Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  Melody nodded her commiseration. “That’s how it starts,” she stated morosely.

  “How what starts?” Honor questioned.

  “The hostile takeover of our heart, my friend. Our local Sheriff is making his stand and planting his flag on your hallowed ground. I know all about it; Callum pulled the same stunt.”

  Honor made a face. “I don’t think I like the sound of that,” she muttered. “Sounds like an invasion.”

  “Because that’s what it is. An invasion of the heart,” Melody enlightened the younger woman as Harmony nodded with a wide smile.

  “Oh, crap,” Honor breathed as comprehension dawned. “I’m never gonna get that man out of my house, am I?” she wailed plaintively.

  “Doubtful,” Melody shared truthfully. “But the good news is that they fix stuff,” she offered weakly, searching her mind for something that would take the look of abject horror off the other woman’s face.

  Patting Honor’s hand as the young woman stared off into space, Harmony smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Honor will be fine. Don’t worry, Mel. She just needs to wrap her head around the simple fact once and for all that Zeke is never gonna give up on her. Much the same way you need to realize that Cal is on your side here. Tell him what’s been happening so that he can help you figure out what to do.”

  “I wonder if I could get rid of the stubborn mule if I had Abel put it in writing and served him an eviction notice. He could do that for me; he’s an attorney,” Honor mumbled aloud to herself as she drummed her fingers against the counter while she stared off into space, deep in thought.

  Melody and Harmony choked back chuckles at the younger woman’s babblings. Looking at Harmony, Mel whispered, “Are you sure your sister’s okay?”

  “I’m fine. I was just deliberatin’ my avenues of attack,” Honor announced firmly as she visibly forced herself back to the present and looked at them. “So, am I tellin’ Zeke about this rigamorole?”

  Melody chewed her thumbnail as indecision overwhelmed her. On one hand, she really wanted to just concentrate on opening her store. On the other, she wanted to live long enough to see that store turn a profit. Decisions, decisions. Finally coming to an inevitable conclusion, she shook her head as she looked at Honor. “Not yet. I want to tell Cal first so that he hears it from me. After that, we’ll bring in Zeke. I’ll need him to keep Cal from commitin’ murder on my ex-fiancé, I imagine. I’ll fill Cal in tonight after I get home from this business dinner.”

  “You’re doing the right thing,” Harmony swore. “There’s nothing like having the man you love at your back, keeping you safe. I don’t trust anybody more than I trust my Jake.”

  “Yes, yes,” Honor sighed, rolling her eyes. “You see, Melody, my brothers-in-law are all just saintly men. They’d have to be to deal with my sisters. Jake and Cain and Abel are just paragons of masculine virtue. Every woman should have a husband like them,” she mocked drolly.

  Smacking her baby sister’s arm in retribution for Honor’s remark, Harmony narrowed her eyes. “Keep talkin’, little sister. My reprisal will be swift but silent,” she warned.

  “I’m terrified,” Honor returned dryly, barely sparing her older sibling a glance. “Do you wanna tell this poor woman why we actually showed up to see her out of the blue?”

  “Oh, yeah!” Harmony said, snapping her fingers as she suddenly recalled why they’d popped in to see Melody. “We just wanted to swing by and let you know that we’ve finalized all the arrangements for your grand opening. Honor will be providing finger food of the appetizer variety. Finger sandwiches, both chocolate covered and regular fruit trays and a vegetable platter with dip, and a triple layer sheet cake big enough for three hundred. I’ve ordered the floral arrangements for the door and arranged for the mayor to make an appearance at lunch. We’re almost to the finish line. T-minus fourteen days, Miss Reardon!”

  “I know,” Melody breathed in awe. “I’ve got all my staff hired with the exception of a night manager, but I’m hoping to resolve that tonight. If I do, I can begin training everybody on our computer system on Monday.”

  “I just wanted to thank you again for offering Sunshine a second job,” Honor said gratefully as she spoke of one of her favorite waitresses at the family café. “She’s having a really hard time right now and the extra money will really help.”

  “She seemed like a great girl,” Melody declared with a grin. “A bit serious, but sweet as pie.”

  “She’s had to be serious,” Harmony said sadly. “With a dead mother, a waste of flesh father, and a baby sister that she’s trying to raise virtually alone, serious is all that poor kid knows anymore. When most kids her age are partying, she’s working her butt off for her and her sister’s future.”

  Melody’s jaw dropped. “Jeez… she never even mentioned any of that. I mean, I asked her vague questions, but none of that ever remotely came up in the interview.”

  “Sunshine is very private about her personal troubles and she almost never lets it interfere with her work. It took her months to open up to me,” Honor shared with a sad shake of her head.

  “Yeah, and everybody finds it easy to confide in Honor,” Harmony interjected with a fond look toward her sister.

  “I’ll make sure to take special care with her, Honor. I can tell she means a lot to you,” Melody offered gently.

  “Let’s just say that damaged people can recognize a kindred spirit when they see one,” Honor disclosed quietly. “Sunshine might come from less than desirable stock, but she’s a good person in a bad situation that she’s trying desperately to escape. I want to help her any way we can.”

  Melody nodded. “Count me in, too, then. I’m glad I chose to hire somebody actually deserving of the job. So many of these kids that I interviewed acted like they’d be doing me a favor instead of earning a paycheck. It was nuts.”

  “Feeling self-entitled seems to be the way of the world these days,” Harmony grumbled as Honor nodded her head in silent accord.

  “At any rate, I feel like I’m close to having all the pieces required to open a successful business in place. Tonight should finally nail down that last item. And after that, I’ve gotta face a problem of a different nature with Cal. Tomorrow, I’ll either be very relieved or very alone.”

  Harmony snorted. “Cal’s not going to leave you.”

  “Oh, I’m not worried about that. I’m afraid I’ll kill him when he starts ranting at the top of his lungs, but right now, I’m gonna focus on one hurdle at a time, and the next one is hiring a night floor manager.”

  “Well, we’ll let you get that planned,” Harmony said as she straightened and tucked her chin length blonde hair behind her ears. “If you can think of any changes you want to make to our plan, there’s still plenty of time. Just give me a call, okay?”

  “Absolutely,” Melody agreed.

  “And if you want me to put a bug in Zeke’s ear, just pick up the phone. I’m always either at the café or at home, hon. Church on Sunday mornings, but you know that considering you go to the same one as we do. So you don’t have any excuse to hesitate in singing out if you need some help,” Honor added as Melody came around the counter and offered both women hugs.

  Tightening her arms around Honor’s narrow shoulders, Melody whispered, “You know, it’s times like this that I’m so glad I came back to Paradise to live.”

  “It’s times like this that remind me why I stay in spite of all the ugly memories,” Honor returned with a weary smile.

  It was then that Melody noticed the dark smudges under Honor’s eyes. “You know, if you ever need to talk or vent, you can call me, too. It works both ways, Honor.”

  Smiling sweetly, Honor nodded. “I know, Melody,” she assured her, patting her arm before moving toward the door.

  Turning toward Harmony, Melody frowned. “Is your sister okay?” she whispered into the older woman’s ear as she hugged her.

  Harmony smiled a tad sadly. “She’s… trying to keep her chin up. This
has been a hell of a year for her for a lot of reasons, chick. Right now, one of us sisters tries to be near at all times. Knowing that somebody is trying to hurt her again…it’s weighing on her. On all of us, really.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Melody apologized softly. “If Cal or I can do anything, Harmony, you call. No matter what time. Day or night.”

  Harmony nodded, blinking back her own tears as she looked over her shoulder at where her sister waited for her. “Let’s get you all squared away and then we’ll see what we can all do to help my baby sister, okay?”

  Melody could only nod, offering Harmony one last squeeze before letting her go. She watched as the elder sister wrapped her arm around Honor and guided her out the door. Sighing, Melody closed her eyes. Bad things always seemed to happen to some of the best people, and she would never understand that freaky fact as long as she lived.

  Pulled from that depressing thought by the ringing of her office phone, she raced to answer it, ready to face her next hurdle of the day.

  ~~***~~

  Beaming in relief as she shook her brand-new night manager’s hand across the table, Melody allowed herself to take her first deep breath of the day even though it was seven o’clock at night. “I am so happy to have you coming aboard our little ship, Austin. I know we’re going to work well together.”

  The sandy haired man wearing horn rimmed glasses who sat across from her offered a reserved smile. “I appreciate you taking a risk on me, Miss Reardon. A lot of employers wouldn’t be so open-minded,” Austin acknowledged softly.

  “It’s Melody, Austin. And a lot of people are too closed-minded to consider all the facts.”

  “I was in prison, Melody. Not jail. Prison. That’s a big thing to look past.”

  “I did my homework,” Melody stated evenly with a dismissive shrug of her shoulders. “I talked to the Sheriff and the Warden of the facility where you were incarcerated. Both men told me the same thing. You should have never been convicted of that crime. Your warden also added that you were a model inmate that kept his head down and nose clean.”

  “I killed my step-father, ma’am,” Austin admitted hoarsely. “I did it. Nobody else but me. The Sheriff and the Warden can’t change that ugly fact.”

  Melody tilted her head as she stared at the man across from her. She’d been prohibited by law from asking, but she guessed his age to be somewhere between thirty and thirty-five. He had a square jaw and grey eyes that seemed to be able to see inside your soul when he trained them on a person. He would have been handsome if he smiled, but instead the years he’d spent locked away had hardened his face, making him seem forbidding. But if she looked closely, she could see the kindness… the gentleness he held within himself. “You walked in on your mother being beaten and defended her accordingly. That required deadly measures, but I don’t believe it was murder. Neither does the Sheriff or your former warden or even my boyfriend, for that matter. And he hates any man that gets near me,” she shared quietly.

  “Well, I appreciate your faith in me and I’ll do my best to do a good job and make sure it isn’t displaced. I got my business degree while I was on the inside; I just never thought anybody would give me a chance to use it,” he confessed huskily, staring at the scarred wooden table where they sat.

  “Well, happily, you thought wrong,” Melody said with a kind smile as she watched the knowledge that he’d found a job sink into the man across from her. She’d noted him vacillating from disbelief to stunned wonder to total silence over a span of minutes. Now, he seemed to slowly be awakening to the idea that not everybody was going to pigeonhole him by his so-called former convict status.

  Austin opened his bearded jaw to say something but was interrupted when a pretty, petite raven haired young woman stopped beside their table. The girl was simply gorgeous…or, she would have been if not for the fading bruise marring her left cheekbone. “Hi, Miss Melody,” the girl greeted them in a husky voice. “I just took over Miss Faith’s shift because she had to get home to her baby girl. Mr. Cain called and evidently the little miss is runnin’ a little bit of a fever. She said that y’all were almost finished here,” she explained with a quick look down at their mostly empty plates. “Can I get either of you anything else? Coffee? Maybe a slice of Miss Honor’s chocolate pie? I snuck a piece before I came in tonight and it was just yummy.”

  “Sunshine!” Melody welcomed the waitress to their table. “I’m so glad to see you tonight. I thought you were working mornings, hon.”

  “I am. Just pullin’ this double so Miss Faith can get home to her little one. I promise, this will never happen if I’ve got an assigned shift at the book store,” the now anxious waitress vowed, shooting a worried look toward Melody.

  “Sunshine, if any of the McKinnon sisters ever need you, I don’t want you to hesitate one bit in telling me. I know you consider them as close as family, sweetie. And I also know that they feel the same way about you. Your job will never be in danger at any time for you needing to stop and help them. I can guarantee you of that much,” Melody promised the younger woman as she squeezed her hand supportively. “Isn’t that right, Austin?” she said with a look at the blank faced man sitting across the table.

  Clearing his throat, Austin nodded slowly. “I’ve been gone from town for a while, but even I recollect that the McKinnon sisters are considered town treasures.”

  “They saved me,” Sunshine mumbled, staring at the floor as Austin’s eyes caught the bruise on her cheek and his lips pressed tightly together, the muscle in his jaw clenching as he ground his teeth.

  Quickly interceding before Sunshine could grow any more embarrassed, Melody smiled at Austin. “Sunshine, here, will be your lead cashier in the evenings, Austin. Sunshine, this is Austin Jackson. I just hired him as Hooks and Books new night manager. You two will work a lot together.”

  “Mr. Jackson,” Sunshine mumbled, bobbing her head at the man quickly as she diverted her gaze.

  “Call me Austin,” his deeper voice rumbled, his eyes staying on the bruise she sported.

  Melody had seen the bruise as well during her short interview with the girl. She hadn’t liked the look of it, but she also hadn’t wanted to make the skittish lady any more anxious than she’d already been. It had been a foregone conclusion that she was hiring the shy waitress for a part-time position because, honestly, when Honor McKinnon asked for a favor, you DID it, but she would have taken Sunshine anyway. There was just something about her that raised her protective instincts. When she’d gotten to know her a little better, Melody would do whatever she could to help this girl with her struggles.

  She and Cal both would.

  These days, she and Cal came as a package deal, she thought with a small smile as she unobtrusively glanced at the clock on her cell phone. Speaking of her protective boyfriend, she’d texted him a few minutes ago while Austin had excused himself to the gentleman’s room and asked him to pick her up in half an hour. Her time was almost up since she knew her man was nothing if not punctual, a holdover quality from his time in the military. Callum had never been late for anything since the day she’d met him. If anything, he had an alarming habit of being early for everything. Tonight, however, she actually kind of dreaded seeing him.

  Because she knew, no matter what she said, he was going to be angry that she hadn’t confided in him about that stupid note under her windshield. It was almost eerie that a few hours ago she’d gotten another one slipped under the door of the locked store door while she’d been shelving a box of inventory this afternoon. And this one had been even scarier.

  I’m tired of watching. It’s time for some action.

  Swallowing hard as she remembered finding the folded paper with her name scrawled in what she really hoped was thick red ink.

  She’d had the forethought not to touch the note with her hands, instead, picking it up with a pair of tweezers she’d had in her desk. The stupid scare tactic was now in a plastic baggy in her purse, waiting to be shown to Cal.

&
nbsp; “Miss Melody?” she heard Sunshine call. “Mr. Jackson…I mean, Austin,” she self-corrected quickly, ‘He’s said that he’s good. Did you want anything else?”

  “No,” Melody answered quickly, shaking her head. “Just the check.”

  Frowning when Austin’s fingers reached the bill first, she held out her open hand. “Give,” she ordered. “If Cal finds out another man paid for my meal, I’ll never hear the end of it,” she warned.

  Austin merely raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “And if my seventy-year-old mother hears that you paid, I’ll catch hell from now until forever. I’m paying.”

  Both Melody and Sunshine laughed at that, and Melody couldn’t deny that mother trumped boyfriend. Nodding at Cal, she murmured her thanks as he quickly handed over a few bills to Sunshine and ordered her to keep the change.

  “Thank y’all!” Sunshine said with an appreciative smile as she took a step back from the table. “Y’all have a good night.”

  “You, too, sweetie. Either Austin or I will call you this weekend to let you know what time we’ll be training on the computer system,” Melody said as she rose from her chair, shrugging on her coat and hooking her purse strap over her arm.

  “Yes, ma’am. I can’t wait,” Sunshine smiled, her entire face lighting up at her enthusiasm.

  Chuckling, Melody nodded, waving at the woman as Austin followed her out of the café. Turning to look at the tall man, she shot him another smile. “Austin, I can’t wait for us to work together. I just know we can make Hooks and Books a huge success.”

  “I’m grateful for the chance, Miss Reardon,” Austin said again.

  “Melody,” she corrected him for the third time of the evening with an exasperated look. “My boyfriend always parks across the way,” she said, nodding across the street. “The lot has always been packed every time we’re here so it’s just habit for us to use that lot now.”