A Liberated Decision - COMPLETED!

Chapter 37

"I figured that. My dad had always taken a special interest in you. I'm glad you're okay." She looked down at Ashley's hand clamped over her side. "Oh my gosh! I completely forgot that Uncle Stan told me that you had been shot. Should you be standing? Never mind that! Here, let me help you back to the living room." She reached an arm around Ashley and pulled her to the couch in the other room.

"Thank you." She stuttered. Surprised by Molly's warmness. It was new and honestly, kind of a shock to be treated so nicely by a stranger.

"No thank you required, sweetheart." She smiled warmly and set her down on the couch. She backed away and set herself down in a rocker across from her. "How have you been feeling?"

Ashley watched her for a moment. Not quite sure how to respond to all of this. It was new. Overwhelming. It took her a moment to find the right words to say. "I've been getting better. Still on a lot more medication than I care to admit." Her eyebrows twisted together. "Are you okay with me being here? Be honest with me. He was your dad. I shouldn't probably be here."

"Oh, sweetheart, I've been alright with knowing that my dad has been watching out for you. Honestly, this place should be yours, not mine. He loved you just like he loved me. We've always been close and seeing him worried about you so many of the times I saw him was hard to see. I could never understand why he hadn't gotten you off the streets sooner." She spoke freely. Her eyes showed her honesty and revealed her candor.

"Weren't you jealous? Didn't it bother you that he made me his project to save?" Ashley couldn't hold back being critical. If her dad had done that, she wouldn't have appreciated it. She was pretty sure about that.

"My dad always made sure that he made time for me. I had no reason to be jealous or to try to compete with you. I wanted him to save you." Her eyes were intent. Unwavering. Same as her voice. She made it sound like the reasoning was obvious.

Ashley rubbed her forehead. "I don't know how to comprehend that."

"You don't have to. You just have to believe me." Molly offered a sweet, small smile.

"You remind me of your dad." Ashley couldn't help but remark. She could see it vaguely in her facial features – her cheeks, the deep set of her eyes. Parts of Stan were obvious too. Proving that the three of them had been very related.

A light sparkled in Molly's eyes. She grasped up Ashley's words so fast. She obviously wanted to know anything and everything about her father. "How so?" The curiosity was contagious.

"He would have told me something like that. Something to boost my self-confidence and not make me second guess anything either. Your Uncle is a lot like him too. It makes it easier to let him go." She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She didn't want to be a big, gushy baby in front of Tom's daughter.

Molly's smile faded as she leaned forward in her chair. "Can you tell me the truth about something? No holding back?"

Ashley nodded slowly. She owed the truth to her. There was no doubt about that. "What do you want to know?"

"How'd it happen? Uncle Stan told me some of it, but I want to know from you. You were there with him?" She said slowly. She was watching Ashley so carefully. So pristinely. Waiting for her to give her the truth that she clearly wanted to know.

Ashley hadn't been expecting that. This wasn't a simple thing to recall. Not because she didn't remember everything in such raw detail, but because it'd bring back the emotions that she was trying to fight. "Are you sure?" She bought herself time. She needed to make sure this was really what the girl wanted.

There was no hesitation. "I'm sure. I need it for closure. To put him away in my past so I can move forward."

Ashley swallowed hard and focused on the window's curtains in front of her. She pulled the memory back slowly. "He had just gotten groceries, and I think he was heading home. It had just started to rain out and it was darker than usual that night. I was standing near the grocery store when I had seen it happen."