Page 45 of Melody

Before she curled up next to him again, she said, “I want to watch the snow fall. And let’s get under the covers. It’s freezing in here.”

While they pulled the covers down the bed before getting underneath them, he couldn’t help smiling at her. Although it was dark, it was easy enough to see her as she snuggled into his arm, thanks to the ambient artificial light spilling in from the other rooms and the streetlamp at the corner of the block, illuminating the snow as it rushed to the ground. It was a hell of a storm, giving Kyle yet another reason to be glad he’d stayed.

Not that he’d needed it.

He only hoped Scarlett felt as good as he did—and if her face and her assurance were any indication, she did.

They were quiet for a while, just watching the snow fall, and he thought back over their last hour together. He wasn’t quite sleepy yet but he knew he’d have no problems drifting off when it was time. “Can I tell you something kinda funny?”

“Yeah. I’d love that.”

“I have to give you a little backstory first. So…you know Pedro, our bassist.”

Nodding against his chest, she said, “Mmm-hmm.”

“He’s a really funny guy. If he wasn’t such a good bassist, I’d tell him he needed to go into comedy. That’s how funny he is.” She nodded her head and looked at him, pulling her eyes away from the sight of the snow. “Anyway, he does this thing…like, anytime you ask him something that, um,” he paused, trying to find a way to describe it. “Like if you asked him something that you’d sayyesornoto, if it’s a yes for him, he’ll say something outrageous and hilarious. Usually something really inappropriate. Like if you asked him if he was ready to eat dinner, he’d say, ‘Does a bear shit in the woods?’ or ‘Does the pope wear a funny hat?’” Those were things Kyle could remember hearing him say regularly.

“Okay.”

“Well, at the worst fucking time, I thought of Pedro tonight. When you asked if I had a condom, I almost said, ‘Does a bear shit in the woods?’ How stupid is that?”

Scarlett laughed again, the sound of her voice like music in his ears. “That just means he’s gotten to you.”

Kyle laughed with her, and it just intensified all the positive emotions flowing through his body and brain. “I guess. But I guarantee if I’d said some shit like that, it would have ruined the mood.”

“No doubt—but I’m glad you told me now. I bet it’s hard to keep a straight face around him.”

“Yeah. The only problem is sometimes it’s hard to tell when he’s actually serious.”

She was quiet for a bit before she said, “My dad was funny. He used to crack jokes and tease all the time. I know he used to love making mom and me laugh. And she laughed so much. My dad knew exactly what to say to get her smiling and laughing so hard tears would stream down her cheeks.” After another few seconds, she added, “I miss that.”

Kyle wasn’t sure what to say—if anything—because he didn’t want to make her cry again. And he felt a simmering anger in his gut. What was it about this life that made two perfect parents who clearly loved their daughter deeply die when she was so young? While Kyle’s mom didn’t hate him, he doubted she cared much about him, evident by what had happened when Liam had died. He wasn’t wishing death on her, but he wondered why Scarlett had to lose her parents. It was bullshit.

He could hear his therapist’s voice in his ears:life isn’t fair.

As he squeezed Scarlett’s shoulder in comfort, he silently reminded himself that this was why he continued seeing his therapist—to either make sense of the nonsense or to cope with it, because he had no control over it. And drugs werenotthe way to let shit go.

Scarlett said, “Honestly, it was like she died when my dad did. She was never the same after that. I don’t blame her. She tried, though.”

Again, Kyle simply supported her by holding her close. He wished he could say something comforting, but he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. He knew how bad it had felt losing Liam…but was he ready to talk about it? It wasn’t the same as losing parents, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

They sat in silence watching the snow continue to fall, and Kyle began to wonder how much was accumulating on the ground below. He’d never been one for watching forecasts, so anytime it rained or snowed was a pleasant (or not-so-pleasant) surprise. Tonight, for one of the first times, he was appreciating its beauty, thanks to seeing it through Scarlett’s eyes.

“Do you still have both your parents?”

Her question came out of the blue—and he started feeling like maybe he was being a selfish bastard by refusing to tell her anything. After all, she’d opened herself up wide and let him inwithout a second thought. Couldn’t he at least let her have a peek?

“Kind of. My dad bailed after my sister was born. I was maybe four and Cassie was one. I don’t remember a lot about him. I know he paid child support sometimes but he never came around. He sent birthday cards up until I was twelve or thirteen—but it was pretty clear that he never gave much of a shit.”

“What about your mom?”

Thatwas the part that was going to be hard…but he felt like he had to tell her at least part of it. “My mom wound up raising all three of us by herself. She had a couple of boyfriends but they never stuck around. She was a CNA for as long as I can remember and she always worked her ass off. I know she’s working on becoming a nurse now.”

Scarlett was rubbing her hand on his chest, soothing him with her touch more than she could know. He forced himself to keep talking. “My brother Liam…his dad left right after Liam was born. Same with my dad, he paid child support—pretty unwillingly, I think—but he never came around. I know that fucked with Lee’s head a lot. And when he was ten, he was riding his bike down a hill on the south end of Charlotte, a hill where we all rode our bikes all the time. But instead of just rolling his bike down the hill, he came at it full speed from the dirt road that passed by it—and the weeds in front of the hill didn’t slow him down at all. He was flying down that hill so hard and so fast and I don’t know if he was trying to jump the train tracks or just couldn’t brake or turn before he got there. From the top, it looked like he was just going to go right over them, but he didn’t. The tracks weren’t flush with the road like they sometimes are when they meet with a road—and it probably wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d been wearing pads and a helmet. But he wasn’t. He got a concussion from it, but he also broke both wrists.”

Kyle could remember it like it had happened yesterday. “I called my mom and she left work and we all went to the emergency room at the hospital here in Silver City. My mom locked up all our bikes after that. But even after Liam’s casts were taken off and they told him he was better, he complained of pain. He said he never felt right after that and when I asked if there was something he could try…he would say it was his burden to bear. My mom always called him her ‘old soul,’ but I think she was just…what’s that word? Romanticizing? Is that a word?”

“Yeah.”

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