Melody’s stomach dipped and it hurt to think of Zac with someone else, especially someone he had clearly been very close to.
Then seeming to recall who she was talking to, Lettie apologised. ‘Sorry, that was insensitive of me.’
‘It’s fine,’ Melody fibbed. ‘Please carry on.’ She wasn’t sure why she was torturing herself this way, but knew that if she was going to find a way to be with Zac even if long distance, then she had to know all there was to know about him. There was no way Melody intended on getting into a serious relationship again and getting caught out like she had done with Rhys.
Lettie took a deep breath. ‘As I said, Zac was away on tour. One day Jazz called Mum in floods of tears.’
‘Oh no, why? What had happened,’ Melody asked, shocked.
Lettie stared at her for a moment. ‘You’re sure you want to know this?’
Hating to think that Lettie was about to change her mind about confiding in her, Melody smiled at her sympathetically. ‘I do.’
‘OK then. Well, she broke the news to Mum that she was pregnant.’
Shocked, Melody bit her lower lip to stop from making a sound. Then asked, ‘Did Zac know?’
‘He did. They had discovered she was pregnant a couple of weeks before the tour. She hadn’t wanted him to go, but Zac felt it was too late for him to realistically let the tour managementdown, so insisted he had to.’ Lettie shrugged one shoulder. ‘The tour was for three months and he flew home a few times during that period. Apparently each time he came back, she pleaded with him not to return, but it would have ruined his reputation if he let them down, so he insisted he had to keep going.’
‘I suppose his reasoning about the pregnancy,’ Melody said, speaking as the thoughts entered her head, trying to understand what it was like for both parties, ‘was that it was still early days and it wasn’t as if he would miss the birth of the baby.’
‘That’s it, I imagine. Also, Jazz was close to her family and had a good support network of friends around her.’ Lettie sighed. ‘I met Jazz many times, and liked her. To a point.’
Surprised, Melody asked, ‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t want to be unfair, but I always felt that she was the dominant one in their relationship.’ She stared silently at Melody as if deciding whether or not to say what she was thinking. ‘That Zac loved her more than she did him.’ She winced. ‘Sorry, but you wanted the truth.’
‘I do.’ Melody could have done without that particular nugget though, she decided.
‘Well, I suspect part of her being so angry about him going on the tour was Zac doing what he wanted for a change rather than agreeing to do what Jazz insisted he did. She did mean a lot to him but so did the tour and…’ Lettie frowned ‘…Zac knew that if they were to have a future together, and the baby, then he needed to earn a living. Letting everyone down on the tour by backing out could ruin that for him. For them. But Jazz couldn’t seem to understand that.’
Melody wondered why Zac had never mentioned having a child, and then it dawned on her. ‘What happened?’
Lettie swallowed. ‘It was heartbreaking. When Jazz phoned my mum it was to tell her she had lost the baby. That would be devastating enough for Zac, but then Jazz turned nasty andinsisted that him refusing to stay behind with her had been the cause of her miscarriage.’
‘How?’
‘The stress it had caused her.’ Lettie puffed out her cheeks. ‘He came back days later, devastated and shocked that his choices could have led to Jazz losing the baby. He insisted he go with Jazz to speak to her doctor, desperate to understand what could have gone wrong. The doctor explained that they shouldn’t blame themselves, and that these things can happen, especially in early pregnancy.’
‘So it wasn’t his fault then?’ Melody asked, relieved.
‘No. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. But it did lead to the end of their relationship. Jazz couldn’t forgive him for going away when she needed him with her and Zac couldn’t shake off his guilt for a very long time.’
‘Poor things,’ Melody said, hating to think that anyone should go through something so sad. It made sense to her why Zac put on a happy-go-lucky exterior.
‘Yes. I don’t know if it was the trauma of losing the baby that made Jazz decide to move on only weeks later but Zac was devastated. It took him the best part of a year to get over what had happened and their break-up, and as far as I’m aware they’ve had no contact since then. Zac had to grow up pretty quickly after that but there was always a sadness about him that was upsetting to see. Not that he ever admitted it, as I’m sure you can imagine.’
Melody wasn’t surprised to hear that. ‘I can.’ She wondered why Lettie was smiling at her all of a sudden.
‘It’s only been since you came here that I’ve seen that sadness slowly vanish.’ She sighed. ‘My brother likes you, Melody. A lot. And whatever happens between you, I’m grateful that you came here and have shown him that he can fall in love again.’
Melody’s breath caught in her throat. It was the loveliest thing anyone had ever said to her.
Lettie cleared her throat and looked at her watch. ‘Oops, I’ve been longer than I expected. We should be getting a move on. I was sent up here by Mum to let you know breakfast is ready.’
Melody got to her feet. ‘We’d better hurry up and get to the kitchen then, especially if Zac is up, otherwise there might not be any left for us.’
32
