Page 17 of Reckless Encore

“Not like this.” She took another retreating step, and he followed after her. She was going to run. He could see it written all over her tortured expression.

“Wait a minute.” He took one deep breath after another, trying to calm the rampant insanity inside him. More oxygen didn’t help. Fury had a stronghold, and the panic entering his blood only made it harder to think.

“I’m sorry.” He inched closer, not wanting to spook her. “You know I’ll be calm in a minute.”

“It’s too late.” A lone tear streaked down her cheek. “I’ve imagined walking up to you this morning in a million and one different ways. I’ve smiled about it. Dreamed about it. Every woman does. But the last thing I expected when I walked up to you in this dress, about to pledge vows for eternity, was to see you glaring. Not because of me, butat me.You are so angry at your friends that you can’t even seeme, Sean.”

The anger vanished. Horror, guilt, and self-loathing took its place and rapidly expanded.

“I…” He swiped a hand down his face. She was right. So right it hurt. He reached for her, and she backtracked as if he’d become a threat. “Red, please…”

She continued to retreat, one step after another, one tear trailing her cheek with more building in her eyes.

“Melody,” he pleaded.

She turned and continued walking, her pace increasing until she ran away from him.

“Red, wait.” He started after her, only to have Leah block his path, her palm pressing into his chest.

“Give her five minutes. She needs time to think.”

“No.” He plowed ahead. “I need to fix this.”

She moved with him, her other hand landing on his chest, pushing hard. “You won’t fix anything until you both calm down. Trust me, Sean. She needs time alone to grieve.”

Grieve?

“Jesus Christ, I totally fucked this up.” He stumbled backward. “I should’ve expected this. I should’ve known.”

“It’s nobody’s fault,” Ryan muttered.

“Yes.” Leah inclined her head. “But it’s also everyone’s fault. We all have our guilty part to play in this. Nobody is innocent. And nobody is really to blame.”

“She’s never going to forgive me.” What if this was the end? What if Red packed her bags and left him? “Oh, holy hell.”

He bent at the waist, the contents of his stomach threatening to climb his throat.

“Don’t panic.” Leah stroked the back of his head in a parental gesture that didn’t help in the slightest. “We’ll fix this. We always do.”

He stared at the dark green blades of grass, seeing nothing but Melody’s devastated face peering back at him. He’d never forget that look. Her pain had etched itself into his brain. A permanent tattoo he could never remove.

“Sean, I’m going to leave you with Ryan while I try to find Alana and Mitch. They can’t be far. I’ll get everyone together. We’ll work on this as a team.”

“Don’t bother.” He straightened.

“Of course I’m going to bother.” She gave him a sad smile. “This isn’t the end of the world, I promise.”

He nodded, even though he didn’t believe her. Melody was his world. Without her, it most definitely was the end. “I’m going to go after her.”

“Okay. Just…” She sighed. “Just take it slow.”

“And I’m going to go punch Mason in the face.” Ryan cracked his knuckles. “I might even throw in a knee to the balls for good measure.”

* * *

Melody dangled her legs over the secluded jetty, her feet hovering above the water. She sniffed for the forty-seventh time and chastised herself for not stashing tissues in her bra.

The last thing on her mind this morning had been a handkerchief. She hadn’t expected to need one. Especially not for tears of heartbreak. But life threw curveballs all the time, and this had been a whopper.

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