“
Shelly, don’t mess with
me. Where’s Mel?”
His heaving breaths are scaring me.
“Tyler, you need to calm down. I don’t know what you’re talking
about. Last I talked to Mel, she was up there with you.”
“
Well, she’s not anymore.
Oh my god. She’s gone, Shel. All she left was a note. She broke up
with me.”
Tears flood my eyes as I hear my big
brother get choked up. “Slow down, brother. Tell me everything.
When did this happen? What did she say?”
He takes a deep breath and then
begins. “This morning everything was great as usual. Then I left to
the center. Holy shit. She knew she was going to leave. She was
saying goodbye.”
“
When?”
“
When I left, she stopped
me. She never does. She told me to kiss her silly. It’s kind of our
thing, you know. Anyway, she never does that. She was saying
goodbye to me with that last kiss.”
I hear a loud crash, like something
shattering. “Ty. Please calm down. You’re scaring me.”
“
I’m sorry. I just can’t
believe this. My chest hurts. It’s like I can’t breathe. I can’t
believe she’d leave me, Shel. I had big plans for us. I’m already
in escrow on a house about two blocks from your place. I’m supposed
to get the keys in a few weeks because it’s a quick escrow. The
couple I bought from moved to Oregon and the house is
empty.”
“
Did you tell her
that?”
“
No.” He sniffles. “I even
sent in my resignation at work. I figured I’d try and get a job
down there once I moved. But even if I don’t find anything, I have
enough money saved to hold me over for a school year.”
“
Why didn’t you tell her
all this?”
“
Because I wanted to
surprise her.” He’s silent for a minute. “A lot of good that
did.”
“
What did she say in the
note?”
He starts to speak but his voice
breaks. “She said what we had is in the past. All the memories were
childhood memories. That are futures are not the same. Is she
crazy? What about the memories we’ve made this year? Going to the
top of the Stratosphere, reenacting The Rock on Alcatraz. I have
hundreds of pictures on my phone filled with memories from now. And
she’s full of shit to think our future doesn’t include us being
together.”
My heart breaks for my brother but
there has to be more. This doesn’t sound like something my best
friend would do. Just walk away from him like this.
“
What brought this on, Ty?
Any ideas?”
“
It was the art show at the
center. She thinks she can’t ask me to leave that behind. But she
doesn’t have to ask. I already have, all on my own.”
“
But she doesn’t know that.
In her mind, she’s letting you go. To be the free spirit you’ve
always been without anything tying you down.”
“
I don’t want that anymore.
I want her, Shel,” his voice cracks again, “I want Melissa
back.”
“
Well then, you better talk
to her. Forget the surprise and tell her that you’ve already
started making plans for your future and she’s in it.”
“
Melissa, I swear I’m going
to kick your ass when I see you,” I shout in the phone. “And you
should be very afraid of this pregnant woman. I don’t have the
patience to deal with this shit, Mel. Son of a bitch, you are
killing my brother. Killing him. What else do I need to say to get
you to call me back?”
I toss the phone on my kitchen table.
More like slam it down.
I circle my arms around my
husband and lean into him for support. “I can’t believe she’s doing
this, Matty. My brother is heartbroken. Son of a fuckin’
bitch,
I’m
heart
broken.”
“
Still no word from her
parents?”
“
No. They’re out of town.
Mel’s dad is using up all his vacation time before he retires. They
just happened to have picked the worst time to do it. I wonder if
they know their daughter has gone AWOL.”
“
Maybe they do and they’re
protecting her.” His hands work magic on my back, calming my
nerves.
“
From what? Or who? My
brother? He needs protecting from her.” So much for the calming
effect.
“
Let’s go out for ice
cream. That should make you feel better.”
On the way to fill my belly and baby
with Apple Pie a la Coldstone, Ty sends me multiple texts asking if
I’ve heard anything. I hate sending him back negatives. I’ve tried
everywhere. School. Her parents’ place. I even used their spare key
and sneaked in the pool house just in case she was hiding out in
there. I called friends from work. Friends from college. I even
called that bastard Nick. But it’s like she’s
disappeared.
She did send one text to let me know
she was alive and okay so I shouldn’t call the police to file a
missing person’s report, but that was it. When I asked her to show
me proof of life, she sent a quick video message to humor me. She
looked like hell. I want to leave her a message telling her what a
dumbass she is but Tyler asked me not to mention his move back
home. He wants to tell her when he sees her. If that happens. She’s
doing a great job at making herself scarce. Dammit. We’ve watched
too many movies. She knows all the tricks. Now, if I could just
figure out what movie she’s drawing on to make herself invisible,
I’d have a clue.
Fuck! I’m going to kill
her.
Matty and I are devouring our ice
cream when Chase and Summer walk up. Not exactly who I want to see
at a time like this. I don’t think I have the patience for Summer
McGallian right now. Matt reaches over and places a calming hand on
my thigh.
“
Hey, you two,” Summer
says, all cheery and full of shit. “I hear a congratulations are in
order.”
What? How does she know? I didn’t plan
on telling anyone from work until school started.
“
Yeah, I got a call from
Tyler,” Chase says. “He wanted my sister’s number. I guess he
needed a realtor. Anyway, he spilled the beans.”
“
I’m going to have to have
a chat with my brother. I didn’t plan on sharing the news just
yet,” I say through gritted teeth.
“
Well, stand up,” Summer
takes my hand, “Let’s get a look at your baby bump.”
I rise to my feet because this bitch
is yanking on me. “You can barely see it. Maxi dresses do wonders
to hide it.”
“
Totally,” she says.
“You’re right. I can’t see a hint of a pooch. That doesn’t work for
Mel though. She must be further along than you.”
“
Huh,” I choke on my own
spit. “Where did you see Mel?”
“
In Big Bear,” Chase
begins.
Summer interrupts him, “Yeah, she had
on something similar. You couldn’t tell until the wind picked up
and pressed her dress against her belly. A definite baby bump. Out
to about here, wouldn’t you say, babe?” She looks at Chase and he
nods. “I called out her name but she kept walking. Didn’t hear me
and we were in a hurry so we didn’t try and catch up with
her.”
“
Oh. Yeah. Well, she’s
kinda keeping it a secret too. So don’t go sharing our good news
until we can make the announcement,” I tell them as I grab my
husband’s hand. “Hey, it was good seeing you both. We gotta
run.”
I drag Matty away from them as I take
out my phone to text my brother.
“
What happened? Did you
talk to her? Did you find her?” my brother yells as he comes
running into my house with the door slamming shut behind
him.
I’ve been pacing a hole in the
hardwood floor of my kitchen waiting for him to get here. And now
that he is, I have no idea where to start.
“
She’s in Big Bear,” Matty
tells him.
“
Big Bear? Why didn’t I
think of that before?” he says with the heel of his palm to his
forehead.
“
I know. I can’t believe I
forgot about her parents’ place up there.”
“
How do you
know?”
“
Summer and Chase saw her
up there. But she didn’t see them.”
He steps in front of me and hauls me
into his arms and plants a kiss on my head. “Thank you, sis.” He
shakes my husband’s hand and turns to leave.
“
That’s not all,
Ty.”
He turns around slowly to face us.
“Please tell me she wasn’t with another man.”
I shake my head.
“
Then what?”
I start to open my mouth and then
close it. I know Mel would want to tell him first.
“
What?” he
demands.
“
She’s
pregnant.”
Melissa
It’s about fucking time. How long does
it take to get a pizza around here? I’m starving.
I gather my wallet on the way to the
door, turn the deadbolt, and whip it open.
“
Shit.” My belly does a
back flip and my body warms to the site of him. “What are you doing
here?”
“
Forget what I am doing
here. Is there something you’d like to tell me, Melissa?” He stares
down at my midsection. Damn these yoga pants.
His eyes are glassy and he glares at
me for a good while before I walk away. I hear the door open and
shut, and the lock sliding into place.
I try to gather my senses but my hands
are trembling and I’m starting to feel light-headed.
There’s another knock at the door.
“That’s the pizza guy. I know you want to talk. But I need to eat
before I pass out.”
He backtracks to the door and quickly
exchanges cash for the pizza. He carries the large box over and
drops it on the kitchen counter. Then he turns around and opens a
cupboard, takes out a plate and slides it down to me. Not only did
he remember the cabin, he also remembers where everything
is.
The nerves show in my hand as I fumble
with the cardboard box to get it open and pull a slice free. Cheesy
pizza had my mouth watering just an hour ago, and now I could throw
up looking at it. I really do feel queasy though so I know I need
the calories to get me through this unexpected visit.
After my first bite, I take a breath
trying to calm myself. “How did you find me?”
“
Really, Melissa? That’s
what you want to know. Who gives a shit how I found you? I
shouldn’t have had to look for you for weeks, worrying my ass off
that you might be hurt. I shouldn’t have been killing myself trying
to figure out what I did wrong to make you leave me?”
“
I’m sorry.” I lower my
eyes because I can’t stand to see the hurt in his.
“
Sorry. You’re carrying my
baby and you’re far enough along that it’s clearly visible yet you
haven’t told me and all you can say is you’re sorry. That’s shit,
Mel. What the hell is going on?”
“
I told you in the letter I
had more to say.” I take another bite of my pizza to slow down the
conversation. I’ve played this discussion over in my mind a million
times. But it never went over like this. Not with him finding out
before I had the chance to sit him down and explain.
“
You knew when you went to
see me and said nothing.” His bottom lip is quivering and it breaks
my heart.
“
That’s why I went back up.
To tell you. But I just couldn’t bring myself to say the
words.”
“
Why?”
“
Because.” I pause and
gather what little strength I have to look him in the eye. “You
were adamant about not having kids. Ever since Shel brought up
having babies and when she found out she was pregnant, you made it
clear you didn’t want kids. Not now, at least. You said you wanted
to make plans and make sure we were in the same zip code. But never
did you say you’d want one now. Too late for that.” I let out a big
sigh, tired already and I’m sure this is nowhere near
over.
“
Mel, that’s ridiculous.
Whoever says they want to get pregnant on accident? People say they
want to plan when to have children. But if they get pregnant they
deal. You didn’t even give me a chance. Did you really think I
wouldn’t want our baby?”
“
No.”
“
Then why didn’t you tell
me?”
“
Because your life is in
San Francisco. How can we have a baby together when we live so far
away from each other?”
“
I’d move,” he
shouts.
I groan. “That’s what I
didn’t want, Ty. I don’t want you to feel like you have to move
down here to be with me and our baby. I wanted you move because
you
wanted
to be
with me. Not because you had to.”
“
Oh my god, Melissa. You’re
pissing me off so bad right now. I can’t believe you made that
decision for us. You didn’t even stop to consider my feelings
before you left me with that ridiculous note to come home to. You
broke my heart, Mel. And you still are. If this is what you think
of me, then you don’t know me at all.”
He pushes off the counter and stalks
off toward the door. Before he opens it, he turns around. “Contrary
to what you believe, I want very much to be a father to my child.
You’ve hurt me so bad, it’s being with you I’m not so sure of
anymore. But I’m glad you’re safe. I’ll call you when I’ve calmed
down.”