by Steena Marie
“Wade is his brother too. Did you ever think about how hard it must be for him to pretend his own brother had run off, abandoning his family?”
Melissa shook her head and looked up into the sky. The tears had stopped but now the pin pricks of a headache were there, piercing into her skull. Of course she’d known it was hard for Parker but he’d agreed.
He’d agreed.
She must have whispered the words because she caught the sheen of tears in Nikki’s eyes.
“Of course he did. He loves you. You’re his family.” Nikki’s hand reached out, as if to touch her, to offer comfort, but then it fell back to her side and in that moment, Melissa realized that Nikki wasn’t the enemy.
Nor was she a friend either, though.
“Then I guess I need to talk to him. But he should have come to me first, given me a heads-up that he was going to tell you.”
Nikki nodded and then winced. “That’s kind of my fault.”
“Excuse me?”
She shrugged and the skin around her cheeks went red. It could have been from the cool wind but Melissa didn’t think so.
“I thought…” Nikki’s gaze dropped to the ground. “I thought maybe you were interested in him, as you know, more than—”
From deep inside her, a laugh rippled through Melissa’s body until she was doubled over and forced to grip her knees. The idea that she was…her and Parker…no. God no.
“He’s…” she couldn’t stop the laughter, “oh my God, Nikki. He’s Parker. Parker. My husband’s brother. Oh my God.”
She knew she must look a sight, from crying to laughing, but she couldn’t stop herself. She let the emotional roller coaster take hold, work through her body until she was left struggling to take a breath.
“Everything okay?” Becky tentatively asked.
“I have no idea,” Nikki said softly.
Melissa glanced up and saw both of them looking at her with concern filled faces.
“Melissa?”
She tried to smile at Becky but ended up only shaking her head as she kept filling her lungs. In and out. In and out. When she knew she wasn’t going to burst out in tears or laughter, she reached for Becky’s hand and squeezed.
“Nikki thought I had feelings for Parker.”
She wasn’t sure how she expected Becky to react to the news, but it wasn’t for her to agree, that’s for sure.
“Can you blame her? I’m sure there are others in town who wonder the same thing.”
Melissa’s eyes grew round and she wanted to deny, to argue her stance but then thought better of it. She’d dug this grave herself.
“I never…that’s not what I—”
“I realize that now,” Nikki said. “But it’s what I thought. So Parker came to your defense. And I get it…that’s what I meant to say earlier, or at least, what I was trying to say. I understand.” Her words came out in a rush as if she expected Melissa to go off on her again, and Melissa felt a smidgen of remorse.
“I’m,” she swallowed hard, past the lump in her throat, “I’m sorry. For losing it like that, for saying—”
“Please.” Nikki reached out and grabbed Melissa’s hand. “Please, don’t apologize. I handled it wrong, when I came out.”
Melissa shook her head. “We both did.”
“So we’re all good now? Please? Can we go back inside where it’s warmer at least? Besides,” she gave Melissa a pointed look, “we’re not done talking.”
“Why don’t you two go back in and I’ll just come out later to pick up Ryan, okay?” Nikki backed away but Becky stopped her.
“Not going to happen. Stay. Both of you. You can help me figure out how to fight this morning sickness and then we can work on a plan on how to fix the mess Melissa made.” She turned to Melissa. “If you’re okay with that, which you have to be, because you’re not dealing with this alone. Not anymore.”
Melissa welcomed the hug that Becky enveloped her in. “Thank you,” she whispered into her friend’s ear.
“Only if Melissa is okay with me staying.” Nikki stood off to the side, her arms crossed.
She looked guarded and Melissa knew it was her fault. She’d said some horrible things. And still kind of meant them. Kind of. But it wasn’t fair of her to be mad at Nikki…her anger needed to be directed to Parker. But then, that wasn’t even fair, was it? What if Nikki was right? She’d never really thought about how Parker felt in all this. He’d agreed with her decision to lie about Wade, but she’d never really asked him why he agreed. Was it just for her? For Abby?
She felt sick to her stomach as she realized that for nine years, she’d made him carry out the lie. That wasn’t okay. She was a horrible person for doing that and she owed him a huge apology.
But not only him…her daughter too. What kind of mother did that? Made her child think her father had left them? That wasn’t okay either.
“Melissa?” Becky’s voice was muted, as if in a fog. “Nikki, help me get her into the house before she passes out.”
She let herself be walked back into Becky’s home and forced to sit down. Moments later, a warm mug was pressed into her hands and the heat of it swept through her body. She hadn’t realized just how cold she’d been.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She stared at the wood table, unable to look up.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Nikki said to her.
Warm hands settled on her shoulders and gently kneaded the tight muscles.
“Of course she does. She’s screwed up big time and you were quite rude to Nikki.”
Melissa raised her startled gaze up and looked at Becky, who gave her a sad smile.
“Well,” Becky said. “You have and were. Let’s be honest here.”
“It’s okay, I mean it,” Nikki said. “I handled it wrong and really shouldn’t have said anything. I just wanted you to know that I got it, that I understood, and here I go again.”
“No, no. It’s okay. Becky’s right. I’ve screwed up and I need help to fix this. And I was rude. I could have listened to you at least without blowing up and I didn’t mean that stuff…you know, about you meaning nothing to me.” Melissa dropped her head in shame.
“Seems to me we used to have blowups like this quite a bit when we were younger, too. Remember? We were both hotheads.” Nikki pulled out a chair and sat down while Becky kept quiet and cut pieces of coffee cake.
“My mom used to tell me I should have been born a redhead.” Melissa smiled at the memory. “I do need to talk to Parker, though.”
Nikki nodded. “Yes, you do. But don’t get mad at him, okay?”
“No one is getting mad at anyone today. Got it? And if anyone is going to be emotional—it’s going to be me. Hello? I’m pregnant, remember? So…can we bring the conversation back to me? Melissa, we’ll deal with you later.” Becky handed out the plates and sat down.
“So…morning sickness, mood swings, and amped-up sex drive. Anything else I should be ready for?”
10
Nikki
It had been just over twenty-four hours since the emotional confrontation between Nikki and Melissa and as far as Nikki was concerned, it could be longer until she saw Melissa again. A lot longer. Nikki was still licking her wounds when it came to the hurtful things the other woman had said to her and try as she might, and damned if she hadn’t tried, she could not forget the vehemence in Melissa’s voice as she told Nikki she didn’t matter to her.
Not that she should be surprised. Of course she didn’t mean anything to Melissa. Why would she? They’d never really been friends and just because she was…well, whatever she was with Parker, didn’t mean that Melissa had to think of her as anything other than what they were. Acquaintances. Maybe it had been too much to wish that they’d be friends. Or maybe she just needed to cut the other woman some slack; she was obviously going through some things. Things that Nikki couldn’t possibly understand. And hadn’t she been just as defensive when she’d been hiding her own secret not that long
ago?
Despite all the ways she’d tried to justify it in her head, Nikki still couldn’t get to a place where she felt good about the way she’d left things with Melissa. Even after Becky—bless her—had dragged them both back into the kitchen in an attempt to bond over coffee and cake, it was still awkward, and Nikki had made her excuses and gotten out of there as soon as she could.
She shook her head clear for the umpteenth time and tried to focus on her work. She needed to stop thoughts of Melissa and Parker from interfering with her work or she’d be in real trouble if she couldn’t meet her deadlines. She was just about to plug her earphones in and drown out her inner thoughts with some mindless pop music when her phone rang.
Parker.
Again.
She’d avoided his calls and he knew it, which meant he’d gotten her voicemail—a lot. Enough that his voicemails sounded concerned. Nikki knew it wasn’t fair to make him worry about her or them, but she didn’t really know what to say to him at the moment. On the one occasion they had spoken, she’d managed to avoid any mention of anything really by rattling on about how much work she had to do and how she really needed to focus if she was going to get her jobs done before the Pumpkin Festival. It wasn’t totally a lie. And if she was totally honest with herself, she wasn’t even totally clear why she was avoiding him.
With a sigh, she dropped her earbuds on her desk and picked up the phone.
“Hi.”
“Nikki, how have you been?” She could hear the mix of relief and worry in his voice, and guilt clawed at her.
“I’ve been really busy.” The lie came easily, and she hated herself for it. “It’s been kind of crazy.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” Parker wasn’t an idiot and she was a bad liar. Nikki squeezed her eyes shut.
“Nikki, what’s going on? Why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not—” There was no point avoiding it any longer. “Okay, I am.”
“Why? I thought what we had going was…well, I thought we had something.”
“We did. We do. We…” She rubbed the heel of her palm into her eyes. She was screwing this up. And for what? “We do,” she tried again.
“Then what is going on with you? Nikki, I don’t have the time or the inclination to play games. I need you to be honest with me, and I thought what we had going on was worth that.”
“It is,” she said quickly. “I just think it might be a good idea for me to back off for a little bit, just until you get things sorted out with Melissa.” There, she’d said it. What she’d been thinking ever since Melissa blew up at her.
“What are you talking about?” She could hear the frustration in his voice and part of her, a big part, longed to take it all back and make all of the drama between them disappear. “I thought I told you there was nothing going on between me and Melissa. I explained it all to you. I told you it’s my brother and—”
“I know. And I get it, I really do. But when I said something to Melissa, she totally—”
“You said something to Melissa?”
“Yes, I went over to Becky’s and she was there. I was just trying to let her know that I understood and—”
“Shit.”
Nikki waited for him to say something else. After a moment, he finally asked, “Did she freak out?”
“That’s an understatement.” Melissa’s hateful words replayed in her memory again. “I’m pretty sure I made it, whatever it is, worse. I just need to back off for a bit, Parker. Until you figure out whatever is going on with Melissa, I’m going to steer clear. I don’t deserve the things she said to me, and I understand she was upset and probably totally taken off guard, but I didn’t deserve it and I’m not putting myself in that position again.”
“Okay,” was all Parker said.
“Okay?”
“I get it, Nikki. And I don’t blame you. I need to talk to her. I’ve actually been putting it off for a few days, but there are a few realities Melissa’s going to have to face very soon. And having you in my life is one of them.”
A warm glow bloomed in her chest.
“I’m going to go talk to her right away,” Parker said. “As for you, we’re still on for the Pumpkin Festival, right?”
She smiled, even though he couldn’t see her through the phone. “Of course.”
“Good, then get your work done. I’ll see you soon.”
***
After talking to Parker—something she should have done right away—it was as though a load had been lifted from Nikki and she flew through the remaining design work she had. With a free afternoon stretching in front of her, Nikki decided to head down to Main Street to grab a coffee and maybe even one of those pumpkin spice muffins from the bakery she kept hearing about. It was a beautiful day. The air was crisp, but not cold yet. Montana could be unpredictable with the weather and Nikki knew enough about living in Halfway to know that it could change in an instant. It was best to enjoy every warm autumn day as if it might be the last, because it very well might be.
Which was why after she got her coffee and muffin from Muriel, she went right back outside to the town square and found a bench to enjoy her snack on.
“It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”
Nikki looked up to see a vaguely familiar woman on the bench next to her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your quiet time,” the woman said. “I just thought you looked like you were enjoying the day as much as I am.”
Nikki swallowed the piece of muffin in her mouth. “No,” she said. “You didn’t interrupt me at all. Hi.” She gave the woman a wave. “I’m Nikki Landon. Are you new to town? You look like I should know you.”
The woman laughed. “I’m sort of new,” she said. “My name is Nyah Henderson. I grew up in Halfway, but I moved away and…now I’m back.”
Nyah? Melissa’s best friend from school, the one Parker told her about.
“You were friends with Melissa Tait-Rhodes, right? Or, I guess it was just Melissa Tait back then.” Nyah nodded. “You were a few years ahead of me in school, but I’m—” She stopped short of saying they were friends now. “I know her,” she finished lamely.
Nyah’s face closed up, and then a strange expression crossed her face. “I was,” she said after a moment. “We didn’t really keep in touch after I moved away and then…well, we haven’t really seen each other for a long time.”
Nikki nodded in understanding. It wasn’t that long ago she was a stranger to her childhood best friend, too. Her relationship with Becky had taken a lot of mending, but she had a feeling that the reason Nyah and Melissa were no longer in touch had something to do with the accident and Wade, not that she was going to mention it. No way—she’d had enough experience getting in the middle of Melissa’s business. Whatever went on between her and Nyah was none of her business.
“Coming home can be hard,” Nikki said instead. “I recently moved back to town, too. Are you moving back?” she asked, realizing she’d just assumed. “Or just here for a visit?”
“No, I’m back for good.”
“You don’t look really happy about it.” Nikki joked in an effort to lighten the mood. “I mean…well, I don’t really know what I mean.”
“No.” Nyah smiled. “It’s okay, really. To be honest, I wasn’t very excited about moving back. I mean, I loved living and working here when I did. I was a paramedic for the county, but I left almost ten years ago to live with my mom in Oregon, and I never thought I’d be back.”
“So then what happened, if you don’t mind me asking? I mean, it’s not every day people move back to Halfway. It’s a great town and all, but there’s not really a lot going on here.”
“It’s true.” Nyah laughed again, which was nice, because Nikki could tell she was loosening up. “And like I said, I never thought I’d be back. But my dad’s retiring and he offered me the practice. It’s a great opportunity and—”
“Wait,” Nikki interrupted her. “The practice? Your
dad, is he—”
“Dr. Henderson. Yes,” Nyah finished for her. “I’m going to take over the practice.”
Nikki wasn’t sure why she hadn’t made the connection herself; after all, Halfway was a small enough town that she should have heard about it by now, but then again…she’d been pretty wrapped up in her own stuff for the last bit. And there was one other thing. “Wait. I thought you said you were a paramedic.”
“I was.” Nyah’s face grew serious again. “But years ago there was a patient I couldn’t save because I didn’t know enough. I didn’t have the skills and…anyway, it doesn’t matter. But I went back to school, and I’ve been practicing in Portland for the last little bit.”
Nikki nodded. “Well, I’m probably the last to know.” She laughed at herself. “I usually am. But welcome to town.”
“Thanks. But I think you’re probably the first to know. Dad didn’t announce anything yet and we just made the decision, so here I am.” She raised her arms in the air. “Truth be told, I’m actually enjoying the relative quiet before people find out I’m back.”
“Well, I’m glad to be the first to know then. And you’re just in time for the Pumpkin Festival this weekend. It’s going to be a big deal. This is actually the first year they pushed it back so it was closer to Thanksgiving. People are really excited.” That was an understatement. The whole town was spooled up about the festival. The citizens liked nothing more than a good festival to plan for.
“I remember the Pumpkin Festival,” Nyah said. “As a kid, we’d pick out the perfect pumpkin to decorate our porch with. Only back then it was before Halloween, so we’d carve them. What did the kids do this year if the festival was so late?”
Nikki chuckled as she remembered the pumpkins Ryan had brought home from Matt and Becky’s farm. “Oh, there were pumpkins. If you ask me, pushing the dates back gave everyone a good excuse to grow twice as many pumpkins this year. Remember, we’re talking about the people of Halfway here.”
“True. Any excuse for a party.”