Moments In Time: The Complete Novella Collection (23 page)

“I almost didn’t recognize her. What
happened?” Claire’s hair was a mess, pimples dotted her face and
neck, and she had put quite a lot of weight. If it weren’t for her
huge, unmistakable green eyes, Melisa would never have known it was
her.

“Love does that to people. She was engaged
and ditched two weeks before the wedding.”

In high school, Claire had been a royal
bitch, and that was an understatement. She’d been every girl’s
envy. She had beauty, beautiful clothes, men falling at her feet.
But the problem was, she knew what she had and she rubbed it in
everyone’s faces, thinking she was above all the rest. The thing
about being at the top was there was nowhere to go but down.

“So she took comfort in food?”

“She’s in here almost every day. Early, so
no one sees her. She can’t seem to keep her hands off the
strawberry creampuffs.”

In a way, Melisa’s heart did go out to
Claire. Losing someone you loved, whether to death or otherwise,
was a bitter pill to swallow. She wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“Poor thing,” Melisa said, slicing a loaf of
bread. “Who was she engaged to? Someone from town?”

Josie moved away from the display and toward
the kitchen door. “Florian Dane.”

***

Melisa let herself into Nick and Carlene’s
home, kicked off her shoes, and threw herself onto the couch.
Claire and Heat were a
couple
? Why did it surprise her,
though? Everyone thought they would end up dating. The prom queen
and the football star. They would have been the perfect match.

As she flopped back onto the throw pillows,
she ached to know more—how they’d fallen in love, how long they
dated, why they broke up.

“It sounds like it bothers you that they
were together,” Carlene said when they talked later that night.

Melisa shrugged. “I’m just curious.” She
felt a sting of jealousy, but Carlene didn’t need to know that.

“Want to know what I think?”

“Not really.” Melisa smirked.

Carlene laughed. “I’ll say it anyway. I
think you’re still subconsciously carrying a torch for this
guy.”

“That’s nonsense.”
Is it really?
A
small voice in her head asked. If it was utter nonsense, why did
she have an erotic dream about Heat while in the tub last week?

“Then why do you keep bringing him up
whenever we talk?”

Melisa was at Mel’s Delights before
daybreak, hoping to bump into Claire. She had no idea why.

And just as Josie had said, Claire was the
first customer in.

“Hi, Claire, what would you like?”

Without uttering a word, she pointed at the
strawberry creampuffs in the display case and mumbled under her
breath that she wanted all twelve of them.

Melisa packed them up and handed Claire the
box. “You look well,” she said, for lack of a better compliment.
“How have you been?”

“Mind your own business. Haven’t you done
enough damage?” She snatched the box out of Melisa’s hands and
walked out, her black, knee-length, pleated dress swirling around
her dimpled knees. Curves suited some people, but Claire looked
like she was in the wrong body.

Melisa wanted to curse after her, but she
couldn’t bring herself to do it. The poor woman had suffered
enough.

Instead she stared at Claire’s back, eyes
narrowed. What did she mean by that? What kind of damage? And how?
She’d been hiding at Oasis for years. Claire was clearly bent on
lashing out at anyone who crossed her path. As she had done in high
school after being dumped by one of her many boyfriends.

Melisa shrugged and went back into the
kitchen to remove the chocolate and coconut brownies from the oven.
But her mind was still on Claire’s accusation as she prepared the
melted chocolate and drizzled it onto the tops of the brownies
before sprinkling them with coconut flakes.

When Josie walked in, Melisa was almost
bursting with curiosity.

“Hi,” Josie said, wrapping a red, pink, and
white apron around her trim waist. “You’ve been busy.” She eyed the
assortment of baked goods Melisa had spread out on the kitchen
table—scones, muffins, cookies, macaroons, and two chocolate
cakes.

“I had a blast making them.”

“When did you come in? I know you wanted to
open up shop, but from the look of these”—she waved a slender hand
at the brownies—”you must have been here since dawn.”

Melisa smiled and leaned against the fridge.
“I’m trying to make up for lost time.”

“You know you don’t have to. You went away
to heal and now you’re back. You did nothing wrong.”

The doorbell chimed, and Melisa walked out
of the kitchen as an old woman with a cane walked in, soon followed
by a loud group of teenagers and a mother holding her little girl’s
hand.

For a while, an endless stream of customers
came and left, or stayed for a cup of coffee and a slice of
cake.

In between helping Josie and Nicole—who
arrived later—serve customers, Melissa baked several more batches
of multicolored cupcakes, cookies, rolls, pies, whipped up
meringues, and frosted a birthday cake. There was no break long
enough for her to talk to Josie about what weighed on her mind. But
finally, lunchtime came around and Nicole left to have lunch with a
school friend.

Josie closed the door and flipped the sign
to signal they were closed.

Lunch was a cup of coffee and the pepperoni
pizza Melisa had baked last night and brought along.

“What a morning,” Josie said, flipping her
long, wavy hair over her shoulder so it wouldn’t fall into her
pizza. “The place hasn’t been this busy for quite a while. I bet
you have something to do with it.”

“No,
we
have something to do with it.
We’ve always been a great team.”

“Even when we used to do school
projects.”

Melisa laughed. “Those were the days.”
Things used to be so much simpler then. She’d laughed without
holding back and slept through the night instead of spending it
worrying how she would get through the next day. “I miss those
days.”

“Me too. I can’t believe how much has
happened since then.”

Melisa bit into her pizza and nodded. After
chewing for a while, she placed the slice back on her plate and
folded her arms on the table. “Claire said the weirdest thing when
she came in today.”

Josie perked up. “She spoke to you? I mean,
apart from giving an order?”

“I asked how she was doing and she told me
to fuck off, pretty much. Apparently I’ve ‘caused enough damage.’
What damage?” Melisa chuckled, but a knot formed in her
stomach.

Josie wiped her mouth, sipped her coffee,
and sighed. “I don’t know if it’s my place to tell you this, but
Serendipity is a small town. You’re bound to find out at some
point.”

Panic gripped Melisa’s throat. “What is
it?”

“You were the reason Claire and Florian, or
Heat, if you prefer, broke up. Rumors circulated that she had
insulted you in some way.” Josie frowned, as if thinking. “Yeah,
something about you being in some kind of nuthouse. Can you believe
her nerve? Anyway, it must have rubbed Heat the wrong away. I don’t
know if it’s true, but that was apparently one of the reasons for
their breakup.” Josie winked. “Looks like someone has a soft spot
for you. You
did
have a major crush on him, if I recall
correctly?”

Melisa had never told Josie what she had
felt for Heat, or that she’d slept with him. It would have been too
humiliating to tell anyone that he had used her and forgotten about
her.

Now, she couldn’t respond to what Josie had
said. Frankly, she didn’t know how to feel about Heat.

Five minutes before their lunch break was
over, Josie leaned forward, her face serious. “I’m selling Mel’s
Delights, Melisa. That’s why I couldn’t hire you long term.”

Melisa’s shivered as if someone had tipped a
glass of ice water down her back. “Why? To who? Why?” The words
exited her mouth faster than she could think them.

Josie sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention
this to you earlier. I knew you’d be upset. The business hadn’t
been doing well, so I put it up for sale.”

“Have you found a buyer yet?”

“I found a buyer a while back, and he called
three weeks ago with an offer. I’m so sorry. I know how much this
place meant to you. I tried to keep it afloat as long as I could,
but I can’t anymore.”

“And the offer is final?” Melisa’s stomach
churned and cramped, acid eating away at her organs.

“Pretty much. I’ll be right back.” Josie
rose to go and serve a customer while Melisa sat there with her
eyes closed and her hands clasped in her lap, feeling as if the
ceiling had crashed down on her. Even if she no longer owned Mel’s
Delights, it had been comforting to know someone she knew was
taking care of it. Now it was being sold to a stranger, and she was
powerless to stop it.

Like a zombie, she picked up her purse from
the table and headed for the door, almost trampling a group of kids
with their mouths stuck in chocolate muffins.

As she passed the display window, she saw
Josie gesturing for her to return, but Melisa shook her head and
walked out.

Back at Carlene’s place, she filled a bucket
with water and scrubbed the bathroom until the marble and dozens of
mirrors gleamed. Then she lowered herself onto the lip of the
bathtub, covered her face with her hands, and wept, shoulders
shaking and nose running. When she was done, she wiped her tears,
blew her nose, and picked up the phone.

Her heart squeezed at the thought of asking
Carlene or anyone else for help, but this was an emergency. Losing
Mel’s Delights was a matter of life and death. And Carlene had said
if Melisa needed anything at all, she shouldn’t hesitate to
ask.

The call went straight to voicemail, but as
Melisa placed the phone back in its cradle, it rang.

“Melisa, sorry I missed your call. Is
everything all right?”

Melisa swallowed the rock lodged in her
throat and breathed in deeply in an attempt to compose herself.
“Yes, perfect. How are you and the baby?”

“Couldn’t be better. It’s been almost two
months and the baby refuses to show, but the doctors here say she’s
doing great. I can’t wait to feel that first kick.” Carlene paused.
“You don’t sound all right. What’s going on?”

“I need a favor,” Melisa said quickly. “I’d
never ask you this unless...”

“You can ask me for anything. I told you
that. Seriously. So, go ahead.”

Melisa shut her sore eyes and let the words
pour out. “I need money.”

“How much?” Carlene asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll find out tomorrow. I
just wanted to know if you’d be prepared to lend me some.”

“Of course. What’s it for?”

“Mel’s Delights is being sold, and I want to
buy it back.”

“Your business? Have you finally gone over
there?” Melisa could hear warmth in Carlene’s voice. “I’m so proud
of you.”

“I work there... for my friend Josie, who
bought it from me.”
And I used the money from the sale to pay
gambling debts
. The memory of what she had done with her life
hit Melisa full force and she felt sick to her stomach. But maybe
now was the time to make things right.

“Melisa, from what you told me, that place
was your lifelong dream. You can’t be working there as a regular
employee. Hold on a second.”

Carlene said something to Nick on the other
end. What if Nick said no to lending the money? Melisa hated being
a burden to anyone. The proud part of her wanted to tell Carlene to
forget about it and she’d find a way to earn the money herself. But
did she plan on doing that, really? No matter what she did, she
would never get enough money in time.

“Melisa?” Carlene returned to the phone.
“Find out the cost as soon as possible. Nick and I will give you
the money.”

A tear trickled down Melisa’s cheek as she
gripped the phone with her sweaty hand. When had she become such a
crybaby? “Thank you.”

***

Melisa arrived at Mel’s Delights just as
Josie was about to close up.

“Why did you run off like that? We weren’t
done talking.”

Melisa leaned against the counter. “I’m
sorry. It was too painful to hear that someone else would own this
place.”

Josie sighed and stopped wiping crumbs off
the counter. Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at Melisa.
“Someone already owns this place. The papers were signed today, not
long after you left. I wanted to tell you. I even tried calling,
but you didn’t pick up.” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry,
Melisa.”

Melisa nodded and turned on her heel to walk
out of the only place that still felt like home.

So much for being brave enough to start
over. Maybe some people didn’t deserve second chances. Maybe the
wrongs she’d done in her life were too severe to forgive. One of
those wrongs came to mind, and she brushed it aside as she had done
since the age of sixteen. Thinking about things she couldn’t change
would drive her mad.

The question remained: What was next for
her? What did she have left?

***

The phone rang just as Melisa let herself
into the house. She hesitated before picking up. If she had a
choice, she wouldn’t, but it could be Carlene. She hated having to
repeat the bad news, to hear her own voice utter the words that had
just destroyed her, but Carlene deserved to know.

“It’s me.” Carlene sounded breathless.

“Why do you sound as if you just climbed
Mount Everest? Or should I say Mount Nick?” Melisa smiled in spite
of herself.

Carlene laughed and the sound both warmed
and pierced Melisa’s heart. Would she ever be able to laugh like
that again? Once upon a yesterday she was that kind of girl. She
used to smile at the drop of a hat, but it got harder to smile
after Heat walked over her heart, and even more so after Scott
died. She was surprised she could even crack a joke after losing
Mel’s Delights forever. Fate had certainly worked hard trying to
wipe the smile off her face.