More Than Memories (4 page)

“Is it really her?” Bev questioned again.

“Yes, it is her. She’s back. Let me come in and
explain.” He followed them inside and saw his dad. Of course he had called his
parents about Molly’s reappearance, but he’d been so excited he probably didn’t
explain everything well. Since Bev didn’t know any of it, he repeated the
appropriate parts of Molly’s story while Bev kept her eyes narrowed and lips
twisted.

“You’ll check into her story, right?” she asked
when he’d finished.

Trent shook his head in disbelief, but upon
glancing at his mother’s expression, said, “Already am. The case needs to be
closed, you know.”

Bev sighed, sat back, and continued to glare at
him. “We all know what she did to you by leaving, and now you’re welcoming her
back, no questions asked. She could hurt you all over again.”

Trent sprang to his feet. “Didn’t you hear what I
just told you? She lost her memory.”

“But they packed, all of them, and left.” Bev
stood and left in a huff, stopping only to call out a goodbye to his parents.
They
packed.
How did he get around that one? Molly didn’t know why she left, but
just the same, she had packed and left.

Trent looked at them and found his mother teary
eyed.

Downhearted, he tried to cheer them up. “I can’t
explain it yet, but now we can try.”

His mom threw a look at his dad before she said,
“I’m just so happy she’s back and safe.” She grabbed her son in a hug. “You
know Beverly’s cynical about everything. She watches out for her friends,
that’s all.”

“And you know she’s been
trying to be more than friends since before Molly left. It’s pretty late, so
I’m heading home.” He pulled his mom into his arms, squeezing her, before he
walked outside.

“Just be careful, that’s all I’m saying,” she
called from the front door as he climbed in his truck.

Molly’s breath gushed
out in a long exhale as she did her hair in front of the mirror. She curled her
eyelashes and applied mascara, then paused as she remembered Trent’s words. He
said she’d changed. What did he call her, a free spirit? Now she wore tan slacks,
nice but thick for the weather, and a V-neck knit top, a rich blue that
enhanced the color of her dark hair and brown eyes.

Trent’s words stuck in her mind as she readied
herself for dinner with Alicia and her husband. He’d told her, “She was your
best friend four years ago. She’s dying to see you again, and this might spark
a memory.”
It was just
what she was looking for, yet she almost wanted to back out of it. When Trent
said “best friend,” she automatically thought of Karen Jenkins back in Redding,
not a stranger named Alicia Nor.

During the last four
years, she’d avoided personal conversations because when people asked her about
herself she had nothing to say. She’d spent the last four years mainly inside
at her parents’ home, in contact with Karen and her parents. She spent two
years getting to know Arnold and Ellen as her parents again and trying to
remember her life. If Karen hadn’t been a nurse at the hospital where her
parents had first taken Molly, the two of them
would have never met and
become friends. And Molly would have been utterly alone after the death of her
parents. When her parents died, Karen helped her plan the funeral.

A knock at the hotel room door quickly brought her
back to reality. She needed to
finish getting rea
dy.

“Hey there.” Trent greeted her as the door swung
open, but she didn’t acknowledge him because his cologne stopped her thoughts.
She thought he was probably dressed up, though he wore hiking boots, wranglers,
and a blue T-shirt, all of which molded to him. He wasn’t wearing his hat
tonight, just neatly combed reddish brown hair.

“You look beautiful,” he told her. His words
sounded more like a breath than voice.

“Thank you.” The blue top seemed to do the trick.
“I’m not quite ready, yet.” She didn’t like how breathless she sounded. “Would
you like to come inside?”

He nodded as she opened the door wider and left
him sitting in a chair while she finished in the bathroom. As they left, she
noticed how natural it felt for him to take her arm and lead the way to his
truck, but she felt like she was on a first date with a stranger.

“No need to be nervous.” Soft words spoken in her
ear, words to help her feel more comfortable. A shiver ran down her neck,
almost tickling her.

“Are your sister and her husband mad about what happened?”
she asked. “Do they all believe I ran out on them?”

“No.” He stopped, faced her. “There’s a good
explanation, and we’re going to find it.”

Possibilities ran through Molly’s mind, ones she
didn’t like
. Not
hing seemed to explain why she
up and moved to California with her parents, without telling a soul, and lived
there several years like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Unless maybe
she was the one who’d hurt another person, done something wrong and awful, and
her parents had taken her to California to hide her.

“Mol?” His voice sounded
a little worried. She’d been so quiet T
rent seemed to sense her mood as
they drove.

“I just wonder if I did something.”

“After you left, we talked to everyone who knew
you, looking for a reason. Everyone swears up and down they didn’t have an
argument or disagreement with you of any kind.”

“So there was no reason for my family to run like
that.”

“I’m sorry to say it, but none at all, nothing we
could find. People came up with some pretty wild stories, but none of them
checked out.” He paused as if he knew how worried those words made her. “Don’t
sweat tonight. I’ll be right there with you.”

She tried for a smile to show him how much she
treasured his support. She’d been brave enough to drive into town and look for
her past, but she hadn’t thought about details like this. They arrived at a
small, neat house after a quiet drive, and Trent explained it was Alicia’s
home.

Molly grabbed several deep breaths as they walked
up
toward the entrance. Before
they reached
the door, it flew open. A short blond with a cute bob studied her for a minute,
slowly stepping out, then, “Mol? It is really you.”

She didn’t smile, but Molly could picture her face
beaming.

“Alicia?” she asked, feeling more comfortable than
she had expected. The woman was petite, had delicate features, and wore a
grayish green shirt that picked up the green tint in her blue eyes. A man came
out several steps behind Alicia, about Molly’s height with sandy brown hair and
light brown eyes.

“Yeah,” Alicia said and threw her arms around
Molly’s neck, tears coming to her eyes. “You remember me? Trent said you
wouldn’t-”

“No, no, I’m sorry.” Molly felt horrible as she
said the words to the dainty looking woman. “Trent told me who you are.”

Alicia stepped back, wiping her tears, a frown on
her face. “Yeah, he said you’d changed a lot, and he wasn’t joking.”

“So I’m told.” Molly didn’t know what to say next,
so Alicia led the way inside. Molly thought of a tiny wild flower when she saw
her, a tiny delicate bloom. A strange feeling came with the thought - a feeling
like jealousy. No, it wasn’t that she felt jealous now, she got the impression
she used to want to look like Alicia: blonde, small, and cute. Molly thought
she was remembering something, but there wasn’t a picture or place with the
feeling.

Alicia jarred her from her thoughts. “This is
David, my husband. You didn’t know him before, but I wanted you to meet him
tonight.”

“And it’s a pleasure,” Molly responded, holding
out her hand.

David gave it a firm shake and said, “After all
I’ve heard about you, and wondering if I’d ever get to meet you, well, I’m more
than glad you’re back, especially for Alicia. She’s missed you so much.”

Molly could only give a weak nod to
David
as she stepped through the door. As they hung
their jackets in the foyer, Molly caught an anxious quick look between Alicia
and David.

“Would you both like something to drink? Dinner’s
almost done.” They followed Alicia into the brightly lit and clean kitchen. She
had already set the table in the attached dining area. After pouring wine in
glasses and beer into mugs, they sat down in the living room,
decorated with matching forest green recliners, a
couch, and love seat. Trent sat on the love seat with her. The room felt cozy
with a coffee table and books between the chairs, but she wasn’t sure what to
talk about.

Molly wanted to run out the door. It felt so
strained sitting there, knowing they were waiting for her to recognize them. “I
don’t know why, but nothing helps. I know I didn’t just leave, something must
have happened.” Molly wondered if she could explain this so they’d understand.
“I don’t remember, but I know myself. Why would I just leave my home and
friends?”

“Where did you go all this time?”

Although she hated to relive those first few days,
months even, she told them about finding herself in a strange house and then
realizing the house wasn’t new, she was. “I had no memory of who I was.” She
didn’t mention Karen, her only friend in California, who in a way replaced
Alicia. She knew sharing about her parents would be even harder than talking
about losing her memory, but she tried. “I was trying to put everything back
together.” She stopped, closing her eyes for a second. “It was like I didn’t
have a life before. There just wasn’t anything there. My parents didn’t tell me
about my life here in Ridge City, or all the things Trent told me about. I was
starting to think I spent my life doing nothing.”

“Did they ever give you any explanation?” Alicia
asked.

“No.” Molly realized she hadn’t gotten to that
part yet. “
Tw
o years after that, they were
killed in a car wreck. So now that I know about my life here, I can’t ask them
why they didn’t tell me.”

Alicia’s eyes filled with sadness. Molly didn’t
need her memory to tell that Alicia cared about her.

“Why did you come back now?” Alicia asked, “Why
after four years, if you didn’t know you had a life here before?”

Wonderment filled Molly’s face; she couldn’t miss
th
e hurt in her friend’s voice.

“I thought I lived here for a while, not my entire
life, before we moved to California, so I came in case it brought something
back.” She paused. There wasn’t anywhere for this conversation to go. “You
thought I was a missing person?”

“You were.” Alicia’s throaty exclamation kicked
the tension in the room up twenty degrees. Molly couldn’t respond. Her hand
went
nervously to
an earring before she caught
herself and clasped both hands in her lap.

“Whatever happened, she’s back now.” Trent’s voice
came out low, emotional like Alicia’s. “We need to give her time and help her
remember.”

“Smells like dinner is almost done.” Alicia rose
and went into the kitchen.

Grateful that was over, Molly gave a little sigh
and leaned back into the sofa next to Trent. She so wanted to know who she used
to be, but nothing had come back tonight. She turned to Trent and found warm
eyes watching her. That glow lit his entire face, made him look so inviting. If
she knew him, maybe she’d understand the unspoken message. Or maybe she didn’t
need her memory for this.

Something jumped inside her. A memory? No, not a
real memory, but this felt familiar.

“I …..” What could she say to him?

“What, Mol?” he prompted, trying his best to hold
his excitement.

“This feels like I’ve done it before. I mean you
and me sitting here, that look.” Now she felt like an idiot. She didn’t want to
talk about the kind of look he gave he
r at tim
es.

“We’ve been friends a long time.” He searched her
eyes before they got up and followed David to the table.

Alicia’s face brightened with a small smile as she
sat down with them. “Just like old times. Like things should have stayed.” She
began serving baked chicken while Molly thought about her words.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know, all of us together.”

That wasn’t what Alicia had been thinking, and
they both knew it. Molly wanted to know why her old friend was holding
something back. She didn’t want to be rude
so she
dropped the comment and sm
iled as they ate. Even though they were quiet,
the awkwardness wore off.

“I thought it might help if I took you around to
some familiar places tomorrow,” Alicia offered.

“I’d like that.” She would for more than just the
drive, she wanted to talk to Alicia alone and question her about Trent.

“Does any of this even feel familiar to you yet?”

As her friend spoke, it hit Molly that she felt
comfortable, maybe familiar with Trent. Somewhat with Alicia. She liked her,
she knew that much. But she shook her head, not wanting to explain.

“I’m sorry about your mom and dad,” Alicia said.

“Were you and I good friends for
a long time?
”

“We were best friends from the start.” Her fond
memories warmed Alicia’s eyes. “We made mud pies by your porch when we were
little. That’s when we weren’t riding horses. And dad helped us build that tree
fort in the fourth grade. It’s still there.”

Molly pictured herself as Trent had described
her—running around in blue jeans, her hair down, just her freckles to decorate
her face. She had to smile.

“We hid up there to talk about boys after that,”
Alicia added with a laugh. “Of course Trent would try to sneak up to spy on
us.”

“Have you and Trent always been so close?” Molly
asked her.

“We’re so close in age. We fought a lot growing
up, but if anyone else messed with me, Trent gave it to them. He was my
defender. Practicing for the police force, I guess, since that’s what he wanted
to do since he was little.”