Mini Reid (Book 3 in the Boss's Niece series #Wattys2016)

Visiting Molly

My visit at New York was drawing to an end. A few days after I arrived, there was a snow storm and it had been snowing ever since.

The snow crunched under my boots as I walked through the graveyard. Painful memories began to flood back as I approached Molly's grave.

Her headstone read, "Molly Jets. Taken too soon."

"Hey Mols." I said as I knelt down next to her grave. "I'm sorry I haven't visited sooner. I try, but I still have a lot of work back at Virginia."

I wished she could reply. I wished she could tell me it was okay and that I had work and that it was understandable. That was the way Molly was. She understood. She was never hard on anyone.

"I'm sure you know because you're probably watching me from wherever you are, but I'm married now." I continued. "And I'm expecting."

I imagined Molly's squeal of excitement as she would've hugged me and congratulated me and Spencer.

"You never met him." I recalled. "I'm pretty sure the only thing you knew about Spencer was that he works on the FBI with me." I picked at my wedding band. "He's amazing, Molly. He's sweet and protective. He's everything I could've ever wanted."

I felt tear sting my eyes as they fell down my cold cheeks and onto the snowy ground.

"I really miss you." I said. "I wish this didn't happen. It's all my fault. I could've-I should've done something."

I could imagine her telling me I was wrong. I could imagine her saying it wasn't my fault and I couldn't do anything. And I could imagine her giving me a hug.

Molly was always such a kind person. On my first day of Kindergarten, she was the only one who talked to me. We were placed at tables of 4 or 5 and Molly and I were the only girls at the table. All the boys refused to talk to us because we had "girl cooties".

Every year after, Molly and I ended up in the same class. She lived on my street and I'd always be at her house or she'd be at mine.

She was the only one who knew about Justin. After it happened the first time, I called her and told her what happened. I trusted her with my life, but I couldn't save hers.

I wiped my cold tears from my eyes and stood up.

"If you were alive, you would've been my Maid of Honor and my child's Godmother." I said. "JJ is basically like you. She's kind and trustworthy and basically my best friend. I think you two would get along really well."

I put my hand on her head stone and closed my eyes. I let a few more tears slip.

"I miss you Mols." I whispered. "But I killed that bastard for you."

She would've been proud of me.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I took it out of the pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was Spencer.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey you. I've been trying to get a hold of you. Where are you?" he asked.

"Visiting an old friend." I said and looked at Molly's grave. "Why? Is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah! Everything's fine! Just doing my daily check up, you know." he said. "Making sure everything's okay."

"Reiders, you're gonna be a great dad." I said. "I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm flying home tomorrow, so I'll see you then."

"I'm counting the minutes."

"Awe! That's sweet! I love you."

"I love you too. See you tomorrow."

I hung up, a wide smile on my face. Gosh, what does this man do to me? I turned back to Molly's grave as the snow began to fall again.

"I love New York winters." I said. "So did you. We always made forts and had snowball fights. God, I miss being a kid."

I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out a butterfly in a glass case and placed it against Molly's grave stone. She loved butterflies.

"That's from JJ. She used to collect butterflies. When I told her how much you liked them, she gave me this one. I wanted to put it on your grave, but, like I said before, I haven't been visiting much."

I looked at Molly's grave one last time. She was 3 months younger then me and I learned at her funeral that she had been dating someone and he was planning to propose. He was deviated when he heard about her death.

"I have to go. I gotta pack to go back to Virginia. I promise to visit more." I said and blew a kiss to the grave stone before turning and walking off.

I couldn't help but look over my shoulder and say, "Bye Mols. I love you."