“That’s one of the questions I need answered today. I’d like to make sure that single fathers aren’t being excluded.”
The dean’s receptionist hung up her phone and came around the desk. “Miss Simmons, Dean Bailey is ready to see you now.”
“Thank you.” Felicity turned to Melissa. “Would you like to sit in on the interview?”
“Could I? That would be fabulous.”
“Come on. You can be my assistant. Afterward, we’ll get a cup of coffee and you can tell me all the crazy things Chris did as a kid that he doesn’t want me to know about.”
“That’ll take more than one cup.”
“All right, we’ll make it two cups and you can tell me what drives him nuts. It never hurts a woman to have the straight facts about her man.”
Chapter Seven
Wednesday evening, the McNeil household was in a state of mild uproar. Melissa sat in the family room watching the latest crime investigation show on TV and tried to stay out of everyone’s way. The school play was due to start in an hour.
“Mom, I can’t find my moccasins!”
“They’re on your bed.”
“I looked there.”
“Look again.”
“Angela, where is my blue tie?” Dave wandered into the family room, parked himself on the arm of the sofa and instantly became engrossed in the television show.
His wife came by a minute later, tie in hand. “Here it is, dear. Dave, don’t you dare start watching that show. We have to leave in five minutes or the star of the show will be late.”
“Mom, I still can’t find my moccasins!” Lauren shouted from the landing.
“Samantha, help your sister find her shoes!” Dave bellowed, keeping his eyes glued to the set as his wife slipped his tie over his head.
“Never mind, I’ve got them.” Lauren raced into the room, the dark braids of her wig flying out behind her and the fringe of her dress fluttering with every move.
Melissa turned in her chair. “Lauren, you look great.”
“Thanks. Hey, why aren’t you getting dressed?” A stricken look crossed her young face. “You are coming, aren’t you?”
“Tonight is for you and your family. I’m going to stay here and enjoy a quiet night home alone.”
“But you can’t miss this. You’ve got to come.”
Dave finished adjusting his tie. “You’re welcome to come, Melissa. We’d love to have you.”
“I’m not ready and I would make you late if you had to wait on me.”
“I don’t mind waiting until Melissa gets ready. We can take two cars. That way the rest of you won’t be late.” Richard’s deep voice behind her sent an unexpected shiver down her spine.
She looked over her shoulder. “That’s okay. Really. I’m sure you want to go with your family.”
“Melissa, you have to come. Please?” Lauren pleaded. “You may never, ever, get another chance to see me on stage.”
Melissa saw Richard’s lips twitch as he held back a smile. “Yes, please come. You don’t want to upset our star on her big night, do you?”
“Of course not. All right, I’ll come,” she answered quickly. She realized she was far too willing to spend any amount of time with Richard, and she hoped he didn’t notice her eagerness.
Lauren threw her arms around Melissa. “Yeah! Thank you, thank you. After the play we’re going out for supper at my favorite place, the Mexican Hat Café.”
“I know the place. They have great food.” She cast a sidelong glance at Richard. A play and dinner. It almost felt like a date.
As the family gathered their coats and made their way out the door at last, silence settled over the house.
Richard clapped his hands. “Get a move on, woman.”
She jumped up from the sofa. “I’m going, I’m going.”
“How long will it take you?”
“Ten minutes tops.” She headed for the hall.
“Make it snappy. I’ll call my date and tell her I’m going to be a few minutes late, but I warn you, she doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Melissa spun around to stare at him. He was bringing a date? The idea shouldn’t have been so startling but it was.
She struggled briefly with a sense of disappointment, then realized her foolishness. He’d said that there wasn’t anyone special in his life, not that he didn’t date. He was her friend. She had to stop foolishly reading more into his kindness.
Walking back toward him, she said, “I can’t intrude on your date, Richard.”
“You’re not intruding. You were invited.”
“No, you go on. I’ll be fine here.”
“Nonsense. Lauren is expecting you. You can’t back out now. Hurry up or we won’t get decent seats.”
Nodding in reluctant agreement, she did as he asked, but her excitement at being included had fled.
Fifteen minutes later they were threading their way though traffic, headed toward Mill Road Bridge and the town of Hickory Mills. The lights of the city made a festive backdrop beyond the car windows. The holidays were fast approaching. Already many stores had Christmas displays in their windows.
What would her holidays be like this year? Melissa wondered. She dreaded going through Christmas. Each year she marked the anniversary of Jenny’s death on December twenty-first, and each year it became harder to find the joy that seemed to possess everyone else during the season.
At least by Christmas she would be able to afford her own place, and she wouldn’t inflict her dismal spirits on Richard or her own family. Only, did she really want to spend the holidays alone? Pushing aside her troubling thoughts, she focused on the road ahead. “Does your girlfriend live in Hickory Mills?”
“My what? Oh, you mean my date. Yes, she does. I’ve been trying to get her to move to our side of the river, but she won’t hear of it.”
He turned onto the street that ran past the bus station near the downtown area and pulled up beside a dark storefront. On the second story, lights blazed brightly from the tall arched windows that faced the street. His friend must live in a loft apartment.
“I’ll be right back,” he said opening his door.
Melissa knew a moment of unease as he sprinted up the stairs to the second-floor landing. What would his date think about him showing up with another woman in tow? The last thing Melissa wanted to do was cause problems for the man who had befriended her. A few minutes later, Richard emerged from the stairwell with a small, white-haired woman clinging to his arm.
Escorting her to the car, he opened the back door, but she said, “Oh, don’t make me sit in the back seat like somebody’s granny. I can’t hear a thing anyone says back there. I’ll sit up front if your young lady doesn’t mind.” She leaned down and wagged her fingers at Melissa.
“Of course, I don’t mind. I’ll be glad to sit in the rear,” Melissa assured her. She gathered her purse and opened her door, but the elderly woman was beside her before she could climb out.
“You don’t want to sit in the back by yourself. Scoot over, dearie, there’s plenty of room for all of us in this boat.”
Melissa quickly found herself sandwiched between Richard’s muscular shoulder and the spry little woman who seemed to need more than her fair share of the front seat.
“Introduce me to this lovely girl, Richard.”
“I was about to. Melissa Hamilton, meet my great-aunt, Lettie McNeil.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. McNeil.” Melissa extended her hand as well as she could in the cramped quarters. “You must be the pie lady.”
Lettie’s laugh crackled gleefully. “That would be me. You can call me Lettie, dearie. What a treat she is, Richard. I think she’s a keeper. She’s not hard on the eyes, either.”
“Lettie, Melissa is a family friend.” Richard’s voice held a playful hint of warning.
“Pshaw, boy, let an old woman dream. Do you bake, child?”
Melissa, more bemused by the second, shook her head.
&nb
sp; Lettie patted her arm. “Well, that’s okay. I’ll be happy to teach you. A girl can’t be thinking about settin’ up house unless she can cook.”
Melissa sent him a questioning look.
“Ignore her,” Richard suggested. “She’s gotten a bit daft in her old age.”
“I’m not the only one getting older, Richard. Don’t go forgetting that fact. Melissa, tell me about yourself. Are you related to the Hamiltons that own the newspaper?”
Richard drove toward the school and listened with amusement to Melissa answering his aunt’s rapid-fire questions. Lettie was normally polite to the women he dated when they met, but she was seldom outright charming. He wasn’t fooled by her ploy that she couldn’t hear in the back seat. The woman’s hearing was every bit as good as his, if not better.
Still, he didn’t mind the close contact with Melissa. He liked the feel of her snuggled against him. For one heady moment, he considered draping his arm around her, but quickly dismissed the idea. What made him think she would welcome such a gesture from him?
At the school, Lauren’s third-grade play went off with only one minor hitch. A nervous pilgrim boy forgot his lines and left the other actors and actresses to flounder briefly. Their teacher, watching from the wings, was able to prompt him and the rest of the play sailed on smoothly.
Throughout the performance, Richard found himself watching Melissa more than the Thanksgiving special. She seemed to be enjoying herself, whispering asides to Lettie and waiting with bated breath each time Lauren recited her lines. He could tell she shared Angela and Dave’s pride in their daughter’s accomplishments when Lauren’s voice rang out sure and precise each time.
Afterward, as the families and friends milled around waiting for the children in the hallway outside the auditorium, Richard took Melissa’s elbow to guide her away from a group of jostling youngsters. She smiled her thanks and his heart faltered, then quickened its beat.
It wasn’t the first time he had noticed what beautiful eyes she had. They were a luminous, dark, liquid brown and seemed to shine with an inner light when she smiled. He chided himself for acting like a romantic fool. He’d never seen himself as the knight-in-shining-armor type, but he could imagine slaying dragons for this fair young maiden.
“Uncle Richard, did you see me?” Lauren came charging down the hall with one of her fellow actresses at her side.
“I saw you, kiddo. You were great.”
“Did you see me, Melissa?”
“Of course I did. You were the perfect Wampanoag girl. Totally believable.”
“I was?”
“Absolutely,” Melissa assured her.
Pulling her friend forward by the arm, Lauren said, “I want you to meet my very best friend in the whole, wide world. This is Talia Valencia.”
Melissa kept a smile on her face, but it was difficult as painful memories overwhelmed her. How many times had she and Jenny introduced themselves in the same manner in this very school building? “My very best friend in the whole, wide world.”
Jenny, why did you have to die? You promised we’d be friends forever.
Lauren tugged at her friend’s hand. “Come and meet my great-great aunt. She’s a hoot.”
“It was nice meeting you,” Talia called back in Melissa’s direction.
Suddenly, Melissa wanted to go home. She wanted to see her old room filled with photos and trinkets that would bring her memories of Jenny into focus. What had their third-grade play been about? What had Jenny been wearing the day she turned sixteen? What did she look like that day? Surly that had to have been one of the best days of their lives. How could she have forgotten? The only image she recalled was of Jenny’s face, ghastly pale, her beautiful, dark blond hair only patches of stubble after the chemo. Jenny in the hospital bed, gasping for breath and begging Melissa not to let her die.
The hallway began spinning out of focus. Melissa couldn’t catch her breath.
“Melissa, are you all right?”
Jerked out of the past, Melissa clutched Richard’s arm to steady herself. “I need some air.”
“Of course.” He slipped an arm around her waist and half supported her as he led her toward the school doors and out into the chilly night. She drew in deep, ragged breaths as she leaned on him and clutched his suit jacket in her hands.
“Melissa, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
“I’m fine. I just need a minute.” Already the terrible memory was fading. She willed it to the dark place in the back of her mind.
“Maybe I should see if there’s a doctor here?”
“Don’t go shouting, ‘Is there a doctor in the house?’ Please, I’ll be fine in a minute.” Her laugh was shaky, but it seemed to reassure him. The panic left his eyes, but his concern remained.
“I won’t yell for a doctor if you’re sure you’re all right. You went as pale as a sheet in there.”
“I’m sorry. It must have been the crowd.” She wasn’t going to dredge those memories up by talking about them now. Little by little, she began to realize she was being held in Richard’s arms—and it felt wonderful. He seemed so strong and yet so tender. He was a buffer between her and the sadness that threatened to overwhelm her. He made her feel comforted, protected—safe. If only those feelings could last.
She tried to pull away. His arm tightened. “Let’s find a place to sit down first.”
He led her across a small strip of lawn to where a low brick wall ringed the flagpole. Only when she was seated did his hold on her loosen. She shivered, more from the loss of his embrace than from the cool night air, but he quickly pulled off his jacket and wrapped her in it. It wasn’t as good as his arms, but it carried the scent of his masculine aftershave and she snuggled deeper into its warmth.
He sat beside her and with a gentle hand to her chin he turned her face toward the light coming from the school. She managed a weak smile. “I’m sorry I scared you.”
“I’m sorry I insisted you come tonight. You would have been better off resting at home.”
“And miss Lauren’s big night? No, it would take more than a dizzy spell to make me regret coming.”
How can I be sorry you held me in your arms? For a second she was afraid she had said the words aloud.
“Are you sure the baby is okay?”
She pressed her hand to her tummy. There was no thumping going on, but she felt fine. “I’m sure.”
“Thank the Lord.”
She was astonished at the degree of relief in those three words. A flush of tenderness filled her heart. He really was concerned about her child. She found the thought endearing. The contrast between the way he behaved and the way Dean had acted was as different as day and night.
“There you are, sitting in the dark like a pair of spooning sweethearts,” Lettie called out as she came across the grass, a mischievous smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.
Richard rolled his eyes and Melissa smothered a nervous giggle.
“Shall I try and explain?” he asked under his breath.
“No, let the old woman dream,” Melissa whispered back.
Maybe, just maybe, a young woman could dream, too.
Later, after she had reassured him for the fifteenth time that she was fine, Richard reluctantly agreed to let her join the rest of the family for supper at their favorite restaurant. He kept a close eye on her and barely noticed what he ordered or the bright Mexican decor. What he wanted to do was take Melissa home and wrap her in cotton wool. She had scared the daylights out of him. Now, she sat talking to Samantha and Lauren as if nothing had happened.
As if his heart hadn’t plummeted to the pit of his stomach at the sight of her pale face. As if the scent of her perfume didn’t still cling to his jacket and stir the memory of her slender form enfolded in his arms. As if the smiles he coaxed from her didn’t make him feel like a prince. If nothing had happened, why did he find himself staring at her like a lovesick schoolboy?
She leaned toward him and
gestured toward his plate. “How are the cheese enchiladas? I thought you’d like them. They are one of my favorite dishes from here.”
“They’re fine.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say. The riot of emotions filling his mind left him tongue-tied.
She took another sip of her iced tea, then dunked a chip into the salsa. “I’ve always liked this place. The food is so authentic.”
Angela motioned toward Richard’s plate with her fork. “Those aren’t on your diet, are they? You know what the doctor said.”
Concern dimmed the happiness in Melissa’s eyes as she stared at him. “What doctor? Richard, are you sick?”
“His cholesterol was sky-high,” Angela answered before he could say anything.
“It’s under control now,” he interjected.
“He has to watch his stress and his diet. Our dad died of a heart attack when he was only forty-eight. With a family history like that, Richard’s doctor is keeping a close eye on him. Richard knows what he’s facing. He has to take care of himself.”
Richard could have cheerfully strangled his sister. The last thing Melissa needed was someone else to worry about. He sought to reassure her. “I do watch what I eat, and I jog four miles three times a week.”
Melissa didn’t look the least bit reassured. Frowning, she reached over and snatched his plate away. “I wish I had known. I never would have suggested you try these. Here, have my salad. I haven’t touched it.”
Across the way, Lettie propped her elbow on the table and winked at him. “She sounds just like a wife, doesn’t she? That’s what you need, Richard, a sensible wife to look after you.”
Beside her, Lauren brightened. “Hey, Melissa could marry Uncle Richard and be his wife. Then she wouldn’t have to move out when we leave and we could come and see her anytime we wanted. What do you think?”
Melissa ducked her head and he couldn’t see her face. Around him, the others laughed. All except Aunt Lettie, who watched both of them with keen interest.
Chapter Eight
The next morning, Richard decided to pay an overdue visit to Wallace Hamilton at Community General. The new medical center, a modern glass-and-steel building, was only a few blocks from the downtown area, so he didn’t have to travel far out of his way.
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