Page 11 of Ebbing Tides (The Lighthouse Duology #2)
With a smile, I turned, grateful Anna was here to keep Lido occupied so he wouldn't notice me leaving. I opened the door to leave when Grace grabbed my attention once more.
“Hey.”
Looking over my shoulder, I asked, “Yeah?”
She eyed me with a narrowed gaze that was all too knowing before she asked, “What's her name?”
My heart stumbled over a beat as I swallowed, and with a trepidatious breath, I said, “Melanie.”
Grace bit her lips, and I swore I thought her eyes might've welled up with tears. But she quickly looked away and nodded as she let herself smile. Then she turned and wandered off in the direction of our father's room, and I closed the door behind me.
***
Rolling up to Charlie's cottage on the hill reminded me that I had never once done this.
Picked up a girl—or, in this case, woman—from her house, where her nosy family was watching and speculating.
Questioning me, judging my every move. I guessed I'd been spared in that regard, except I was clueless now, climbing out of my truck and walking up the hill.
Should I have brought flowers?
Should I have dressed nicer?
Hell, I still couldn't discern whether this was even a date or not, but the more I asked myself that particular question, the more I realized I wanted it to be. And, Lord, I missed Laura, but missing her, grieving her, wouldn't bring her back.
I'd spent nearly ten years driving that terrible fucking truth through my thick skull.
She wasn't coming back … but I was still here.
And the fact that Melanie— the Melanie who had starred in so many of my dreams—was back in my life couldn't be explained as anything less than a miracle.
It means something , I had told myself on the ride over. It has to mean something .
But despite the hesitant eagerness to find out what that was, I still couldn't muster the courage to knock on Charlie's fucking door.
“Fuck,” I muttered, wiping my sweaty palms against my jacket. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
With a deep breath and a hearty exhale, I lifted my fist to finally strike the door when it opened to reveal a boy. He was dark-haired, dark-eyed, and couldn't have been much older than maybe eight or nine. But he had a familiar wisdom in his eyes, and I knew he must've been Melanie's son.
He was quickly joined by another boy, a few years younger.
“Who the hell are you?” the younger of the two asked, and startled, I laughed before pressing a fist to my mouth.
“Daniel!” a familiar voice shouted, and I looked into the house to watch Melanie hurrying over, the prettiest scowl I'd ever seen on her face. “And what are you guys doing, answering Uncle Charlie's door?”
She turned her attention on me, clearly exasperated as she mouthed, I'm sorry , before taking them both by the shoulder and turning to usher them back into the living room.
“But he was just standing there like a weirdo!” the older of the two—not Daniel—reasoned.
I bit back another laugh and leaned against the doorframe. “In his defense, he's not wrong.”
Melanie glanced over her shoulder with the hardened glare of a mother who'd dealt with enough shit for one day before looking back at her sons. “Even more reason to not open the door. We don't open the door for weirdos.”
“Uncle Charlie's a weirdo,” the older boy argued beneath his breath.
“Lucas James,” Melanie gritted out from between clenched teeth.
“Mommy, a stranger.”
Another little voice joined the mix, and I remembered Melanie and Charlie mentioning she had three boys, not two, and I turned to look down at a little guy wearing nothing but a diaper.
Melanie clapped her hands over her face and took a deep, loud breath.
Inhaling, then exhaling until her shoulders sagged and her head fell forward just a bit.
I watched from the doorway, my chest aching with the most urgent need to walk over there and give her a hug.
She looked like she needed it. Or maybe what she needed was one of the cigarettes she'd left at my office.
“Okay,” she uttered quietly, dropping her arms to her sides.
Then she turned and addressed me. “I wasn't sure if I should do this, but I guess I don't have much of a choice, so …” She walked over to stand beside me, gesturing with her hands like she was Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune fame.
“Guys, this is Max, and he's not a stranger.
He's a friend of Uncle Charlie's, and now, he's a friend of ours.”
The older two boys stood back as they eyed me with the utmost skepticism, as if I were a puzzle meant to be put together. The littlest one though looked at me with curiosity, his head tipping.
Melanie pointed at each boy, starting with the youngest standing only a foot or two away from me. “Max, this is CJ. Danny is over there in the Spider-Man shirt, and the bigger one, looking at me like I'm the worst mom to ever live, is LJ.”
I smiled, and, damn, it felt good. “Nice to meet—”
“It's Luke ,” he corrected, crossing his arms over his chest.
Melanie lifted her hands in mock surrender. “Oh, that's right. Excuse me. As of today, he's decided he wants to be called Luke .”
“You called him Lucas James,” Danny pointed out, coming to his brother's defense.
“Yes, because that's also his name,” Melanie replied exhaustedly. “And that’s the name I call him when—”
“You have kids?” CJ asked, still staring at me.
I shook my head while thinking of Lizzie, Jane, and the little boy I never had the chance to hold. “Nah. I just have a dog.”
His round little face lit up as he peered around me to look outside. “Where?”
“At his house, stupid,” Luke fired at his youngest brother.
With a groan I felt deep in my soul, Melanie cupped her hands around her mouth.
Then, clenching them into fists, she looked at the oldest boy and said, “I am on my last nerve, Lucas, and you are dangerously close to being on it. If Uncle Charlie or Aunt Stormy tells me anything about—” Then she stopped herself, worked her jaw from side to side, and shook her head.
“You know what? I thought I could do this. I thought—”
“What's going on?” Charlie seemed to appear out of nowhere and wandered into the living room with a loaded laundry basket in his hands. He noticed me in the open doorway and nodded with his chin in my direction. “Hey, Max.”
I lifted a hand in a half-hearted wave, wondering more about what Melanie was about to say than where he'd been. “Hey, brother.”
Charlie looked between Melanie and me. “You guys heading out now?”
I bit the inside of my cheek, giving Melanie the opportunity to back out if she wanted to. But I hoped she wouldn't.
She raked a hand through her hair and sighed. “I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't—”
“Why not?” Charlie interrupted, lowering the laundry basket to one of two wingback chairs.
She gestured helplessly toward the three kids, and he shook his head.
“Don't worry about them. Right, guys?” He swept his gaze between the three boys.
“We're gonna have fun. Aunt Stormy went to grab some snacks, we're gonna sled down the hill, maybe watch a movie or something … it's gonna be good, right?”
“Yes!” CJ cheered, throwing both fists in the air, as Danny and Luke muttered, “Sure.”
“Your mom is gonna be gone for a couple of hours, but she's going out with Max. I know him. He's a cool guy.” Chuck leveled me with a warning glare. “Right?”
I nodded. “The coolest.”
“See? Nothing to worry about. She'll be back before it's even dark out.” He looked at Melanie, a pleading look in his eyes. “I'm telling you, Mel, we're fine. Go. Have a good time.”
This exchange was so familiar. So eerily similar to what Grace had said to me before I left the house.
I had to wonder what Melanie’s life had looked like in the years since her husband had died.
I imagined it looked a lot like this scene in front of me.
Mothering three boys. Frustrated. Feeling so alone despite the support system she had, no matter how big or small.
She hesitated, wringing her hands together. I couldn’t see her expression, but her reluctance said all I needed to know. She was scared to leave, and whether that was because of them or me, I couldn’t be sure.
Maybe it was both.
“Are you sure ?” she asked, her voice small. Meek.
“Mel,” Charlie said, approaching her with outstretched hands and placing them on her shoulders, “I have never been more sure of anything in my life.”
He kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes and breathing her in.
I watched the interaction closely, and I guessed that another man might’ve assumed there was something there between them.
Something more . Perhaps even something romantic.
But … no. No, that wasn’t what this was.
They were siblings. Deeply devoted in the way a brother and sister could be.
They shared a bond, a special one, one that likely spanned years.
Decades even. And it left me awestruck to imagine that, had Charlie not come to work here years ago, she never would’ve had a reason to come.
Our paths likely never would’ve crossed again.
He opened his eyes and looked over her head at me. His gaze met mine, and I saw the malice there. The warning. He didn’t say a damn thing, but I heard every word loud and clear.
I’m trusting you. Don’t fuck this up. Don’t hurt her, or I’ll hurt you.
And although I had no doubt I would win in a fight against this beanpole of a man, I knew he would gladly die trying. For her.
I gave him a single nod, and he offered a terse smile in return.
“You two have fun,” he said, stepping back, stepping away.
Melanie turned around to face me, giving me her undivided attention for the first time since I’d arrived. She smiled, her eyes gleaming with fear and excitement and that same astonishment she’d worn last night.
“Be good, boys,” she said over her shoulder.
Then she brushed past me and led the way back down the hill to my truck, her hips swaying and her head held high.