Three Makes a Family--A Clean Romance Cari Webb (short books for teens txt) 📖

Wish and her bottle to slip his right hand into Molly’s. And he stood and sealed their deal with a quick kiss. As if Molly, deals and kissing were a natural part of his day. “Now back to food. What’s your craving?”

“I’ve chosen the last few nights.” She stirred the applesauce around in the jar.

“And I’ve liked everything you’ve picked.” Just as he liked her. Just as he liked being with her. “I know you have something specific in mind.”

“You can say no,” she said.

As if he wanted to. Molly had very specific food cravings. He found it adorable.

“Okay,” she said. “I really want sushi.”

“I know a place that delivers.” He waited for Molly to wipe her hands on a towel and pick up her cell phone. “Look up Mission Sushi. They have an online menu.”

Their dinner order placed and Wish’s bottle almost empty, Drew settled a sleeping Wish onto the blanket bed he’d fluffed for the tiny puppy between himself and the armrest.

Molly curled beside him, picked up the remote for the TV and scrolled through the movie selection. Hazel babbled in her swing and chewed on a frozen teether. “I picked dinner. You pick the movie.”

Her phone vibrated on the coffee table. Molly picked it up and said a quick greeting to Lorrie Cote. Drew assumed Lorrie was confirming the details for the notary scheduled to take Reuben’s official statement the next morning.

But Molly dropped the TV remote on the floor. Her gaze fastened on Drew’s. Her face paled. Nothing more than a whispered, “I’m sorry,” escaped between her lips into the cell phone.

Drew placed his feet on the ground as if he needed the stability. His heart raced. Dread pooled in his stomach. And that contentment dissolved like vapor.

Molly disconnected her call. Her phone thumped against the coffee table, the sound jarring the heavy silence. “That was Lorrie. Reuben...he’s...”

Drew scooted toward Molly and grabbed her hand. Her very cold hand.

“Reuben is gone,” Molly murmured. “He passed earlier this evening.”

Drew felt numb.

He’d spoken to Reuben only yesterday. Reuben had been in good spirits. No pain. He’d even asked Drew if he’d changed his mind about letting Molly get away. Drew had laughed and confessed, I’m thinking about keeping her.

You think too long and you will lose her, Reuben had replied. Remember, there’s a time to think and a time to risk. Could be it’s the best risk you’ve ever taken.

Now, Reuben was gone. Reunited with his Trina. And Drew was... “I’m going to be found guilty.”

A man—a friend—had just passed and all Drew could consider was his own future. He scrubbed his palms over his face. Selfish. One hundred percent selfish. Yet, Drew couldn’t stall his thoughts or the full impact of Reuben’s death.

Molly shivered beside him and rose. “You haven’t been proven guilty of anything.

“The video won’t be admissible without Reuben’s testimony,” he argued. “Reuben was the one who could verify that it was him and Cory Vinson in that video. We both know the other person in the video could be anyone.”

Molly wrapped her arms around herself as if holding herself together. Her palms ran up and down her arms.

He should be holding Molly. Except, he was falling apart himself. “That other person could even be me.”

He pushed off the couch and stared blankly at the wall. He was lost all over again. Set up, with no way out.

“We need to pivot.” Molly shook herself and pressed her hands against her temples. “Gina Hahn needs to testify on your behalf.”

Drew shook his head. “We promised not to involve her any further.”

“We can protect her.” Resolve firmed Molly’s voice.

“How are we supposed to do that?” Drew grabbed the bag of workout clothes he’d set on a kitchen stool and twisted the canvas in his hands. Frustration and disappointment, sadness and grief swallowed him whole. He headed for the door. The nearest exit. “I can’t even protect myself.”

“Where are you going?” She rushed after him.

“I need to go.” He kept his gaze fixed on the door.

“We need to discuss our strategy.” Molly jumped in front of him, blocking his path. “We need to talk this through.”

“I can’t right now. A friend just passed away.” As had his freedom. All the while, he’d been having fun and pretending he had a new foundation. That he could have a different kind of future. The truth buckled his knees. “I need to be alone.”

“Drew. Listen to me.” Molly set her hands on his shoulders and locked her gaze on his. “This isn’t over. We haven’t even really started the fight.”

“That’s what I always tell my clients after a setback.” How hollow his words had been. How empty and insincere. “Then I tell my clients to check their emotions.”

Molly’s face closed down. No doubt she had told her clients the very same thing.

“Funny, I never understood exactly how hard that was until this case.” He pulled her hands off his shoulders, released her grip on him. His grip on himself was harder to maintain. “I need a moment alone. I can’t do this right now.”

Molly opened and closed her mouth. He saw the desire to argue flitter through her gaze. Finally she stepped aside and let him leave.

Drew slipped out the side gate, ran into the delivery woman from Mission Sushi. He paid for the food and directed her to Molly’s apartment. Then he climbed into his truck and let go of his emotions.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

MOLLY PRESSED THE button for the twenty-fourth floor inside the elevator and watched the glass doors slide shut. She had no stroller this time. No Drew beside her. And Brad Harrington wasn’t expecting her. But she doubted Brad would be surprised to see her in his office this early on a Monday morning.

Drew’s truck had barely pulled out of the driveway last night when she’d picked up her phone to call Brad and fill him in. She’d wanted someone to talk to Drew and get him to listen. Even more, she hadn’t wanted Drew to be alone.

Molly