A Christmas Affair: A Seaside Cove Romance (Seaside Cove Romance Series Book 1) (14 page)

Molly hugged Frank and turned to run barefoot through the country club to the front door. She slipped her uncomfortable shoes back on as the valet retrieved her car. As she sped away, she noticed it was snowing again. A beautiful sign.

She thought of Jack, and how good it felt to be held in his arms. She could not wait to get back to the bar. She fished her phone out of her purse and dialed Jack's number. She could not wait to hear his voice and tell him how she had walked out on Jeremy after kicking him in the balls. She was disappointed when his voicemail picked up, but then she looked down at the clock. "Monday night football."

She rolled her eyes as she realized this was the busiest time for Jack's bar. She could take the long route, by the ocean, and see if the snow was falling on the waves.

As the last of the Monday night football fans left the bar, Jack sat down finally. He was tired. Tired from the amazing weekend, tired from another night working the bar by himself, and tired of worrying about what Jeremy and Molly were doing right now. He trusted her, he just did not trust him. He looked at the clock. She had been gone too long.

The door burst open as Brian and another police officer walked in. "Jack, I've been trying to get a hold of you and Molly for two hours."

"Yeah?" Jack’s stomach clenched. What was Molly so busy doing that she could not answer the phone for two hours? “You tried calling the bar phone?”

"You never answer that damn thing. We’ve been calling your cell. It's McGinley, we have a positive ID on him breaking into one of the stores on the other side of town. This guy ain't going nowhere. We think he's holing up somewhere. Either got himself a hostage or found a house with the family gone for the holidays. State troopers on their way in, they think he figures we don’t have the manpower to find him," Brian said grabbing a handful of popcorn out of a bowl on the counter. "What? I haven't had dinner yet."

"We know he’s violent, and think he might show up here or at Molly's gift shop," the other officer said. "Might be pissed at you two for putting him on our radar in the first place."

"Is Molly at home?" Brian asked raising an eyebrow. Likely, Rachel had told Brian that the couple had spent the past few evenings scarcely coming out of her bedroom.

"No, she's out," Jack said fishing for his phone in his pockets. "I didn't have my phone on me, must be up front."

Jack walked over and found his cell under the counter. Three missed calls from Brian, and a voicemail from Molly from over three hours ago. As he listened to the message, he felt like he found relief at her words.

"Jack, it’s Molly. Don't hang up. I'm done with Jeremy. Completely and totally. Like kicked him in the balls done with him. You and me, we have to be happy now and in the right relationships completely because life is short. Lucinda lost her chance, and... and... there is so much to tell you! But I'm on my way to the bar now. To tell you. I just wanted you to know, it's over. And I love you. It's always been you Jack. I'll be there before football is ov- " Molly abruptly stopped talking, he heard the squeal of tires and Molly's scream. Then silence.

"Molly?" he shouted into the receiver, even though it was just a recorded message from hours ago. He hung up and called her number. It went directly to voice mail. He turned on speakerphone and played the message for Brian, as he locked his register and grabbed his winter coat.

"Whoa Jack, I know you want to get out there and look for Molly, but just let the professionals-" Brian stepped between Jack and the door.

"Shut up Brian. This is from three hours ago; she could be dead right now. Or if this guy McGinley is out there…" Jack trailed off, not wanting to finish either thought. He pushed by Brian.

"That is stretching it a bit Jack. If he is out there, he's picking over houses for money and valuables, not car crashes for-" Jack did not hear what the other officer had to say as he shut the door on his way out.

Eli was outside next to the portable heater talking to a redhead and filling plastic cups with Jack's Christmas blend. "I'm going out, if you see Molly call me ASAP."

Jack did not wait for a reply but ran to his truck as fast as he could through the crowd on the sidewalk. As Christmas grew closer, more and more visitors attended Dickens Village. Jack was glad for the boost in sales with his new permit, but now he wished they would all go home and get out of his way.

He started his truck. Jack's pocket buzzed and he yanked his phone out hoping to hear Molly's voice on the other end. Instead he heard Brian.

"You gotta stay put man," Brian said. "We're going out to look for her, and we called dispatch."

"I'm just going out for a drive," Jack growled into the receiver.

"Go back-" Brian started.

"No!" Jack shouted into the phone.

"Alright man, just calm down. I’ll call the hospital, see if she's checked in," Brian said sternly.

"Yeah, okay," Jack said starting up the old truck. All he could think was Molly had been laying in her car, wherever she was for the past few hours. If only he had kept his phone in his pocket. What the hell had he been thinking? Jack pulled out into the crowd slowly. He blasted his horn as the tourists milled about, and a woman and her two small children jumped in surprise off the sidewalk. He pulled out of the alley, and onto the road, flying through a red light as he left Main Street.

"Molly, I'm coming, I promise." He pounded the steering wheel. Why had he been an asshole and told her that he might not wait for her? He should have trusted her, and told her that he would wait for her to get home. If he had not been such a jerk, she would not have felt like she had to call him to tell him she was coming back to him. She would not have been distracted while she was on these slippery roads. If she was alright, he'd never doubt her again. Just please God, let her be alright.

He drove the main stretch between Main Street and the Country Club at a snail's pace, then back again, not spotting Molly's little red car anywhere. On his second pass he saw evidence of a car accident, shattered glass on the ground, metal pieces from a vehicle, and skid marks. He called Brian.

"Brian, I'm Hampton Avenue, and it looks like there was a car accident here earlier," Jack said the second Brian answered.

"I already checked on that accident Jack, and didn't I tell you to go back to work and wait?" Brian demanded then lowered his voice. "Jack, I haven't seen any sign of her. Don't worry, I won't turn in until we find her."

"Yeah, got it." Jack hung up after promising to call Brian if he saw anything. His head was swimming with possibilities now, but he had to clear them out. He had to focus on finding Molly. Her car wasn't involved in the accident that had been here earlier. But something had happened while she was driving, he heard it.

He had to drive the other routes between Main Street and the restaurant, there were at least four. Which one would she take? With the snow falling heavier now by the minute, what if her car was buried in the snow? Or what if that asshole McGinley found her? He pushed that thought out of his head.

Jack flipped his windshield wipers up a speed as the snow covered the glass faster. He pulled back onto the road and continued a few moments back towards the main route. It had not snowed that heavily in weeks.

Jack jerked the steering wheel and turned onto the next dirt path. "It's snowing," he said smiling grimly. "I know where you're at Molly."

He drove out to the old highway that ran alongside the ocean. She loved to watch the snow fall over the ocean. How could he forget? Jack had to remind himself every few minutes to slow down; even with his four-wheel drive the road was too slick. He drove until the ocean came into view and he held his breath. It
was
beautiful out there, he never noticed.

When he was younger and on the ocean, it was always about work, never about the beauty of the vast area. Now he could see why Molly came out here to think. The melding of the two worlds of winter and the sea was a combination of beauty like he had never appreciated before. He drove slowly, looking for any signs of a vehicle accident, when he saw it.

The guard rail had been snapped in two up ahead, part of it missing. He coasted to a stop on the side of the road and jumped out of his truck. He marched heavily through the snow to the gaping hole, and was brought to his knees by what he saw.

Molly's little car at the bottom of the hillside, smashed and compacted. He did not move to call Brian, but simply sat in the snow bank as his legs began to freeze, and stared at the little mess at the bottom of that mountain that used to hold his future.

Black ice, I just hit a patch of black ice. It happens to people all the time.
Molly opened her eyes and only saw white in front of her.
White like heaven, or white like snow?
Molly scanned her head to remember what she had just been doing. Talking to Jack. She looked down in her hands for the phone, but it wasn't there. "I must have dropped it?"

She looked around, and as she moved she felt the weird sensation of her car rocking. She seized still. "Think."

She had been driving down the highway, she wanted to watch it snow over the ocean. But it was just lightly falling, not enough to be noticeable over the warm sea water. Then, she must have hit the black ice, and slid into a snow bank. Luckily, a soft one at that, or else she would be smashed into the front of her car right now.

The engine was still running, and she could see a glow in the vehicle from the dash lights. Not forgetting about the rocking, she slowly looked over her shoulder. Could she back the car up?

The night sky was shining through the back window, not a mountain in sight. That is when Molly finally noticed her hair was pulling forward, as if it was magnetized to the front window.

She was stuck in a snow drift, hanging over the cliff, next to the ocean. She was going to die.

No! Shut up, don't think that kind of stuff.

Okay, she was not going to die, but only if she got out of this situation. If she stayed in the car and waited for help, she was going to die.

If I move, the car is going to fall off the cliff.

That is just a chance I am going to have to take.

Molly surveyed her surroundings in a slow controlled motion. She did not want to make any movements until she made her move to get out of the vehicle.

The front windshield, as well as the driver's side window and passenger window, were completely covered in white. She would not be using one of those doors. Carefully looking towards the back, she saw the window and door behind her looked clear. If they weren't though, she would definitely be able to get out through the trunk. The back window was facing the sky.

She pushed her key fob and felt the trunk pop open. With the sudden movement the car lurched forward and slid a couple inches. In desperation, Molly pulled the emergency break, but found that it did nothing. She was going down this mountain whether she wanted to or not.

She braced herself the best she could against the dash, and unlatched her seatbelt. The car was still moving. Slowly, but moving. She could hear the drag of the metal against the dangling guardrail, and knew it would not hold on forever.

Without the belt to secure her from falling forward, she had to use her arms and legs to hold her body against the seat. She slowly began to slide into the middle between the two front seats, then edged her way into the backseat. She felt for the lever that would lay her back seat down and dropped it, feeling the gust of cold air from outside of the vehicle.

Molly pushed off the front seat slowly, for the first time this evening thankful for her heels giving her added height, and found herself finally in the trunk of her car.

The world was moving outside, and it seemed to be speeding up. She pulled her legs, slowly and one at time into the trunk with her, gathering herself onto the side of the trunk which still had the seat up.

She was there, so close. She just had to stand and jump out of the car.
Oh that's it huh? Just jump out of the car. Shouldn’t I call a stunt double first?

Molly closed her eyes and thought of Jack at his bar serving fried food and beers during the football game. She thought of the look on his face when she would walk in the door in her sexy dress, and pull him directly upstairs.

Molly opened her eyes and leapt.

For a moment, all Molly could focus on was the car plummeting to the bottom of the cavern. Somehow though, she was not in it. Her heels! Her awful, painful, beautiful heels! They dug into the ground under her like studded tires. Only better, because unlike the studded tires on her car, her heels had actually saved her life.

Molly climbed the rest of the small slope by holding onto the torn guard rail. When she reached the top she was cold, sore, and scared. Her body was shaking. She looked around her.

"That was only the beginning of my night." Looked like she was walking back to town. During a snow storm. In heels and her best dress.

Molly tried to take her mind off the cold as she walked against the wind by thinking of Jack. Had she hung up before the accident, or had he heard the sounds of her screaming? Had he called 911 already? Or had she just imagined calling Jack?

No. I called him. I told him I loved him. And if he doesn't love me, well, I'm going to have to move. But he does. He has to.

She kept her mind busy with thoughts of kissing Jack. How would it be when she saw him? Would he would take her into his arms and ravage her immediately? Then Molly laughed at the word ravage.
Am I going into shock? No, I don’t have time to go into shock. Maybe tomorrow I can do that.

Molly was not sure how far she had walked, but she felt like she would not be able to make it another step when she saw a light. It was Madison’s cabin! Madison was one of Molly’s crafters, she would take Molly home!

When Molly reached the small wood cabin she began to beat on the door. "Madison! It's Molly! I've been in a car accident, please! Are you home? It's Molly Smith!"

Molly screamed and beat on the door until her hand throbbed, and her voice felt hoarse. She slid down to the ground in front of Madison's door and sat on a box. What was she going to do?

That is when she realized there were a few boxes on the porch
. Crap, I remember now!
Madison went to see her sister in Los Angeles for the holiday. That is why she dropped off extra crates of soap at Molly's a few weeks ago.

Molly lifted the doormat and searched for a key. None. She ran her fingers above the door frame, looked under pots and rocks. She could not find a key anywhere. She walked around trying all the windows, but they were all sturdily locked. Molly's entire body was shivering, and her feet felt numb. She could not wait a moment longer.

"Please forgive me Madison. I'll pay you back," she said to the thick wooden door.

Molly threw a fist sized rock at the front window as hard as she could. A small crack formed, but it did not shatter. Molly picked the rock up and threw again.