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Saturday morning. Again I awoke in a strange bed, and Melanie was nowhere to be found. I got up, put on my discarded lounge pants, and walked to the kitchen. The same smell of my childhood breakfasts in the big ranch house drifted toward me.
Melanie was at the stove, cooking.
She turned when I walked into the room. “That’s the end of the bacon and eggs. I think we need to go shopping.”
“Okay.”
“Want some coffee?”
&
nbsp; “Yeah. I’ll get it.”
I sat down at the table with my cup of coffee. In a few minutes, she brought me a plate of food.
I inhaled and took a bite. “Just as good as last night.”
“It’s Saturday, so I wanted to let you sleep. But I suppose there are no days off for you here on the ranch.”
I shook my head. “No, not really. But the three of us do tend to show up a little later on weekends. The guys know it. I won’t be missed.”
“Good.” She sat down next to me with her own plate and cup of coffee. “I need to go to my loft today. I can’t stay away from it forever.”
“You think you should call your insurance company first?”
“I texted my agent yesterday. An adjuster and a cop will meet me there this afternoon. It’s a crime scene, so the cop has to be there. I was wondering if…”
“I’d go with you?”
She nodded, and the lip biting began.
“Of course. I wouldn’t expect you to go back there alone. What time do you need to leave?”
“My appointment is at three.”
I looked down at my watch. “It’s only nine now, so we have some time.” I reached down and gave Lucy a pat on the head.
“So what do you normally do on Saturday?”
“I have to go to the office, see what’s going on, maybe get out in the pastures. But I’ll be back by one thirty or two, and you and I can then go to the city and meet the insurance guy at your loft.”
She looked down.
“Will you be okay here? Alone?”
“I have to be. I can’t have you missing your work for me.”
“Jade is home on Saturday. I can call her and have her come and stay with you. Marj might be free too, unless either Talon or Ryan has her doing something around the ranch.”
She shook her head. “It’s sweet of you to offer, but I won’t be a burden. I can’t be. That’s not…me.”
“The way you react after such a trauma doesn’t define who you are, Melanie. It’s perfectly normal to want someone with you.”
She forced a smile. “You’ve obviously been with a really great therapist.”
“Only the best in the world.”
She stood and took her plate to the sink. “I need to get groceries. Can I possibly borrow a car? I have no idea where mine is at the moment. I assume it’s still parked at the loft.”
