Chapter 2
Molly
I knew that voice. It had been a long time since I had heard it and I got nervous that I was actually right about who it was. Talk about a ghost. What in the world was Chris doing here? I thought had had moved away, went to the lower 48 from what I had last heard. We had a deep past and I wasn’t sure why he was here or why he was looking for me. He had family here and I had never heard of him stepping foot back in Nome. I froze and it was hard for me to turn around to look at him. I was that nervous.
“Molly, is that you?”
When I still didn’t answer him, he chuckled and asked me if I realized that he could see me or not. I knew that he could, I was in the open, but that didn’t mean that I was happy about it. What the heck was I going to say to him? It was impossible to think about and I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to come up with anything.
I turned around because I was caught and there was nowhere to go. At one time, I had very different feelings about Chris, had wanted to be around him all of the time, but things change and that had certainly been one of them. Some people couldn’t deal with what life threw at them and me and him were a perfect example of that.
“Chris, what in the world are you doing up here?”
“I lived here for a long time.”
“Yes and you have been away, what eight years?”
“About that.”
“Well I haven’t seen you in a long time, just surprised. Are you here visiting your aunt?”
He shook his head that he wasn’t. “No, I will go see them eventually, but for now I am looking for you.”
“I heard and here you are. What can I do for you?”
“Go out with me and let’s talk.”
The request was a little hard to understand because I didn’t know what there was to talk about. A lot had happened between us, but at the end there, none of it was something that we would have wanted to relive. I sure didn’t and I was almost positive that he didn’t either. So what else was there to talk about?
“You want to go out? Are you in town for a few days?”
“Or longer. That is what I need to talk to you about.”
What he said didn’t make sense and me being a determining factor in him staying or the length of his stay was strange to me as well. I hadn’t seen him in eight years, so why would I have anything to do with it?
“Okay, well let me know when and I will go grab some coffee with you.”
“Right now?”
I sighed to myself and shook my shoulders. I forgot how right now he was and how much it had irked me in the past. “Okay.”
It wasn’t at all who I had thought it would be. Of all the green-eyed handsome men in my life, running into Chris was not one of them that I ever expected to see again. I had feelings from way back for him and I didn’t know how to act around him. How was I supposed to act to the one and only man that had broken my heart? It wasn’t something that I had been faced with for a long time, but I was sure that I was still single because of the man in front of me. I was too worried about every other guy being just like him and I wasn’t going to be able to do it again.
He smiled at me and for a minute I felt my breath quickening and I tried to ignore the reaction. It was a reaction from being intimate with the man many times and knowing that he knew my body better than I knew it myself. He always had and I had found unspeakable pleasure in his arms. It was just that simple. It wasn’t my heart that reacted. It knew better. I had learned a long time ago to not listen to my heart at all. I knew that it was an idiot.
“Um, okay, I guess we can go grab a coffee and sit down at a table and have a chat. I have the best coffee in town.”
“I remember.”
I didn’t want the reminder of our past, even as it flooded through my body. I didn’t want to think about what all was between us, it was too hard.
“So do you still take it black?”
He grinned that I remembered and nodded his head that he did. I went behind the counter to make us a couple of cups of coffee. I needed to finish my second cup anyways, but I never would have thought an old lover would come back to haunt me. I wish I knew what it was that he wanted. It would have been easier to prepare. Denise tried to get my attention, but I ignored her. I didn’t want to get into it with her then. She wanted to know who Chris was and it was hard for me to say.
What was really strange was the urge I’d had to give him a hug and even a kiss. He was most likely married and there was no telling why he was even here, but it felt strange that he was here and we hadn’t touched in anyway. I mean, really strange. I don’t think we had ever been in the same room and not touched in some way or another.
Turning around I saw that he had gotten the table that gave the most privacy and for some reason I was even more nervous than I was before. Why did I feel like I was getting set up? Maybe he was the bearer of bad news and I didn’t know it yet.
As I walked over to the table, I realized that I was going to find out real soon, so there was no reason to get my anxiety all up. It was to all be revealed soon enough.