Chapter 15
Fifteen
“I believe time wounds all heels.”
—John Lennon
Molly waited until nine o’clock, when she was sure her sister would be up and at work as the Butler town clerk. Her office was attached to her home, and Molly often stopped by for coffee and a chat while Hannah was working.
When she pulled into Hannah’s driveway, she was surprised to see the closed sign on the door to the clerk’s office and Ray Mulvaney’s SUV parked in the driveway.
Well, well, well, Molly thought. Good for them.
Her sister had been alone for years after Mike left her, and no one was more thrilled for her and Ray than Molly.
The last thing she wanted to do was interrupt anything, but damn it, she needed her sister, one of the few people in the world who knew most of what’d gone on during that memorable week forty years ago.
She went up the stairs to the mudroom door and knocked.
When Hannah didn’t answer, she rang the doorbell.
A few minutes later, Hannah came to the door, wearing a bathrobe and attempting to straighten her hair. “Hey.” She opened the door for Molly. “Come in.”
“You’re not working today?”
“Later. I had a council meeting that went until midnight.”
“I woke you up. I’m sorry. Go back to bed.”
“It’s okay. I was awake.” Hannah got busy making coffee. “What’s got you out so early?”
“You won’t believe it if I told you.”
Hannah glanced at Molly over her shoulder. “Is everyone all right?”
“Yes, but apparently, we’re going to Philadelphia today.”
“You and Linc?”
“And the kids.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.” Molly took off her coat and sat at the kitchen table. “Where’s Ray?”
“In the shower, I think.”
“It’s progressed to sleepovers and showers, has it?”
“A while ago, actually.”
“I should go. You guys were having a morning, and I interrupted.”
“It’s fine. I wanted to talk to you anyway, but you first.” She brought mugs of steaming coffee to the table, along with cream and sugar. “Tell me about Philly.”
Molly stirred cream into her coffee and told Hannah about Linc’s sister calling.
“Holy shit,” Hannah said, wide-eyed. “She called to tell him their father is dying and wants to see him. And now you’re going there.”
“We’re going there.”
“When?”
“Today.”
“Three days before Christmas?”
“His sister said their father doesn’t have much time.”
“Damn.”
“I’m so angry, Han. That they can call him after forty years and ask this of him. I’m trying to be supportive of him, but all I feel is the anger.”
“Can’t say I blame you. What they did was monstrous.”
“I want to kidnap him and drive him north to Canada or somewhere they can’t get to him until that craven old man is gone and can’t hurt him anymore.”
“You know you could do that if you were so inclined. Tell him you want to show him something, get in the car and head north.”
Molly dropped her head into her hands. “I’m sorely tempted.” She looked up at Hannah. “What right do they have to do this to him after forty years?”
“They have no right at all.”
Ray came into the kitchen and stopped short when he saw Molly there, glancing at Hannah as if he wasn’t sure what to do.
Hannah reached out her hand to him. “It’s okay. She knows you sleep over.”
“Oh, um… Well…”
Molly laughed at his befuddled response and the way his handsome face turned bright red. “Sorry to interrupt your morning.”
“You didn’t,” Ray said. “Can I make you ladies some breakfast?”
“And he cooks, too,” Hannah said with a smug grin. To Ray, she said, “That’d be lovely. Thank you.”
“Coming right up.”
When Ray was occupied with cooking, Molly leaned in to whisper to her sister, “Go, girl.”
“Right?” Hannah lowered her voice even further. “I’m thinking about asking him to move in.”
“Is that right?”
Hannah shrugged. “He’s here every night anyway.”
Ray poured himself a cup of coffee. “I can hear you two talking about me.”
“We’re not talking about you,” Hannah said. “We’re talking about my other boyfriend, the one you don’t know about.”
“Sure you are. That’s all right. I’ll still make you breakfast even if you’re talking about me.”
“We’re actually talking about how Linc’s family contacted him for the first time in forty years and asked him to come to his father’s deathbed so the father can make himself feel better about cutting him off before he dies.” She glanced at Molly. “Did I get that right?”
“Spot-on.”
“That’s extremely screwed up,” Ray said.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Hannah replied.
“What’s he going to do?” Ray asked.
“I guess we’re going there so his father can clear his conscience before he dies,” Molly said.
“And three days before Christmas, no less,” Hannah said. “I’m sorry you guys have to deal with this, Mols. Are you going to drive or fly?”
“We’re driving. The kids want to be there to support their father and, as Hunter put it so perfectly, to let their grandfather see what came of this marriage and life he was so opposed to.”
“That’s lovely,” Hannah said with a sigh. “Good for them.”
“I guess I should go home and pack.”
“Look at it this way—it’s a rare opportunity to get away with your kids. How often does that happen anymore?”
“Not very.”
“Try to enjoy it, because you know that mixed in with the emotion will be a lot of laughs.”
“Probably.”
“Definitely. We’re talking about your kids. They’re nothing if not funny.”
“They are,” Molly said with a smile.
“They’ll get you through this, and you’ll come home to Christmas. It’ll be fine.”
“Will he be fine? Linc?”
“Of course he will. He has you and your incredible family to get him through it. This is a blip. He’ll deal with it and go on with his life.”
“I hope you’re right.” Molly stood to leave. “Thanks for listening to me whine.”
“You’re not whining. You’re understandably furious.”
“I am, but Linc doesn’t need to see that.”
“That’s what sisters are for.” Hannah hugged her. “Hang in there.”
“Thanks, Han. Appreciate this so much.”
“Any time.”
Ray came over and handed her something warm wrapped in a paper towel. “Egg sandwich to go.”
Molly went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You’re the best. Take good care of my sister.”
“I’m trying, but she doesn’t make it easy.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“Hush, you two. I can hear you.”
“Come over after dinner on Christmas,” Molly said. “We’ll be home all day. And tell your kids, too.”
“We’ll see you at some point. Safe travels.”
Molly got in her car and ate her delicious breakfast on the way home to the barn, where she’d pack and put on a happy face for this trip, even if she was seething on the inside.
Linc was the best guy she’d ever known, other than her own father, and when he hurt, she hurt.
The call from his sister hurt him. The request from his father hurt him.
If they said or did anything else to hurt him, Molly wouldn’t be responsible for her actions.
Hannah shut the door behind her sister and turned to watch Ray move around the kitchen like a pro.
Wanting to be self-sufficient, he’d learned to cook after his wife died, he’d told her.
After more than twenty years on her own since her husband left, Hannah was still getting used to having a man around again.
But Ray made it easy on her. He didn’t pressure her for more than she was willing to give or ask for things she wasn’t sure she wanted.
Rather, he was patient and kind and sweet and loving and everything she could ask for in a partner, which was why she was on the verge of doing something she’d once sworn she’d never do again—make a commitment to a man.
She went to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting her head on his back.
He was rock solid from years of working construction, and the first thing he’d done after moving to Vermont to live near his daughters and granddaughter was join a gym so he wouldn’t “go to hell in a handbasket,” as he put it.
“What’s up?” he asked in the gruff, New York-tinged voice she’d grown to love.
“Nothing much. What’s up with you?”
“Well, I’ve got this sweet, sexy lady clinging to me, so something else will be ‘up’ if this continues.”
And he was funny. Hannah had laughed more with him than she had since her kids had lived at home and kept her constantly entertained. “I’m happy you’re here.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear. Will you let me go so I can turn around and have this conversation face-to-face with you?”
“I’d rather do it this way.”
“We’re not hiding anymore, remember?”
Hannah reluctantly let him go and stepped back to give him room to turn around.
He caressed her face, a loving, tender gesture that made her knees feel weak. That happened a lot when he was around. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”
She looked up at his handsome face, weathered from years of working in the elements in New York City. “Thank you for being so patient with me.”
“You’ve made it well worth the patience,” he said with a suggestive grin.
Hannah felt her face go hot with embarrassment as she recalled their passionate nights together. He’d been a revelation to her, after having only been with her ex-husband. With Ray, she’d discovered that her marriage had been lacking in more ways than she’d realized.
He kissed her cheek and then her lips. “I love making you blush.”
“You do it far too often.”
“Because I love it so much.” He kissed her neck and gave a gentle bite that had her gasping from the sensations that lit up her entire body. “You know I love you, Hannah, don’t you?”
Hearing words that hadn’t been spoken before, she went completely still. Her first inclination was to pull back, to retreat, to run from the potential of being hurt even worse than she had been before.
“Don’t do that. Don’t go back into your shell and hide from me.”
“Old habits are hard to break.”
“You don’t need to do that anymore, Hannah. I already swore to you I’d never do to you what Mike did.”
“Leave me alone with eight kids to finish raising?” she asked with a small grin, looking for some levity as the conversation took a serious turn.
“Leave you ever.”