Page 49 of Legends Luke

“Okay. Thanks, Bird. Love you.”

“Love you back.”

Melody retreated into her thoughts, Lyric’s words playing on repeat as she contemplated her sister’s take on her situation. She finished her lunch and drove back to work, but barely remembered doing any of it. Melody admitted to herself that she had a talent for overanalyzing every situation, and in most cases, her attention to detail proved to be invaluable. But was Lyric right? Was it more of a liability when it came to her relationship with Luke? Was she being unfair to him?

One thing she was sure of, as she stepped into the law firm, was she had a headache from reading too much into every moment she spent with Luke. When she ran into a frazzled Sandra on her way to her office, Melody was pleased to have a distraction.

“What’s going on?” Melody expected Sandra to tell her another tale of her troubles with Erin.

“Judge Flynn called an afternoon hearing on a motion the defense filed in the Samuels case. I’ve barely prepared my rebuttal, and my husband called. His car broke down, and he’s having it towed to the repair shop. So, he can’t take Erin to do her community service, and she can’t miss a day, or the judge is liable to tack on a fine to her punishment.”

Sympathy washed over Melody. After being expelled from school, Erin then was caught shoplifting at a boutique that had reported multiple thefts of late, which meant the owner was not willing to let Erin escape with an apology and a return of the merchandise.The owner pressed charges, and Erin was thankfully sentenced to community service at a homeless shelter. Sandra and her husband, Hayden, didn’t trust their daughter to keep her commitment, so they had been shuttling her back and forth to the shelter.

“I’ll take her.” Melody surprised herself by volunteering. Erin was a handful, and if something went wrong while Melody was with her, she wasn’t sure she could face her boss. She doubted Sandra would fire her, but Melody would feel like she’d failed a woman she greatly respected.

“I can’t ask you to do that. I’ll just have to get Tyrell to cover for me at the hearing.”

Melody placed a hand on Sandra’s arm as she started to hurry away. “Please. You didn’t ask. I volunteered. And you can’t turn the case over to Tyrell. You’re too far into the case to bring him up to speed. Let me take care of Erin.”

Sandra looked ready to say no again but finally nodded. “Okay. You’re right. Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate this. But, um, don’t let your guard down with Erin. I don’t know what’s going on with her right now, but she can’t be trusted.”

“I understand. You get to court and don’t worry about Erin.”

“Thank you. I owe you.”

Melody was already walking back to the door. She turned to glance at Sandra over her shoulder. “Not necessary. I’ll call you when I drop her off.”

If Melody thought picking up and dropping off Erin would be simple, she was quickly proven wrong. When she arrived at theBleekley home, Hayden had ridden with the tow truck to the auto shop to determine the scope of the repairs on the car. Erin was alone and uncooperative. She wouldn’t come to the door when Melody rang the bell or knocked. When she finally did open the door, she glared at Melody and trudged to the car like she was marching off to her execution. She didn’t even bother to lock the front door. Melody turned the lock on the doorknob and closed it.

On the way to the shelter, Erin complained about her driving, telling her she was taking the long way to get there. The teenager made comments about them getting carjacked on the way or getting kidnapped once they got to the sketchy neighborhood. While the shelter wasn’t located in a heavily populated part of town, it wasn’t exactly in a dilapidated part of town either. The area was clean with small but quaint homes. By the time she parked in front of the shelter, Melody barely had a hold of her temper. She never thought she would be so thankful to be rid of another person.

“You coming?” Erin demanded as she pushed open the passenger door.

“Wasn’t planning on it.” Melody stared curiously at the young girl with her sleek hair pulled back in a ponytail, her jeans sporting frayed holes in the legs, and her crew-neck top bordering on being too stylish for volunteering at the shelter.

“Whatever. Mom and Dad usually do, but you do what you want.”

Melody stopped just short of rolling her eyes. “Wait. Why do they come inside with you?”

Erin’s returning grin was mocking. “They don’t trust me to check in for community service. They think I’ll sneak off once they leave.”

Melody switched off the ignition. “Let’s go.”

They were greeted by the center director, who gave Erin her assignment for the day and sent her off to the kitchen to help with the evening meal.

The director walked Melody to the door. “She should be finished with everything by six-thirty if you want to share that with her parents. They usually pick her up at the end of her shift. I hope everything is improving for them. I know they’ve had their hands full, but we’ve seen this before. Erin is a good kid. She’s only seeking some attention.”

“I work with her mother. I don’t know much about her situation, but I believe they’re all struggling right now. I want to help.”

The director smiled. “You made a good start today by helping Erin keep her responsibilities. She’s doing a good job when she thinks no one’s watching.”

Melody returned the smile as she wondered if she had been too hard on Erin. “I’ll make sure to tell her mother you said so. I think it will make her feel better about things.”

Melody made it back to her car, but she didn’t pull away at first. Her chest tingled with a nagging sensation. Her thoughts returned to Luke, as they often did lately, and she couldn’t help but compare her situation with him and her experience with Erin. She started to realize she may have judged them both unfairly.

Erin was out of her hands at the moment, but she didn’t want to wait another moment to make things right with Luke. She dialed his number and felt her nervousness increase with each ring.

“Mel.”

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