Page 90 of Save the Drama for your Mama
“No time like the present,” she said, reaching the top and opening the trapdoor to poke her head inside. “This is the coolest treehouse I have ever seen!” Just like that, she was inside and hanging out the giant window above me. “Ahoy, matey!”
“I think you’re a bit confused.” I shook my head, looking up at her. “Last I checked, pirates didn’t have treehouses.”
Melody grinned joyfully. “Like you, I have a wild imagination.” She turned back around then disappeared inside.
That was when I decided to join her, climbing up the ladder, and plopping down on the shag carpet next to her.
Melody glanced around at the shelves filled from edge-to-edge with books, games, and art supplies. Strings of twinkly lights were draped across the ceiling.
“How come there aren’t any bugs or spiders in here?” she asked. “I would expect them in every corner since this place doesn’t get much use anymore.”
“Alfredo keeps it clean for his great-grandkids,” I said. “They come over once a month to visit him.”
Melody looked at me, surprised. “Alfredo climbs up here? You’re kidding me.”
I chuckled. “I know, it’s crazy, but he’s in amazing shape for a seventy-five-year old, as you saw. He’s the one who built this for me, two weeks after my dad’smemorial. Dad,Craig, I mean.” I shook my head. “That’s still going to take some getting used to.”
Melody shared a compassionate smile. “Of course. It’s understandable.”
“Anyway, Alfredo even used to come up here and play checkers with me.” I gestured to a box on the game shelf, then grinned. “I’m pretty sure he let me win all the time. I couldn’t have been that good.”
Melody smiled. “Alfredo was meant to be in your life.”
“He’s the best—like a grandfather to me,” I said. “I give him a hard time for not telling me about James and the other things he’s hiding, but I don’t really mean it. Loyalty and honesty are two of the most important things to him. He has never broken a promise and he never will. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him.”
“Me, too.” Melody pulled the copy ofThe Curious Case of Cooper’s Catoff the shelf. “I’ve been wanting to ask you if anything in this book is based on real-life events.”
“That story is about a super-cute kid named Cooper with a cat named Cheddar who can solve crimes,” I said. “Does that sound realistic to you?”
“I’m totally on board with the cat-sleuthing,” she said. “But the part about Cooper being super-cute is a bit of a stretch for me.”
“Yeah, you already admitted I’ve got the looks—nice try,” I said.
“Ooh, you know what?” Melody pointed to the trapdoor. “I really should make a quick escape out of here before your ego blocks the exit, and then I’m trapped with you again.” She laughed, then pretended to make a move toward the door, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
“Don’t even think about it,” I said, kissing her.
Melody gazed into my eyes. “This is all happening so fast, Coop. So many feelings.”
I reached over and caressed her cheek. “I know . . .”
“And you live in San Francisco.”
I nodded, realizing we hadn’t yet broached this topic. “What matters is how we feel, here and now.”
Melody blushed, leaning into my touch. “True. And this feels right.”
My heart swelled at her words. I tilted her chin up and kissed her again, this time softer, slower, as she melted against me.
I was falling hard.
“We’ll figure it out together,” I said.
She smiled, eyes sparkling. “Together.”
We went back down the ladder to the ground, then headed to the house hand-in-hand. The future would be tricky with five hundred miles of distance between our homes, but we would figure it out.
Our hearts seemed to be sure.
