Page 108 of Wilde Abandon

“It’s not the right place.”

“What are you looking for?”

“A place for everyone.Booths.Tables.A dance floor.Games.A vibe that says everyone is there for a good time.I’ll know it when I find it.”

“You’re looking for a place where you belong in a city that feels unfamiliar.”He got her.

“Every bar has a vibe and the people who love it.The Dark Horse Dive Bar is home.It’s me.But I need to be a different me, here with you.”

“I don’t want you to be anything but what you are.”

“I want to be me that’s comfortable here.”

“You’re perfect, sweet Dee.You know that.”

“I do.But I wish I could explain to you what I’m looking for and what I want, so that Wyoming Melody fits in Boston.”

He hesitated for a moment.“Come back.There’s something I want to show you.”

“What?”

“Something I think you’ll like.A place where you can be everything you are and more.”

That sounded perfect to her.“I’m on my way.”

Chapter twenty-six

Foxsteppedoutofthe lobby just as Melody and Otis arrived in their rideshare car.Otis nodded to him, then ducked into the building.Fox took Melody’s hand and stood in the waning sunshine with her.

“How was your day, dear?”She grinned at him and his heart kicked with the shot of joy it brought him.

“I missed you.”

She eyed him.“You were too busy to miss me.”

He shook his head.“I was distracted by your absence.”

“You mean by all the texts Otis sent you, updating you on every little thing I did.”

“He sent me pictures, too.I’ll send them to you.They’re really good.”

“I want to see.”

He pulled them up.

She scrolled through the five photos.

He loved the one of her standing in the middle of a bakery holding a pink frosted vanilla cupcake.The top was decorated like a rose in bloom.She had this huge smile on her face, right before he imagined she took a bite.Then there was the one of her handing a homeless man a cup of coffee from the bar she’d just come out of.The man’s dog was giving her cheek a lick.And again, that smile.

Otis told him she spent ten minutes petting the dog and talking to the man.

That was his Melody.Sweet.Kind.Always smiling.

“Send these to me.I’ll send them to my parents.They’ll get a little glimpse of what I’ve been up to here.Mom will love those amazing wood doors at O’Leary’s.”

“Did you like that place?”

She’d eaten lunch there.“One of my favorites.The place is perfect.Well run.Good food.Drinks specials that fit their theme.Decent prices, too.”

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