Page 40 of On The Edge
“Oh, you silly boy.” Helen laughs boisterously, waving me off like she was going to walk away, but instead she turns to hug me again and speak softly in my ear. “If this is reallyher, you need to fix whatever you broke and not lose her again. It’s been six years, and you still think of her andonly herevery time you’re here. Man up and fix it.”
She turns back to Melody and pulls her hand into the crook of her elbow, leading her back toward a small little table in the back. I know exactly where she’s fucking leading her. To the table we all branded as ours… and we added Melody’s name, too.
Just like the tree back home.
Fuck. My head drops and I groan. I should’ve known Helen would do this. She loves pushing boundaries and embarrassing those she likes.
“Now, I usually let my guests look at our limited menu, but I’ve got a secret talent after working in the business for so long. I’m kind of a clairvoyant at what people would like to eat. No allergies?” Helen asks as Mel sits on one side of the table.
“Nope, no allergies.” Mel smiles at Helen kindly, and it makes me happy to see them getting along so well. As much as Helen knows our feelings for Mel, she has also heard all the petty anger and frustrations we had. All the drama and bad feelings that ruminated around us for years after we moved here. She’s heard it all.
I watch Helen like a hawk. She’s not lying when she says she’s kind of a clairvoyant. She said she knew what we would become the moment she saw us and actuallytoldus in detail. She knew we needed help and that someone had broken our hearts. I still remember when she pulled me aside and told me the one who broke the four of us so completely–it wasn’twhat we thought.
She hadn’t been wrong before. Now I’m taking her words a little more seriously about Melody. Not to mention, herreaction to Melody: warm, open, caring, welcoming—that tells me everything I need to know.
“Fantastic, hun. I’ll bring you something yummy to put some meat on those bones. Coffee with cream and sugar, right?” Helen asks her, pointing.
Mel’s jaw drops as she nods.“How’d you know?”
Helen grins and lifts one eyebrow, shrugging and holding her hands out to the side. “It’s a gift.”
I scoff. “Am I chopped liver now? Said hello to me, but now that Mel’s here, you don’t want to feed me too?” My words are a total joke, but I pout at Helen. I know I’m her favorite.
“You know good and well I’ll always make sure you’re fed, Kai. Don’t be cheeky.” Helen tuts at me with a pacifying pat on the head. “Be right back,” she says and turns to get our drinks and food.
“She’s so nice,” Mel gushes with a smile.
“She is.” I lean forward with my elbows on the table. “Helen is the one who made sure the four of us didn’t die from starvation or go homeless when we first moved here.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah,” I say with a nod. “We all worked different positions here and she’d send us home with leftovers, marked down products, or whatever she could spare.”
“Wow, that’s so… kind.”
“It was. She’s never lost that mother-hen instinct toward us, though. And we try to send her new customers as often as we can. All our groceries are basically from here. Any time we go out and about, we try to stop here first and grab some food.”
Melody smiles. “That sounds like you guys. Always taking care of those you care about.” She says this lightly, like the past is gone, and I love the clarity in her eyes. The openness in her expression. Just like old times.
God, I’vemissedher.
I chuckle under my breath, looking down at my folded hands before looking back up at her.
But the way she changes is so mesmerizing. There’s a wall that immediately starts building in her eyes to cover the depths, blocking me from seeing how she feels. She schools her features and sits back, covering her chest with her arms.
“Why are we here?”
That was short lived.
I sigh and pull the hat off my head, setting it to the side. “I wanted to bring you to where we started in New York. We didn’t leave Haven and were suddenly bestowed fame and riches. We struggled. We all struggled with the decision to leave you, to leave Haven and try to make a name for ourselves. But we always had one goal in mind.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I feel the nerves fluttering in my stomach. The guys probably aren’t going to be super fucking happy with me telling our secrets, but I don’t see Melwillinglystaying if we don’t.
“To become rockstars with gaggles of easy groupies falling at your feet as fast as possible?” she sneers sarcastically.
Rolling my eyes to push down the hurt I feel, I ask, “Do you really think that of us?”
“I don’t really know you guys anymore.”
“We haven’t changed. Not really. Not at our core,” I offer softly, leaning forward and holding my hand out. Slowly–so slowly I can see how it hurts her–she moves and places her small hand in mine. My heart skips a beat at the warmth of her skin.
