Page 61 of Melody

Officer Friendly was still standing but seemed unsure. Still, he said, “Should I walk her out?”

“Do we have her contact information?”

No, of course, they didn’t. She asked, “What do you need?”

“A phone number and address would be nice.”

She told him while he jotted it on the file folder and then asked, “Nowcan I go?”

“Sure—but Iwillreach out if I have more questions.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” As Officer Friendly escorted her back out to the lobby, she realized she was a mess of emotions—from anger to shame—but much of the fear had dissipated. During that silent awkward walk back down the hall, she again questioned herself. She was a bad judge of character and she had done a shitty job of protecting her heart. She’d listened to Kyle and done what he’d suggested and this was where it had gotten her. Instead of planning to pursue Tommy, these assholes had treated her likeshe’dbeen the criminal. And she highly doubted they would try to protect her at all.

Ifshe was going to stay, she was going to have to find a way to protect herselfandher heart.

CHAPTER 22

Later that day, Kyle managed to calm her down—but she wasn’t going to simply give up. They went to a law enforcement supply store on the east end of Main Street that she’d seen once or twice but hadn’t thought much about since. Although the guy at the counter had talked to Kyle instead of her, simply adding to the simmering in her gut, she’d wound up buying a knife, pepper spray, and some other small self-defense items. Then they’d gone to the hardware store and bought her a bolt lock for her door.

Theonlything in her favor was that Tommy didn’t necessarily know where she lived—but if he did, she wanted to be able to protect herself. Again, Kyle offered to have her stay at his place and she considered it, but she still wasn’t sure if she was going to stay in Silver City.

What helped was when Detective Newcomb called her phone just before her shift that afternoon. “We’ve contacted the Pueblo PD and shared your info with them. They might be getting in touch with you—but they will be bringing him in for questioning.”

“Oh, God. Are they going to tell him what I said?”

“They might—but we’ll be patrolling your end of Main Street more heavily from now on. We’ll also be sending an officer into Tequilaville on occasion just to check up. And call us if Nogales shows. Silver City’s not that big. We can be there quickly.”

Although the guy was still a dick, he’d helped ease her fears some.

At work that night, she also talked to Al, Denise, and her other coworkers and asked them to keep an eye out for Tommy. When she showed them a picture she had on her phone, Denise said, “A guy like that with the neck tattoos and stuff will be easy to spot.”

Maybe she could stay a little while.

Over the next few days, Kyle spent every night at her apartment—and Tommy didn’t show up again. She was sure that either he was waiting for her to drop her guard or he might have been arrested again. Either way, she remained vigilant. She’d been watching YouTube videos centered around self-defense and was feeling more confident. And she’d actually managed to get some sleep over the past few days.

Before she knew it, it was Christmas. Although she could have said the holidays were when she missed her parents the most, it wasn’t true. Every day of the year held some special memory of them and their birthdays were the hardest—but the holidaysweredifficult, nonetheless.

Kyle helped. He was sweet and loving and he managed to distract her somewhat. It also didn’t hurt that she had become hyper-vigilant, trying to make sure she was as safe as possible.

Two mornings before Christmas, she awoke in Kyle’s arms. He kissed the top of her head as they lay there, reluctant to get out of her warm bed. The holidays had been weighing heavily on her mind. She asked, “Do you have to work on Christmas?”

“No. I’m scheduled for Christmas Eve, but we close early—and we’re only open for a few hours on Christmas Day, but I’moff. I have to work a double on New Year’s Day, though. What about you?”

“Al said we don’t get enough business to make it worth being open—and I guess there’s a bar on Tenth Street that makes a big deal about it. They have a bunch of fun stuff going on, so if anyone wants to drink, that’s the place to go.”

“I have to go to my family’s for Christmas. Would you want to come with me?”

Oh. That felt a little serious somehow…but also comforting. Melody couldn’t remember the last Christmas she’d had that she’d enjoyed. Although she’d spent time with Marin, her bestie, around the holidays, the last couple of years had been spent with Tommy and his friends and, before that, her mom had been battling cancer.

It had been a good long while since she’d celebrated—or even felt like it…and she’d really missed the sense of family. “Yeah, sure.”

“There’ll be either turkey or ham and mom always makes mashed potatoes.”

So on Christmas Day, she was actually excited. She’d bought a bottle of red wine from the bar, deferring to Denise’s expertise on which one was the best quality for the most affordable price. Because she really didn’t know much about his family, she hoped it would be an okay gift.

She and Kyle had agreed to not exchange gifts, mostly at her insistence. She didn’t want to collect a lot of things because she didn’t want to have to cram more into her suitcases if she had to leave. Her excuse to Kyle was that she was focused on minimalism—and, to let him know she appreciated what she already had, she unpacked the print he’d purchased for her at the art gallery on their first date and hung it on the wall again.

In November, she’d bought him a cool guitar night light, thinking ahead to Christmas, and she’d placed it in a gift bagunder her bed. It was still there, something she hadn’t bothered packing, but she couldn’t give it to him now. If she was still here in January, she’d find an excuse to give it to him without the holiday attached to it—and without a need for reciprocation.

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