Almost a Family

He nodded and led Molly outside. “I thought they could use some time alone.”

“I agree.” The fact that they happened to agree on anything seemed some sort of progress. They headed to the elevator and waited for a down arrow. Except time alone for Molly and Sara meant time alone for them, too. Molly struggled to keep things light. “Did you have dinner yet?”

“No. I didn’t finish at the clinic until ten minutes before I picked you up.”

“I’m sorry.”

He looked sideways at her. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault. I’ll grab something at home later.”

Silence fell and Molly wished the elevator would hurry. Things were awkward now, no matter how hard she tried for it to be otherwise. Being around Jason was incredibly difficult, because simply looking at him was a reminder of all they’d shared. And of all they’d thrown away. Staying neutral around each other, with a

ll that history pushing at Molly’s memory, made it impossible to think of him as only an old friend. They’d shared too much.

“Molly?”

Jason was holding the elevator, and she blushed. “Sorry.” She stepped inside and turned while the doors slid shut, keeping them in a square cocoon of intimacy.

Oh, wasn’t this grand? She could smell him, the same scent he’d worn since forever. Her heart pounded foolishly. There’d been a time when they would have taken the opportunity to steal a kiss in an elevator; now they stayed on their respective sides and tried fruitlessly to pretend the other wasn’t there.

After what seemed like forever, the elevator stopped and they walked to the cafeteria. Wordlessly, Jason got two hot chocolates, a bag of chocolate chip cookies and poured himself a coffee.

Molly took a large Styrofoam cup and poured her own coffee. Then at the cashier, she put her hand on Jason’s arm, a silent offer to pay.

“I’ll get it,” he said.

He handed the woman at the register a twenty-dollar bill.

“Thank you,” Molly murmured, trying not to feel beholden.

“Forget it.”

His voice was low and husky and Molly felt shivers erupt on her skin. She and Jason were over. They had been for a long time. He infuriated her and she wished he’d simply disappear for the next few weeks so she could look after her sister and niece without interference. She wanted that almost as much as she wanted to know if he still tasted the same. If his arms still felt as strong and sure around her. If it still were possible to lose herself in his delicious brown eyes.

They found a table in the corner next to several boxes of Christmas decorations that had been taken down but not put back into storage. Molly blew on her coffee and braved a look up.

“Kim couldn’t tell me much about what happened,” she explained quietly. “How much do you know?”

Jason took a deep breath, his dark eyes clouding over with pain. He toyed with his coffee cup. “She was coming home from work, driving the old highway. It was snowing and you know how slippery it gets.… She tried to stop. A man was coming through the light and couldn’t get stopped for the red. Kim had the right of way, but it was too slick. She saw him, but lost control coming into the intersection and he hit her, then spun off and took out a pole. Car’s totaled.” He took a breath. “They rushed her into surgery. The ER was busy, apparently. There were over forty accidents that day.”

Molly’s face blanched. “My God.”

Jason swallowed. “Someone called nine-one-one. I was listed as her emergency contact. By the time I got here, they’d already taken her into the OR.”

Molly pushed away the coffee. She should be horrified at what Kim had been through, but for some odd reason, she was stuck on the fact that her ex-boyfriend was her sister’s “in case of emergency” number, and that she, as Kim’s only family, wasn’t listed. Sure, it was far more practical for it to be Jason, as Kim’s next-door neighbor. Yet the knowledge, the exclusion, still stung.

“What happened to the other driver?”

Jason pushed back his chair, his expression clearly closed. “He died.”

Molly’s stomach dropped as the seriousness of the accident sunk in. Her only family could have been gone in an instant. The man who had died—surely he had a family who now missed him terribly. It easily could have been Kim. With that quick realization came the knowledge that she had done her sister a terrible disservice by distancing herself.

“Thank you for telling me,” she murmured. “I didn’t know how to ask Kim…didn’t want to upset her. Does she know about the other driver?”

The pain she saw in his dark eyes answered her question, even as he nodded. “She knows. The look on her face when she found out is one I’ll never forget.”

Molly stared up at him. It was becoming increasingly clear Jason had deep, genuine feelings for her sister. Molly had no right to be jealous of the intimate nature of their relationship, but she felt it all the same. It made no sense for her to resent their closeness. She’d left Jason years ago, and he was free to be close to whomever he chose. But she did resent it. Maybe if she’d been a better sister, Kim would have needed him less.

When they returned to Kim’s room, Kim was snuggled up with her daughter, who was on the verge of drifting off to sleep.