More Than Memories Read Free Page B

wore blue jeans and a pink sweater, enjoying the
soft feel of it since warmer weather was on the way. Spring daffodils bloomed
beside their trail. The tr ees were still wet
from a recent rain, but everything was budding or starting to bloom. The sun
shone through the leaves fo r parts of the day,
and the wind wasn’t as cold as when she first arrived.
    “Yesterday and today went by so fast,” Molly mused
out loud. “Everything went by so slow in California.”
    “Life here did, too.” He didn’t look at her so she
couldn’t see the emotion in his eyes, but his soft tone sounded sad.
    Trent n odded to
their right and they turned the horses to follow the trail, winding uphill
through the pine and oak trees. He moved his horse ahead of hers on the path
lined with ferns. Water drops fell out of the tree branches, landing on them and creating their own personal rain shower. Molly
giggled.
    “It’s beautiful here,”
she told Trent, knowing she did n’t need to. She could see how much he
loved the land and his horses.
    “We spent half our childhoods out here in these
woods.”
    “Was I a tomboy?”
    “No, but you didn’t mind getting dirty.” He got a
gleam in his eyes, and she wanted to stare but needed to watch where she was
going. He said, “I feel a little selfish, keeping you all to myself. Other
people are going to be glad to see you. My sister Alicia has been waiting for
you as much as me.”
    As much as me ? The phrase ca ught her off guard, and he probably
saw it when she turned to stare at him. She didn’t need a memory to know her
eyes usually told everyone what she was feeling. His gaze searched her again,
looking for the old Molly, she guessed, and she had to look away. Alicia would
look at her and want to see her old friend as well. Could Molly give them that
person? Could she face them knowing they so desperately wanted to find the
person they knew? Again, she felt the urge to run back to California and just
move on, pretending her old life hadn’t existed.
    No, she couldn’t live like that. She knew she
couldn’t hide from Alicia and the other people she no doubt knew here, but she
liked spending time alone
with Trent too.
    She sighed. “I’ll have to see them at some point,
and I did come here to remember things, didn’t I?”
     
    Trent watched his
Molly as he led them through the forest, still blown away that she was back ali ve and healthy... and happy for the moment . Yet, so many questions and doubts stood between
them. Why did she disappear? And why did she come back now? He wanted the
truth, and he wanted Molly to get her memory back. If she remembered their time
together from childhood, maybe all those moments would mean something. Right
now they were just pictures in his head.
    He watched her sway with the horse and throw him a
smile. Yeah, she was having fun, and they were making a new picture, a memory
that both of them knew about. Still, the unknowns haunted him, even in the
quiet, misty woods.
    He wanted everyone in the town to believe in him
again, and Molly could do that for him if she knew what happened. A few people
were still suspicious and blamed Trent for the Andersons’ disappearance. Things
that big don’t happen in small towns and people needed someone to blame.
    She glanced his way and smiled. “I’m so glad we
came out here.” She spoke softly, her eyes glowing with pleasure.
    “Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s real nice riding with you
again.” It felt right. It almost felt like they hadn’t lost the last four
years. For a minute, he tried to pretend they hadn’t. But maybe he wouldn’t
appreciate this so much then. As things stood, he had her back, in a way. A big
way, but he needed to get to the bottom of this too.
    He’d spent the last four years searching for her
and praying that one day she’d come back to him and clear up all the doubt. How
could she without her memory? She had walked right by him without recognizing
him. Talk about a heart breaking