Chapter Five
Alfie
Ashburton, England
The hotel lobby was thankfully empty when I reached the front desk the next morning after a long night of tossing and turning thanks to the sound of Harry’s drunk voice. I had no idea if he knew I was staying at the hotel too, but he never once pounded on my door. I did hear a gaggle of females though around 2:40 a.m., along with the other groomsmen though, so that comforted me a little bit. He was too drunk and distracted to think of anyone else in the hotel.
It made me sick to my stomach thinking of Molly running away in her wedding dress, all her dreams of a beautiful wedding pissed on because of Harry. No one deserved that type of heartache.
William had called to inform me that Molly had indeed shown up for the evening. They didn’t have any clothes for her, but at least she had a robe and a place to stay away from the chaos of what happened.
The clerk behind the front desk checked me out quickly. I grabbed Molly’s bag along with my own to head out through the doors. A trickle of nerves went through me. I didn’t know what to expect now that I had crossed the threshold of defending my former friend’s fiancée. Ex-fiancée.
It was cold and rainy when I stepped outside in the direction of the rental car I had promised Peyton I would take care of myself after dropping her off at the airport.
“Alfie.”
The sound of Harry’s voice from behind me brought out an array of emotions. I turned on my heel to regard him coolly as he stepped out of the phone booth in front. His white shirt was rumpled and stained while his hair was unkempt. A shadow of a beard covered his jaw while the stench of cigarettes, cheap perfume, and whiskey wafted off of him in rolling waves.
“What?” I asked, flatly.
“I know you’re mad, mate,” he said, as he ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for the complete sham that my wedding turned out to be.”
I shook my head at him. “Something tells me that you blame Molly for that.”
“I do blame Molly for that.” His eyes narrowed at me. “She left the wedding knowing damn well that everyone had flown out to be here, or at least traveled to be here for us both.”
“You cheated on her. What did you expect?”
“She’s known about it,” Harry said, shrugging. “Molly is a smart woman. A part of her had accepted it a long time ago.”
It was sorely tempting to smash my fist into Harry’s face in a blind hope that maybe it would knock him back into the old Harry—my friend who I missed.
“I doubt that she did,” I replied. “She didn’t go through with the wedding, so I don’t think she had accepted it in her mind.”
Harry’s jaw worked while he chewed those words over for a moment. I took another step in the direction of the rental car, but Harry stopped me by saying, “It doesn’t matter anymore. She doesn’t want to be with me anymore, then that’s fine. I have other women in my life who want to take her place in a heartbeat.”
“Great, mate. That’s fantastic. Now, excuse me—”
He stepped in my path before I could take another step. “I overheard that Molly left in your rental car.”
The accusation hung clearly in the air. I kept my face carefully blank while Harry studied me intently. I didn’t want to sell out Molly’s hiding place yet. I knew word would spread around Devon that Molly was in my estate, but for the meantime, Molly deserved some peace and quiet.
“I have to go, Harry,” I said and gave him a sharp nod. “It was great seeing you. Good luck with wherever your endeavors take you.”
“Alfie—”
I ignored Harry’s calls as I walked across the stony pathway to the rental car. Placing the bags in the rental car, I hopped in the driver’s seat. I looked up briefly in my rearview mirror to see Harry staring after me with a miserable frown spread across his face before Ashburton disappeared behind me.
I let out a relieved breath when Devon appeared over my dashboard. It was one of the small towns that I truly felt comfortable in. The hustle and bustle of London was nice, but nothing compared to the quietness of Devon. The residents of Devon were also friendly. They looked after one another, including me, whenever the media came looking for me.
George’s Grocery was a small store on the corner of Main Street buzzing with usual energy on an early Sunday morning. I parked in front of the store before grabbing a small cart. There wasn’t any food in the house just yet from what William had told me on the phone. They weren’t expecting me to return, or to have an unexpected guest.
Cart full of groceries and basic necessities, I walked up to the check stand George Malley ran himself. The older man’s smile wiped away the unpleasant encounter with Harry outside of the hotel in Ashburton.
“Morning, Alfie,” he bellowed, hands moving fluidly as he scanned every item I placed on his check stand. “Didn’t expect to see you here this weekend. No important business?”
“Nothing that can’t wait,” I replied with a smile. “I’m taking a break from work for a little bit.”
“Good for you, mate. You’re too young to be working as hard as you do. Although—” he paused to wink playfully at me, “your phone company and plans have been wonderful for me so far. Who knew that an old timer like me could have a phone?”
I grinned as George chuckled heartily. “I’m glad it’s working out for you, George. I’ve been very firm on customer service with my employees.”
“They are doing fantastic,” George said. “Everyone should have a raise.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” An idea struck me as I loaded the grocery bags back into the cart. “Would you mind doing me a favor, George?”
George nodded. “Anything.”
“Keep your eyes peeled out for Harry,” I said. “If you see him stroll into town, give me a call right away.”
“I will,” he replied, seriously. That was the good thing about people like George in Devon. They didn’t press for information but would do favors without question.
I reached my estate right before lunch. True to his word, William had given Molly privacy. None of my staff’s cars were parked in the driveway per my request. I wanted some time to myself too.
Grabbing the bags from the trunk of the car, I walked to the front door to twist at the handle to find it locked. Out of habit, I patted my pockets for my keys when I remembered I had given Molly my set of keys.
Locked out of my own house. I chuckled in amusement at the situation as I knocked loudly on the front door. Footsteps approached the front door. I got a brief glimpse of someone looking through the window next to the door before I heard the slide of the lock. The door opened to reveal Molly standing in one of my robes. Her dark hair tumbled about her shoulders, tangled from sleep, while her face was still painted with makeup from yesterday. It took all my self-control to not imagine if Molly was naked underneath the robe that hung off her petite frame easily.
She looked just as beautiful dressed in a simple robe as she did in her wedding dress.
Molly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously as the silence stretched on between us. “I didn’t think you’d be here so early.”
“It’s lunch time,” I commented and watched the color in Molly’s cheeks drain. “I forgot that I gave you my set of keys, but I brought your bag that Peyton had given me.”
“Oh, right,” Molly said. She took a step back while opening the door up. “I’m sorry. I normally don’t sleep in.”
I set Molly’s bag on the floor next to her. I tried not to stare into her eyes or stare at all. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but damn… She was beautiful.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You needed the sleep after what happened yesterday. I got us some groceries.”
“Groceries?” She blinked at me in confusion.
“Yes, groceries,” I clarified with a grin. “I wasn’t planning on letting you starve here as a guest in my house.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Molly said, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. “I shouldn’t have slept in. I told myself that I was going to be up before you came back.”
I reached forwards to gently clasp her small shoulder. I ignored the jolt that went up my arm from the contact.
“You can stay as long as you want,” I said, seriously. “I have no ulterior motives. Stay as long as you want.”
Molly nodded mutely as I forced myself to let go of her shoulder.
“I have to get the groceries,” I said. “Would you care for something to eat?”
“I’m starving actually.” She offered a small smile before turning in the direction of the stair with her bag in hand. “Thank you for getting my bag. I’ll be down in just a minute.”
“Right,” I said, watching her move up the stairs with graceful steps. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”
I retrieved the rest of the grocery bags from the trunk of the car before shutting the front door. After punching in the code to the gate to close it, I headed straight to the kitchen to brew us some coffee and start on some sandwiches.
Footsteps pattered on the floor above me as Molly moved about in the guest room. I debated on calling William to talk a few details over to pass the time, but decided against it. He didn’t need to know any more information than what he already knew.
I rubbed at the back of my neck as I sat down on one of the kitchen stools while I waited for the coffee to finish brewing. What now? The weekend had not gone the way I had expected. I had expected Harry’s wedding to go smoothly. I never once thought Harry could ever turn into an older version of myself from years ago during our Uni days. Now, he was a pretentious prick, and I somehow had ended up with his ex-fiancée in my house.
The tempting thought crept across my mind. It’d been way too long since I had enjoyed a female’s company in bed. I needed that sort of release given it’d been a stressful couple of months with work with little time to enjoy anything.
Still, this was Harry’s ex-fiancée. I couldn’t cross that line even if Harry had crossed a different line on his own accord. I also had a feeling that Molly wouldn’t want to fully trust me either. I wasn’t sure what Harry had told her about me, but none of that mattered anymore. I had changed over the years while Harry also changed into something different.
I couldn’t cross that line even if I wanted to. It was a complicated situation—a painful one for Molly in particular. I had that much respect for Molly, but it was going to be hard. I could feel myself already gravitating toward her beauty.
I had to be careful, lest we end up lovers.