Page 63 of Forbidden Secrets
“That’s because it is.Now, I know you young people want to talk.I’ll leave you to it.”With that she made her careful way from the kitchen.
Cam secured JT in a high chair with a teething ring.“Gran, I’ll bring a turnover and tea to your sitting room.”
“Thank you, dear.”
The back door opened and Walker came in, followed by Sawyer.The McGrath brothers together made an impact.Both were well over six foot and shared the same dark hair and strikingly handsome features.Seeing Walker for the first time in over a decade had Mel’s insides roiling with anxiety.
He and Sawyer had lived with their grandfather in the cabin on the farm.She remembered him as a boy, then as a teenager.There’d been a wildness to him that only Delaney had been able to calm.
Walker’s gaze took in Gage, who’d moved to stand at her side, then locked on hers.This man had spent over two years in prison for a crime against her, a crime he hadn’t committed.Two years in a cage, being treated like a wild animal.
She’d last seen him at the trial, a young man with his whole life ahead of him, until that future had been ripped away.The memory of the jury foreman reading the guilty verdict was etched forever in her brain.Walker’s face had turned to stone.He’d stared straight forward, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze, until being led from the courtroom in handcuffs.
Now in his mid-thirties with a wife and child, he wore a layer of maturity that looked good on him.She took a deep breath, hoping it would ease the nerves bubbling under her skin, but it didn’t.“Hello, Walker.”
“Melanie.It’s been a while.”
“Yes.”She sucked in a shaky breath.“I’m sorry.I’m so sorry.I should’ve been able to convince the jury it wasn’t you.”She blurted out the words in a rush of emotion.“I knew it wasn’t you, but I couldn’t get anyone to believe me.”
Walker looked startled, his forehead furrowing as he raised his brows.She should’ve eased into what she wanted to say, not ambushing him the moment she laid eyes on him.The guilt she’d been living with for so long couldn’t be contained.
Except for JT fussing in his high chair, every person in the room had stopped what they were doing, their eyes on her and Walker.
“What the hell?”Walker studied her with a frown.Delaney came to stand beside her husband.Melanie didn’t miss how their hands brushed and held before releasing.
“Have you been carrying that around all this time, the idea that somehow you’re responsible for sending me to prison?”
She nodded slowly.
“You were never the reason, and I never blamed you.”He scrubbed a hand over his face.“Good god, Melanie, you were a traumatized kid.The DA wanted a conviction, not justice.You and I were sacrificial pawns.”
“You had to blame me.I couldn’t convince them of the truth.”
He shook his head.“I didn’t.I was so damn grateful you had the guts to testify on my behalf.Not many did.”He huffed out a breath and opened his arms.“Come here.”
Melanie hesitated, then walked into his embrace.When his arms closed around her, some of the pain she’d held inside loosened, then began to melt away.He relaxed his hold.When she stepped back, he muttered, “We good?”
She brushed a tear from her cheek.“Yeah, we’re good.”
“Let’s sit at the table.”Delaney’s tone lightened the mood.“Cam made turnovers.We have coffee and there’s hot water in the kettle for anyone who prefers tea.”
As people moved around them, Gage dropped a hand on her shoulder and guided Melanie into the living room.She wiped at her cheeks again.Crying was for wimps.“I’m fine,” she muttered.
“Want to take a walk, see what the dogs are up to?”His thumb stroking the back of her neck helped to settle her.
“No.Truly, I’m fine.”She shook her head and cleared her throat.“I didn’t mean to dump that on him without warning.I’ve been thinking about it for so long it just tumbled out.”
“Understandable.But Mel, you’re too hard on yourself.”
“Maybe I have been.Even with therapy I hadn’t been able to let that go.I guess I needed to hear it from Walker.”She felt steadier.“I’m better now.Thanks for standing by me, Gage.”
“Always.”
She had a feeling he meant that.
They returned to the kitchen, where JT’s fussing had turned to howling, his face scrunched up as he banged his teething ring on the tray in front of him.When Cam moved toward him, Sawyer stopped her.“I got this guy.”
He lifted the little boy from the high chair, and the fussing immediately stopped.“Time to try that nap again, kid.”Sawyer patted his back, and JT laid his head on his dad’s shoulder, his eyes already drooping.Moving to the doorway, he murmured something to Cam, then walked out of the room with his son.
