Molly's Millions (25 page)

She looked at a few of the faces nearby but there weren’t any answers there. And then, something strange happened. It was as if the crowds suddenly parted, or a shaft of sunlight picked her out, because Molly saw her almost instantly. She’d been there all along. Molly hadn’t dared to expect her but, in her heart of hearts, there’d been a tiny seed of hope.

Her hair, as silver as if it had been kissed by the moon, was worn loose and long. Her large chocolate eyes, a perfect mirror of Molly’s.

‘Molly!’ Cynthia took a hesitant step forward, her face
creasing up into the largest smile Molly had ever seen, and, all of a sudden, she found a pair of arms around her.

‘I’m so proud of you,’ Cynthia said in a voice barely audible above the crowd’s excited shouting, even though her mouth was only an inch away from Molly’s ear.

Molly moved back slightly, a warm glow filling her body.

‘You’ll come and see me soon, won’t you?’ Cynthia asked.

‘Of course I will,’ Molly said.

And then Cynthia was gone.

‘Wow!’ Jo said, grabbing Molly’s shoulder from behind. ‘Was that your mum?’

Molly nodded.

‘What a perfect ending!’ Jo sighed. And she was right.

Of course, Molly was arrested. Breach of peace, they told her down at Bishopsgate police station. But she didn’t mind much. It would make great copy for Tom’s final Molly report.

Leaving the station with Fizz, she pushed her way through the small crowd of people who’d followed her.

‘What are you going to do now, Molly?’ someone asked her.

‘Yeah! Is this it, then? The end of the road for Molly’s millions?’

Molly turned around at the familiar voice and there, standing at the front of the small crowd, was a tall man with tousled hair and a cheeky grin. It was Tom Mackenzie. Their eyes locked for a moment and Molly could feel herself blushing at the intense, grey-eyed gaze that fell on her. And then she laughed.

‘I think it’s time I gave everyone a break from chasing after me. I wouldn’t want people to grow bored.’

‘Oh, I don’t think there’d be any chance of that. Besides, it hasn’t been that bad,’ Tom said, stepping forward from the crowd. ‘I haven’t minded driving the length and breadth of Britain with a child and laptop in tow.’

Molly laughed again and smiled down at Flora beside him. ‘I didn’t ask you to follow me.’

‘I know,’ Tom said. ‘Anyway, I guess you’ve run out of money by now?’

Molly paused before answering. ‘Er – not quite,’ she said somewhat cagily as they moved away from the crowd and walked up the street.

‘What? You mean you’ve not given it all away yet?’

‘Only a very silly girl would give it
all
away,’ Molly said. ‘There’s a little bit put by for a rainy day. You have to take care of number one, don’t you?’

‘Of course,’ Tom said.

There was a moment’s silence and then Flora tugged her father’s sleeve and whispered something to him.

‘Listen, Molly,’ Tom said at last, ‘talking of taking care of number one, I wanted to apologise.’

‘What for?’

‘For being somewhat unscrupulous in my reports about you – in the early days. I, er – I was only thinking of number one. It made good copy, you know? I wasn’t thinking about you.’

Molly chewed her lip. She’d been waiting for an apology from Tom Mackenzie for some time but, now she had it, she wasn’t sure how to respond.

‘I’ve been meaning to say something for ages,’ he continued. ‘I feel terrible about it all, I really do.’

‘Do you?’

‘Of
course
I do. I hate what I wrote. I was blinkered by my job. I wanted a good story – I wanted to strike gold – and I just didn’t think about the people I might hurt. I’m sorry if I ever hurt you,’ Tom said, his voice slightly hesitant. ‘I really am.’

Molly smiled to herself, thinking she must be the only girl in the world to receive a heartfelt apology from a reporter. Of course, he could still be bluffing. He might only want to receive her forgiveness in order to make himself feel better. It was easy to apologise for something that had already happened; he’d made his money from her, so what did he have to lose? But there was something about his tone of voice that struck Molly as being completely sincere. He sounded like a little boy who knew he’d been naughty and was desperate to receive approval once more, and only she could give it to him.

‘It’s all right,’ she said at last. ‘It’s all in the past, isn’t it?’

‘I’m forgiven, then?’

Molly felt a smile creeping over her face. ‘What can I say?’ she said, stringing him along for as long as she dared.

‘You could say, “
Yes
, Tom, all is forgiven”.’

‘I could, couldn’t I?’

‘
Yes!
’

‘OK then, you’re forgiven. But on one condition.’

‘What’s that?’

‘You make your last report a good one.’

‘You’ve got it!’

They crossed the road together, the last warm rays of the sun filtering down through the office blocks, making their skin glow like ripe peaches.

‘So what are you going to do now?’ Tom asked.

‘That’s funny,’ Molly smiled. ‘I was going to ask you the same thing.’

Tom sighed. ‘It’s been a rather chaotic few weeks, hasn’t it?’

Molly nodded. ‘A holiday then?’

‘Just what I was thinking. Is there anywhere you can recommend?’

Molly looked at him. His eyes were soft and smiling. ‘Well,’ she said casually, ‘I’ve always loved the Lake District at this time of year.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘and the Eden Valley is especially beautiful.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know the area very well. Can you recommend any bed and breakfasts? Maybe in the Kirkby Milthwaite area?’

Flora tugged on her father’s hand. ‘That’s where Molly lives, Daddy!’

Tom’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, yes! I’d quite forgotten.’

‘You’ve got a very bad memory for a reporter!’ Molly smiled. ‘How on earth do you manage to make a living if you can’t remember anything?’

‘I just make it all up. Surely you know that as an ardent
Vive!
reader?’

Molly narrowed her eyes at him. If she didn’t like him so much, she’d have thumped him in the belly by now.

‘And you must be Flora,’ Molly said, turning her attention to Tom’s daughter at last. ‘Did you know that Flora is the name of the goddess of flowers?’

Flora smiled, looking suitably impressed, just as her father’s mobile began to ring. Tom cupped his ear so that he could hear it above the sound of the traffic.

‘Really?’ he said. ‘Are you sure?’

They stopped walking for a moment and Flora bent down to give Fizz a fuss as her father finished his call.

‘Who was that?’ Flora asked a moment later.

Tom’s face wore a stunned expression. ‘You’re not going to believe it.’

‘What?’ Molly and Flora asked.

‘That was a lady from the Andre Levinson show. They want to know if we’re interested in appearing on it.’

‘Me and you?’ Molly asked.

‘Yes! Flo too.’

Flora beamed. ‘Really, Daddy?’

‘Yes!’

‘What do you say, Molly? Do you want to be seen with me in public?’

Molly frowned for a moment. ‘It would be
very
public,’ she said.

‘I know.’

‘And we’ll probably be asked all sorts of embarrassing questions,’ Molly added.

‘Yes,’ Tom said, his brow creasing in thought. ‘We can always rehearse,’ he suggested.

‘Do you think so?’

‘Yes. It might take a while but I’m sure we could both find the time to work out our story. Flora could help, couldn’t you?’

Flora nodded. ‘I’m really good at asking embarrassing questions!’ she grinned.

‘Yes,’ Tom said, ‘you are, aren’t you!’

‘Like, are you going to be Daddy’s new girlfriend, Molly?’

Tom’s eyes doubled in size and Molly’s face flushed red.

‘
Flora!
’ Tom shouted.

‘It’s what you’ll be asked on TV,’ Flora insisted.

‘She’s right,’ Molly said. ‘We probably will be asked that.’

Tom pretended to strangle Flora before turning to Molly. ‘Well, what will we say?’ he asked, a naughty light dancing in his eyes.

Molly looked at him for a moment and then looked down at Flora. ‘What do you think, Flora?’ she asked.

Flora looked pensive for a moment before answering with great earnestness. ‘I think you’d better rehearse. But don’t worry,’ she added with an impish smile, ‘we’ve got the rest of the summer holidays to get it just right.’

V
ICTORIA
C
ONNELLY
grew up in Norfolk and later became a teacher in North Yorkshire. Her love of romantic comedy was fuelled by the diet of Doris Day, Gene Kelly and Marilyn Monroe films she devoured throughout her childhood. Now living in London with her artist husband, Victoria has had great success with her previous novels in Germany, one of which,
Flights of Angels
(
Unter deinem Stern
), has been made into a film.

www.victoriaconnelly.com