Did he even know what those were anymore?He felt his lips twist.He knew where he should be right now: dead.
And if the opposition managed to reset the time line?He fought the urge to grab Mel and hang on.
As if she sensed his disquiet, she looked up, anxiety in her gaze.“You okay?”
It took him a minute to realize she was asking about losing his sister.He felt a pang of guilt, followed quickly by the acute stab of loss.
Her hand covered his, pulling him back into the present.
“It’s confusing, isn’t it,” she said.
He arched his brows, not sure what she meant now.
“Loss.Guilt.”
He sat down next to her.“How do you do that?”It was if she looked straight into his mind.And his heart.
“Been there.Done that, maybe even bought the tee shirt.”Her lips smiled but her grave gaze still indicated anxiety.
“I love you,” he said because he didn’t know how to respond to either the loss or the guilt.
This time her gaze cleared and her smile was tender.“I love you, too, fly boy.”
She held his gaze for a few more seconds, then sighed and turned back to her screen.
He forced himself to focus on it, too, wondering what had caught her attention now.He hadn’t just picked her because she couldn’t forget, or because she was Norm’s granddaughter—though both had certainly been excellent reasons.No, he’d picked her for her agile mind, her ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, and her reckless courage.
These three qualities had certainly been key to the success of her television showMake Mel Cry Uncle.And then there was her charm, her sense of humor, an inner buoyancy that had kept her from crying uncle.
Her producer was still hoping she’d come back and at least do a special.
She’d have been safer doing her crazy stunts for the show, he thought, with a fair amount of even more guilt.
“Stop it,” Mel said.She lifted her hands from the keys and turned around, grinning up at him.
“Stop what?”He glanced down at himself.Was he tapping or something?
“Thinking,” Mel said.
“Usually you accuse me of not thinking,” Jack pointed out.
Somehow, she was standing so she could lean lightly against him.
“Of not thinkingahead,” Mel said.“Completely different from what you’re thinking right now.”
“You know what I’m thinking?”It was a scary thought.And why did this moment of insight feel uncomfortable when he hadn’t minded two seconds ago?
“You’re emitting guilt waves like one of your crazy machines.”Her arms slid around his waist and she rested her head against his chest, sending waves of comforting warmth into the chilly places where his guilt lived.“I am sorry about your sister, but I’m not sorry you’re in my life.I made choices, too, and I regret nothing.”
Her arms tightened around him and she added.“I am exactly where I want to be.And I believe with all my heart I’m where I’m meant to be.With you.Where ever that is.”
Jack leaned his chin on the top of her head, inhaling the sweet, unique scent of her.“Maybe we should rebrand.”
“To?”She didn’t move, just leaned against him—he hoped—contentedly.
“Some kind of match maker service.Con looks pretty smitten with Rita.”Before Ty and Alice, Jack wouldn’t have given Con long odds the relationship would work out.Now?He wasn’t betting against them or time.
“I think we’re more facilitators,” Mel murmured.“Or enablers.”She chuckled.
