Page 23 of Fresh Start
The rest of the meal went smoother than the beginning. Having edible fuel seemed to give me more confidence to steer the conversation to safe topics until we ended up talking about the town, their life here, and the upcoming party next week.
I returned to the guesthouse not long after five and settled down in the gazebo with my book and just read until the words blurred into each other.
As fun as James Sky’s books were, this one, this time, wasn’t working for me. And it wasn’t because it was lacking. If anything, this was probably his best work to date, and I’d read them all, so I knew.
It was just the conversation with my parents earlier, and all my encounters with Tracy before I left, and bumping into Helen at the hotel. Everything was taking its turn to haunt my mind until Leo came and took prominence.
He was still so damn sexy up close. He’d grown into himself quite a lot. He’d always been handsome. More handsome than I ever was, but age and life had given him that passion in his eyes and that irresistible appeal.
And I still hadn’t apologized for what I’d said this morning. I’d tried to avoid thinking too much about it during the day, but I had no choice but to ponder over it now.
I got up and went back into the house where I found Melody at reception who looked drained and in need of a rest.
“Long day?” I asked.
As soon as she saw me, she sat up a little bit straighter and plastered a smile on her face.
“And how is our favorite guest doing? Can I get you anything? Just ask and I’ll get it for you. Honestly,” she said, and her eagerness when she was obviously exhausted made my heart ache for her.
“I’m great. And if there’s anything I’d like, I can get it myself, thank you. As my parents have informed me today, I’m a grown man.” I chuckled.
“I didn’t know your parents lived here. Why haven’t I seen you in town before?”
“This is my first time visiting. They moved here about four, five years ago when they retired early,” I said.
Melody gasped and put both hands to her mouth.
“No. Don’t tell me Christine and Jeffrey Eldred are your parents? Duh, Mel. Of course they are. I can’t believe I didn’t know that,” she said.
I laughed.
“Me, too, actually. I didn’t think there was anyone on the East Coast that didn’t know,” I said. “I’d assumed they told everyone they meet.”
Melody laughed as well and rubbed her neck while stretching it.
“What time does your shift finish? Isn’t anyone else coming to take over for the evening?”
She waved away a yawn while shaking her head.
“I’m a one-woman show I’m afraid. I get the help in the mornings because I can’t cook to save my life, to the absolute frustration of my Greek grandma, but the rest, I do myself,” she said.
“Gee. When do you sleep?” I asked.
“When everyone goes to bed,” she said and looked around her.
I spotted a blanket around her legs and some comfy slippers. So, she worked day and night and slept at her reception desk. God, and then I had the nerve to complain about my life.
“Anyway, you came to ask me something?” she said, putting her smile back on.
“Ah, yes. Of course. There’s a guy staying here. The guy I shared a table with today?”
“Yes, Leo. What’s he done now?”
“Do you know him?”
Melody rolled her eyes.
“Unfortunately. He’s my younger brother. One of them, anyway,” she said.
