Chapter 26 – Liam
I had never felt more at peace than I did right now—waking up with Molly fast asleep and sprawled across my chest as the early morning sun peeked through the curtains. It felt like a dream. Except this time, it was real. This was my perfect reality, and I never wanted the moment to end.
Carefully, I slid my arm out from beneath her and slowly eased myself out of bed, determined not to wake her.
Outside, the morning greeted me with birds chirping and the familiar clucking of Molly’s chickens. I’d built her chicken coop with a storage bin for feed so she wouldn’t have to haul around heavy bags every day. Soon enough, lifting that kind of weight wouldn’t be safe for her anyway.
I stepped down off the back porch as the sun crested the tree line. With fall on its way, the air carried a chill that hadn’t been there a few weeks ago.
I cautiously opened the door to the chicken coop, praying they’d leave me alone. Those damn things hated me—I was sure of it. But the fewer chores Molly had to handle, the less time she’d be on her feet. That meant I had to attempt a truce with her stubborn-ass chickens.
I grabbed the feed scoop and shook it over the dirt floor. The moment they realized I was here to feed them—and not murder them—they came rushing over, their suspicious side-eyes disappearing.
“See?” I muttered under my breath. “We can be friends.”
Not that they understood a word I was saying, but still.
I walked back inside, searching for more tasks to take off Molly’s plate today. The moving boxes stacked throughout the house seemed like a good place to start. I didn’t know where Molly would want everything, but I could at least put the boxes in the right rooms.
The first box I opened contained a bunch of pots and pans, so I moved it to the kitchen.
The second box was full of Molly’s shoes, so I set it outside her bedroom door.
The third box was full of books—if the girl wasn’t baking, she was reading.
I grabbed one from the box and opened it to a random page.
Big mistake.
The first two sentences that jumped out at me were graphic as hell. Something about sore bodies and fucking being the only thing on her mind from the moment she woke up, followed by a slew of colorful sentences I probably wasn’t supposed to be reading before nine in the morning.
I laughed, because this was exactly the kind of stuff Molly would read.
I stood there for a moment, studying the cover page, then tucked the book into my tactical bag—the one I took with me to work every shift. It might’ve been the craziest idea I’d ever had, aside from remodeling this place, but I wanted to read the book.
Purely for scientific purposes, of course.
Just as I zipped the bag closed, Molly walked out of the bedroom in nothing but my sweatshirt.
It was oversized on her, even with her growing belly, but she looked beautiful all the same.
Even though I knew exactly what curves were hidden under that fabric, my mind still wandered to what I’d find if I pulled it off.
“What are you doing?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Moving your boxes to the right rooms so you don’t have to worry about moving stuff across the house.” I stood up slowly, as if I hadn’t just snuck one of her books into my bag.
“I have to work today, but Jace is coming out to keep you company,” I said, pulling her in and kissing the top of her head. “As always, please try not to cause too much trouble while I’m gone.”
“And again I say, no promises,” she teased, sliding her hand up my shirt and over my abs. “Before you go, I’m afraid I have one more thing I need you to tend to.” A wicked smile curved her lips as her gaze met mine.
“And what would that be?” I asked, though I had a pretty good idea.
“It’s more like what you need tended to,” she said, dropping to her knees and pulling my sweatpants down.
Okay, maybe I was wrong.
She licked her lips, and I was a goner. My cock sprang free as I anticipated what was to come.
Molly slid my length into her mouth, taking all of me.
She moaned as I hit the back of her throat, enjoying every second of sucking on me like a damn lollipop.
Her hand wrapped around my length, moving in sync with her mouth, gripping me with just the right amount of pressure.
I watched, admiring her as she worked. Fuck, she was amazing.
The sun seeped through the windows as she sucked me off right in the middle of her living room. Good thing she didn’t have neighbors anymore, or they’d be able to see everything. Something told me Molly didn’t give a damn about that though.
She continued taking my cock all the way to the back of her throat, her tempo picking up as time went on. I was close—so close.
“Molls, I’m close,” I warned, but she only sucked harder.
She wants me to come in her mouth. The thought sent a tingle up my spine.
A few more thrusts and I was done. She held herself in place as I spilled down the back of her throat, her neck flexing as she swallowed every last drop.
When I was finished, she slid me out of her mouth, letting it pop as the last few inches slipped free.
“I think you’re ready for duty now, Sheriff Carson,” she said, smirking up at me from her knees.
I’d never missed a shift, but Molly was making me want to say fuck it and ruin my perfect streak.
——————————–
Before heading in for my shift, I made a pit stop at my house to check in on things. When I pulled up to the curb, I immediately noticed some boxes sitting on the front porch.
I climbed up the steps, trying to think back to what I might’ve purchased recently, but I couldn’t remember buying anything. I picked up the first of three boxes, all the same tall, thin rectangular shape. There wasn’t a return address, but my name was clearly printed on the shipping label.
I pulled my pocketknife out, flipping the blade open. It sliced through the clear packaging tape easily. I carefully slid the item from the box and immediately recognized it as the painting my mom had shown me at the art gallery. This time, though, there was a note taped to the frame.
I peeled it off gently.
Liam,
Here are the final pieces I painted for the baby’s nursery. Be sure to see if Molly wants them first—I hope she likes them. I didn’t put a return address on these because by the time you read this letter, your dad will have been served with divorce papers.
I’ve left town for a bit, until I know it’s safe to come back. It’s better if you don’t know where I am; I don’t want you caught in the middle. I promise I’m safe, and all of this will blow over eventually. When it comes to your father, what’s done is done.
Despite what your brain might be telling you, you are going to make an amazing father. I am so proud of the man you’ve become, and I’m even prouder of your ability to admit your faults and grow from them—something your father could never do.
I love you so much. Give that sweet baby a kiss for me until I can do it myself.
Love always,
Mom
The feelings I had right now were bittersweet. I was proud of my mom for filing for divorce, but it pissed me off that my dad was such a prick that she had to leave town until it was all over.
No man should have that much control over people and the system.
I didn’t even have to look at the papers Mom filed to know she wouldn’t ask for anything—not the house, not any of his money.
She didn’t have the kind of cash it would take to hire a lawyer to fight for anything.
She’d want a simple divorce, no strings attached, and he would still rage about even that.
He’d get mad about the way a divorce looked to the world, even without his precious money on the line.
I wished my mom had told me where she was going, but if she didn’t want me not to know her location, I would respect that.
I sliced open the other two boxes, pulling the pictures from their snug packaging.
The first was a watercolor painting of my brother’s and my old treehouse, the sun beaming against it, just the way I remembered it before he died.
Two little brown-haired boys played inside while their mom sat in a lawn chair reading a book, sunglasses on—like my mom used to do sometimes.
I could practically hear our giggles floating off in the distance as we played inside it.
I set the painting down gently before I pulled out the final one.
This one was a watercolor too, similar in style to the treehouse.
It was of a woman who looked eerily similar to Molly, standing in a field of wildflowers with her baby wrapped in her arms. Beneath it, in tiny print, were the words I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.
I wondered how many seconds it would take for Molly to start crying happy tears when she saw it. My bet was two seconds at best.
Today was a really slow day at work. Given that Silver Creek had a population of five hundred, that’s how most days were.
After sitting at my desk for over an hour with no more reports to file or emails to read, I grabbed Molly’s book out of my bag.
The story started off about as normal as I expected any would with some girl trying to find her way in life.
Eventually, she met a guy she really liked, but shit went south when she realized the man she’d slept with the night before was actually her ex-boyfriend’s dad.
He tried to convince her it shouldn’t matter, but she wasn’t so convinced.
That is, until they ended up in his barn together, where he ripped her shirt off and pulled her skirt down, having wild sex while a bunch of people hung out in the yard for a party he was throwing.
I didn’t think it would get much spicier, as Molly liked to call it. That was until I got bored a little while later and continued reading.
About four chapters in, she teasingly sent him some nude pictures.
He couldn’t handle the thought of her naked and alone at home, so he drove to her house and jimmied the lock on the front door, making his way inside without her even noticing.
He found her on the couch wearing a teddy, and she screamed—until she realized who had broken into her house.
Once she did, he grabbed the silk lingerie she was wearing and ripped it off the same way he’d done to her shirt in the barn. Clearly, the guy hated clothing—at least on her. The author really amped up the spice once they started having sex on her couch.
At some point, he realized the neighbor who kept hitting on her was watching from the window of his apartment across the courtyard. Instead of stopping, he thrust harder from behind, making sure the guy was watching when her orgasm hit and she screamed out his name.
Before I could finish the book, I got a call about a stray dog running around downtown, aggressively barking at people. So I had to put the book away—for now.