Molly shifts awkwardly and points her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll be in the truck.”
I wait until she climbs in and closes the door behind her before turning my attention back to Jake. “She chose Colton.” But she let me kiss her. And she crawled into my bed last night. But Jake doesn’t need to know any of that, because right now I need to focus on being there for Ellie. For making up for the time I wasn’t.
Jake’s expression is full of understanding and sympathy. “Just don’t get yourself hurt.”
“Are you trying to say I’m weak?” I punch him lightly in the shoulder, but his eyes remain serious. He won’t let me blow off his concern.
“You’re vulnerable when it comes to her.” He glances back toward the truck. “Molly is too. She feels like hell about everything.”
“I know it doesn’t seem like it right now,” I say, “but it’s good Ellie remembers her.”
“She’s probably in your guestroom making voodoo dolls,” Jake says. “But when Molly doubles over in pain later, at least we’ll know why.”
I roll my eyes and sigh. “Don’t be a dick.”
Jake holds up both hands. “I’m not judging. Even Molly wouldn’t blame her for some voodoo torture.”
“I’m thrilled someone can find humor in this situation,” I mutter. “But what I mean is it’s all starting to come back. Last weekend she didn’t even know who I was, but now she remembers enough to be angry with Molly. This is progress.”
“And now you’re thinking maybe she’ll remember what happened that night, and we’ll finally know who hurt her?”
I stiffen. Every time I think about what happened, all the muscles in my body tense up, ready to fight. Right now, I’m all too aware that she’s inside my house alone. I need to be okay with that. I can’t be by her side at all times, even if she wanted me there. “Yeah. That.”
“I think it’s the not knowing that’s killing Ava,” Jake says. “She just needs some fucking closure.”
“Come here a minute?” I lead him into the garage for some privacy. It’s unlikely Molly can hear us, but I’m not willing to risk it. “Do you believe Colton is Noah’s father?”
Jake’s brows shoot up and disappear under his messy mop of hair. “That’s what they told everybody.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” When he just stares at me, I grimace. “Listen, I like Molly, and I know she’s about to be your stepsister-in-law or some shit, but something’s not right with her whole Colton’s my baby daddy story. I think it’s a cover for the truth.”
He glances toward the truck, then back to me. “You too, huh?”
“The timing on everything with Colton.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t make sense. When he found out about Molly’s kid, he was annoyed that she kept the secret. He’s been into Molly so long that if there was any chance that kid was his, he’d have gone straight to her door and demanded the truth.”
Jake squeezes the back of his neck. “I know. I’ve thought the same thing. So if Colton isn’t the father but the kid looks just like a McKinley . . .”
“Maybe Colton went off the deep end after learning the truth,” I say.
Jake’s eyes are sad when they meet mine. “The truth being . . .”
“The truth being that Nelson McKinley isn’t just an asshole but a very bad man.” I don’t want to say the rest.
“I could see Colton snapping on Nelson,” Jake says. “But even if that’s why Nelson is missing, where is Colton now?”
“I don’t know. I can’t figure it out.” I’ve been spinning through possibilities in my head, but nothing has made sense. If they’d disappeared at the same time, I could tell myself they were involved in some shady business deal together and it went south, but Colton went missing almost two weeks after Nelson. “The only thing I’m sure of is that Molly has secrets. They may or may not be related to what’s going on now and what happened to Ellie, but if there’s any chance there’s a connection, we need to know.”
Jake squeezes his temples. “I know, and I’ve been thinking that too. It’s just . . .”
Just that this is his wedding weekend. Shit. “Not today or tomorrow, of course, but . . .”
“No. I get it.” He shakes his head. “I’ll talk to Molly soon.” He looks toward the house. “Do you think you can get Ellie to come to the wedding?”
“I plan on trying.”
“Good. Too many people who matter to Ava are missing. Ellie should be there.” He looks at his watch. “I need to get going. I’ll see you at Brayden’s tomorrow morning?”
“I’ll be there.”
He claps a hand against my back and heads to his truck. I close the garage door and go inside.
Ellie’s in the kitchen with a cup of coffee. She dressed while we were loading the ladders into the truck, and now she’s wearing a black skirt and a light pink knit sweater. She looks like she’s ready to put on her realtor hat and sell a house, not like a woman who’s planning to spend her day lounging on my couch.
“Is she gone?” she asks.
“Yeah.” I tuck my hands into my pockets. I’ve always struggled to keep my hands to myself around Ellie, but fuck if it hasn’t been harder since I almost lost her. “Do you want to talk about what you remember?”
She studies the contents of her mug. “Late-night phone calls. Whispers. Colton pulling away like he didn’t care anymore. Loneliness.” She lifts her head and meets my eyes. “I remember staying at Jake’s with you. I guess I make a habit of asking to sleep with you.” She laughs, but when I don’t respond, her cheeks bloom red. “Oh my God, do I? How many times have I tried to sleep with you?”
“Not so many.” My voice cracks on the words.
“Do you think we’ll ever know what happened to Colton?”
“I hope so. Not knowing is hell.” And despite everything, I still want him to come home.
“You really think he’s dead?”
I close my eyes. I betrayed my best friend. Hell, he might still think I’m betraying him now—sleeping with her in my arms, doing everything I can to keep her under my roof instead of alone in her house. “I’m not even sure what to hope for.” I swallow hard. “I can’t stand the idea of not getting to settle things between us, but if he’s alive, where the hell is he? And why did he disappear?” There are other questions I don’t let myself speak out loud. Did he kill Nelson? Did he nearly kill you?
“He wanted to be a good man,” she whispers. “It never came naturally, but he was trying so hard. But everything changed after he found out he had a kid.” She presses a hand to her stomach. “He knew Noah was his for two months and didn’t say a word to me.”
“I think Colton . . .” I look away, guilt clawing at my chest. “There was nothing that made him want to change before you. He didn’t care about cleaning up until he met you. You changed him for the better.”
“Then why did he cheat on me?” she whispers.
“I don’t think he did.” I frown, because I’m still not sure what I think about what happened between Molly and Colton. “When you went back to him, you believed he’d been faithful.”
She laughs. “I guess I’m missing the memories where I transformed into a stupid woman, then.”
I drag a hand over my face. I can’t exactly defend her decision when I hated it at the time. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She looks at the clock and then shakes her head. “Even if we had more time, I’m not sure I’m up for it.”
I turn up my palms. “I have all day. Ava and Jake decided to skip the whole wedding rehearsal thing, so we don’t have any official plans.”
She bites her bottom lip. “I need to go to Chicago.”
I blink at her. “I thought that was just a cover story so your mom wouldn’t worry.”
“It was. Mostly. But I have to check on something. It’s a potential job that just came to my attention last night.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes, and I know she’s not telling me the whole truth. “Research and stuff.”
I return her fake-ass smile and pocket my keys. “Awesome. Let me know when you’re ready to leave. I’ll drive.”
“You don’t have—”
“I insist.”