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“Then you’ll never get to be a grandpa.” She kissed his cheek on her way past him. “I’ll give you a few minutes. If you’re not back, I’ll send Mom in here to find you.”
He cringed. “She’ll chew me out.”
But Melanie knew better. Her mother was her father’s perfect complement. And she hadn’t realized it until that moment, but her parents had the kind of relationship she wanted for herself. A lasting, strong partnership strengthened by love and honesty.
“For your sake, I’ll ask Gabe to put his hat back on.” She kissed her dad’s cheek as she passed him and left the stifling heat of the garage behind.
“How did that go?” Mom asked when Melanie returned to the table.
“He let me escape with two of his precious home brews,” Melanie said, handing one over to Gabe. “No matter how terrible it is, you have to say it’s the best you’ve tasted.”
“You’d have me lie?”
“To spare my daddy’s feelings?” She twisted the top off and took a sip, surprised that it was actually good. Dad’s early concoctions hadn’t been fit for consumption, but he had certainly improved with practice. “You bet I would.”
“She’s a bit of a daddy’s girl,” Mom said. “Always has been.”
“This one is actually pretty good,” Melanie said, inspecting the blue and gray label that read Anderson’s Secret Ale. “You won’t have to lie.”
A few minutes later, Daddy returned with a beer for himself. Her mother never drank, but was ever supportive of his various hobbies. As soon as Melanie spotted her dad, she nonchalantly placed Gabe’s hat on his head, slipped the chef knife from its position next to her father’s plate and hid it under the table. Gabe offered her a confused look before he smiled at her dad.
“Great-tasting brew, Mark,” he said. “How long have you been working at it?”
“Couple of years,” he said, tossing back a long swallow of his latest invention. “Everything I brewed at the start tasted like goat piss, but Melanie liked it for some reason.”
Melanie choked on her swallow of beer and set it aside, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she struggled not to cough up a lung. “It was horrible,” she said after she caught her breath. “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“She’s very sensitive to other people’s feelings,” Gabe said. “Well, except for Jacob’s. She has a blind spot with that guy.”
“He’s a jerk,” Melanie said.
“Biggest softie on the planet,” Gabe said. “You just have to see him around his daughter to recognize it. Kind of like your old man here.”
Melanie scowled at him. “My daddy is nothing like Jacob Silverton.”
Gabe’s knowing grin had her seeing red.
“Jacob is the lead singer, right?” Mom asked.
How did she know that?
“I filled her in while you were in the garage,” Gabe said to Melanie. “I think you’d like him, Linda.”
“I’d love to meet him. Actually, I’d love to meet all your bandmates. They all sound so interesting.”
“That’s one way to describe them.” Gabe laughed and patted Mom on the arm.
Dad didn’t seem to appreciate their chumminess, but Melanie’s relief was absolute. If Mom liked Gabe, she knew it wouldn’t be long before her dad came around. Mom had never taken a liking to Melanie’s past boyfriends, so she couldn’t help but take her obvious affection for this one as a positive.
“So how’s Nikki?” Mom asked, pushing her empty plate toward the center of the table.
“She seems better now that she’s out of that hospital,” Gabe said.
Melanie squeezed her eyes shut. She’d forgotten to warn him about her mother’s intense dislike for one Nicole Swanson.
“Hospital?” Mom asked.
“She went voluntarily,” Gabe said.
“How about dessert?” Melanie hopped up from the table and grabbed Gabe by the wrist. “Mind giving me a hand?” she asked, but she wouldn’t give him the opportunity to refuse.
“I thought Nikki was out of your life for good,” Mom said.
Gabe’s eyebrows drew together, and he glanced at Melanie.
“She was in need of a friend,” Melanie said, tugging on Gabe until he finally stood.
“That girl is always in need of something.” Mom exchanged a knowing look with Dad.
“Melanie’s too kind-hearted to turn away anyone as broken as Nikki,” Gabe said over his shoulder as Melanie towed him to the house.
“Too gullible, you mean?” Mom said.
Gabe didn’t have the opportunity to answer because Melanie tugged him into the house through the sliding door and closed it behind him.
“Is it common for you to hide things from your parents?” Gabe asked.
“Certain things,” Melanie admitted. “They really don’t like Nikki.”
“I gathered as much. Can I ask why?”
“They think she uses me.”
“She totally uses you.”
“I know, but I’m okay with that. They’re not. They think it’s best if I don’t associate with her at all.”
“A week ago, I would have agreed with them, but Nikki needs someone like you in her life.”
Melanie nodded. “They’ll never see it that way. It’s best to just not talk about her around them. They both get all riled up.”
“Now you tell me.”
She wrung her hands, and her engagement ring caught her eye, which reminded her . . . “I told my dad I’m moving to Austin.”
“I’m sure he took that well,” Gabe said.
“I don’t think he’s processed it all yet. Maybe we should escape before he does.”
The door slid open, and Mom looked into the kitchen at the two of them. “Your father tells me that you’re moving in together. In Austin.”
Too late for escape.
Chapter Nine
Gabe’s first meeting with his future in-laws could have gone better, but it also could have gone a lot worse. At least he hadn’t been chased off their property with a shotgun. Melanie was obviously upset, oscillating between hurt and rage over the argument she’d gotten into with her mother before she’d slammed out of the house with Gabe having no choice but to follow. Oddly, the argument had been over Nikki, not himself. Her parents were more on board with her marrying a tattooed, unemployed rock-star thug than living with the train wreck that was her best friend.
“So I take it they don’t know Nikki lives with you now,” Gabe said, instantly wishing he could keep his mouth shut as Melanie leaned so far against the passenger door he feared she might roll right out onto the side of the freeway.
“Of course they don’t know. You saw how they reacted.”
“Is there a reason why they don’t like her? Well, besides the fact that she’s unstable and uses you. Your parents don’t seem like the type to turn on someone in need.”
Melanie sighed. “You remember that story I told you about the tattooed bikers who harassed me as a girl?”
He nodded and took his eyes off the road long enough to glance at her. Her hands were shaking as she knotted her fingers in the hem of her sundress.
“Nikki was flirting with them and called me over.”
“Weren’t you like twelve?”
“Thirteen.”
