Daniel's Desire

“You do know,” Retta corrected. “The name was plain as day on that poster Daniel was waving around.” She picked up a slip of paper from the counter. “I made a note of it right here. Got the phone number, too.”

Molly hated it when anyone called her on an evasion. No one did it more often than Retta. She scowled at the woman who took pride in serving as her conscience. “I can’t betray Kendra like that.”

“Well, honey, you’d better do something unless you want Daniel underfoot every time you turn around. The man’s not going to leave this alone, no matter how uncomfortable it makes either one of you. When it comes to those kids he looks out for, he’s like a pitbull. He doesn’t let go.”

“I know that.”

“Well, then.”

“Fine. Call Kendra and get her back over here,” Molly said. The prospect of trying to pin the girl down was only minimally more appealing than trying to throw Daniel off track day after day after day.

In the meantime, she went back to tend to her long-neglected customers. When she finished making her rounds, she found Alice Devaney sitting at the bar. Molly frowned at her best friend.

“I imagine your husband sent you over here to find out if his brother had turned me into a basket case,” she said.

“Patrick mentioned that Daniel had been here,” Alice admitted. “I figured out all on my own that it would probably be an uncomfortable meeting. Are you okay?”

“I survived the first round, but there will be more unless I give him what he wants,” Molly told her.

“Which is?”

“He wants me to turn over the runaway who’s been staying here.”

“I see. Are you sure you’re doing the girl any favors by hiding her?”

“Don’t you start on me, too. She’s better off here than she would be on the streets,” Molly said defensively.

“No doubt about it,” Alice agreed. “But maybe she’d be even better off at home.”

“Or not. How can I be sure?”

“Maybe this is one area where you can trust Daniel to know what’s right,” Alice suggested cautiously. “I know that goes against the grain with you, but he is the expert.”

“At rules and regulations, not human beings.”

Alice reached for her hand. “Molly, I’m sorry he hurt you so deeply, but it is his job to find and help runaways. From everything I’ve ever heard, he’s very good at it.”

“I’m not letting him take another child away from me,” Molly retorted without thinking.

Alice gasped. “What are you saying? When did Daniel take a child from you?”

“Forget I said that,” Molly said at once. Patrick and Retta were the only two people other than herself and Daniel and the doctor at the local hospital who knew about the miscarriage. It wasn’t something she’d wanted spread around the small town of Widow’s Cove. She’d insisted that Patrick keep the details from his wife. After all, it had happened long before he and Alice had even met.

“You can’t unring that bell,” Alice said forcefully. “I’m your best friend, or at least I like to think I’ve become your best friend since I came back to Widow’s Cove and married Patrick. You can tell me what happened.”

Molly shook her head. “I don’t like talking about what an idiot I was.”

“You could never be an idiot,” Alice said fiercely. “Come on, Molly. Spill it. You’ll feel better if you talk it out. I don’t imagine Patrick’s all that good at listening. His strong suit would be threatening to knock his brother’s teeth down his throat for hurting you.”

Molly grinned. “He did offer once or twice. I turned him down, something I sincerely regret at the moment.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have. Maybe you’d both have felt better if Patrick had taken some action.”

Molly stared at her in shock. “You’re advocating I let the two of them brawl?”

“It might have helped them get back together if they’d worked off some of the anger that’s been between them for the past few years,” Alice said. She waved off the suggestion. “But they’re not the point. You are. Tell me what happened between you and Daniel, Molly. I haven’t pressed you on this before, but I think it’s time you told me.”

Molly sighed, thinking back to her first big mistake. “I thought Daniel loved me.”

“That’s not so awful,” Alice said. “Are you so sure he didn’t?”

Molly weighed her options and concluded that she could use the advice of a woman who’d had her own struggles with a Devaney man and that complicated family history before finally winning Patrick’s heart.

“Okay, here it is in a nutshell,” she said at last. “You know that Daniel and I were together for a while.”

“I gathered that, yes. And I know it ended badly. You’ve made no secret of that.”

Molly drew in a deep breath, then summed up what had happened in as few words as possible. “It ended because he went ballistic when I told him I was pregnant. The same night we argued, I had a miscarriage and lost the baby.”

Tears promptly filled Alice’s eyes. “Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry. You must have been devastated.”

“I survived,” Molly said grimly. “But I won’t let him take Kendra away from me, not unless we know for a fact that it’s the best thing for her. The kid is hurting. It’s not that I intend to keep her for myself, for heaven’s sake, but I do want to know why she left home before I send her back to the same situation she ran away from.”

“Don’t confuse giving up Kendra with losing your baby,” Alice said gently. “The two things are not the same at all.”

“Maybe not. I just know that Daniel’s involved in both of them,” Molly replied stubbornly.

“Okay, what can I do to help?”

Molly forced a smile. “Nothing that I can think of, unless you want to stand guard at the front door and keep him out of here.”

“I doubt I’m much of a match for Daniel,” Alice said. “Anything else?”

“No, and don’t worry about it. I’ll handle Daniel.”

“You wouldn’t have to handle him if you’d just do as he’s asking and let him see Kendra. I’m sure the three of you could work this out.”

Molly knew it was a reasonable suggestion, but if she was afraid of risking it, how could she convince Kendra to trust Daniel? “I’ll try to persuade her to talk to him,” Molly finally conceded, not even trying to hide her reluctance. “But I won’t force her to do it.”

“Not good enough,” Alice said. “She’s thirteen. That’s too young to be making the kind of decisions that could affect the rest of her life. You’re the adult. You need to be smart about this, for her sake and your own.”

It was good advice and Molly knew it. In fact, when Alice had gone and Kendra emerged from the kitchen, Molly led her directly upstairs where they could have some privacy.

“Stay put,” she ordered. “You and I need to talk as soon as I serve another round of drinks.”

Kendra’s eyes widened with alarm. “Am I in trouble? What did that guy say to you? I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not wanted for anything. I didn’t knock over some convenience store. I never even shop

ifted a candy bar. I swear it.”