Page 275 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

MELLY

Fred had three puppies. Two girls and a boy. All three were tiny and orange, just like Fred. After the vet said the best thing was a c-section, I took her–and Lindy’s apron she nested with–to the vet’s office for the surgery.

The last person I wanted to connect with was Danny, but he had a right to know about the puppies, especially since the vet told me there was no way Earl could be the dad because of the size difference.

When he said that, I’d been stunned. This whole thing with Daniel had been because I was sure Earl was the father.

Turned out, Daniel had been right to question and Danny needed to know he was off the hook.

So I swallowed my mortification and let him know the puppies were born. The puppies that weren’t his.

Now, two days later, Fred was home. I was home.

Mallory was visiting.

We were sitting on the kitchen floor beside Fred’s bed. She was snuggled on top of an old towel, the puppies little lumps beside her. The vet had given important tips to watch for, like post-surgery complications, puppy rejection, or nursing problems, so I was watching all four of them closely.

I leaned against the kitchen cabinets and Mal was across from me propped against the wall.

“I can’t believe your mom and Roger left without saying goodbye.”

I shrugged because I wasn’t surprised or disappointed. “They left a messy guest bedroom and an empty fridge. They ate all my prepped meals.”

“What’s the deal with the blank spot on the wall?”

I turned my head toward the hallway where she pointed.

“Mom took two framed decorative fans Nana got somewhere in Europe. I’m not sure if she snagged them for sentimental purposes or to sell, but that’s for Nana to hash out with her.”

There was a knock on the backdoor and Danny stuck his head in.

“Hey,” I said, pushing to my feet. “Come on in.”

He spent the day working on the driveway with the rest of the Pearson team.

Snow was coming again so they hustled to get the last of it done.

Earl was with him and for a big bumbling oaf of a dog, he seemed to sense he needed to be gentle and settled near Fred, but not too close to jostle her or their new babies. Mallory reached out and pet him.

Danny stepped inside. He wore jeans, a lined canvas coat with a sweatshirt hood over the collar. He tugged a beanie from his head and stuffed it in the jacket pocket. His eyes were the same brown as his father’s and his cheeks were ruddy from the cold.

There were five dogs and one huge elephant in the room: the fact that he found me wrapped around his father in only a flannel. I was the recent virgin and even I would have known what that sight meant.

This was awkward.

I gave Mallory a look. She gave me one right back. One that said I had to talk with Danny about having sex with his father and she wasn’t missing it.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the brown balls of fur. “So this is what happens when dogs don’t use birth control.”

I bit my lip and tried not to smile. “I’m really sorry I accused Earl of being the father.”

He squatted down to get a closer look but didn’t touch. Shrugged. “The way Earl has been behaving, humping everything in sight, it made sense.”

“I should have considered the neighbor’s little Shih Tzu, which the vet thinks is an actual possibility, especially since he got into our yard that one time. Although, unless I do a dog paternity test” —like Daniel had wanted— “we’ll never know who the dad really is.”

“I know, right? It’s like a doggie soap opera,” Mallory said. “How’s it going, Danny?”

He flicked his gaze her way. “Hey, Mal.”

Obviously, they knew each other.

“Look, Danny. I’m sorry,” I blurted.

He stood, set his hands on his hips. “You? For what? The dog thing? No big deal.”

I pushed my glasses up. “Not that. No one wants to see what you did with me and your dad.”

He gave a small smile. “Yeah, well, I’ve wanted my dad to find a woman for a long time.”

“But…” I prodded.

“But I didn’t expect it to be you.”

My cheeks flared with heat, and I spun on my heel and headed for the fridge. I got that a lot. From more than just him because… me? I was just little Melly Harwood. No one expected anything from me except, well, nothing. “I’m getting a drink. Want one?”

“Sure.”

He followed and I pulled open the door. “Root beer, apple juice, iced tea, and um… water. Or milk, sorry. I never remember to offer it because I don’t drink it, only put it in my cereal.”

“Root beer’s good,” he replied.

I pulled a bottle from the shelf and passed it to him.

“Mal?” I called.

“No thanks,” she said. She hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor.

“Did you talk with him before he left?” I asked. The idea of them fighting and being mad at each other made me sad. I’d gotten between them. “Your dad?”

He took a pull of the root beer. “Nah. Aren’t you mad at him, too?”

I frowned. “For what?”

“For leaving.”

I shook my head. “I knew he was leaving, that it was short lived, so it’s not like he surprised me with it.”

“You wanted a fling?” he asked, as if the idea was too crazy to comprehend.

Grabbing a root beer of my own, I shut the fridge.

“Despite what you might think, little Melly Harwood’s not that much of a good girl,” Mallory told Danny.

He grimaced. “You just seemed–”

I nodded. “I know. I know what I seem to be.”

“She fools everyone.”

I looked down at Mallory and glared.

“Then why didn’t you want a fling with me?” Danny asked. “I mean, my dad?”

I gave him a small smile. “You know for a fact that there is nothing here.” I waggled my finger back and forth between us, ignoring the part about Daniel.

“I thought you were a–” He cleared his throat because he thought I had been a virgin and clearly hadn’t wanted to be with one.

“And you wanted someone who wasn’t?”

It was his turn to blush. His gaze shifted to Mallory for a second, then glanced away. Looking at him, I could see the similarities between him and his father. Not in size, but in looks and mannerisms.

But Danny didn’t growl. Or storm into my house. He had a soft voice and knocked.

It seemed I wanted a guy who did neither.

“If you were really interested in me, it wouldn’t have mattered,” I told him gently. “And if I was really interested in you, I’d have let you change that status.”

A slow smile crept over his face and looked me in the eye and probably, for the first time, actually saw me. “I think you’re right.”

“But your dad,” I said.

“Yeah, my dad.”

“I like him, Danny.”

Mallory piped up. “She really likes him.”

“Mal!”

He scratched the side of his head, uncomfortable.

“Before anything happened, I told him I wasn’t interested in you, and he told me that you two talked and you said you weren’t into me. Did he?” God, did Daniel lie?

Fred shifted in her sleep and Danny glanced down. “Yeah, while I was still away. He asked what was up with us and I told him the truth.”

“That there was nothing between us,” I clarified.

He nodded. “So it’s over then? You and my dad?”

I shrugged.

“You like him though.”

“She really does,” Mallory offered.

I glared at her again. She grinned back, so I turned to Danny and ignored her. Or tried. “Yeah. I really do.”

“Why him, if you don’t mind my asking.”

I shrugged. Daniel had stormed into the vet’s office, accusing me of trapping him with a baby. I should hate his guts. But there was something about him in that moment, right from the very start, that drew me to him.

He wasn’t gentle. He was gruff. Bossy. Dominant. Cranky. He snarled first, asked questions later.

He was also sweet and filthy and safe. And for a few days… mine.

“It was never meant to be permanent,” I said, sadly. I’d been kidding myself that I wouldn’t get attached. That it wouldn’t be hard when he left.

“You’re okay with that? I mean, you seem like a permanent relationship kind of person, although I might have gotten that wrong, too.”

“I don’t want permanent,” I said at the same time Mallory said, “She wants permanent.”

I set my hands on my hips. “I do not!”

“You do, too. Your mom stole more than those fans off the wall.” She pointed again to where the bare spot was. “She stole your chance at finding real happiness with a guy. Not all men are like the creeps she brings around.”

Danny frowned. “Creeps?” Now the look he had on his face matched his father’s. Angry. Glaring. “What creeps?”

“Don’t fire up the woodchipper just yet,” I said, holding my hand out to slow his roll. “They’re gone.”

“For now,” Mallory clarified. “Until the next time she rolls into town wanting something and trying to get you to fuck her man.”

“WHAT?” Danny shouted. Yup, just like his dad.

“You are not helping,” I said, pointing at Mallory.

She pushed off the floor, wiped her hands on the front of her pants.

“I’ve never seen you the way you were with Daniel.

” Mallory looked at Danny. “Sorry, but you’re going to either have to cover your ears or deal.

” Then she came over and set her hand on my shoulder.

“You let Daniel leave as a reason to bail on him before your relationship got a chance to succeed. You slept with him because he’s hot as hell–”

“GAH!” Danny shouted, then covered his ears as if a fire truck with a siren blaring cut through the kitchen.

Mallory rolled her eyes at him but pushed on.

“–but is it also because you knew he wasn’t going to stick? You said yes to a guy who wouldn’t stay, which is totally ironic because that’s all you want.”

I glared, then, realizing she was absolutely right, crumbled. Mallory pulled me into a hug as I cried.

“No crying!” Danny said. “Shit. Don’t cry. My dad’s a catch, I guess.”

I laughed into Mallory’s shoulder. When I lifted my head, I asked, “Did you say that to get me to stop crying or because it’s true.”

“Both,” he admitted grudgingly.

“He’s gone and I made it clear I don’t want a relationship. I think he wants more because he asked me to go with him and–”

Mallory pushed me away so fast I got whiplash. “HE ASKED YOU TO GO?”

It was my turn to cover my ears. “God, Mal, not so loud!”

Danny moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mallory and the two of them stared at me.

“He asked you to go,” Mallory repeated, quieter. “Why are you standing here?”

“Yeah, my dad wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t mean it,” Danny added.

“I have puppies now and it was temporary and he said we’d have fun.”

“Of course you’ll have fun, it’s Scotland with a man who tosses cabers in a kilt. How much sexier can that be?”

Danny gave Mallory a look like he might want to hurl. “Can you stop calling my dad sexy?”

“My mom’s boyfriend asked me to go off with him,” I said. “Told me it’d be fun.”

Mallory’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “This week?”

I shook my head. “When I was eighteen. That’s why I came home.”

“That’s why you came home to live with your grandma? Because your mom was okay with her boyfriend fucking her daughter?”

“Wouldn’t you catch a bus out of state, too?” I countered.

“This guy from when you were eighteen. What’s his name?” Danny asked. “I’ve got four uncles to help hunt him down and a woodchipper.”

I burst out laughing. “Your dad said the same thing. I have to wonder who might be missing in town because of the Pearson personal justice woodchipper.”

Mallory pouted and took my hand. “That guy was a predator. And a creep.”

“Yeah, I called him Creepy Carl.”

“Creepy Carl is not my dad,” Danny said. “If he invited you to go to Scotland, it’s not because he–okay, maybe he does want to do that with you, but God, I can’t believe I’m saying any of this, but he’s respectful.”

When I wanted him to be. I liked him when he wasn’t. The way Danny was grossed out by talking about me having sex with his father, I wasn’t going to tell him I’d been on the phone with him while his father fucked me from behind.

Not a smart move.

“We had three days. Three days!” I said, tossing up my hands. “That’s not long enough for anyone to say the “L” word and besides, we barely talked.”

Danny grimaced.

“Sorry. My point is that I don’t really know him. I can’t go off to Scotland for a guy I’ve known for three days! Say I get there and he doesn’t want me.”

“He asked you to go with him. You’re not stalking him to another country,” Mallory reminded.

“I have a job. A life.”

“Sweetie, a life made up of planned meals, volunteering, and living in your grandmother’s house.”

“Hey!” I said, not liking Mallory’s words. All of it was true, but she made it out to sound like my life was miserable.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad life, but GO TO SCOTLAND WITH A HOT MAN. Have some fun. Not creepy fun, but actual fun.”

“I have newborn puppies to take care of.”

“I’ll take care of them. And Fred,” Danny offered, even though he had no responsibility with them.

I looked to Danny, confused as to why he was going to help me go off to be with this dad.

“He’s not coming back,” I reminded.

Mallory was slowly making me reconsider and the two of them were chiseling away at every excuse I threw their way. I had tons of vacation time available and if Fred was taken care of, then I could go. But–

“I’m not saying move to Scotland or get married, I’m saying take a vacation. Make the fling longer and in another country. See what can happen between you two.”

I looked to Danny. I knew how upset he was with his dad being with me. I wouldn’t get between them, no matter how I felt for Daniel.

“Yeah. I agree,” Danny said. “See what can happen.” Then he tipped his chin down and gave me a serious look. “But if it works out, I am definitely not calling you Mom.”