CHAPTER 4

Seth picked up Molly shortly after dark for their first late-night stake-out. She had been sitting in the dark at Reading Grounds for several nights in a row while Seth was on shift at the fire station. A certain car driven by a certain mean-spirited old lady was the object of her attention. Sure enough, like clockwork, she passed by at the same time almost every night just as she had all the nights previous to their new plan. Now, if she could only determine a pattern in Evelyn’s routine. There didn’t seem to be rhyme or reason to it.

Molly found a strange sense of pleasure sitting, under the cloak of darkness, hidden from her arch nemesis, able to take her own pictures of late-night shenanigans without Evelyn suspecting a thing. She couldn’t use the pictures, though. It would be obvious where they were taken from and who was taking them. No, she didn’t need to blast them on Facebook to feel gratified. Molly enjoyed having an upper hand. A solid plan Evelyn hadn’t a clue about. Game on. Time for a stake out.

Seth chuckled at the sight of Molly when she pulled the door to the shop closed behind her and locked it. She was dressed head to toe in black. She even sported a black beanie that held her two long braids. She took late-night undercover agents with bloodhound skills to a whole new level. Looking both ways, she launched from the shadowy outside wall of her shop where she had paused and sprinted to Seth’s running vehicle.

“Go, go, go!” she whispered as she slapped the dash.

He laughed at her sudden paranoia. “Why are you whispering? Nobody can hear us in here.”

“You don’t know that! Evelyn is everywhere. We can’t get caught, or we hand her the whole game, trophy and all!”

“Trophy?” He laughed. “There’s a trophy involved now?”

“Well, no…kind of. We need to win this!”

“Okay, whatever you say, boss. Let’s go catch an old lady!”

“Shhh, not so loud!”

“We’re in a car!” He laughed.

“A car she probably has bugged,” Molly defended. If Cady O’Reilly had connections, it was entirely possible Evelyn did too. “Let’s get out of here before she sees us and this backfires! She’s always watching.”

Molly spent the rest of the drive sitting low in her seat watching the side view mirror. She didn’t want to risk being followed — playing secret ops with Seth suddenly made her paranoid. You never knew if Evelyn had a geriatric gang of her own roaming the streets. People probably worked for her out of fear.

Seth pulled onto the street opposite of Evelyn’s and parked the vehicle under an overgrown tree that shadowed the glowing street light. They would hide from anyone’s radar under cloak of darkness. Nighttime super sleuthing made them feel like stealthy clandestine spy ninjas when they settled in with a clear shot of Evelyn’s house. All the lights were off at the end of her cul-de-sac ahead. Now they just had to hurry up and…wait.

“Were we followed?” Seth asked sarcastically.

“Why, what do you see?” Molly slid farther down in her seat, peering over the dash.

When Seth laughed, she gave him the side-eye with a snarky glare before tilting her head to the side. “Ha-ha! And no, we weren’t…followed.”

“Then why are you so jumpy?” he asked.

“Because I’m afraid of getting caught!” she said honestly.

Seth shrugged. “Caught doing what? We aren’t doing anything wrong.”

“I don’t know…stalking?” she answered.

“How would anyone know we’re stalking? We could just be…pulled over looking for directions.” Seth knew full well he wasn’t convincing her of anything, but he enjoyed the reaction.

“Directions, where?” She sat up and looked around. “There’s exactly four neighborhoods in this town, and Main Street sits in the middle. We barely have a stop light! A little hard to get lost here,” she defended. “We’re clearly stalking.”

“Maybe it’s car trouble we’re having.”

“Or maybe it isn’t since, again, small town. It wouldn’t take this long to get help. Besides, your flashers aren’t on.”

“Good point.” He reached for the emergency light button. “Better put those on if we’re going with car trouble.”

Molly quickly grabbed his hand before he could engage the emergency flashers and paused when her hand filled his. They sat in silence for a moment, staring first at their connection, then at each other. The air grew thicker between them, and each breathed a bit heavier.

“Uh, no…I mean…” Molly started, slowly withdrawing her hand, “may as well hang a neon sign that says, over here, Evelyn!”

Seth pulled his hand back, but kept his eyes on Molly a bit longer than he should have. “Yeah. I’m just messing with you, Molly.”

She let out an exaggerated gasp that had an accompanying smile, lightening the mood. “We don’t want to be outted by Facebook.”

“You posted it on Facebook. Oh my God…” he said, reaching for the ignition “We better hurry and get out of here. She’s probably taking pictures from those bushes over there.”

Molly jumped, focused on the bushes in question, searching for movement. “Wait. What? No! I didn’t put anything on Facebook.”

Seth let out a boisterous laugh. “I’m still just messing with you. You make it far too easy. Calm down. We aren’t going to get caught tonight. We got this.”

Molly smiled and eased back into her seat, focused on their target. Binoculars were passed between them through a long stretch of silence as they stalked their prey. Molly jumped when Seth finally spoke again, offering her something to drink and a snack. Remembering she forgot to eat a suitable dinner, his timing was appreciated, as was the small cooler he pulled out from behind the seat.

To her surprise, his choice of snack was a gourmet sandwich from Savory Sweets Bistro that included their famous German potato salad. Her favorite. He must’ve had help ordering because there were several of her favorite drinks as well. Once the cooler was put back in its place, Seth pulled out a pastry box that smelled like post dinner heaven to taunt Molly with.

He carefully thought of everything, as if this were a date at a drive-in and Evelyn Shirley was the star of the B-list movie of the evening — a movie so bad, they wished they had a case of rotten tomatoes to toss at her.

They each ate in silence, taking the occasional glance at one another, but mostly staying fixed on their target. It was approaching the time Molly typically saw Evelyn cross town. Until she did, they sat, pondered, and each enjoyed the presence of their friend…maybe a bit too much because Seth had to crack the windows and let the cool fall air in. It was too hot in his SUV.

They were pulled from their thoughts when the front window lit up and the porch light went on, soon followed by the garage door opening. Molly scooted closer to Seth to get a better look at what was going on down the street since a few dangling branches hindered her view. When she moved over, Molly was so close, their bodies touched, sending a bolt of heat straight through her. She looked at him, caught off guard by the sensation, assuming he felt it too given his proximity and deep, seductive stare.

Undeniable chemistry lingered between them like a forbidden attraction. Seth’s crush began the day he set eyes on Molly; hers on his first visit to her shop. They were friends, though, each thinking the other only saw and desired said friendship. Tonight was a game changer. This wasn’t just friendship, nor was it only a physical attraction. It was something they couldn’t identify any more than it was something they could tame — at the moment, neither wanted to anyway.

Seth tilted his head and leaned in for a sweet kiss. With their lips finally locked, sending another wave of heat, everything suddenly felt right. What started as timid and soft quickly escalated. Seth held Molly’s face as he kissed her hard and full of intention — and she let him.

Until there was a loud rap at the window, startling them out of their heated, lust-filled stupor that sent Molly back to her side of the SUV. A flashlight illuminated the interior, blinding them as it landed on each of their faces. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who was standing outside the vehicle. Especially when they each noticed the headlights that snuck up on them in the side view mirrors. Jasper O’Bannon.

“Evening, Sheriff,” Seth said sharply to Jasper, who also happened to be Hunter’s brother. Hunter was Seth’s boss. This was going to earn him shit for days at the fire station, he could count on that.

“Evenin’. What are you folks doing out here?” Jasper said with a sarcastic tone and smirk while flashing his light around in the vehicle, taking inventory of the scene. “Got a call about a peeper. You out peepin’, Spangler?”

“Just out for a drive…” Seth fired back with his own cocky stare.

“Well, Spangler, this here is parking, not driving. So…you out parkin’ tonight then?” he asked before turning his attention to Molly. “Hey there, Molly. How are you tonight? You here of your free will, darlin’?”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Jasper…are you fucking kidding me? Of her free will?” Seth shot back, clearly irritated.

“I am, Sheriff,” Molly voiced with her best smile and sugary voice. “We were just out for a drive. Seth was kind enough to pull over so I could dig something out of the cooler safely from the back.”

Trying not to give up their gimmick, neither could help but notice Evelyn Shirley had backed out of her driveway and was heading their way. Of course, she noticed the sheriff’s car and his bright light from a block away — Evelyn had a strange sixth sense about this stuff. Rolling to a stop at the intersection, Evelyn paused long enough for Seth and Molly to see a flash from inside her car. A picture. Great. #RumorHasIt had a new article coming.

“Seems someone was a bit worried about a suspicious parked vehicle sitting out here. Cat burglar and peeping tom was mentioned,” Jasper informed them.

Evelyn fucking Shirley. He didn’t even have to say it. She noticed his patrol car from her dark house because she was watching for him!

“Well, unless you need to cite me with some sort of infraction,” Seth said, smothered in sarcasm, “we’ll be on our way. It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, yeah…this is just a warning, Spangler. Next time, I won’t be such a nice guy,” Jasper added. “Take the lady out on a real date, man. A cooler? On the side of a street in the middle of the night?”

“It’s not a…” Seth didn’t finish, because it was pointless. He was going to be the ass end of every fucking joke at the station for weeks, compliments of Sheriff Asshole.

“By the way, it’s illegal to block a fire hydrant in Pine Valley.” Jasper grinned. “What’s with you fire boys? Miss the job that much on your down time? You gotta visit all the hydrants like a dog pissing on his territory?”

Cutting Seth off, Molly said, “Hey, tell Shayna I said hi! I’ll see her at book club!” It was her last-minute silent plea to get Seth off the hook before he said something that got him in trouble — and to get them out of there and back on Evelyn’s tail.

“Book club…” Jasper shook his head and flashed his cocky grin. “She doesn’t even come home with books half the time…” And that was that. He walked back to his car, laughing all the way.

“Hey, keep this between us, Jasper,” Seth yelled out the window, hopeful for some mercy. “I don’t need shit from Hunter or the guys at the station!”

Jasper tossed up a wave as he got in his squad car to drive off. Seth was certain this was not the last he’d hear on the matter. Jasper was probably recording the whole thing from his body cam and was about to screw with Seth for days.

Seth and Molly pulled out behind him, mission aborted, plan spoiled. Jasper took his time down the main road out of Evelyn’s neighborhood — it was like he was on to them. By the time they reached Main Street, and Jasper turned for the police station, Evelyn was nowhere to be found. They would have to pick up where they left off another night.

Seth walked Molly to her outside apartment access, rather than going through the front of the store. Though Pine Valley was safe, he made sure she got in without incident. A quick hug, a few words exchanged, and no kiss — that was the end of their disappointing first stake out. Score one for Evelyn; Seth and Molly a big fat zero.

Evelyn Shirley struck again! It wasn’t as though Molly or Seth thought they would get away with a free pass from the Facebook banshee, but actually seeing it stung a little. That little flash from Evelyn’s car the night before was exactly what they suspected, a picture of them in Seth’s vehicle with the sheriff at the window. It wasn’t entirely obvious who was in the vehicle, but that was no bonus since the picture and snarky comment that accompanied it told Pine Valley exactly who they were looking at.

Good golly, Miss Molly is keeping late hours canoodling with “fire”! Looks like a Pine Valley fire favorite has a little SEXton on the mind! Indecent! Get a room, hooligans!

“Can you believe this woman?” Libby asked while dropping off the day’s pastries.

“Oh, I can believe it!” Molly retorted. “Watch this!”

Molly clicked on the comments section of the Facebook post with her tongue out to one side as if it helped her think while her fingers went to work typing. A mischievous grin crossed her face before she turned the iPad to Libby, proud of her rebuttal.

It was a helluva night! Thanks for capturing the memory!

“Oh my God! I can’t believe you wrote that!” Libby said between fits of laughter. “Go you!”

“Well…if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! That ought to give her something to stew over, especially that smiley face I added at the end!” With a shrug and dismissive eyeroll, she laughed with her friend through a high five before Libby left.

She couldn’t wait for Seth to see what she did.

Molly — one.

Evelyn Shirley — zero!