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When dinner was finished, we put all the work stuff aside to eat with Em. She liked having her uncle over for meals because he was goofy like a kid and would make a game out of trying to make her laugh as much as possible at the table. It gave me a bit of a break from trying to keep her happy and entertained, but I still got to sit back and enjoy the sight of her being so carefree, throwing her head back in laughter. It brought a smile to my face.
After dinner, I helped Em with her bath then put her to bed. Keith waited for me on the front porch, enjoying the evening air, until I joined him for one last beer.
He told me more about this girl Rachel and another one he was seeing named Natalie. As he talked, my mind kept wandering back to Melody and this whole problem with the length of the job.
I’d have to tell her the truth sooner rather than later, and it really shouldn’t have been such a hard thing to do. But I was afraid that when I told her, she might cancel the whole thing and head back to New York. It shouldn’t have mattered. It’s not like we didn’t have plenty of other work to do, and I didn’t have a whole lot of control over how long the renovations took. There were only so many hours in a day and even less for me since I had a daughter to raise.
But for some reason, I really wanted Melody to stay, at least long enough for us to finish the house. I looked across the lake and enjoyed seeing the lights of that old house glimmering across the water once again. I convinced myself that was the only reason I cared. If Melody took a loss on the resale value to load it off on someone in the shape it was in, it would take months or maybe even a year or longer to find a buyer. And when someone did finally buy it, there was no telling who they’d hire to fix it up. I knew nobody could do as good of a job on that place as me, my brother, and our crew could.
I couldn’t be selfish, though. Melody had a fiancé waiting for her back in the city who deserved to know how long she would be gone for. Of course, if this fiancé of hers was worth a damn, he never would have made her come here to deal with all of this on her own. He should have been by her side for support and help out where he could.
“Earth to Derek,” my brother teased, waving his hand in front of my face. “What’s got you so distracted tonight?”
“Nothing,” I lied again. “Just tired and a little stressed about work.”
He patted me on the back and stood up to stretch. “I better head home. Listen, if you still need a sitter for Friday night, you should ask the Johnsons. Their oldest daughter is seventeen now, if you can believe it. She babysits for people around here all the time. She’s got a flyer posted at the school and everything.”
“Thanks for the tip,” I nodded.
“Hey, you want me to break the news to Melody for you? About how long the house is going to take? It might go over better coming from me, since I’m not the one working there every day.”
It was tempting. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to telling her, but I didn’t want to avoid my problems either. I wanted to face them head-on by myself without my little brother trying to save me.
“No, I’ll take care of it,” I told him. “Be careful going home.”
He waved and climbed into his truck to drive off. After his tail lights disappeared into the darkness at the end of our long driveway, I turned towards the creaking porch swing that swayed back and forth in the breeze. The familiar ache and longing sank into my chest as I closed my eyes, trying not to get lost in the images of Rebecca flashing through my mind. I wasn’t in the mood to miss her tonight. Sometimes it just hurt too bad.
Instead, I shook it off and turned to go back inside. I locked the front door and showed Hank to Em’s room. He liked to sleep on the rug in front of her bed, like he was protecting her.
With both of them tucked in, I took a shower and climbed into bed myself. It would be another long hard day’s work at the lake house the next day. Just before drifting off to sleep, images of Melody in her big floppy hat, talking to those ducks, danced through my mind.
14
MELODY
I was reeling with nerves, watching the minutes pass on the clock, waiting for four o’clock when Derek typically wrapped up work for the day. There were things I wanted to do to get ready for the evening, but I couldn’t start doing them while he was still in the house. It’d look like I cared too much or was trying too hard.
In a few short hours, we’d be going to the event on the town square together, which was nothing more than a casual outing between two acquaintances. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t resist the need to get dolled up for the occasion. Still, I wanted it to appear effortless and coincidental to Derek.
He found me in the kitchen the way he usually did to inform me the crew was clearing out, but today it was only goodbye between us for a little bit.
“We made good progress today,” he said with a reassuring smile.
“That’s great. The first week was a success then?” I replied, offering him a glass of water.
He drank half of it down in one gulp, then wiped his mouth. “Oh yeah. I know it all looks like a mess right now, but it will start coming together soon enough. You’ll begin seeing the fruits of our labor.”
“Can’t wait.”
There was an awkward pause, with neither of us really seeming to know what should happen next. He seemed to want to say something, but the words weren’t coming out. Moments passed that stretched on for too long before he finally said, “So, I guess I’ll pick you up in a few hours then.”
“Oh. Right,” I answered in a surprised tone. I wasn’t sure if he would offer to pick me up since this obviously wasn’t a date. He thought I had a fiancé, and I was positive he had a girlfriend. No guy that looked like him was single, not even in Silver Point.
“That sounds great. If it’s not too much of an inconvenience. I mean, I could always walk. I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble between you and your girlfriend or….”
He hung his head in laughter. “You don’t have to worry about that. There’s no girlfriend to raise any eyebrows about you and me riding in a car together. I’ll see you in a bit.”
There was something strange about the way he said it. I could have sworn I saw a flicker of remorse or heartache lurking in the corners of his eyes. Maybe he went through a bad breakup recently. That would be the only reason why someone like him could be single for any sliver of time. I understood bad break-ups all too well, and suspecting that he went through one too was comforting somehow. Maybe the evening would be more like two acquaintances commiserating, I thought.Except you told him you’re engaged, Melody. Remember? And you can’t take it back now, or you’ll look like a crazy person.
