Seeing how she was being careful set his mind at ease, but the moment she reached the street, she gunned it before driving off.
Shaking his head, he looked at the keys in his hands—keys to her car—before walking back inside.
Chapter 4
Melanie walked into the house holding Avery’s hand.
Ashleigh was looking out the living room window toward the driveway, and when she turned to Melanie a moment later, her eyebrows had climbed her forehead. “Is that Gage’s car?”
“Mommy’s driving a race car,” Avery said, her eyes alight with the news.
Ashleigh’s head tilted as her eyebrows settled into place. “You didn’t steal it from him, did you?”
Laughing, Melanie shook her head. “No. He offered to let me use it while he gets my car fixed.”
“Wait. Gage offered to let you take his car? That doesn’t sound right.”
Lifting her shoulders in a shrug, Melanie smirked. “Well, he did. I never asked.”
Ashleigh looked at the black Camaro in her driveway again, then turned to Melanie. “Huh.”
Melanie couldn’t stop smiling. Driving that car had been a blast and she was eager to take it to work the next day. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s just…Gage never lets anyone drive that car. It’s less than a year old, you know.”
“And it still smells new.” Another thing Melanie had enjoyed about it.
A smile tugged up the corners of Ashleigh’s mouth. “I think we should take it for a drive later.”
Melanie nodded. “Definitely.”
They worked side by side to make dinner, and after they’d eaten and cleaned up, Melanie called to Avery. “Do you want to go for a ride in Mommy’s race car?”
“Yay!” Avery shouted as she jumped up and down. “You come too, Aunt Ashy?” When Avery had begun to talk, she’d had trouble saying Ashleigh and had begun calling Ashleigh Ashy. The name had stuck.
“Oh, I’ll be coming, sweetheart. You can count on that.”
Melanie laughed, then all three of them climbed into the car. Fortunately, Ashleigh’s legs were short enough that she didn’t have to move the passenger seat too far back to be comfortable, which allowed Avery to have enough room for her legs to swing easily from her car seat.
“Where do you want to go?” Melanie asked as she turned on the engine and listened to the deep rumble.
“Let’s go visit Gabriella. Do you remember her?”
Melanie thought for a moment. “I think so. Didn’t she just visit Emerald Falls in the summers back in the day?”
“Yeah. She stayed with her aunt. Her aunt passed away last year and Gabby inherited her cottage.”
“You’ll have to give me directions,” Melanie said as she backed out of the driveway.
“Sure thing.” Ashleigh chuckled. “Gabby has the cutest yellow lab. And a cat. Avery’ll love them.”
“Great. Avery does love animals.”
“Maybe Travis will be there.”
When Melanie looked at her sister with a question on her face, Ashleigh said, “That’s Gabby’s boyfriend. He’s also a veterinarian.” Ashleigh smirked. “You may remember him. Travis Haywood? The boy all the girls were crazy over?”
“Oh yeah. I do remember him. He was a year ahead of me in school, but I remember when he moved to town.” Along with the rest of the Emerald Falls girls, she’d flirted with him, but she’d never gone out with him.
A few minutes later they parked in front of Gabby’s cottage. The sun was low in the sky, but it was a pleasant evening, so when Melanie saw a couple sitting on the porch she wasn’t surprised. The couple stood and walked towards them as they climbed out of the Camaro.
“Hey, Ashleigh,” the woman said.
“Hi, Gabby.”
A yellow lab ran over to sniff Ashleigh.
“Bella,” Gabby said. “Down.”
The dog ignored her, but moments later Travis clipped a leash to Bella’s collar and gently tugged her back. Travis looked as cute as ever. Melanie was glad he and Gabby had found each other, although she couldn’t push down the little bit of jealousy that someone else had found love when she’d had such bad luck in that department.
“Thanks, Travis,” Gabby said with a warm smile in his direction.
“Do you remember my sister Melanie?” Ashleigh said after Melanie had lifted Avery from her car seat and set her on the ground.
“Of course,” Gabby said, which surprised Melanie. She had only a vague memory of Gabby.
“I remember you,” Travis said with a smile.
Flattered that he did, Melanie said, “This is my daughter Avery.”
Gabby squatted in front of Avery. “Hello, there.”
Avery pressed her face against Melanie’s leg.
Gabby laughed as she stood.
“She’s a bit shy,” Melanie said.
“That’s okay,” Gabby said. “I understand being shy.”
Melanie remembered how shy and quiet Gabby had been. That was probably why her memory of her was so faint. She’d barely ever spoken to her.
“What brings you out to my place?” Gabby asked with a smile.
“Is that Gage’s car?” Travis asked at the same time.
Ashleigh laughed. “It sure is.”
One side of Travis’s mouth tugged up into a smile. “I’m sure there must be a story behind this.”
“Yes, there is,” Melanie said before telling them what had happened.
“Oh,” Gabby said with a laugh. “That is too funny.” Her lips twisted into a smirk. “Can’t say he doesn’t deserve it though. Especially after the way he embarrassed me at Amethyst’s party last year.”
Ashleigh laughed. “I’d forgotten about that.”
Melanie had no idea what they were talking about. “What did he do?”
Gabby looked at Travis before turning back to Melanie. “I’d barely moved back to Emerald Falls and we were all at a party Amethyst had thrown for me. So what does Gage do? He basically announces to everyone there—including Travis—that I’d had a huge crush on Travis back in high school. I was so embarrassed I could’ve died.”
“That’s because you still had a crush on me,” Travis said, then he kissed her.
They obviously cared for each other deeply, and again Melanie felt that sliver of jealousy that she hadn’t found her true love. Well, she’d thought she had with Kyle. Holding back a frown, she focused on the couple in front of her.
Gabby smiled as she leaned against Travis. “I guess it all turned out okay, but yeah, I wanted to kill Gage.”
“He forgets to keep his thoughts to himself sometimes,” Travis said.
They all laughed, but Melanie found this little tidbit about Gage interesting and she tucked it away for future reference.
“Do you want to pet Bella?” Gabby asked Avery, who peeked out from behind Melanie’s legs.
“Yes,” she said in a near-whisper.
“Sit, Bella,” Gabby said as she firmly pushed on Bella’s rump. Bella sat, her eyes on Avery and her tongue lolling out of her mouth. “Okay, Avery,” Gabby said. “Come feel how soft she is.”
Melanie coaxed Avery forward, and after only a brief hesitation Avery reached out and stroked Bella’s fur. Giggling, Avery looked to her mother for approval.
“What does she feel like?” Melanie asked.
“Soft,” Avery said.
It warmed Melanie’s heart to see Avery feeling comfortable in her surroundings. As far as Melanie was concerned, Emerald Falls was their new home. She wouldn’t live with Ashleigh forever, of course, but she wanted Avery to feel at home in the small town where she’d spent so much of her childhood.
The adults chatted for a while longer while Avery played with Bella, but after a while Melanie said, “I should probably get Avery to bed soon.”
They said their good-byes, and as they passed through town, Melanie’s gaze was drawn to Sprinkles of Joy. An image of Gage filled her mind, and when she
remembered the look on his face when she’d driven away from him in his car, she held back a laugh. She was thoroughly enjoying driving his Camaro, but how long would it be before he called her?
Then she asked herself why she cared. Was it because she didn’t want to give up the car, or was her interest in Gage Bennett piqued?
Not wanting to be interested in him, she convinced herself it was all about the car.
Chapter 5
Gage arrived at the bakery early the next morning, the scent of freshly baked bread filling the air. The first thing on his to-do list was to call his insurance company. By the time Melanie had driven off in his Camaro the day before, the insurance company had closed for the day, but he wanted to get the repairs on her car in motion ASAP. Of course he would have to wait a few hours—it was only five o’clock in the morning.
“Morning, boss,” Nicole said as she pulled loaves of baked bread from the oven.
“Hey.” His gaze slid over the golden brown loaves. “Those look perfect, as usual.” He tossed her a smile.
“Thank you.”
She’d worked at the bakery for two years and she made his life a lot easier. Nicole was like a sister to him and he was glad he’d taken a chance on her when she’d first applied at Sprinkles of Joy.
“I haven’t heard about any accidents involving a Camaro,” she said with a smirk. “So I think your baby’s okay so far.”
Gage chuckled. “She’s only had the car since last night.” And though he was a bit worried about how she was treating his car, he was glad his offer had put a sparkle in her eye.
Nicole laughed. “If she’s driving around with her child, I’m sure she’ll be careful.”
He hadn’t considered that, but he had to agree. Did she just have the one kid? How old was he or she? There was much about Melanie Hopkins that he didn’t know. But he intended to find out.
When Melanie got home from work that evening with Avery in tow, she was ready to kick up her feet and relax, but since Ashleigh would be home from working at the library soon, she went into the kitchen and started dinner.
“We’ll surprise Aunt Ashy and have dinner ready for her,” she said to Avery. “What do you think about that?”
“I want to help,” Avery said with a big smile.
“Of course, baby girl. You can help me make the whole thing.”
By the time Ashleigh got home, dinner was ready and the table was set.
“Now this is nice to come home to,” Ashleigh said as she gave Melanie a hug. “Thank you for making dinner.”
One side of Melanie’s mouth tugged up into a smirk. “My pleasure.”
“You hate to cook,” Ashleigh said.
“I know. But I want to help out.”
“Not that I mind, but I don’t expect you to do all of the work.”
“Oh, believe me,” Melanie said with a laugh. “I won’t be doing all of the work.”
They laughed together as they sat at the table, Avery in a booster seat.
“Did you help Mommy make dinner, Avery?” Ashleigh asked as Avery reached for her sippy cup.
Avery nodded with enthusiasm.
“She’s a good helper,” Melanie said with a smile. She adored her little Avery and would do anything for her.
“Any word from Gage?” Ashleigh asked as they ate.
“Not yet.” Although Melanie had found herself thinking about him off and on throughout the day. But only because she wanted to know when her car would be fixed.
Asking herself if that was the only reason, she held back a frown. There was no way she was going to allow herself to be interested in a man. Not after the heartbreak she’d endured with Avery’s father and then with Kyle. No way.
Ashleigh chuckled. “You can bet he’s doing all he can to get your car fixed.” One of her eyebrows arched. “Borrowing his car was a stroke of brilliance, Mel.”
Melanie grinned. “Like I told you, he offered to let me borrow it. But yeah, I figured that would be a good motivator for him to get my car fixed as fast as possible.” Her cell phone rang, and when Melanie saw whose name was on the screen, she smirked at Ashleigh. “Speak of the devil.” She swiped to answer. “Hello?”
“Hi, Melanie. This is Gage.” He cleared his throat. “The owner of that sweet Camaro you’re driving?”
“Oh, right. Hi.” Melanie grinned at Ashleigh. “Like I told you, there’s no hurry to fix my car. I’m having a blast driving yours.”
“Uh, yeah. So that’s why I was calling. It looks like it’s gonna be about a week before your car will be done, so I was wondering if maybe you’d be more comfortable in another car. Like a four door or something. You know, with your kid and all.”
Working to hold back the laugh that climbed her throat, Melanie pressed her lips together, but once she’d gotten herself under control, she said, “No, that’s okay. My daughter loves your car. She calls it Mommy’s race car.”
A nervous chuckle came across the line. “Is that right?”
“Yes. I think she’s enjoying it more than I am.”
“Huh. How old is she?”
“Three.”
“I didn’t know three year olds were that interested in cars.”
Melanie had a feeling he didn’t know much of anything about three year olds. “Now you know. They definitely are. Especially my little Avery.”
“Avery, huh? Maybe I can meet this car aficionado sometime.”
Melanie’s barriers shot up. After the way Kyle had broken both her and Avery’s hearts, there was no way she would introduce Avery to anyone who had even the slightest potential to do the same. Still, Gage was Ashleigh’s friend, so she didn’t want to be rude. “Maybe. So, a week then, huh?”
A soft sigh came across the line, and for the first time Melanie felt a slight twinge of guilt for borrowing Gage’s car. Then again, he was the one who had offered. Yes, she could have turned him down, but she was having too much fun driving it.
“Well,” she said as she shoved aside her guilt. “Thanks for giving me an update.”
“Right.” He paused a beat. “Hey, maybe I can, uh, visit my car? On Saturday? I mean, with you in it.”
Was he asking her out? What a lame way to do it. And, no, there was no way she was interested in anything even resembling a date. “I, uh, I have plans Saturday.” The guilt twinged again, so she added, “Sorry.” She glanced at Ashleigh, who was frowning at her. Probably because Ashleigh knew the only plans Melanie had was to do laundry and clean the house.
“All right,” Gage said. “Maybe another time.”
Not wanting to give him false hope, she said, “Again, thanks for the update.”
They disconnected a moment later. “What?” she said to Ashleigh, whose eyes were narrowed at her.
“Did he ask you out?”
Sighing, Melanie rolled her eyes. “Yes.”
“And you said no.”
With a glance at Avery, who seemed oblivious to what was going on, Melanie turned her focus to her sister. “That’s right.”
“Look. I know you’re not all that interested in dating, but Gage is a super nice guy.”
Kyle had been too. Until he’d dumped her in favor of Jessica. Fury flared inside her, but she forced it aside. “Uh-huh.”
Shaking her head, Ashleigh pursed her lips. “You know I’ve got your back, Mel, but don’t close your heart completely.”
Yeah, like that hadn’t already happened. It was closed tighter than a toddler’s mouth against a spoonful of mashed peas.
Lame, bro. Really lame.
Gage frowned as he tucked his phone into his pocket and leaned back in his chair. He stared at a wall in his office. He’d never been the best at picking up women—to be honest he’d never actually picked up a woman. But now that he’d already blown it with Melanie Hopkins, he wondered why he’d even tried. She had been the girl of his dreams back in high school, the girl who’d been way beyond his reach. Why he thought he had a chance with her, he had no clue.
&nb
sp; In high school he hadn’t been on a single date. There had been plenty of girls who had been his friend—like Melanie’s sister Ashleigh. But not one of those female friends had ever shown a hint of any romantic interest towards him. Yes, he’d been a runt and a nerd all through high school, but he had a good sense of humor, and he was smart. And once he’d turned twenty he’d finally hit a growth spurt, traded his glasses for contacts, and had begun working out. He knew he looked good now, but inside he still felt like the nerdy boy no woman would want to date.
One disadvantage of living in the same small town where he’d grown up—everyone remembered him how he used to be. Maybe that’s what was holding Melanie back. She couldn’t see beyond her memories of him.
He’d changed. He was successful now—he had his own business, for heaven’s sake. A business that was thriving. Yet he’d still used a lame line to ask her out. That was his own fault. No wonder she’d said no. Well, she’d said she had plans, but he’d heard it in her voice. She wasn’t interested.
Releasing an audible sigh, Gage pushed back from his desk and stood. He had things to do. He didn’t have time to obsess over Melanie Hopkins.
Chapter 6
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, and though Melanie tried to sleep in, Avery had other plans. She burst into Melanie’s room and jumped onto the bed.
“Mommy, wake up! Aunt Ashy made pancakes!”
Now that Avery mentioned it, Melanie could smell a delicious scent coming from the kitchen. “Okay, baby girl. Give me a minute.”
Avery continued bouncing on the bed as Melanie threw back the covers and climbed out. A few minutes later she and Avery walked into the kitchen.
“I hear you’ve made a delicious breakfast,” Melanie said.
Ashleigh stood at the counter pouring batter onto a griddle. “Yep. It’s Grandma’s recipe. Your favorite.”
“Nice!” Melanie put a bottle of syrup and the butter on the table and helped Avery into her booster seat. “You’re up kind of early. What do you have going on today?”
Chance Encounter: Gage and Melanie (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Three) (Companion to the Over You series) Page 3