Make Me Melt (6 page)

“It took me a few
years myself. I try to make it back every so often, though.” 

“Yeah, well I figured
if I didn’t come back this year dear old Connie would’ve come to Denver to
kidnap me.”

Michael chuckled.
“Pretty persistent, huh?”

“Ever since my
divorce she’s been pretty paranoid. Constantly fussing and worrying. You know
how moms can be.” 

He nodded. “You’ve
met mine so you know I understand that quite well.” 

He did his best to mask
his surprise that she was divorced. He’d heard she had been married and had
just assumed she still was. Whatever kind of idiot she had been married to he
obviously didn’t know a good thing when he saw it. There was no way he would
ever let someone like Vicky go. Then he reminded himself, that he’d done that
very thing. 

“I always liked your
mom.” 

“She always liked you
too.” 

She smiled at him
then. Not the polite Vicky Browning smile, but the sincere one. The smile that
he knew came from a special place in her heart. 

“Brr.” She brought
her hands out of her pocket and rubbed them together. “It sure is cold out
here. I thought it got bad in Denver.” 

“We’re higher up on
the Western slope. Bound to be a little colder. Here, let me help.” He got up
from where he sat and came over to her bench. Sitting down beside her he
wrapped her hands up in his and blew gently before rubbing them together.
“How’s that?”

“Better. Thank
you.” 

“You’re welcome.” He
smiled at her. 

She looked so
beautiful. Her dark curly hair fell around her face, framing it to perfection
like a model who had spent hours in front of the mirror. He wanted so badly to
slide some of those ringlets in between his fingertips and pull her closer.
Despite his needs, he remained frozen in place, unwilling to do too much and
scare her away. 

They stared at one
another. He looked into her hypnotic green eyes while she blinked softly while
returning his gaze. 

“You are still so
beautiful.” The words slipped out, betraying his inner thoughts.

She sighed softly and
parted her lips just barely. “Michael.” 

Her mouth, those
lips. Damn but they were driving him wild. Could it be that he’d forgotten how
she tasted? How good she smelled? How sweet her kiss could be? 

He didn’t want to
wait to find out a moment longer. Now that she was here, he damn sure was going
to take a chance. 

Leaning in, he dipped
his head down and with his hands still holding hers he closed his eyes and was
ready to kiss her. 

“Mike? Hey… you out
here?” 

What the ever loving…
he turned to see his brother standing on the small stoop, which led out from
the banquet room. Jack. He should have known. 

“Oh… hey. I didn’t
mean to interrupt.” Jack waved at Vicky. “Hi Vicky. Good to see you
again.” 

She smiled, and
looked down. He didn’t miss the blush that spread across her face. If he wasn’t
so close to church he might have leapt across the courtyard and killed his
brother. He always had a knack for walking in on him and Vicky when they were
kids, but in their thirties? Come on!

“Can I help you with
something, big brother?” He offered up his best smile which said nothing short
of ‘you will pay for this later’. 

“Uhh…yeah, well Ma wanted
me to come and find you. Said she needed your help with something.” 

“Tell her I’ll be
right there.” 

“Sure thing. Good
seeing you again, Vicky.” 

“You too, Jack.” She
waved at him before he stepped inside.

“I’m sorry about
that.” 

She stood up. “Oh
don’t be silly. Your mom needs your help. I’m sure my mom could use some help
with the thousands of pies she baked too.” 

Damn it. 

He could see her
closing off. For a minute he had her. She was right where he wanted her, sweet
and open to him. Now after his brother’s less than perfect timing he could see
her walls going up again just like they had been last night in the park. 

“Vicky.” He grabbed
her hand before she walked away. 

“Yes?” 

“Can I see you
later?” 

“I don’t know,
Michael.”

“Please?” 

She looked around, as
if considering his request. Then she surprised him by turning back with a
question. “When?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe
tonight? After the dinner when everyone has gone home?” 

“I suppose I could go
out for a walk later. I could meet you in the park. By the tree?” 

“I’d like that very
much.” He smiled at her. 

“Well, we better get
back inside.”

“Yeah.” 

She led the way for
the both of them. He walked behind her and opened the door for her to walk
inside. She turned back to face him and offered a smile before retreating to
the other side of the room where her mother stood.

He watched her for a
moment, taking in her every movement. There was a time he thought he might never
see her again. Now that she was so close he felt a jolt of something new and
exciting. 

It was a feeling he
hadn’t experienced in thirteen years. And he couldn’t wait to see her later
that night.

Chapter Nine

Vicky spent most of
the dinner with her mother while she talked her up to anyone who would listen.
For the most part everyone had been nice and not too nosy with her—although not
too nosy for Dove Creek didn’t mean the same as it did for most other people.
Inherently, the residents of Dove Creek couldn’t help but be a little curious
about the girl who stayed away for so long.

She didn’t mind it
too much. That Clarice woman sure had been a hoot and a half. She had more one
liners and she had to catch herself more than once from spewing food from her
mouth while laughing. 

Despite keeping busy
with conversation and helping out her mother, her thoughts never went too far
from Michael. That moment they’d shared in the courtyard a couple of hours earlier
replayed in her mind. While she couldn’t be sure, she had a pretty strong
feeling that he had been about to kiss her before Jack interrupted them. 

Lord knew that Jack
Jr. had interrupted them more than once in their younger days. Now as she
waited for the time on the clock to tick by, she wondered why he wanted to see
her later. A part of her felt like she knew, but the woman who had been cheated
on by her husband doubted herself. 

As she and her mother
packed up the empty pie dishes and assisted with clean up, she couldn’t help
but allow her eyes to wander the room to see if he was still there. Twice
earlier she’d caught him staring at her from across the room. She only wished
she knew what he’d been thinking of when she did catch him. 

His apology earlier
had been sweet, even though unnecessary. She’d long since forgiven him for the
things that he’d said that night. It wasn’t as if she’d handled the situation
any better once he tried to make things right between them. They’d been kids.
Foolish, irresponsible and reckless kids. 

Scanning the room she
no longer saw him across the span of people. Most of Dove Creek had already
left and only a few had stayed behind to help with cleanup. She’d foolishly
forgotten to ask Michael what time she should meet him. Her cheeks were flushed
as giddiness filled her, making her feel like a school girl all over
again. 

Get a hold of yourself, Vicky. 

She silently chided
herself. Even though her flame for Michael had been hotter than with anyone
ever before, she couldn’t afford to get too caught up in things. She remembered
all too well the heartache that she’d felt all those years ago. 

“You two go on ahead.
I’m going to finish up a few things and lock up. Whatever isn’t done, I’ll come
back tomorrow morning to clean up,” Clarice offered. 

“Are you sure?”
Connie asked. “We don’t mind staying.” 

She couldn’t help but
smile at her mother. It was obvious she was exhausted from waking up early,
baking all day and doing so much for this dinner. But it was typical of her
selfless nature that Connie Browning would stay all night to help out if
someone else needed a hand. 

“I’m positive,” Clarice
insisted. “Besides if I know you, you’ll be up early tomorrow morning anyway.
You need your rest. I’ve always been more of a night owl anyway.”

“You’re sure?” Connie
asked again.

“Yes, I’m sure. Now
go on. You’ve got your baby girl here.” 

“Come on, Mom.
Clarice is right. You’ve been up since the crack of dawn baking. I know you’re
tired. I can tell.” 

“Oh, alright. But
only if you call me in the morning if you need any help,” Connie replied. 

“I promise. Now go
on. We’ve got this. You’ve done enough already.” 

“Thank you, Clarice.”
Connie hugged her goodbye.

After the round robin
game of hugs and waving goodbye, she and her mom buttoned up their coats to
head back out and brave the cold winter night. With their house being only two
blocks from town hall, it made the walk home short and not too cold. Not that
she was feeling much of it anyway. Just the memory of Michael sitting close to
her warmed her in a way that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. 

Shortly after
stepping inside the house, she had helped her mom soak the pie dishes so they’d
be ready for washing in the morning. Just as she had suspected her mom was dead
tired and ready to head to bed only minutes after they returned home. 

“I’m going to head to
bed, honey. You coming up soon?” Connie asked. 

“Actually, I think I
might stay up for a while. Maybe even talk a walk through the park.” 

“The park? At this
hour?” Connie asked with worry.

“I’ll be fine, Mom. I
haven’t been back home for a long time. I’d forgotten how much I liked our city
tree when it was all lit up. I won’t be long.” 

“Hmm…okay. Don’t stay
out too long though. It’s cold out there tonight and it’s not supposed to be warming
up anytime soon.” 

“Yes, Mother.” She grinned
and kissed her mother goodnight. 

She waited until her
mom had gone into her bedroom and had closed the door before she made her way
to the kitchen. Just before putting on her coat she had the idea to make some
hot cocoa. It might have been silly, but she remembered many winter nights when
she would bring some out and her and Michael would sit in the park or go for a
walk with their mugs in hand. 

As she waited for the
water to warm on the stove, she hoped she wasn’t being too foolish by bringing
the hot beverages. It might seem like she was trying to relive some of the old
days. Truthfully, maybe she was. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was expecting
from tonight. All she knew was that for the first time in a very long time she
felt excited about going to see a man. 

In a matter of
minutes she was on her way out the door, all buttoned up with two covered mugs
in her hands. She had an extra kick in her step as she made her way down the
sidewalk, across the road and over to the park. The street lights illuminated
portions of the park and from what she could tell Michael wasn’t there
yet. 

As she stepped onto
the snow covered grass she couldn’t feel the coldness wrap around her ankles.
The winter wind didn’t even give her a chill. And she didn’t believe it to be
the hot cocoa that seemed to be suddenly giving her warmth. 

She crossed the open
area in front of the lit up tree and sat on one of the many wood benches that
surrounded it. While setting the mugs down beside her she saw a shadow stretch
across the blanket of snow. She looked up and saw Michael standing before her
with his hands in his pockets. 

“Hi,” he said with a
grin. 

“Hi.” She smiled
wide. 

Chapter Ten

 He looked down
at her; her smile was wide and her eyes actually looked happy. It was a nice
sight. Their first two meetings he’d only seen hesitation staring back at him.
Now he saw a glimmer of the old Vicky he used to know. 

“I wasn’t sure what
time you were coming by,” he said.

“Sorry, I guess I
never said. We stayed late to help clean up a little. I hope you weren’t
waiting long.”

“It’s okay.” He sat
down on the bench next to the mugs. “You were worth the wait.” 

“I brought hot cocoa.”
She picked up one of the mugs and removed the plastic lid. 

“Thank you.” He took
a sip. “It reminds me of a long time ago. Do you remember? You used to make
some for us and we’d—”

“I remember,” she interrupted
him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you off.” 

“It’s okay. Thank you
though. It is really very sweet.”