“Are you tied to Miami?”
“Lord no,” she admitted, “and I’d do a lot to head to a less-populated area of civilization. You know? Like an acre in the woods, five minutes out of town, would suit me.”
“Me too,” said Molly with a laugh, “especially now that I’ve got a baby.” She put a hand on her tummy, marveling. “I never wanted to raise a child in the city.”
“It’s time to make the changes you want going forward. Now you’re married to Rodney, and you are starting a family,” she said. “Honestly you’re one of the luckiest people I know.”
At that, Molly looked at her, smiled, and said, “You’re right. I need to reassess how different my life is right now. For a couple years after Tucker’s accident, I didn’t know if he would live or die.”
“Was it that bad?” Addie asked.
“It was that bad,” Molly said softly. “And worse was, he wouldn’t let me come to him. He wouldn’t let me help or even be there for him.”
“He probably didn’t want you to see him like that because you would worry, and he couldn’t do anything to make you feel better as he needed to focus on his own healing.”
“That was part of it, for sure,” Molly said, “but he’s also been very independent and doesn’t know how to accept help,” she said. “It’s not hard to see how I also come by my own stubbornness, honestly.”
Addie burst out laughing. “I think we all have that problem.”
“I guess you’ve got your family problems, don’t you?”
“You could say that,” she said, shaking her head. “My sister’s a piece of work.”
“Well, hopefully at this point, the dog trauma is over and done with, and you can get on with a life separate from your sister.”
“I hope so,” she said with a smile.
“You’ll enjoy the weekend here for sure,” she said. “Now I will too. All the stress is over, and I can just relax—instead of being worried about tomorrow,” she said in a teasing voice.
“Exactly.”
At that, both Rodney’s and Tucker’s phones rang. Molly looked at the two men and frowned. Rodney held up his hand and said, “Let me just answer it,” he said. “I won’t be long.”
Molly turned to Addie and said, “The men, when they get into work, it’s really hard for them to shut off.”
“I get you,” Addie said, “but, with all the stuff that’s been going on right now, it’s probably a good idea for them to answer these calls.”
“I suppose so,” Molly said.
Addie watched Tucker’s grim face as he nodded at something said to him on the phone. When he put it away, he turned toward her. “The guy escaped from the hospital.”
She looked at him and said, “Rural?”
“Apparently they had two guards on him, but the one guard found the other guard slumped over an ER hospital bed, and Rural’s gone missing.”
“How’s that even possible?” Addie cried out.
“A serious car accident, involving several vehicles, came into the emergency area, while they were still there. Rural took advantage of the chaos and multiple people moving around, diverting attention from him, giving him a chance to escape.”
“Do we know where he’s going?”
“Not for sure. He was muttering about me and the dog.”
“Great,” she said. “It’s a good thing you’re not going back to that first hotel.”
“It’s a good thing we’re not going back to your place,” he reminded her.
She winced at that. “That’s not exactly what I want to hear either. Does he know who I am?”
“I don’t know if he has your name, but it’s possible he tracked us to and from your place,” he said. “We’ll have to keep you safe until this guy’s recaptured.”
“Fine,” she said. “We’re staying here anyway, in Saint Pete’s Beach, for the weekend, right?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “The good thing is, we have a fun party to attend tomorrow in Tampa.”
“I can just imagine the explanations required,” she said, laughing. “The guests will be a little confused.”
At her side, Molly groaned. “I didn’t even think about that.”
“Just make one email-blast announcement,” Tucker said, “telling everybody there’s been a change of plans—in that you already got married—and tomorrow you’re celebrating the wedding.”
“That works,” she said. “I honestly don’t care anymore.” She gave a one-arm shrug. “Now that it’s over, I’m okay with whatever.”
Her husband just grinned at her. “See? It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“It’s supposed to be a big deal.”
“To us,” he said, “but it doesn’t need to be a big deal to anybody else. It doesn’t need to be some big showcase. It doesn’t need to be a big parade. It should be exactly what it was. We tied the knot because that’s what we wanted to do.”
She’s smiled. “You’re really not upset about the pregnancy?”
“Of course not,” he said. “How can I be upset? I was partly responsible for it.”
“Sure,” she said, “but you know life isn’t always that neat and clean.”
“It’s never that neat and tidy,” he said. “That’s not a reason to avoid things.”
“Okay,” she said meekly. “We’ll do this together.” And she hugged her husband, a happy smile on her face.
The rest of the evening flowed with good conversation and lots of wine, although Addie found it a little harder to ease back her anxiety, knowing that the gunman had escaped. They got Bernie and drove back to their hotel, glad that the management allowed dogs. When the three of them finally made it to the hotel room later that night, she found double queen beds, even a doggie bed for Bernie, and she flopped down on the closest queen bed and asked, “Did you get an update yet?”
“I’m just texting the detective now,” he said. He looked at her and asked, “Do you want a shower?”
“I wouldn’t mind,” she said. “Although I was wondering about a trip to the pool.”
“We can do that if you want,” he said. “We might as well make use of the amenities.”
“I always wanted a pool,” she said. “Something I just never managed to make happen.”
“Well, it’s not like you’ve had a whole lot of time to get there.”
“Nope, I haven’t,” she said. She got up, grabbed her bag, and said, “You’ll join me in the pool? And Bernie can come too.”
“Absolutely, the manager said something about a special pet-only pool specifically for dogs,” he said. They both changed, grabbed a towel. As the trio headed together to the pool, she said, “You know what? In a funny way, it was a nice wedding.”
“It was the best,” he said. “Nice and calm and quiet, no nerves.”
“I hadn’t realized how nervous she was.”