“It isn’t something I do much. Just for the basics,” Lacey said. “I work too much to have time for shopping as recreation.”

Molly smiled. “You’re a saver, I’m a spender. I think it comes from not having a lot while growing up. I crave the luxuries, not that I can afford them. Thank goodness for credit cards,” she said laughing.

“Amen.” Lacey grinned. She had no intention of revealing she tried hard to charge little and pay off fast. She hated being in debt. She’d lived from hand to mouth for so long, she rarely let herself let go. Even though, these days, she could afford to do so now and again.

“I have to admit you’re different than I thought you’d be.” Molly’s astute gaze appraised Lacey without shame.

Apparently it was time to discuss the past. “You mean because I don’t have the word ‘trouble’ stamped on my forehead?” Lacey asked, laughing.

The other woman grinned. “At least not anymore.”

So now they’d reached the crux of things. “I wasn’t trouble then, either. What do you think of Hunter?” Lacey asked, the subject change not as off topic as it seemed.

Molly’s brows furrowed. “I thought he was a good guy.”

“He is a good guy. And you must still think so or you wouldn’t be here with me, right?” Lacey asked. Molly’s views on Lacey might be skewed, but if she trusted Hunter, she couldn’t believe every lie Marc Dumont had fed her.

“I have many reasons to want to get to know you better. They don’t all involve Hunter.” Molly absently blotted some spilled coffee from the table.

Lacey knew her uncle was the other reason. “Do you want to know what happened back then? It might help you understand Hunter better.”

Molly nodded, but she eyed Lacey warily, obviously uncertain of whether to believe whatever she was about to hear.

Lacey decided to keep the story short and succinct. She summed up her life, her time with her uncle, her stint in foster care with Ty and Hunter, and their elaborate plan to fake her death to prevent her from being returned by the state to her uncle’s care. But she couldn’t stop the occasional lump that rose in her throat or crack in her voice as she told the tale.

“My God.” Molly stared at Lacey, shock etched on her face. “Three teenagers pulled that off?”

“Well, two of those teenagers had street smarts and one had connections.” Lacey crumpled her napkin and tucked it into her now empty cup.

“You must have been desperate to have run off to New York alone.” Molly’s voice sounded distant, as if she were having difficulty comprehending. “And Ty and Hunter risked so much to help you. I mean if the police had found the car or linked them to the theft-”

“They didn’t.”

“But they had to have known there was a risk.”

“We were kids. I’m not sure how far out any of us thought things through,” Lacey said honestly.

She hated being reminded of how naïve they’d been, how little they knew about the ramifications of their actions. Molly was right. Despite how her uncle had turned on Ty and Hunter, they’d been damn lucky they’d gotten away with their plan.

“I guess what I’m saying is, both Ty and Hunter had to have cared about you a great deal to do what they did.” Molly rose, empty cup in hand, and started for the garbage pail.

Lacey followed and they headed back into the mall. “We cared about each other,” she said to Molly.

As Lacey rushed to keep pace with the other woman, she realized what had Molly so agitated all of a sudden. Molly was threatened by Lacey and Hunter’s relationship.

The good news was that Hunter’s feelings for Molly were obviously reciprocated. The bad news was that the other woman still hadn’t come down on one side or the other when it came to Marc Dumont. For Hunter, Lacey and Ty, there was no middle ground.

“Molly?”

“Hmm?”

“Wait. Can we stop here and finish talking for a minute?” Lacey asked.

Molly came to a halt, folding her arms over her chest.

“You don’t need to worry about my feelings for Hunter or his for me. We’re friends, that’s all.”

She shook her head. “I’m not worried. I was just realizing what kind of bond you must share, that’s all.”

Lacey reached out and touched Molly’s arm. “Sometimes you form that kind of connection when you don’t have anyone else.”

“Maybe. But I saw something special in his eyes when he spoke about you.”

“Which I’d lay odds is nothing compared to what I saw there when he talked me into going shopping with you.” Lacey grinned. “I’m serious.”

Molly sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually so insecure but I’m not, I mean, I haven’t been involved with a lot of guys and although Hunter’s asked me out-”

“Often, from what I hear,” Lacey interrupted.

Molly laughed. “Although he’s asked me out often, he never pushed when I said no. It became like this game between us and we both enjoyed the tension.”

“But neither of you ever acted on it.”

She shook her head. “Not until the night after he discovered that my mother is about to marry your uncle. Then he showed up on my doorstep, food in hand and a lot of questions on his lips.” Molly kicked her booted foot against the floor in disgust. “Before that he couldn’t be bothered to push the dating issue.”

“Well, you did say you’d turned him down before. And the Hunter I knew had-” Lacey bit down on her bottom lip fast. She had no business telling Hunter’s secrets.

“The Hunter you knew what? Tell me about him,” Molly urged.

Lacey frowned. She had been about to say the Hunter she knew had an inferiority complex and desperately needed others to love and believe in him. But what did Lacey really know about Molly? And how much could Lacey trust her with Hunter’s past?

She drew a deep breath. “Hunter’s a great guy. He’s sensitive even though he tries to hide it and he needs people he can trust around him.” And that was as much as she was willing to reveal. “But I’d bet if he shows interest, the slightest interest, it’s real.”

“After ten years apart you know him that well?” Molly asked.

Lacey nodded. “Like I said, he’s my family.” Ten years couldn’t erase that feeling. “So forgive me for saying this to you. If you’re playing a game, if you just like messing with the flirtation, then let it go. Don’t bother acting the part of someone who’s been hurt. Just leave him alone and let him move on.”

Molly’s eyes widened, partly in surprise, partly in admiration. “You’re protective of each other. I respect that.”

“You care about Hunter.” Lacey decided they’d talked about so much, she might as well lay it all on the line.

“Our relationship is complicated,” Molly said.

“Name one that isn’t. The thing is, if you care about Hunter and you trust his judgment, then you need to know one more thing about our past.”

Molly raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“After I left, Uncle Marc was furious that he’d lost any hope of gaining access to my trust fund.”

Molly’s shoulders stiffened.

Lacey refused to be deterred. “He was angry and needed to blame someone. That someone turned out to be Hunter and Ty but Hunter got the worst of it. Uncle Marc had Hunter removed from Ty’s mother’s home.”

“How do you know Marc was behind his removal?” Molly asked.

Lacey remained silent.

“So it’s like you said earlier about the car theft-there is no proof.”

“Touché.” Lilly smiled grimly. “But I think you need to allow for the possibility that there’s truth in my story. In our story.Talk to Marc. Ask him. And talk to Hunter. I’ve never known him to lie.”

A smile curved Molly’s lips. “I’ll do that.”

They started walking again, this time toward the exit of the mall closest to where they’d parked. Lacey felt as though she’d accomplished a lot with Molly, from telling her the truth about the past to opening up the possibility of a relationship with Hunter. In her heart Lacey believed that even if Hunter had ever had feelings for her in the past, he considered her just a friend now.

They walked out the doors to the parking lot.

“Where are you parked?” Molly asked.

“That direction.” Lacey pointed toward the area she’d left Ty’s vehicle.

“Me, too.”

They started toward their cars. Since it was a late weeknight, near closing time, and on a drizzly evening, it made sense that the lot was nearly empty. Although it was dark, the overhead lamps provided steady streams of light in all directions.

“I hope you’re happy with the outfit you bought,” Molly said as they walked.

“I am. I couldn’t have bought it without you with me to tell me I looked good.” She shook her head and laughed. “I’m just so nervous about seeing all the relatives for the first time, you know?”

“I can imagine.”

Lacey saw her car straight ahead of her. She wanted to question Molly about the trust fund before she lost the opportunity. “Listen, I know you were going to help my uncle with-” Out of nowhere, a car careened toward them, cutting off her thoughts.

Lacey screamed and barreled into Molly, deliberately pushing the other woman toward the grassy embankment on Lacey’s right. She rolled to her side and a nondescript car drove off in a squeal of dust, leaving both women shocked and shaking on the grass.

“Are you okay?” Lacey asked, panting as she spoke, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

“I think so. What happened?” Molly pulled her knees toward her, hugging her legs tight.

Lacey shook her head. Unexpected dizziness assaulted her. “I guess some idiot took a joy ride through the parking lot and aimed for the only people around. Us. Whew!” Lacey lay on her back and stared at the sky, willing her pulse to return to normal.

“Did you notice anything about the car that we can report?” Molly asked, joining her on the ground.

“Other than the fact that it was dark out and so was the car? No. I just saw that it wasn’t a New York plate as it drove off, but that’s it. You?” Lacey rolled her head toward the other woman.

“No.” Molly closed her eyes and exhaled hard. “I can’t get behind the wheel just yet.”

“Me neither,” Lacey muttered, shutting her own eyes, too.

“When I came on this shopping trip I didn’t know what to expect. Who knew?” Molly laughed, slightly hysterical. “Accidents happen, but that was way too close for comfort.”

“Lacey and Molly’s Excellent Adventure.” Lacey shivered. Accident or not, she was unnerved but good.

TY DECIDED to take his mother up on her invitation to come over for lunch. With Lilly’s return, they needed to talk. Ty stopped by the office to check up on their borrowed P.I. who was now handling the missing husband case of Ty’s, while Derek handled surveillance on Dumont. Then he headed over to his mother’s. He hadn’t seen her since he brought Lilly back and he dreaded the conversation.

His mother still didn’t know Ty had had a role in Lilly’s disappearance and though she’d made her secret deal with Marc Dumont, that knowledge didn’t make Ty’s role in his mother’s pain over the years any easier to bear.

She’d raised him and she’d done it alone. As she always said, she’d tried her best even if some of her choices had been misguided. With Lilly’s return, Ty was forced to see his mother in a new light. She’d kept her secret from him and he realized now he’d kept his.

When he arrived, his mother was puttering around the kitchen. The decor had changed since Ty was a kid. The cabinets were no longer old stained wood but a modern white laminate and the once hideous yellow appliances had been replaced with shiny stainless steel. As always when Ty stepped into the renovated kitchen, he had to push aside the reality of where the financing for this upgrade had come from.

“Ty! I’m so glad you could come by.” His mother greeted him with a huge hug.

Wearing an apron that signaled she’d been cooking along with a huge smile, she was the mother he loved and he wrapped his arms around her, too.

“You didn’t have to cook for me. But I’m glad you did.” He stepped back and surveyed the stove and its many simmering pots, inhaling the delicious aroma that filled him with warmth.

“I still love cooking for you. I made your favorite homemade tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with butter on the bread.” She smiled. “But I have to admit you’re not the only reason I’m so busy in the kitchen.”

Was it his imagination or did her cheeks flush before she rushed over to the oven to peek inside. “What’s going on?”

“I’m cooking for a friend.” She didn’t turn to face him.

“You’re cooking for a man?” he asked, surprised.

His mother had always claimed she was too busy to get involved again. Although he’d believed that line while he was growing up, a part of him had long suspected that she said it to protect his illusions of her as his mother. But he was a grown-up now and could handle his mother dating. In fact he’d much rather she wasn’t alone.