Page 129 of This Heart Of Mine (Chicago Stars 5)

“You’ve been here for two weeks,” Phoebe said as she let go of Dan’s hand.

“Two weeks ago Wednesday,” Kevin replied.

“The campground is beautiful. Our kids are having a wonderful time.”

“It’s nice having them here.”

“They still can’t believe you bought all those bikes.”

“I enjoyed doing it.”

Dan lost patience. “Phoebe and I want to know what your intentions are toward Molly.”

“Dan!” Molly cried.

“It’s all right,” Kevin said.

“No it’s not!” She glared at her brother-in-law. “And what kind of sexist Southern crap is that anyway? What about my intentions toward him?” She didn’t exactly know what those intentions were beyond keeping the real world at bay by staying in Nightingale Woods for as long as she could, but she had to face Dan down.

“You were supposed to be getting an annulment,” Phoebe said. “Instead you ran off together.”

“We didn’t run off,” Molly replied.

“What else would you call it? And every time I try to talk to you about it, you dash away.” She jammed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “This is the fire alarm all over again, isn’t it, Molly?”

“No!”

“What fire alarm?” Kevin asked.

“Never mind,” Molly said hastily.

“No, I want to hear this.”

Phoebe betrayed her. “When Molly was sixteen, she pulled the fire alarm at her high school. Unfortunately, she hadn’t seen any sign of a fire.”

Kevin regarded her curiously. “Did you have a good reason?”

She shook her head, feeling sixteen all over again.

“So why did you do it?”

“I’d rather not go into this now.”

He tilted his head toward Dan. “You always talk as if she’s perfect.”

“She is!” Dan barked.

Molly smiled despite herself, then bit her lip. “It was an aberration. I was an insecure teenager testing Phoebe and Dan to make sure they’d stick by me no matter what I did.”

Kevin’s eyes took on a speculative gleam. “So did they evacuate the school?”

Molly nodded.

“How many fire trucks?”

“My God…” Phoebe muttered. “It was a serious offense.”

“It’s a Class Two felony,” Molly said glumly, “so it got fairly nasty.”

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