Finally Home

by Taylor, Helen Scott

  She wanted so much for them to be happy together, but after her mother’s call, she felt dead inside, her heart numb. It was a timely reminder. Jack was a decent, honorable man. He deserved a woman who could give him her heart without reservation, and she wasn’t sure she could ever again love anyone but Ryan.

  * * *

  Jack watched Melanie lug Ryan’s bag down the path like a zombie, her shoulders sagging, her normally sharp, intelligent gaze dim and weary. She had barely acknowledged him. She had an air of defeat about her that set alarm bells chiming. After he hefted her bag and Ryan’s into his trunk, he caught her arm as she turned towards the car door. “Are you all right, Mel?”

  Her only response was a nod before she pulled on her arm and he released her. He’d held out a last hope that if he withdrew she might realize what she was losing and want to make up, but he’d hoped in vain.

  On the drive back to Devon, Melanie brooded silently beside him while Ryan kept up an animated stream of questions about football before falling asleep for the second half of the trip.

  As they neared the end of the journey, Melanie appeared jittery. Every few minutes she glanced over her shoulder to check Ryan in the back of the car. Jack could hardly bear to see her like this after the moments of happiness they had shared in Italy, when she had laughed, relaxed and let him get closer—before everything went pear-shaped. If only she would unburden herself of what was troubling her and let him in.

  He’d told himself to give up on her and move on, but he couldn’t. He laid his fingers on her arm. “Don’t look so worried. Life’s good. Be happy.”

  She released a tortured breath. Fixing her gaze on the windshield, she spoke in a flat, toneless voice. “Jack, there’s something you deserve to know. My husband was under investigation by the police when he died. You might remember the press coverage. The newspapers called him Dr. Death.”

  Melanie’s admission came out of the blue and it took a moment to sink in. “Christ.” He wished he could take the word back when she flinched. “I remember the case.”

  It had been all over the news for weeks while the police investigated. At least six of his patients had died under suspicious circumstances. When Dr. Marshall died in a car accident, the press called it suicide and condemned him for taking the coward’s way out. Had the bastard purposely tried to take his son—Ryan—with him? Poor Melanie must have lived through hell.

  Jack reached across and squeezed her hand. Now she had finally confided in him, he was at a loss to know what to say. He had speculated on what her issues might be, but never in a million years would he have guessed the truth.

  “Marcus chose the most vulnerable elderly patients who didn’t have family in the village and persuaded them to leave him money in their wills. Then he increased the dose of their drugs until they…” She pressed a hand over her mouth and swallowed. “We had money problems. I didn’t even know until after he died. He drank so much I just kept out of his way at home.” She cast Jack a quick sideways glance. “I’ll understand if you want me to resign.”

  “Resign? Why?” Jack wanted to stop the car and hold Melanie, comfort her, but she had chosen to confide in him on a busy stretch of highway where it was impossible to pull over. “It wasn’t your fault, Mel. You and Ryan were victims.”

  “Nobody else thinks that.” Melanie angled her head away so Jack couldn’t see her face.

  He swore silently to himself when the heavy traffic snarled up so he had no chance of turning off for ages. “Melanie, look at me. It wasn’t your fault.” He took a hand off the steering wheel to gently rub her shoulder.

  “I am partly to blame. I knew Marcus was behaving strangely. We’d been having problems between us for a while. I just stuck my head in the sand and tried to pretend everything was okay.”

  “We all do that sometimes when things aren’t going well. It’s not a crime. Forget what people said. You can’t be held responsible for something your husband did. Anyway, it happened five years ago. Can’t you put it behind you?”

  “I wish I could. I’ve been sacked four times in the last five years because employers discovered who I was.”

  Jack clenched his jaw at the injustice, then realized with a sick jolt that she had worried about telling him for the same reason. “You thought I’d sack you, didn’t you?” Deny it, please.

  She looked down at her hands. Jack stared at the car in front. What did he have to do to prove she could trust him? He’d spent months trying to get close to her. He might as well not have bothered. After five minutes’ silence while she gnawed her lip, she gave him a wary glance. “Will you tell your mother?”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “She might not want me working at the hotel.”

  Jack sucked in a breath and released it slowly. “Don’t worry about my mother.” Melanie’s status as potential daughter-in-law and mother of grandchildren would protect her from just about anything in his mother’s eyes.

  “You think I’m being paranoid,” she said. “I can see it on your face.”

  Jack shrugged, still smarting from her lack of faith in him.

  “I’m not stupid, Jack. I have good reason to hide my past. People don’t normally react like you.”

  Jack’s hurt feelings faded and he caught hold of her hand. This time she gripped his fingers in return. “It’s all right, Mel. We’ll work this out.”

  She gave him a weak smile. She wasn’t convinced it would be all right. Neither was he. She had confided in him, but this was far worse than he’d suspected. She came across as a strong woman and in some ways she was, strong to have borne this terrible past alone for so many years. But in other ways she was deeply scarred, maybe even broken inside. Jack had no idea how to deal with that.

  * * *

  Jack wanted to preempt any problems his mother might have with Melanie’s background. Melanie was stressed enough over her past without his mother putting her oar in and stirring things up.

  He dropped Melanie and Ryan off then headed over to Hazelwood House. Imelda Summers was sitting in state in the sun lounge on a huge leather chair stacked with cushions, a light blanket over her legs and a tall glass of something he sincerely hoped was nonalcoholic on the table beside her.

  “Jack darling.” She received her obligatory kiss on the cheek then peered around him towards the door. “Where’s Melanie? I hope you haven’t lost her already.”

  “Not lost, Mother, just dealing with life. She has a son, remember.”

  He noted her self-satisfied little smile with interest. She’d made no comment to him about Melanie’s son, but the ready-made grandchild was obviously considered an asset.

  “Have you set a date?” Imelda asked.

  Straight for the jugular. She was usually a little more diplomatic in her attempts to marry him off.

  The resistance Jack expected to feel at his mother’s pushing didn’t come. He remembered how happy he’d been with Melanie in Italy, and it dawned on him that spending the rest of his life with her appealed to him. He was in love with her. The realization pulsed through him. Then self-preservation kicked in and he retreated from the thought. The two of them had a lot to work through before they started making lifelong commitments.

  Jack dropped into one of the other armchairs, now denuded of cushions, and wriggled to get comfortable while he considered tactics. Unfortunately, feigning ignorance didn’t usually work with his mother as she knew him too well, but it was worth a try.
“A date for what?”

  “Don’t play games with me, young man.” His mother gave him a quelling look. “You know exactly what I mean.”

  “No, Mother. I haven’t proposed.”

  “Then hurry up. I always think a summer wedding is preferable.” She wagged a finger at him. “And you can’t use the excuse that you aren’t able to book a venue for the reception.”

  “Actually, Melanie’s done such a good job of promoting the hotel that it’s fully booked into the autumn. We’d have a job fitting in our own wedding until the winter.”

  “I wasn’t talking about the hotel.” His mother looked at him over her glasses, which lived at home. She never admitted the need for them in public. “I meant here.”

  Jack glanced around and frowned. “You want hordes of people tramping through your home?”

  “Hordes? It’ll only be family and friends, Jack. You make them sound like a herd of wild animals. Tramping indeed.”

  Marco sauntered in with a bowl of chocolate ice cream topped with fluffy whipped cream and chocolate chips.

  Jack’s mother snatched off her glasses and hid them beneath the blanket. “Oh, my darling. You spoil me.”

  Jack ground his teeth and resisted telling Marco to go and crawl down the nearest drain. Such a comment might make Jack feel better, but it wasn’t the way to get his mother onside.

  “I was hoping to talk in private, Mum.” Jack certainly didn’t want Marco “I have the integrity of a dung beetle” in on Melanie’s secret.

  His mother looked up and pursed her lips. He watched the internal battle on her face before she turned to Marco. “Would you get me a coffee, darling.”

  Marco aimed a scowl at Jack then slouched away. Toy Boy would return in a few minutes, which didn’t give Jack long, so he’d have to get straight to the point.

  “I’m very fond of Melanie.”

  His mother beamed at him. He smiled with her, feeling a touch guilty that he might be giving her false hope, but he needed to get her support. Despite external appearances, she was very much like Melanie. She blamed herself for her husband leaving just as Melanie blamed herself for her husband’s crimes. He hoped his mother would see the similarities and empathize.

  “Melanie told me something about her husband that you should know before I take my relationship with her further.”

  As he related the story of Dr. Marshall, his mother listened in silence, her face tense, her jaw clenched. Jack left nothing he knew out, but he made sure he stressed how Melanie had tried to protect Ryan, and what she’d suffered since. When he finished, tears shone in his mother’s eyes.

  She took out a tissue and dabbed her cheeks. “How terrible for her. At least she’s found you.” She reached out and patted his arm. “You’ll be good for her, Jack.”

  Jack blew out a breath. “I know. But first I have to persuade her to trust me. She confided in me, so that’s a step in the right direction, but there’s a long way to go. She’s terrified the past will catch up with her, so we mustn’t let anyone else know who she is. You remember how the press hounded me in the past. Well, they did the same to her.”

  “I won’t tell anyone. You can be sure of that.”

  As his mother finished speaking, Marco breezed back into the room and set a coffee cup on the table beside Imelda.

  He smirked at Jack with a glint of something unsettling in his eyes. “If you have finished your private talk, may I have my lady love back?”

  Jack worked hard not to cringe. “I’d best get back to the hotel.”

  He bent and kissed his mother’s cheek then headed for the door. Before he left, he paused and looked over his shoulder. Marco had picked up Imelda’s hand and pressed his lips to her skin, but his gaze was still fixed on Jack.

  Chapter Eight

  After three weeks during which Melanie settled back into the routine of work and Jack returned to being a friend without putting romantic pressure on her, Melanie began to relax. Jack had been so understanding and supportive when she told him about her past, she felt silly for making such a big thing out of it.

  Jack was different. He believed in her just as her grandmother did. Her thoughts returned often to the pros and cons list, wondering if just maybe she and Jack could make each other happy. Now he knew the worst of her, Melanie began to let her guard down. For the first time in five years, she was truly happy.

  On an idyllic summer evening, Emily and her sons visited for a barbeque. They ate sausages and burgers on paper plates in Jack’s garden, and Ryan went home with Emily’s boys for a sleepover. Melanie and Jack sat together in the quiet of his garden, sipping wine as dusk fell.

  His hand sought hers and he squeezed her fingers. “Happy, Mel?”

  She nodded. He’d given her space, been very much the gentleman since the uncomfortable night in Naples when they’d been forced to share a bed. As his thumb stroked lazy circles on her palm, her mind drifted back to that night in the seedy hotel. The memory of his warm skin beneath her fingers sent a frisson of heat racing through her.

  He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss on the back. “It’s nice to have time to ourselves, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” She suddenly felt tongue-tied, awkward. It was so long since she’d been with a man, and the only man she had ever slept with was her husband. Despite his gentlemanly behavior with her, Jack had been a playboy in his younger days. He must have had a lot of experience with women.

  The light from Jack’s kitchen window glinted on his golden hair, casting shadows across his face. He smiled and slid closer to her on the bench, moving his arm behind her to draw her near. He pressed a kiss against her hair. “I dream about you, Mel.” His fingertips traced the shape of her jaw, her collarbone. Tingling heat skittered across her skin. “I dream of making love to you.”

  She pressed her face against his shoulder and breathed in the spicy fragrance of his soap. She dreamed about him as well. Hot, sensual dreams that made her blush to think about them. Her mind might be cautious, but her body cried out for Jack’s touch.

  He slipped his fingers beneath her chin and raised her face. She stared into the shadowed depths of his eyes, dusk turning the blue to a mysterious smoky gray. Then he leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back, and the gentle kiss soon became heated.

  She hadn’t thought she would ever trust another man, but she did trust Jack. He knew all her secrets and he still wanted her and Ryan. He would make the perfect husband and father. All she had to do was let him know she was ready to take things between them to the next level.

  When he dropped little kisses across her cheek and onto her neck, she closed her eyes and her breath rushed out at the blissful sensation. “Jack,” she whispered, stroking her fingers through his hair. “Come back to my flat with me.”

  He raised his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”

  They rose and wandered across the dark garden and pushed through the gap in the hedge. Jack put his arms around her and pulled her close for another kiss before they mounted the steps to her front door. This would be a night to remember.

  Jack kissed her again once they were inside. His fingers tightened on her waist and he rested his forehead against hers. “Are you sure about this, Mel? Once we’re in that bedroom, it will kill me if you change your mind.”

  Melanie’s heart pinched at the uncertainty in his voice. She’d hurt him in Italy, although she ha
dn’t meant to. “I’m certain, Jack. I want you to make love to me.”

  A little grunt of need rumbled in his chest. He pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck, trailing kisses across her skin to skim the top of her breasts. She gripped his head, speared her fingers through the silk of his golden hair and tipped her head back, relishing his touch.

  “Come on. Not out here.” Jack grabbed her hand and hurried her along the short hall to her bedroom.

  Every nerve in Melanie’s body sang as Jack pulled her into his embrace, slid down the zipper on the back of her dress and eased her closer to the bed.

  “Feel as though I’ve waited forever for you,” he whispered.

  “Oh, Jack.” Melanie hadn’t been waiting for him, hadn’t even known she wanted a man this much, but with his lips on her skin and his hands caressing her heated flesh, she felt more alive than she had in years, more alive than she ever had with Marcus.

  Melanie fumbled with Jack’s shirt buttons and he solved the problem by yanking the garment off over his head. Her dress slipped past her hips and fell to the ground. She and Jack settled on the bed, side by side. His touch felt familiar and soothing yet new and stimulating at the same time. She finally admitted to herself that she loved this kind, beautiful man. Perhaps he was her second chance at happiness.

  * * *

  Melanie and Jack got up late the following day and took Saturday morning off from hotel duties to go for a romantic walk in the countryside followed by an early lunch at a pub. They had arrived home and were having a coffee in Jack’s back garden when Ryan appeared through the gap in the hedge from Melanie’s flat, closely followed by Emily.

  “Found you!” she said with a laugh. “Hope you made the most of the alone time. This little guy has had lunch. Can’t stop as my two are waiting in the car.” With a wave of her hand, she turned to go.

  “Mummy, Mummy, Jack, Jack.” Ryan dashed across the grass and started to scramble up on the bench between them. Jack kissed Melanie’s cheek and slid aside to make room for her son. Ryan kneeled between them, curled an arm around each of their necks and pulled them all together for a group hug.