Melanie grinned, sprawled out on her sofa and listened to her mother chatter.
After thirty minutes or so, Loretta said, “You’re awfully quiet, honey. Are you okay?”
“Fine. Tired, I think.”
“Well, go tuck yourself in and have sweet dreams. I’ll see you on Tuesday for dinner, right?”
Melanie responded in the affirmative, gave her mother her love and ended the call. Once upstairs, she pulled the printout of her father’s information off the printer and scanned it again, looking to see if she’d missed anything earlier. She hadn’t.
But as she stared at the tiny slice of David Prentiss’s life, hurt she’d believed to be long gone blossomed as if it were new. How dare he walk out on them, only to create a new family? Before, as much as she tried not to think about her father, she’d assumed that family life simply hadn’t agreed with him, so he took off.
That meant he was a coward, yes, but also had nothing to do with her seven-year-old self, or her mother. That was his fault. His weakness. Not theirs.
So this…this made her question everything she’d convinced herself to be true. This told a different story than the one she’d recited to herself every single night for those first agonizing months after he disappeared. God, she’d loved her father. Adored him, really. She wondered, briefly, what type of woman she would be if he hadn’t left. What would her life be like now?
Would she have a husband, kids? Would she still be a journalist? What parts of her were the way they were because of his departure? And what parts were just her, no matter the upbringing, no matter his failure at being a father?
It ticked her off that she didn’t know, would never know.
She lifted her hand to her cheek, surprised to feel the wetness of tears she hadn’t realized were falling. Over him? Really? Tossing the paper aside, Melanie readied herself for bed and tried to plan her next move. Because yes, she was going to locate him, whether he was behind the gifts or not. He might not deserve her tears, but she deserved some answers.
And she damn well intended to get them.
Chapter Six
Jace swung his 1969 Camaro Super Sport, the car that his older brother Grady had rebuilt for him and painted orange, into the turn lane. With the car idling, Jace tossed a look toward Melanie but kept his thoughts to himself. She’d been strangely quiet all morning. While they were still at the office, he’d assumed she was caught up in writing next week’s advice column, even though the column wasn’t due until Friday.
But she’d barely said three words since they’d taken off for the county courthouse. When the light changed to green, Jace revved the engine and turned the corner. Thinking back, he realized she hadn’t said much ever since their meeting last week. No sarcastic rejoinders. No narrowing of her pretty brown eyes. No calling him out in the few instances he’d slipped into flirting with her. And, even more telling, not even one mention of his Snuggies.
Instead, she’d treated him with a daunting, straight-faced silence that, frankly, was beginning to drive him crazy. It also worried him. Melanie wasn’t the silent-routine type of woman, and she never missed an opportunity to put him in his place. So, yeah, something was obviously bothering the lady.
He just wished he knew what.
Approaching the courthouse, he found an empty space alongside the curb, less than a block away. He slid the car in. “This should be fun,” he said in a purposefully cheerful voice. “You brought the release forms, correct?”
“Yes.” Melanie unbuckled her seat belt and leaned forward to grab her bag. “Is Jenny meeting us here? She was assigned to this, right?”
Melanie was referring to one of the staff photographers. “Initially, yes. But Kurt decided we can get the photos we need easily enough. I’ve taken my own shots before, and we can always arrange for follow-ups if we need more.”
“Right. If we manage to find even one couple worth following up with.”
“If we don’t, that doesn’t mean anything so early in.” Jace reached behind him to retrieve his canvas messenger bag. “But you know that.”
She gave a barely perceptible nod before stepping out of the car. Great. More silence.
Jace swallowed a sigh, joined Melanie on the sidewalk and belatedly remembered to feed some coins into the parking meter. She pulled her jacket tightly around her and stuffed her hands into her pockets. It was a cold, gray and windy day. Typical of January weather in Portland, though there was some talk of a possible ice storm later in the week.
“How are we going to do this?” Melanie asked as she took off toward the four-story, concrete building that had served as the county courthouse since 1914. “Does anyone know we’ll be here?”
“Public venue. We don’t have to get permission if we stick to the public areas. But,” he said, falling in step next to her, “the weddings are by appointment only. I was worried we’d pick a day that no one would be here, so I called ahead.”
“And?”
“Three judges are sitting this afternoon, and all of them have a packed schedule. Should be plenty of couples in and out.”
“That doesn’t mean any of them will want to talk with us,” she pointed out, stubborn as always. Which actually helped set Jace’s mind at ease. Maybe she was fine, after all.
“They’ll be more than happy to spend a few minutes with us.”
“And you know this how?” Melanie asked as they reached the front door. The wind blew a strand of hair into her eyes, and it was all he could do not to reach over and brush it away. “Do you have a Magic 8 Ball in your pocket?”
He grinned. “Nope, but I have a handful of gift certificates to area restaurants and clubs to pass out as a thank-you. I even have one from L’Auberge,” he said, naming a Portland French restaurant known for its food and elegant atmosphere.
Melanie stepped into the courthouse and waited for him to follow. When he did, she turned to him with narrowed eyes. “How’d we get those? I know the paper didn’t spring for them. Did you buy them?”
“Ah…no.” Well, the L’Auberge one had been a gift from a female admirer, but Melanie didn’t need to know that. “You forget who you’re talking to here, Mello Yello.”
“Just spill it. Where’d they come from?”
“I get freebies in the mail every week,” he said with a shrug. “Managers and owners send them in the hopes I’ll take a date there or mention them in the ‘Man About Town’ column. Sometimes, I return them with my apologies. Other times, I use them but make sure they know there isn’t a guarantee of publicity.”
“Uh-huh,” she said with an arched brow. “And this time?”
“I called, told each of them about the feature, promised I’d give them a thanks on the website and asked if we could use them as giveaways for the couples we interview. No one objected.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” she said. “Thanks for…thinking ahead.”
“I want this to be successful.” He nodded toward the elevators. “Ready to get started?”
“Why not?” She sighed as if the entire idea was about as appealing as a mouthful of vinegar. “The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be done.”
Jace fought the urge to ask what the heck was bothering her. This wasn’t the time or the place. Somehow, though, before the day ended, he was determined to discover what was going on inside that head of hers.
They set up in the long hallway outside of the appropriate judges’ quarters. At the moment, there were three couples sitting on the benches that were placed against the walls. Jace and Melanie claimed a vacant bench as theirs, where they stacked the release forms, gift certificates, a couple of notepads and the digital voice recorders they’d brought with them. Jace pulled his camera out of the bag and slung it around his neck.
Speaking quietly, Me
lanie said, “So, um, I don’t have a lot of experience in this. I haven’t done any one-on-one interviews since college.” She paused and fiddled with the buttons on her fuzzy yellow sweater. The inane thought that she looked like a sunflower popped up in his brain. A beautiful, bright, sunny flower. “Any advice, Mr. Hotshot?”
“Wh-what?” He cleared his throat and tried to find his bearings. “Oh. Advice. Um… Well, let’s see. We don’t want to approach any of the couples waiting out here. Right now, all that’s in their minds is their wedding. Once their ceremonies are over with, though, they’ll be excited and relaxed. So we’ll have to be ready for them when they come out of the judge’s chambers.” He gestured toward the closed doors. “There are probably ceremonies going on right now.”
“I guessed that much. But… Oh, never mind.” Melanie attached a few release forms to a clipboard and picked up a voice recorder. “I’ll figure it out,” she said in a strained voice.
She was nervous, he realized with a start. Well, duh. She’d pretty much said that straight-out. If he hadn’t been staring at her and obsessing over freaking sunflowers, he might’ve caught on. He shook his head, disgusted with himself. God, he could be an idiot. “Look, this will be a breeze. We ask a few basic questions and go from there.”
The door three down from where they stood opened, and a couple that Jace pegged to be in their late thirties emerged. He glanced at Melanie and grinned, aiming to put her at ease. “Here we go. How about if I take these two and you get the next?”
Melanie’s complexion paled a shade, but she moved her head up and down in a loose nod. Thrusting the clipboard and voice recorder into his hands, she said, “Sure. That sounds good. I’ll, um, tag along and watch.”
“It’ll be a breeze,” he repeated, looking her directly in the eyes. “You ready?”
“Ready.”
Jace plastered on a smile and ambled toward the couple. “Congratulations!” he said as way of greeting. “My name is Jace Foster, and this lovely lady is Melanie Prentiss. We’re reporters for the Portland Gazette. Can you spare a few minutes to chat with us?”
The man, a tall brunet with a receding hairline, frowned. “What is this about? There isn’t a protest or something going on, is there?”
“No, nothing like that,” Jace assured him. He gave them a quick rundown on the Valentine’s Day feature. “As a thank-you, we’d love to send you somewhere special to celebrate. On us, of course.”
The bride, a pretty woman with round cheeks and short, auburn hair, sidestepped her new husband and gave Jace a beaming smile. “I know who you are! You dated a past coworker of mine once. It was several years ago, but we heard all about it at the office.” She grimaced in recollection. “All about it. I didn’t think Francesca would ever shut up, to be honest.”
He shot a quick look in Melanie’s direction before saying, “Ah…is that right?” He remembered the blonde, vivacious Francesca. They’d spent a long weekend together at a friend’s place on the coast. By day three, she’d put down his friend, his friend’s wife and even their dog. He’d never called her again. “Well, this has nothing to do with that.”
“Still, it’s interesting to hear about,” Melanie said from her spot beside him. “What flavor did you label Francesca as?” He glanced at her again, this time with a frown, and she shrugged. “What? I can’t be curious?”
“That was a long time ago, Mel,” he said lightly. “I really don’t recall.”
“I believe you wrote that she was a chocolate who morphed into a rocky road.” The bride chuckled. “That sort of ticked her off, but it made perfect sense to me.”
The groom coughed to get their attention. “We really don’t have time for all of this,” he said with a glance at his watch. “I fit this in between meetings, so…”
Jace kept his expression neutral but cringed inside. Not a good start if the groom was in a hurry to get back to work on his wedding day. One look at Melanie told him she was having the same thoughts. Hell, this was a win for her love-doesn’t-exist side if he ever saw one. Deciding not to push when there were likely other couples who would fit the tone of the article better, he returned his attention to the couple. “Of course. Thank you for—”
“Really, Geoffrey?” the bride interrupted, her voice quietly firm. She turned on her heel and placed her palm on his cheek. “I know today’s meetings are important for our business, but this is our wedding day. Think how wonderful it will be to have that article to show our children someday.”
Skimming her hand with his, Geoffrey said, “I know…it’s just a big day.” He let out a breath. “But as usual, you’re one-hundred percent correct. Okay, Veronica. Fifteen minutes.”
Without turning around, Veronica asked, “Will fifteen minutes give you what you need?”
“Fifteen minutes is more than enough,” Jace promised.
He chanced a look at Melanie, expecting her to appear surprised that this couple might be turning out to be a love match when all prior signs had seemed to point in the opposite direction. But she had a smug expression on her face. Had she truly not noticed?
After several photos were taken and the release signed, Jace powered on the recorder, placed it between them on the bench, and said, “So, tell us. When and how did you two meet?”
“Oh, we were next-door neighbors. We knew each other for years before I finally asked Geoffrey on a date.” Veronica tipped her head to the side, giving her husband a teasing glance. “I was tired of waiting for him to ask.”
Geoffrey’s cheeks reddened. “I thought you were out of my league.” Focusing on Jace, he said, “I had no idea she was even interested.”
“Only because you were blind,” Veronica said with a faint smile. “I had to jump through hoops to get your attention.”
“Tell us,” Jace prodded. This was what he loved about interviews. You never knew where the most general of questions could lead you.
Now, Veronica blushed. “I started by baking him cookies, brownies, anything sweet, because Geoffrey has a sweet tooth.”
“I just thought she was being nice,” Geoffrey said. “Neighborly, you know?”
“And then I started doing my yard work in…well, somewhat revealing clothes.” Veronica gave a slight shudder. “All that did was rouse the interest of some of the married men in the neighborhood. Geoffrey didn’t even notice.”
“I noticed,” the groom said. “Believe me, I noticed. But why would I think you were dressing that way for me?”
“Because the only time I did yard work was when you were home. And I tended to wait until you were out in your yard doing something.” Veronica shook her head in amusement. It was obvious that the bride and groom had gone over this before but still enjoyed sharing their story. “Like I said, he was blind.”
Melanie leaned forward, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. “Why did you keep trying if he didn’t seem interested?”
“Because I knew he was the man for me,” Veronica said with conviction. “The first time I met him, it was as if everything inside of me came to life.”
Those words knocked the air clean out of Jace’s lungs. Yes. That was how he had felt the first time he met Melanie. Looking at Geoffrey, he asked, “What about you? Did you feel that way when you met Veronica?”
“It was like nothing I’d felt before,” Geoffrey acknowledged.
“Then items started mysteriously breaking in my house. Almost every week.” Veronica nudged her husband with her elbow. “Of course, I needed Geoffrey’s help in fixing everything.”
“I still can’t believe you did that.” Geoffrey shook his head, but Jace saw the mix of pride and pleasure in his gaze. “First it was her clogged garbage disposal, then it was the broken faucet, then her garage door opener fizzled. One thing after another for…three, four months?”
“S
omething like that. And that’s when I gave up all of my games and asked him out. We sold our houses within a year and moved into a new home together.” Veronica sighed in contentment. “A few months ago, we opened our own business. And last month, Geoffrey proposed, and here we are. That’s our story in a nutshell.”
“It’s a wonderful story,” Jace said. “And it’s obvious how much you love each other.”
“But why did you decide to get married here, instead of having a big wedding?” Melanie asked, her voice low and even. “Don’t get me wrong, but this seems…sort of rushed and, well…” She trailed off and shrugged. “Not romantic at all.”
“We started to plan a formal wedding,” Veronica admitted. “But we were getting stressed, and our families weren’t helping. Every time we turned around, they wanted to add more people to the guest list. We were beginning to dread a day that is supposed to be wonderful.”
“So we decided that the wedding itself meant far less to us than actually being married,” Geoffrey said. “But we’re having a party for our friends and family this weekend. Today we wanted just for us.”
“I see.” Melanie shifted, reached for the clipboard and the other recorder. “Jace will finish up with you. I’m going to move on to another couple before any others get away from us.” Standing, she gave Geoffrey and Veronica a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day. And, um, congratulations.”
Jace pretended he was okay with Melanie’s departure. They were here to interview as many couples as possible, after all. Yet, he couldn’t erase the suspicion that her quick-footed escape had little to do with the work that needed to be done. No, something about this couple’s story bothered her. He was sure of it, even if he couldn’t detail the reasons why.
Setting his questions aside, he returned his attention to Geoffrey and Veronica. He had five more minutes before they needed to leave, and he planned on using every second.
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