Page 4 of Christmas Escape
I waited for her to go on as the silence stretched. Finally, she sighed.
“It’s a long story.”
“We have a few minutes until we hit town. And I’m not going anywhere.”
She studied me for a long moment, and I wondered if she was trying to determine if she could trust me or not.
“You didn’t rob a bank or something, did you?”
“I can’t even lie with a straight face. I’m pretty sure I’d never get away with a crime. No…I live with my parents. Long story short: I graduated from college with my degree in creative writing, which doesn’t have a clear career path. I ended up with a job as an admin for an environmental company. It was a great job, but I got downsized out of it last April. Since then, I’ve done pool maintenance and food deliveries. Not super lucrative or steady. So, I’ve been living with my parents and writing—you know, using my degree. I’ve gotten a few things published, and they’regood,but sales aren’t exactly gangbusters. It’s hard to get started.”
“And that led you here…for inspiration?”
“No, though, I think it will be pretty inspiring up here—once I’m notperspiringwhile I’m sitting in my living room.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you fixed up or find you a cooler place to stay.”
Actually…that might be a seriously good idea. If the part was out of stock, Melody could stay in my guest room. For free, of course, which would be good for her since she was a struggling writer. My fingers tapped on the steering wheel as I considered the possibilities.
“So…anyway,” she continued. “My parents have been fighting. Either screaming or walking around the house, acting like the other one doesn’t exist, but still slammingeverything. To me and everyone else, they pretend nothing’s wrong, but obviously, something is. So, I cleared out, and I’m letting them figure out stuff. Like that they don’t need to stay together ‘for the sake of the kids.’ I’m an only child, and they’re not fooling me or anyone else. So, here I am. Running away from home at twenty-five, almost twenty-six, while I review my options.”
“It’ll be okay.” I squeezed her hand where it rested on the seat, and that powerful tingle surged through me again.
Whatever had landed her here, it was right. I couldn’t pretend to understand her situation. No one in my family had ever gotten divorced. We were like…some weird fairytale of forever. It wasn’t a “marriage is forever” belief that led everyone to suffer rather than separate. No, everyone was happy and furiously in love.
Melody sighed and looked out the window. “I don’t know…”
I didn’t know, either, how I’d get her to settle in Majestic Falls and stay with me, but I couldn’t help noticing she’d turned her hand and twined her fingers with mine.
“The town proper is up ahead.” I nodded toward the buildings coming into view, changing the prickly subject for her. I wanted to delve deeper, to know more about her, but I sensed I couldn’t probe too far too soon.
“I was here earlier. It’s so cute! Everything’s so festive.”
“Yeah, they deck out everything on November first. We go from spooky to ho-ho-ho overnight.”
Truly, I’d lived here so long, I barely noticed details about Majestic Falls that newcomers would. Appreciating it through her eyes, I navigated toward the hardware store. We’d recently been upgraded to small city, though to most, like me, we were just a large town.
“Do moose come into the populated area?” Melody asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Moose capital, remember?”
She laughed, and the light tinkling sound filled the cab and me with joy.
“I need to write this stuff in my notebook.”
“I’ll be happy to give you all the reference material you need.” A split second after I said it, I realized that could be taken as an offer of an entirely different kind. I didn’t correct myself, just letting it stand as color pinkened Melody’s cheeks.
And she didn’t pull her hand from mine.
Three
Melody
Caleb was an interesting man. Model good looks, obviously very handy, and a little handsy, as well. Not in a bad groping way. He was just…tactile. Touch-oriented. When he’d covered my hand with his, it had been so comforting. I’d leaned into the move, entwining our fingers and enjoying the sensation of human contact.
When we arrived at the hardware store, he jumped from the truck cab and ran around the front, meeting me as I was climbing down and assisting me to the ground. He put a hand at the small of my back as we walked into the adorable little store.
Caleb immediately went to the counter to talk to a large man in overalls, while I pulled away to browse on my own.
