“First though,” she said, “how about somedrinks?”
Lucy laughed, and for the first time all day,she flashed her beautiful smile. “I thought you’d never ask.”
***
Melanie spent the next week finishing herclass, applying for loans, and searching for a new job, or a secondjob, as well as a cheaper place to live. If she and Lucy could findgood enough jobs and get enough from loans, they might not have tomove, but she preferred to have options.
She didn’t talk to Kyle about her father ortell him why he’d come here, but on the nights when she hugged hima little tighter, he did the same.
By the end of the week, Lucy found a job atan accounting firm. She still had a semester left before she gother degree, but they offered to pay for it if she would work forthem for the first three years after college. Lucy agreed.
She would start working for them next week,and they were paying enough that she could afford the apartment ifMelanie found something too. So, with that added pressure on hershoulders, Melanie trudged from job interview to job interview.
In the end, she got a job at the Italianrestaurant where they’d eaten with her father and Delilah. Theyoffered more hours, and the tips would be better than the diner, soshe took it.
She wasn’t sure if it would be enough to keepthe apartment, but it was a start. And if her loans came through,she’d be able to get through the semester.
Now, she could only hope Delilah and herfather stayed out of their lives and didn’t try to cause anyproblems. She didn’t know how likely that was going to be.
Feeling like a weight lifted from hershoulders, she met Kyle at Adler’s and had a couple of drinks withJulian, Aida, and Dante. The daytime bartender had asked Kyle toswitch shifts, so he was getting off early tonight.
She was increasingly feeling more at ease andaccepted by his family. Every time she saw them, they invited herto join them. They didn’t ask her questions about her past; theysimply welcomed her and talked about whatever was on their mindthat day.
Today, Dante was discussing the chances ofthe Red Sox making the playoffs. She’d never followed baseball, butDante was pretty excited about it.
As Kyle’s shift came to an end, Cassidyjoined Dante and hooked her arm through his before leaning againsthis side. She was supposed to start singing soon, and the place wasfilling up.
When Kyle finished work, he walked over tojoin her. He and Cassidy exchanged greetings before she made herway to the stage. They said goodbye to Dante, Julian, and Aida asKyle took her hand and led her to the door.
“How about a date night?” he asked as theystepped outside. “Dinner and a movie?”
“That sounds great.”
She’d never had a date night before, and shewas more excited than she’d ever expected about having dinner andseeing a movie with him.
Kyle smiled when she rested her head on hisarm. Ever since her father visited, he’d sensed a sadness in herthat he couldn’t ease. She hadn’t talked about her father’s visit,hadn’t so much as mentioned the man, but it had affected her.
He kept waiting for her to open up to himabout it, but she hadn’t. Maybe tonight.
“I found a new job,” she said.
“Where?”
She told him about it and her hopes it wouldhelp pay her bills. Then she told him how her father cut her offwhen she refused to leave. She couldn’t tell himwhyherfather wanted her to return home, so she didn’t say anything aboutthat.
“Why does he want you to leave?” Kyleasked.
Melanie shrugged. “Because that’s the way heis.”
It wasn’t an answer, and her clipped tonetold him not to pry any further. So, instead, he waved down a taxi,and they climbed inside. The cab took them to his place, where heshowered and changed before taking her out.
She chose where they went for dinner, andthey both wanted to see the new horror movie. She leaned againsthis side during the movie and held his hand while she jumped andlaughed at the screen.
After her childhood, there wasn’t anything inthis movie that could scare her.
When the movie ended, they decided to walkthrough the park to return to her place. They didn’t talk as theystrolled the walkway, hand in hand.
Melanie studied the stars as they twinkleddown from above. She’d never dreamed about having a relationshiplike this, ofbeinglike this with someone. No, she’d neverletherself dream about something this fantastic.
