with open arms?”
“Kind of, yeah. You used to love me.”
I shook my head. “No, Travis. I used to date you. I broke up with you because I didn’t love you. If I did, I might’ve found your jealousy endearing instead of repulsive.”
His brows furrowed. “I wasn’t jealous.”
“Sure you were.” Now that he was firmly in my past, I saw all of his behavior for what it was. “Always accusing me of wanting your grimy friends, of cheating on you.”
He let out a bitter laugh and grabbed my arm again; this time, his expression was dark and worrisome. “Well, now I know why you weren’t interested in my friends. You’ve been fucking that old dude, slutting it up for him when you’re mine.”
“I’m not yours, Travis, and if you were honest with yourself for one second, you could admit that you don’t want me.” He was probably upset that I’d been the one to break up with him instead of the other way around. “What is this all about?”
“I never thought you were a chick with daddy issues,” he growled, pulling me forward.
“Daddy issues? Hardly. Maybe it’s just that he sees me as I am, not how he wants me to be, and certainly not through the lens of his own insecurities.” I thought of the way Colton found it amusing when Wyatt flirted with me, putting on his most charming grin. He wasn’t bothered by it at all because he knew Wyatt flirted with every female from nine months to ninety-nine years.
That’s what an evolved, secure man looked like.
“You’ll forget about the old dude as soon as you’re mine.” The look in his eyes put me on edge, but when I tried to free myself from his hold, Travis’ grip tightened.
“If you’re fine with taking what isn’t given freely, you do what you have to do, Travis. Just don’t expect this to change anything between us.” A chill pulsed through my body at his words as well as my own, and suddenly I was no longer simply annoyed by my current circumstances.
I was terrified.
After a few minutes of silence, a car appeared in the distance, a small green pickup truck that had seen better days. “I won’t have to take anything, sweetheart. You’ll remember how you feel about me, and you’ll come to me willingly.”
“I do remember how I feel about you, Travis. I barely even liked you as a person by the end of our relationship. You did everything you could to make me feel bad about myself, to make me feel bad for not wanting to go to bed with you. That makes you the bad guy in our relationship, not me. So there’s no need for me to remember anything. I remember it all, vividly.”
His reply was to shove me into the passenger seat before he tied my hands with rope. “Yeah, well, I guess we’ll see about that. Won’t we?”
I said nothing as the car started to move, off the ranch property and onto the dusty service road that split miles upon miles of ranch and farmland, keeping my gaze focused out of the window at the scenery as it passed by.
“You’re just going to ignore me?”
I didn’t engage with Travis at all. Instead, I looked for a way out of this mess. I could just unlock the door and jump out; risking a few broken bones might be better than what Travis has planned for me. Broken bones healed; that kind of trauma did not.
“Molly.” His hand landed on my thigh, and he gripped it tight.
“Don’t. Touch. Me.” I flung his hand away with as much force as I could.
“You’re mine, and I’ll touch you however I damn well please!” He gripped the back of my neck and yanked down hard in an effort to bring his mouth to mine. I went slack at first, but as his mouth closed in on mine, the car swerved all over the road, and I saw my moment.
“Never!” I bit down on his lip and yanked the steering wheel as hard as I could to the right, slamming the truck—and us along with it—into a tree that was at least one hundred years old. My head smacked against the radio, and my vision blurred, but I knew this was my chance to make a run for it. I slid over, grunting in pain the entire way, and felt for the door until I found the handle.
“Molly,” he called after me, so angry his voice trembled.
I moved a little faster, shoving the door open and falling out right onto my hands and knees. “Ouch.” I scrambled to my feet and started to run while trying to loosen the rope with my teeth. It set an awkward pace, but I didn’t bother to look back; I just kept going forward.
Until a big, Travis-sized body slammed into the back of me and sent me falling to the hard dirt ground. “Mine,” he growled and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
“Help!” I shouted and tried to wriggle free, but Travis was heavier than I remembered. “Get off of me!”
A second later, the heavy weight was gone, but before I could celebrate, a hand wrapped around my hair and yanked hard, forcing me to stand or end up scalped. “The car is shit now.” He looked over his shoulder, and I followed his gaze to the truck with smoke coming out of the hood.
“Too bad,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could infuse into those two words.
“Come on,” he yanked. “There are tons of empty buildings where we can lay low until I can come up with a better plan.”
Another sarcastic comment was on the tip of my tongue, but then I thought better of it. Travis was more twisted than I realized, and his plans for me were ones I shuddered to think about. “I know a place.”
“Is this a trick?”
Absolutely. “Of course not. Do you know how cold it gets out here at night? I don’t want to freeze to death.” That was true, but not entirely.
“There’s a building just off of McCall Ranch property. Hunter and I found it when we were out exploring.” I looked around to get my bearings. “It shouldn’t be too far from here, a couple of miles.”
“If you try anything,” he began, but I stopped and glared at him.
“What is it, Travis? What will you do to me that’s worse than kidnapping me and forcing yourself on me? Please tell me!” My heart pounded as I glared at him, angry and scared all at once.
He froze, a look of shock written on his face.
“That’s just what I thought. Either come or don’t come; honestly, I would prefer it if you just went the hell away!” I marched in what I was pretty sure was the right direction, hoping he would get upset and realize I wasn’t worth the effort. But too soon, his footsteps sounded on the hard ground.
“Where did my sweet Molly go?”
“You killed her,” I growled. “First when you made me doubt myself, and then when you criticized my appearance. And finally now, kidnapping me and threatening that sweet little boy. Whatever you do to me, just know that I will never, ever feel anything but contempt for you.” That felt good, but his hand gripped my waist, and I knew that he would see his plan through no matter what.
It was that what that made my stomach flip with dread.