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“Okay,” I croak, thrown off balance.
It takes a few trips, but I set the table up outside for us, and when my tea is steeped, I take a sip, closing my eyes as the warm, sweet liquid fills me. I like my coffee black, but my tea sweet and lemony.
“Now, Melanie, tell me all about you and that handsome Alex Bane.” I knew it was coming, but I still choke on the sip I was taking, and end up coughing like a maniac.
“How did you know?” I ask when I’m calm again, my eyes darting over to hers.
“I know all, dear,” she repeats. “I may have moved, but I still talk to my friends here. I like to make sure I’m kept up on all the gossip. And you and Alex are all anyone seems to be talking about.”
“What?” I can’t help the slight panic ringing in my voice, and my hand starts to shake around my cup. I don’t want to be town gossip. I don’t want everyone to know my business.
“It’s a small town, Melanie,” she says softly, trying to keep me calm. “People talk. And young Alex’s motorcycle coming and going in the mornings and nights wasn’t exactly sneaking around.”
“Oh.” I honestly didn’t even think of that. I’m so dumb.
“Yes.” She laughs lightly, seeing the look on my face. “But tell me how it’s going. I told you he needed a good woman to set him straight.”
“Well, I don’t know if that’s me,” I say shyly. “But with the time we’ve spent together”–I smile–“it’s been nice.”
“Just nice?” she prompts, and I feel my cheeks heat.
Dottie is a cute gossiping granny, and talking about this with her makes me feel shy, but it’s also nice.
“More than nice,” I correct, and we smile at each other. “You were right when you said his mom raised him well. He told me about her.”
“He did? Well, isn’t that nice. I don’t think he’s talked about her to anyone since she passed. I know he wouldn’t trust any of those trollops he hangs around with, with her memory. I tried to get him to talk about her a couple of times through the years, but I would just watch him shut down and change the subject.”
“Really? He held it all in?”
Maybe–and that’s a big maybe–he’s thinking of me as more than just someone for the time being. Him telling me I’m different isn’t the same as showing me. And with this, he’s showing me.
Anyone can say anything, but when it’s confirmed through actions, that’s when I believe them.
“Yes, he likes to think he’s such a tough guy, but under all that showmanship hoopla, he’s just a hurt man trying to heal and deal the only way he thought would work. But I knew he’d open his eyes one day.”
“I like him. A lot,” I admit hesitantly. “But I don’t know if I can trust him. I know his reputation, and my friends have warned me, but he shows me someone completely different. And I don’t know what I should trust.”
“You should trust your heart, dear. Don’t let anything, or anyone, keep you from happiness.”
Looking out to the ocean, I mull her words over in my head.
“You’re a smart girl, Melanie,” Dottie continues. “But don’t let that brain of yours talk you out of opening your heart to him. Nothing great ever comes without sacrifice and without the fear of the unknown.”
Her wisdom astounds me, and I’m left to just stare out at the water. The boats bob along in the current, and the islands in the distance have me wishing I could just walk across the water to them. I wonder if anyone lives on them.
Shaking my head, I blink, and look down into my teacup.
“Before I came here, I wasn’t really living. And coming here… It’s been everything I needed and more.”
“But?” she adds, sensing there’s more.
“But…” I pause. “I guess I’m scared? I hate to admit that, but I am. I want it all to be real, but I don’t know if it is.”
“I think you should talk to him,” she tells me gently, the grandmother in her treating me like a kid. “The only way for things to happen is to communicate. And if he can’t commit, then you should know now and give yourself the ability to move on before heartbreak.”
“You’re right.” I nod.
“It comes with age, dearie.” Reaching over, she pats my arm, and I smile at her – grateful.
