girl’s confidence, even for the best reason in the world.
“Let me go upstairs and wake her. Maybe she’ll tell you now,” she suggested.
But even as she spoke, she heard a rustle on the stairs, then caught a quick movement out of the corner of her eye. The front door of Jess’s opened and slammed shut before she could even make sense of what she’d heard and seen.
“Kendra,” she said, racing for the door, Daniel on her heels. “She must have heard us talking.”
Outside, she saw no sign of the girl. Kendra had disappeared into the darkness of the waterfront. She was, no doubt, hiding in the shadows, remaining perfectly still until Molly and Daniel gave up.
“Kendra!” Molly called out. “Come back, sweetie. Talk to us. It will be okay. I promise.”
“Dammit,” Daniel muttered. “If we lose track of her now, who knows where she’ll wind up? Where would she go, Molly?”
“To Retta’s, maybe. She’s been over there every day, helping Leslie Sue look after the kids she baby-sits.”
“You call Retta. I’ll keep looking out here,” he said. “She’s quick as a cat, but she can’t have gotten far. She doesn’t know her way around the waterfront like I do.”
“Be careful, Daniel. She’s already scared to death.”
“Molly, I’m not an ogre,” he retorted impatiently. “I know how to deal with a frightened runaway.”
“Whatever,” she said, going back inside to call Retta.
Unfortunately, the cook hadn’t seen any sign of Kendra. It would only take a few minutes for Kendra to have reached her house, which meant she’d more than likely just run away again, panicked by what she’d heard Molly and Daniel discussing. The thought of her being out in the middle of the night, all alone, terrified Molly. Even in a town as safe as Widow’s Cove, bad things could happen to an innocent young girl at that hour.
“Call me if she turns up,” Molly told Retta.
“Of course I will, but that child won’t go anywhere. Something tells me she’s close by. She trusts you.”
“She did until tonight,” Molly said. “I think she heard me and Daniel talking about Joe taking her back to her parents in the morning.”
“Oh, dear. There’s no way around that?”
“Not that we’ve found yet,” Molly admitted. “We were hoping she could give us one, but she obviously overheard just enough of what we were saying to panic.”
“She’ll come back,” Retta said confidently.
“I hope you’re right,” Molly said, not sharing Retta’s confidence.
But when she’d hung up and turned around, there was Kendra in the doorway, Daniel right behind her. She ran to Molly and threw herself at her.
“I didn’t know where to go,” she said, her voice catching on a sob. “It’s so dark out there. What’s wrong with this town? Why aren’t there more streetlights?”
Molly hid a grin at the complaint. Leave it to Kendra to blame the lack of streetlights for her decision to come back to Jess’s. “You did the right thing by not running away again,” Molly said, holding her tightly.
“But I heard what he said,” she said, scowling at Daniel. “I have to go home.”
“Didn’t you also hear him say that he might be able to change that if you can give him a good reason?” She urged Kendra toward a booth. “Sit down. I’m making you some hot chocolate and I’m getting more coffee for Daniel and more tea for me. We’re going to talk this out.”
“I’ll come into the kitchen with you,” Kendra said, staring at Daniel with evident distrust.
“Okay, fine,” replied Molly, leading the way.
As she prepared Kendra’s hot chocolate in the microwave and poured the other drinks, she regarded the girl warily. “Sweetie, you have to trust somebody.”
“I do,” Kendra said. “I trust you. Not him.”
“But he’s the one who can provide a way out for you. Open up to him, please. Tell him what’s been going on at home.”
Kendra still didn’t look convinced, but she took the hot chocolate Molly offered and followed her back into the bar, her feet dragging. Daniel was waiting for them in one of the booths, his legs stretched out, signs of exhaustion still plain on his face. Even so, he straightened when he saw them and smiled at Kendra. Under other circumstances, that smile could win over the wariest person, but Kendra’s defenses were solidly in place. She stuck to Molly’s side.
“Could you try not thinking of me as the bad guy?” he asked. “I want to help you.”
“You want to send me home,” Kendra said flatly, not giving an inch.
“That’s