Page 37 of Whiskey Reveals

Chapter 18

The next daywhile Melody stayed with her grandmother, Fox did his best not to start throwing things in stress and complete anger. He couldn’t even pick up his normal things to juggle when he needed to think because he wanted to punch something and would probably end up throwing the balls at someone’s head or something that could break.

He knew Whiskey had its issues. All towns did. Hell, his brother and Kenzie had almost been hurt by her ex-husband in Dare’s bar, but he still couldn’t believe someone was doing what amounted to stalking to Melody.

The police might have said they could handle it, but he wasn’t sure he could leave her alone for long. He needed to be by her, needed to make sure she and the baby were okay. It didn’t matter to him that he had to work and deal with his family; he just wanted to make sure that Melody was by his side and under his care. He knew it was overprotective, but someone was threatening the woman he was falling for, the woman carrying his child, and he didn’t know what else to do.

Those at his work that morning had asked if there was anything to report about the police being called to Melody’s after the party, but he’d dodged them just like the detectives. There was truly nothing to report, even in a small town where gossip was just as important to the town’s perspective as the news. Thankfully, his staff seemed more worried about Melody than wanting answers that he didn’t have.

He did, however, talk to his brothers and his parents about what had happened. He hadn’t given them many details, as those were Melody’s secrets to tell and not his, but at least the others now knew to keep their eyes open for anything that might seem out of place. Loch was already grumbling about adding new security to Ms. Pearl’s home as well as to the studio itself. Fox was pretty sure the house already had top-of-the-line security thanks to Loch, but he wasn’t going to argue. He just hoped that Melody and her grandmother didn’t fuss.

He hated the fact that he couldn’t be by Melody’s side for most of the day, but he’d had to catch up on work, and she’d wanted to spend time with her grandmother. He and Melody had both been pretty shaky after they finished their conversation the night before, and while he knew she probably needed some space from him after she bared her soul, he didn’t know if he would be able to give her as much space as she might think she needed.

Because the fact was, he was going to be a dad. He’d been so focused on doing the right thing and making sure that Melody knew she was cared for and wanted and that she wouldn’t be alone in this, that he wasn’t sure he was handling it the right way.

It worried him sometimes to think how focused he was on keeping Melody in his life and keeping her safe because he wanted to do the right thing when it came to their child. And then he reminded himself that he had wanted her as much as he did now before he knew she was pregnant. Given those two thoughts were so intertwined, he wasn’t sure he could ever know exactly how he would’ve felt without the idea of the new life between them.

And while that worried him, he had a feeling it bothered Melody even more.

He’d never thought starting this new part of his life would be this way. He’d seen the way his brothers became fathers and had thought that maybe he’d be able to do something different. He’d thought that he would be able to have some semblance of control when it came to not only becoming a father but also starting a serious relationship. But it seemed, in the end, the Collins brothers only had one way of starting new parts of their lives. An insane way that never made any sense.

He was beyond stressed. Beyond worried. But in the end, he was falling for her so hard that it scared him. Especially because she was so hard to read. There was so much going on in her life that he worried he would be the easiest thing to cut out when she got too stressed and needed to focus on only the most important things.

And he hadn’t known her long, but he knew deep down that he was falling for her. And that meant he was going to fight for her. She had been it for him since that first night, even if he had tried his best not to think about it. She had haunted his dreams when he thought he’d never see her again. And now, she filled his day when all he wanted to do was spend time with her and figure out every facet of her.

And he knew this intensity might scare Melody off, so he was going to do his best not to do that.

So tonight, instead of spending the evening with Melody, he was going to take the class that he had been signed up for for a while now. The one that probably made no sense to anyone looking in on him. But then again, sometimes, he felt as if no one knew what he was doing. Because he had spent his life being in the shadow of two amazing brothers, and one very talented sister. As his brothers had seemed to add on more jobs to their lives every day and even more twists and turns to their personal lives, Fox had been steady with his one job, and his routine when it came to working in his brother’s bar some nights, and working out at his other brother’s gym. So, of all things, he had signed up for a cooking class. He might as well be talented at something besides juggling.

His brothers were probably already better cooks than he was, but he didn’t want to think those thoughts. Because he didn’t like the jealousy that came with them. He wasn’t envious of his brothers per se, but he always felt as if he had to work a little bit harder to match them. Because he looked up to them, looked up to Tabby even though she was younger, and he didn’t want to be left stranded. He’d been left behind when it took him so long to fill out, and had felt slightly abandoned when the others knew what they wanted to do with their lives and Fox was still lost in his books.

But he wasn’t that kid anymore. Now, he was going to have a kid of his own. So, yeah, this cooking class was for him, but he also knew that he would be able to cook for Melody and the baby when the time came. That was if he ended up part of Melody’s life in the way he thought he wanted. Everything was so up in the air, and if he didn’t stop and let things happen in their own way and time, he’d start pulling out his hair.

“You’re staring at the sign and not actually walking into the building. Is there something I should know?” Ainsley hip-bumped him, and he shook his head, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She might be Loch’s best friend, but she was also his friend, and they’d decided to take the class together. She wanted to learn to be a better cook for herself and even for when she cooked for Misty, Loch’s daughter. Fox thought she was already better than he was at cooking, though that wasn’t saying much, even as their initial skill level assessment.

“Sorry, just thinking about nothing and everything, I guess.”

Ainsley looked over her shoulder, presumably to ensure that they were alone when she whispered, “About Melody, the stalker, and the baby? It’s a lot.”

“Loch tell you about what happened?” He hadn’t, but he wasn’t surprised that she knew.

“Yes, but Melody also did when I called to make sure she was okay. I know I probably should have given her space, but she’s my friend, and I’m nosy and invasive when it comes to my friends.”

“That’s what we love about you,” Fox said honestly. “Now let’s get to cooking before someone sees us out here.”

They’d made a deal that they wouldn’t let any of their friends know what they were doing. It was embarrassing to think that, at their age, they didn’t have the basic skills to cook a normal meal, but they were learning. Somehow, the news hadn’t gone through the grapevine of town gossip yet, and for that, he was grateful.

The class consisted of five pairs of students learning the basics of cooking and, eventually, how to put a full meal together that was a little bit fancier than normal. It was a ten-week course, and this was the second to last class. He had no idea how his parents and family hadn’t figured out that he was taking the course, but he was just happy that he didn’t have to deal with any questions. His mother would probably think it was all her fault that he’d had so much trouble even boiling water for such a long time, but at least he was getting better at it.

He and Ainsley were paired up, while most of the rest of the class was actual couples who were practicing for when they got married and started families, but he liked the fact that he was there with his friend and they could laugh about burning things and not making the most picture-worthy food ever.

Tonight, they were taking it easy with chicken Marsala and pasta. It sounded way too complicated for him, but what did he know. He’d only learned how to boil eggs correctly last month.

Ainsley was quiet beside him as she focused, and he liked that about her. She could talk a mile a minute when she wanted to, but she could also be the silent observer who was that steady rock for those around her when she needed to be. He knew his brother relied on her more than just for babysitting, and he had a feeling once Loch figured that out, things would change for the pair. He liked Ainsley, liked her for his brother, and really liked the fact that she was part of their lives. But when the two finally realized that they could be it for each other, Fox was afraid what might happen. His brother was even more bullheaded than Dare or himself, and if they weren’t careful, they could all lose Ainsley because Loch was too afraid to trust.

The fact that it reminded him so much of Melody wasn’t lost on Fox. He always trusted too easily, even for a writer, and he knew that. But he knew he wasn’t putting that trust in the wrong hands when it came to the woman he wanted in his life. He might’ve fallen fast, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t just the baby, he reminded himself. It was the woman he wanted to know more, the one he didn’t want to let go.

And that was just something they were going to have to deal with.

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