Page 66 of Ebbing Tides
That was how I felt for Melanie. It was how I felt for her boys. It seemed too fast, too soon, to put wild labels on it all, but at forty-eight, when I likely had more time behind me than ahead of me, was there really such a thing as too fast?
I pulled in front of my office and got out to watch Melanie’s car fade, then disappear, between skeletal trees and towering monuments weathered by time. Lido whined at my side, antsy and agitated as they left, and I scrubbed a hand over his head.
“I know, buddy,” I muttered, turning away from the road to unlock the office door. “We’re in big trouble.”
***
Melanie arrived earlier than I’d expected, welcoming herself into the office without so much as a knock on the door. She was comfortable here, comfortable with me, and that filled me with a sense of pride I could barely begin to describe.
“Stormy and Charlie are putting the kids to bed tonight,” she told me with a wag of her eyebrows.
“They’re okay with you coming down here?” I asked, watching as she passed over the threshold and into the office, then closed the door behind her.
“Who?” She glanced over her shoulder while putting the mugs down on the desk. “The kids or Charlie and Stormy?”
I pressed my back to the office door and shrugged. “I don’t know. Both, I guess.”
“The kids are just happy to spend more time with Uncle Charlie. They don’t see him that often, and being around him …” Melanie hesitated as she smoothed her hands over her thighs. “I think it makes them feel closer to their dad. They’ve never said it, but … it’s just the feeling I get.”
“I can understand that,” I murmured with a nod, even as my brain focused on how infrequently the kids saw Uncle Charlie. Did that mean my chances of seeing them were also lessened?
“As for Stormy and Charlie,” she went on with a long-winded exhale, “Stormy is … well, Stormy is way more of a hopeless romantic than I thought she was. Let’s put it that way. And let’s just say, Charlie’s my brother, and he’s feeling a little more brotherly than he was a few days ago.”
A chuckle pushed its way up my throat. “So, he wants to kill me, is what you’re saying.”
The corners of her lips twitched, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “He hasn’t used those exact words, no, but he did make it a point to mention that he wouldn’t be opposed to taking another life under the right circumstances.”
I reared my head back. “Another? Charlie—”
“It’s a long story,” she cut me off, taking one step, then another, toward me. “Maybe I’ll tell you one day. Or maybe he’ll tell you himself …ifhe ever likes you again …”
The taunting look in her eyes. The playful curve of her full, glossy lips. Her strawberry-blonde hair, thrown over one shoulder, leaving the slender expanse of her neck exposed. Her body language was open, every part of her begging for something only I right now possessed the ability to give.
I growled, reaching out to quickly grab her around the waist and tugging her toward me, a movement so swift that she shrieked, swinging her arms around my neck to steady herself as she fell flush against my body. I spun us around, pressing her back against the door and planting my hands on either side of her head with a noisy slap of my palms.
Lido—the clueless oaf—looked up from his bed beside the desk, lazily lifting his head for a moment to sigh audibly, as if to say,Oh, these two are at it again, then dropped it back to his paws.
With her arms held tightly around me, Melanie rolled her head against the door to turn toward the sleeping dog, a giggle bubbling past her smiling lips. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Lido. Are we disturbing you?”
The dog couldn’t answer, of course, but I didn’t either. My attention was fixed solely on her beauty, my mind unable to think of anything but how perfect she was, even in her imperfections, and, God, it left me stupefied and speechless.
She shook her head at the dog, turning back to look at me, catching the expression in my eyes. Her gaze softened, her smile faded, and she asked, “What?”
I swallowed, brushing my knuckles along her cheek, then cupping her jaw. “Just thinking.”
“About me?”
There was nothing I could do but laugh. “You’re all I seem to think about these days.”
She uttered a small sound, contemplative and thoughtful. “Yeah,” she said softly, standing on her toes and leaning further into me. “I know the feeling.”
“Oh, you do, huh?” I touched my forehead to hers.
“Mmhmm. I—”
Lido interrupted abruptly with a continuous bark that startled us both. Melanie gasped, pressing herself against my chest, and my arms wrapped tightly around her as I turned to the angry dog.
“What’s going on, buddy?” I asked, keeping my voice calm and steady.
