Chapter Thirty
Melody
Seeing David in handcuffs is cathartic. It almost doesn’t feel real, the man who’s given me so many nightmares is thrown down, humbled, broken. The part of my past life that gave me so much shame and fear might soon be gone.
Even better is hearing the list of charges he’ll be facing.
But the best thing of all?
That I have so many people by my side to lift me up.
I’m at the station for maybe half an hour before Alice and Alanna both show up. Doc Anderson’s already come and gone, putting Julian’s arm in a sling and giving him a stern reminder to come by his office in the morning to get some proper x-rays.
I’ve got Julian next to me, his good arm on my shoulders, and my friends around me. I’m surrounded by people I love, and I feel like there’s no more reason to hide.
“Bitch, you should’ve told me,” Alice says, her voice filled with concern and brimming with love and not a hint of accusation. “I get that you didn’t want to open up that can of worms, but I’m your friend and I love you, damnit.”
I hug her. “I’m sorry, and I love you, too.”
“If you want to really get rid of him, I know someone that can help you. An old boyfriend of mine who owes me a few favors,” Alanna says, wrapping her arm over my shoulders and giving me a hug, before sitting back and running her fingers along her throat. “One phone call, and he’s done.”
“You dated a hitman?” Julian says.
She shrugs. “Not exactly. He ran some cartel or another. It was just a casual thing. I was on break in Cancun, and well, Cancun is Cancun, so I wanted some company. When I was done with him, he’d lost his voice from screaming and offered me a villa to stay. But I was already getting bored, so… Anyways, he still sends me love letters twice a month. Let me know if you want his number.”
“Who the hell are you?” I ask incredulously.
“Damn woman,” Alice chimes in.
Alanna shrugs. “I’m me.”
“But, anyways, no thanks on the cartel-boss booty-call-assassination-thing. I just want to put all this behind me, for good, and live a normal life for once,” I say.
“Are you sure?” Alanna says. “Normal lives can be boring.”
“Right, but I’d at least like something a little more normal than this last month or so.”
“Does that mean you’re not leaving? For sure?” Alice says.
I look at the people around me. “If you all don’t mind having the most gossiped about person in town as a friend.”
“I might give you some competition there, love,” Julian says, pulling me in tight with his good arm for a sideways hug.
“Fine. Most gossiped about woman in town,” I say.
Alanna clears her throat. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Ok, one of the most gossiped about women in town.”
“Well, whatever it is, the answer is yes,” Alice says. “And I think this calls for a few rounds at the Rook’s Nest.”
“We just came from there,” Alanna says.
“Right, but there is shit all to do in this town. Besides, when you have a bar that gives you cheap drinks, it’s criminal not to make use of it,” Alice says.
Julian’s still got his arm around me. It’s incredible just being next to him, feeling his warmth and presence against me. I know there’s still a lot we need to talk about, but there’s a rightness to being around him that gives me confidence we can build a future together. I give Alanna and Alice a telling look. “The two of you go ahead. We’ll catch up.”
They leave, and then Julian and I head out into the parking lot of the sheriff’s station. It’s chilly and I pull closer to Julian for warmth. I look up at him. It still feels strange to have him here. We didn’t leave on good terms; I can shut my eyes and still see the hurt look he gave me burned onto the back of my eyelids.
“Why’d you come back?” I say, hesitantly.
He makes a contemplative noise that I feel resonate in his chest. “I almost didn’t. Fuck, Melody, if I wasn’t angry as hell at first. At you, yeah, but moreso at Victoria and Pierce for trying to wreck our lives. But I’m lucky to have some people to talk sense into me and get me back on track when I’m losing my mind. And they’re happy to remind me that, with my reputation, I’m in no position to judge someone about their past.”
“It was terrible of me keeping stuff from you, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it… When we started out, I didn’t think this would be real. I thought I’d just walk away. But then I fell in love with you, and it was just so shamefully paralyzing even thinking about telling you..”
“If we’re both going to start apologizing for our pasts, you’re going to need to find somewhere to sit down, because you’re going to be listening to me talk for a long time.”
I smile up at him. “Still, I mean it. I feel like the worst kind of hypocrite. I really don’t know how I can make it up to you.”
“Maybe you can start by giving me a second chance.”
Heat blooms in my cheeks, in my chest, it sets my face alight with a smile. I hop up on my tiptoes and kiss him. “I’d like that.”
He grins and kisses me back. “Good, because it’d be a real fucking mess if you didn’t. You know all that construction work going on at Gary’s hardware store, just down the street from your clinic?”
“Is that you?” I laugh, then I fake a posh, regal tone. “What happened to being the almighty CEO of Stone Capital?”
“I still am. But, let me ask you this: how much do you know about natural gas prospects in Bulgaria?”
“Nothing,” I say, without even hesitating.
“And how much do you want to learn about it?”
“Not at all. Ever.”
“So, for the time being, I am still the CEO of Stone Capital, but, as for the future? We’ll have to see. I owe the people who work for me enough to make sure that I do things right, even if that involves selling the company or finding someone else to take over the reins.”
“You seem pretty relaxed for a guy who potentially is walking away from a ton of money.”
“I already have a ton of money. I’ve spent my whole life going after stupid things I thought would make me happy. But now, I have the chance to be with someone makes me truly happy and that’s worth more to me than anything else in the world.”
I turn into him, pressing my chest against him and hugging him as tight as I dare, considering his arm in a sling. Even with so many questions swirling about my future, about his future, about our future, just being with him lends a certainty to things that makes me sure it’ll work out alright in the end. I kiss him again, and he holds me to him, his lips meeting mine and setting my whole body on fire.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he says, and I smile so wide it makes my face hurt. Then, he says, “now, come on, your friends are waiting for us.”
Hand in hand, we head towards his busted car. I don’t quite know what the future has in store for me, but I know that, with Julian by my side and my friends around me, I’ll be ready for it.