by Steena Marie
Parker squeezed her hands tighter and pulled her closer to him. In the background, they could hear the excitement of the crowd as people gathered to watch the expert pumpkin carvers just on the other side of the tent. In years past, it was Nikki’s favorite part of the festival, to watch them take ordinary pumpkins and turn them into works of art, but at that moment, all she wanted was to be in Parker’s arms.
“I’m sorry, Parker.” Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. “I was scared and—”
He silenced her with a kiss. Tender, and warm, it was all she needed to know that things would be okay.
“Believe me,” he said when he finally pulled away. “The only thing I want from this moment on is to be honest with you and build a life with you.”
Was he saying what she thought he was saying? There was only one way to know for sure.
“And by build a life, do you mean—”
“Get married?” He smiled and squeezed her hands. “I know it’s not the most romantic proposal in the world and I planned on having a ring and flowers and—”
“Yes.” She cut him off. “Yes. Yes. Yes. I’ll marry you.” Sure, he hadn’t officially asked her, but she also knew what she wanted, and she was sick and tired of letting anything get in the way.
Parker pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. When he finally pulled away, there were tears in Nikki’s eyes, but this time because she was happy.
“Nikki Landon, I love you, and I refuse to spend another day without you—”
His words were lost as Matt ran around the corner. “It’s time,” he said, totally unaware of the moment he’d interrupted. “Melissa and Abby just got here. With Wade.”
15
Melissa
Melissa’s body drummed with nervous anticipation. Flashes of that awful day when she’d arrived home, over nine years ago and panicked to Greta Wilson that she was all alone now, that Wade had just up’ed and left them…it all overwhelmed her and she couldn’t get her body to stop shaking.
“It’s going to be okay, Mel.” Wade reached across and grabbed her hand. He threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed tight.
“I have so much explaining to do,” Melissa mumbled. Would people forgive her for never correcting the misconception, for actually going along with the idea Wade had left them, her and their daughter for no good reason, when it was the furthest thing from the truth?
“We’ll deal with it together,” Wade said.
“Just tell the truth, Mom. Everyone will understand.” Abby blew a bubble and popped it.
The truth. Last night in the hotel room, they’d all played a game of Truth or Lie. After they’d ordered in pizza and chicken wings—an odd combination for a first night out of jail dinner—rather than watch a movie, Abby had come up with the idea to play a game. But not just any game…something that would help them all become better acquainted.
She’d raised a smart girl, that’s for sure.
The game had gone well. At first, things were very light, and it felt good to laugh together as a family. But then, the tone became a little more serious, and real feelings were displayed through their statements until the laughter turned to tears.
The night ended with a pact between the three of them to always tell the truth.
“I will, Abby. I promise.” Melissa looked at her daughter through the rearview mirror and gave her a sad smile. “But it’s going to be tough at first; I’m not going to lie. I don’t even know how to explain what I’ve done.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” Wade said.
“Sure there is. No matter what my reasons were…I basically gave up on you. I thought it better to consider you deadbeat than tell the truth. I punished you for over nine years because of a small mistake.”
Wade shook his head. “It wasn’t a small mistake. I killed someone. I knew better. Knew I was tired and I should have pulled over hours before.”
Abby sighed. “How long do we have to keep beating ourselves over this?”
Melissa had no reply and when she glanced at Wade, apparently he didn’t have one either.
“I bet you people already know. Do you really think you could have kept something like this a secret for so long?” Abby leaned forward. Her hands rested on both her parents’ shoulders.
“No one knows, honey.” Melissa would have known if others had found out. Becky hadn’t even known…and if Becky had no idea, then no one did.
“Don’t be surprised, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Why do I have a feeling you’re not being completely honest with us?” Wade half turned in his seat to face Abby.
From the rearview mirror, Melissa caught the slight shrug of her shoulders. Something was up. Did people actually know? Had they actually gone along with Melissa’s lie? Why? Why would they do that?
“What are you looking forward to the most, Dad? Being home, I mean.” Abby quickly changed the subject.
“Being home home, or just home in Halfway?” Wade asked.
“Halfway. You know the Pumpkin Festival is happening. Are you looking forward to the pumpkin pies? Or seeing old friends? Or…”
“Hmm, pumpkin pie.” Wade exaggerated the action of licking his lips, before he put his hand out, surprising Melissa.
“Can you pull over here?” Wade’s voice hitched.
In front of them was the Halfway sign. Melissa slowed down, and pulled over onto the gravel shoulder until she came to a stop right in front of the sign.
“What’s wrong?” Melissa put the car into park.
Wade shook his head and opened his door, getting out, and walked closer to the sign. He just stood there, his hands jammed into the pockets of the fall jacket Melissa had bought him.
“What’s wrong with Dad?” Abby asked.
Melissa bit her lip and didn’t say a thing. But she got out of the vehicle and went to stand beside her husband. They stood there, staring at the sign, no words spoken between them. When Melissa finally glanced up to look at Wade’s face, she saw that he was crying.
“Some days I wondered if I’d ever be able to come back,” he whispered.
Melissa wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. “This is your home.”
“We’ll see.” Wade sucked in a deep breath and let it out. They walked back to the car and continued on their way, the silence between the three of them thick.
“Where do you want to go first? Home or the town park?” Melissa slowly drove through the streets of Halfway to let Wade take in the sights of his hometown.
“We should get it over with, don’t you think?” Abby spoke up.
Get it over with, as if it were a hard task to accomplish.
“Parker is probably waiting for you,” Melissa said quietly. She wanted the decision to be his—whether they head home and hide away for a few more hours before people searched them out or to face everything now, while they themselves were still fairly raw emotionally.
It would take a long time for them to heal as a family. There was no way nine years of separation could be erased overnight.
“No more hiding,” Wade said.
“No more lying,” Melissa added. This time, she reached for Wade’s hand and squeezed.
Touching him, having him here beside her, although it remained slightly awkward at the best of times, it still felt right. She felt whole again. Seeing him yesterday as he walked out of the prison, all those walls she’d built around her heart crumbled. When he reached her side and engulfed her in a hug, held her tight against him as he wept in her arms, the cracks in her soul began to heal.
Whatever was about to happen was going to happen. Whether it was today, tomorrow, or the next day. They couldn’t run and hide from it. This was their life now.
Wade gasped as she drove down Main Street. She could have pulled over anywhere to park, but she knew it would be better to head towards the town park and face the music, so to speak.
And she really hoped there would be mus
ic. Country, specifically.
As she pulled up, Melissa’s eyes teared up at the sight before them. A banner had been raised that said “Welcome Home” and beneath it stood everyone, all their friends, waiting for them.
For Wade.
“Oh cool! Look, Dad—”
Wade cut her off.
“Did you know about this?”
Melissa wasn’t sure how to respond. Wade sounded stressed, panicked almost.
“I thought you told them all I took off? This looks like everyone knew…”
Melissa swallowed hard and took a really long look at all those who waited beneath the banner.
It was everyone. The whole town practically stood there, in a large group, with large grins on their faces.
They knew? Everyone knew? How?
Melissa’s chest tightened as her hands gripped the steering wheel. What was she going to do? How was she going to handle this? She’d expected a few people; she knew the story Becky was going to tell everyone—how she’d overreacted and let a rumor start that basically grew out of control and then only wanted to protect Abby from knowing her father had killed a small girl her age—but…this looked as though there was more to the story. She didn’t expect people to be there, welcoming him home. She kind of expected to lose friends, to have people talk behind their backs…to blackball them from the community.
“I think everyone is waiting for you, Dad.” Abby got out of the vehicle and then went to open Wade’s door.
Melissa watched him. Would he be okay? Was he okay? Could he handle this? Should they have just gone home, let him reacclimatize himself to his new life before throwing him in the mix?
Her husband wasn’t the same man everyone remembered him to be. His body thrummed with tension; his muscles were more defined, his features sharper. There was a steel to his gaze that he never had before and even though he’d engulfed her in his arms when she first saw him, there were times, if she went to touch him unexpectedly, that he jerked away.
But they hadn’t been together long enough to know how much more of him had changed.
Was he still the fun-loving, friend-focused man he used to be? Everyone wanted to be around him, ask his advice, hear his stories. Would they now?
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked him.
“Are you?”
She gave him a sweet smile. At least that hadn’t changed—him always placing her first. But right now, this wasn’t about her. It was about him, and she would be his strength if he needed her.
“We’re together again, as a family. That’s all that matters, right?” She leaned over and placed a soft kiss against his lips before she pulled back and opened up her door.
She stood there for a few moments and gazed around her. All of Wade’s old buddies from school were there. Greta Wilson held a plate of cookies in her hands beside Norma Grant. Becky and Matt rushed over to Wade and gave him hugs and pats on the back. Parker stood there, off to the side with Nikki and when he gave Melissa a slight nod and raised brow, she smiled. He wanted to know if things were okay and they were.
Off to the side stood Nyah, and Melissa quickly glanced away. She wasn’t quite ready to deal with her old friend and the news she’d told her that night at her house. She’d come back to town to help her father, who was ready to retire. But not to work in the office side of his practice. To run it. Nyah had gone on to become a doctor. The guilt she’d felt over Wade’s accident had propelled her to right her wrongs. Good for her. But where she was now a successful doctor, Wade had spent nine years in prison, their family torn apart and his future uncertain.
Melissa wasn’t too sure yet how she felt about that. But it wasn’t something she was going to deal with now. Her attention needed to be on her family.
Abby was glued to her father’s side, as she should be. When she went to join them, Wade immediately placed his arm around her waist but Melissa wasn’t sure whether it was for support or to show that they were a family, united. Did it really matter, though?
Melissa took in a deep breath.
Wade did the same thing.
“This was probably my favorite festival out of them all. I dreamed about being here, smelling the pumpkin treats, seeing the fall decorations, drinking a cup of hot chocolate and seeing your cheeks rosy from the brisk wind,” Wade said quietly.
Melissa was reminded of the festivals they used to go to, together. Wade and Parker would be a powerhouse team, dealing with the pumpkins and all the kids’ games while Melissa would help wherever she was needed. Her favorite times during the day were when she could sneak away and bring Wade a cup of hot chocolate.
“Then I’m glad you came home today, of all days.” She snuggled in closer and smiled up at him.
“Me too.”
“This is a sight for sore eyes. We’ve missed you.” Levi Jenkins came over and slapped Wade on the shoulder. “Good to see your family back together, the way it should be.” Levi gave a deep nod of his head and backed up, letting others take his place.
One by one, people came up to hug, shake hands, or just express their happiness at Wade’s return. The whole time, Melissa was ready to defend herself, her actions, her words if anyone said anything, but no one did. Not once.
Finally Parker came up and without any words, the brothers launched towards each other and held tight. Wade finally broke down and his body trembled with his sobs while Parker squeezed his eyes tight and held on. Everyone around them backed away, to give the brothers their privacy, except for Melissa and Abby. She knew that Wade wouldn’t want her to leave. She had this innate feeling that he needed her close to his side.
There was nowhere she’d rather be.
“We’re going to be okay, aren’t we, Mom?” Abby had tears in her eyes as she watched her dad.
Melissa wrapped her arm around Abby’s shoulder. “We’ll be more than okay, love. We’re not alone anymore.”
“You never were.”
Melissa turned and smiled at her friend, who appeared behind her. She gave Becky a hug and whispered thank you into her ear.
“Oh, this wasn’t my idea.” Becky’s smile was secretive.
“I don’t understand.” If it wasn’t Becky’s idea, then whose was it?
Becky twined her arm through Melissa’s and pulled her off to the side.
“You’ve never been one to hide your emotions very well, you do realize that, right? We all knew something wasn’t right when you came home all those years ago without Wade.” Becky leaned her head on Melissa’s shoulder.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” They’d known?
Becky shrugged. “We’re all family, aren’t we? You needed to deal with this your own way, so we let you. As a community. We’ve always had your back, Melissa. Always.”
“Who found out?” The idea that everyone knew, that she hadn’t kept her secret…that had her world spinning more than she’d thought possible.
“My mom and Levi, with the help of Mrs. Wilson. You can’t pull a fast one over them. But once they found out, they worked hard to make sure you never knew.”
Melissa shook her head. Greta Wilson knew? Norma Grant?
“So when you told me you’d take care of his homecoming…”
Becky pulled away and her face shone with the brightest smile Melissa had ever seen.
“Oh, I just told my mom Wade was coming home and she took care of the rest. You know how she is!”
Shocked and amazed, Melissa didn’t know what to say, so instead, she sought out Norma and gave her the best hug she could give.
“Thank you, Norma. I don’t understand, but thank you.”
Norma held on tight for a moment. “Enough with all the hugging now. That’s all you guys have done since you arrived. It’s time to get on with the activities, don’t you think?” Norma’s voice was a bit gruff but Melissa wasn’t fooled. The older woman had tears in her eyes.
“I can’t thank you enough,” Melissa whispered.
Norma grunted. “Of course
you can’t. Do you have any idea how hard it was to go along with your silly little lie and not tell you it wasn’t necessary?” Norma shook her head, a slight frown on her face. “If your mother had been here…she would have done the same thing. Protected you and your daughter. So that’s what we did. And, that’s why you’re going to give me a good deal on the cookbooks for the Tree Festival next month.”
Melissa laughed. Give her a good deal? Melissa wasn’t making money on it as it was.
“For you, anything,” she told Norma. She’d figure something out. Maybe she could talk to Nikki about doing the layout instead of outsourcing it, saving money in the long run.
And on the subject of Nikki, Melissa looked around for the woman and found her off to the side, organizing the bake table full of muffins and pies.
“Need any help with that?” Melissa asked.
Nikki shook her head. “I think I’m only making a mess of Norma’s handiwork.” She peeked over at Norma and gave a small smile.
“Parker tells me I owe you an apology.” Melissa shuffled her feet and glanced behind her at her husband. Her heart flopped at the sight of him, as he stood among his friends. He looked lost but at the same time, happy. She couldn’t even imagine what he was going through.
“So you’re only apologizing because Parker said to?”
“What? No.” What was with the attitude? “I already apologized, at Becky’s. I thought we were okay, but apparently we’re not. But we need to be. For our men’s sake. We used to be friends.”
Nikki’s eyes flashed with something—regret, maybe—before she, too, glanced over towards their men. “We’ve both made our share of mistakes when it comes to our children and those we love, haven’t we?” she said quietly.
Melissa just waited. There was obviously something on Nikki’s chest that she needed to say.