Even though gray clouds shrouded the sun, the lightning put on a show of its own in the distance.
She settled into the seat for two and snuggled in beneath her husband’s arm. She drew in the familiar spicy scent of his cologne, letting it comfort her.
“Long day?” he asked when she released a long sigh.
“It did seem long.” Mainly because of Grace. Molly checked her watch for the umpteenth time. When she left the inn she’d made Levi promise to call her when Grace returned, so there was nothing else she could do. “How’d the writing go today?”
“It was a bit of a struggle, actually. My protagonist just will not do as she’s told.”
Molly smiled as he expounded on the problem. Adam liked to run through plot problems with her. She loved being involved with his writing, but he usually ended up working things out himself as he verbalized the dilemma. This time, the direction he’d planned to take the novel was not the direction he was headed.
He would eventually decide that the protagonist was right and he should just stop fighting it. So yes, she was paying attention—more or less.
Molly couldn’t seem to get her mind off her sister. Grace hadn’t reached out to her once today. Yes, yes, she knew the signal was almost nonexistent up in the mountains.
When she’d awakened to rain this morning, Molly had thought they would make their way back to town. Then when lunchtime had come and gone, she realized they must’ve gone ahead with the hike.
But now the sun was setting and Grace wasn’t home. Should Molly have been more proactive about her fears? They’d already lost their parents. The thought of losing Grace was more than she could bear.
They didn’t know anything about this Wyatt guy—and he was toting a gun.
The thought made her shiver.
“Are you cold?” Adam had already started to get up—to retrieve a throw probably.
She tugged him back as thunder sounded in the distance. “I’m fine. Just hold me.”
He curled his arm around her, drawing her close, trailing his fingers down her arm. His touch still made her heart quicken. “What’s wrong?”
“Grace hasn’t come home yet, and she was supposed to be back by dark.”
“Have you tried to reach her?”
“About a hundred times. Levi’s supposed to call me when she gets home.” She’d told Adam her concerns the night before after she’d talked to Grace on the phone. He did what he always did—talked her off the ledge.
But as she peered up at him in the waning light, she could see the concern in the way his forehead creased above his glasses. She had a tendency to overreact, but she could trust Adam for a levelheaded response.
“I’m sure she’s fine. But let’s pray for her.”
Molly loved this about her man. While her first thought was worry, his was prayer. He offered a quiet, fervent prayer that hit all the points she was fretting over.
When he was done she squeezed his hand. “Thanks.”
“She’s probably just running a little late, with the rain and everything.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Her tone was heavy with reservations. “I didn’t tell Levi about the gun. I didn’t want to worry him needlessly, but now I wonder if I should’ve said something. If we should be doing something. I feel so helpless.”
“Why don’t we give it another hour? She said she’d be pushing it time wise, right? If it gets dark and she hasn’t shown up, let’s talk it over with Levi and decide what to do.”
“Okay, you’re right. That sounds reasonable.” Adam was nothing if not reasonable. She’d never known such a trait could be so darned appealing. She looked at her husband. He hadn’t shaved for a few days, and she liked the scruff on his jaw. She liked the shape of his lips too.
“What?” he asked when she continued to stare. His lips curled in a sexy half smile.
“I like you, Mr. Bradford.”
“And I like you, Mrs. Bradford.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers.
As the sky darkened Molly and Adam moved inside. They had supper and cleaned up. Adam turned on the TV to a documentary, and Molly stayed in the kitchen, needing to burn off excess energy. She kept an eye on the time.
When it was good and dark outside and a full hour had passed, she set down the cleaning supplies and went into the living room. “It’s been an hour. I’m calling Levi.”
Adam muted the TV and watched as she pulled her phone from her pocket