ONE
Present Day—Silvercreek Harbor, Maryland
“Wish my shift was over. I hate working nights and weekends. How’d you manage only working weekdays?”
Melissa Evers, known as Mellie to her friends, grinned at Claire, who was busy blowing her red bangs out of her eyes and fanning herself.
“On my first day of work, it was pouring down rain. Some tiny lady with huge white hair, wearing a million rings, was getting out of a black sedan and yelling at the driver for not having an umbrella, so I gave her mine.” She tucked a springy curl behind her ear and set the heavy backpack next to her feet.
“Turns out she was some big, important board member—showers the museum with loads of cash every year.”
Claire laughed as she rang up a customer, bagging the Matisse keychains and Picasso pens. “Thanks, come again.”
The gift shop had emptied out, most of the patrons eating dinner as Mellie tidied up the counter while Claire idly flipped through a book on medieval castles.
“You have the best luck, Mellie. If that had been me, I would have never noticed her. I’m always head down, engrossed in my phone, mumbling ‘sorry’ as I bump into people.”
Mellie checked the time on the battered Cinderella watch. “I’ve got to run to make it to my class on time. Last one and I’m done for the summer.”
“How are the accounting classes going? What do you have, another year?”
The nametag stowed in a basket under the counter, her blue smock placed on top so it would be ready and waiting on Monday, Mellie didn’t even have to think about the lie anymore. The baskets reminded her of a kindergarten class, patiently waiting for the kids to come back to their cubbies after a fun weekend.
The words rolled off her lips easily—the more she said them, the easier they came. “Yep, one more year and then I’ll be a cog in the corporate machine, like most people.” But in truth, she was officially done with school and had one year to put her plan in motion.
“Your family must be thrilled. Get a job with a big company and you’ll make bank.”
Not meeting Claire’s eyes, Mellie redid her ponytail, forcing the springy curls into some semblance of order. “Yep, that’s the idea. Have fun this weekend. At least you have nights off. Any big plans?”
Her friend widened impossibly green eyes and, not for the first time, Mellie wondered if she wore colored contacts. “New man. I know he’ll be better than the last one. How about you?” Claire waggled her eyebrows. “What are you and Greg doing? Spending the weekend inside snuggled together like two lovebirds?”
Happiness flooded through Mellie at hearing his name. “We’re going to the art festival and then dinner. On Sunday, antiquing for the day, a perfect weekend.”
Claire, who was so beautiful, left men drooling but still managed to scare them away after a couple of weeks of her clinginess, placed a hand over her heart.
“I swear, you found the last perfect man out there. How long’s it been?”
“Six delightful months.”
“Oooh, bet a ring’s coming. That one has the marriage look about him.”
“You say that about every single guy you meet.”
Mellie tied the laces on her sneakers, gathered up her backpack, stuffing the lunch bag inside, then impulsively hugged Claire.
“Caught him looking at rings last week on his tablet.”
Claire squealed, jumping up and down. “You’ll have a ring to show off next week, I just know it. I might have to pop in early on Monday to see the rock.”
Still smiling, Mellie clocked out and floated all the way to school, feet never touching the ground, where she was enrolled full-time and taking extra classes every semester so she could graduate a year early. Everyone thought she was taking classes to become an accountant, but what she kept from them all, especially her family, was that she was studying art.
The painting was dry. She stood back looking it over with a critical eye and frowned. The work wasn’t very good, but she hoped she’d met the requirements to pass the class. In time and with lots of practice, maybe by fall, her work would be good enough to take to the gallery she passed every day on the way to the museum. The one with the vibrant colors and workers dressed in black, with no price tags listed on any of the pieces. It screamed only professional artists shown here. How she longed to tell people she was an artist, spending her days working in a studio overlooking the water with paint on her smock, a cat curled up in the sunshine.
But not even the flaws in the work could take away the warm feelings swirling around inside. On the way home, she thought about what kind of wedding she and Greg would have. Big, showy, with all their family and friends. And the ring? It would sparkle from across the room. It was the fastest she’d ever walked the three miles home from school.
Could it really be this weekend? The past six months had been ideal, if she said so herself. Mellie never nagged, always asked Greg how his day was—in short, she’d read every article out there, and there were a lot, to make sure she was the perfect girlfriend.
Inside the cozy apartment, she pulled the curtains open to take advantage of the night view, the lights from the boats in the harbor winking and reflecting off the water. The phone rang, interrupting her reverie.
“Hey, sis. Sunday dinner at our place.”
“Dinner?”
Cal huffed. “Don’t even tell me you forgot. Everyone will be there to celebrate Thurston’s graduation.”
“When we were little, schools only celebrated high school graduation. Now they graduate all the time. Kind of makes the high school milestone less important, don’t you think?”
Her eldest brother turned his doctor voice on her. “What’s wrong? Did Gary break up with you? What happened this time? He fall in love with a stripper?”
“It’s Greg. And nothing happened. We’re great.”
The sound he made in the back of his throat made Melissa want to reach through the phone and strangle him. She didn’t mean to say the words out loud, but her mouth took control of her brain.
“In fact, we’ve been ring shopping.”
There was a moment of stunned silence. “Good job, sis. He’s with a good firm, and Heath will love having another lawyer in the family. Wait until Mom and Dad hear.”
She winced. “I’d rather surprise everyone with the ring.”
“Right.” Cal sounded sheepish. “Guess women like that kind of stuff. Well, at least this one is a keeper. Can’t wait to meet him.” Another call beeped in. “Speak of the devil, it’s Heath. We’ll see you Sunday.”
Her middle brother was delighted to hear the news, and as she crossed her fingers, Mellie sent up a silent prayer. Please let it be this weekend.
“Can’t wait to talk shop with Greg. See you on Sunday. And sis?”
“What?”
“Don’t forget a present for the little angel.”
She hung up. Both her brothers were super successful, one a high-powered lawyer and the other a cosmetic surgeon. They had the perfect, thin blond wives along with two kids and a dog. While she, the surprise baby before her mom hit menopause, floated through life—or, at least, that was what they all thought. Her mom was a dentist and her dad a CEO of the local utility. Yep, she was the one whispered about, the free-spirited loser, just like Aunt Jilly, whom no one ever mentioned except to talk about her for another year after she showed up for the big family Fourth of July party.
It was almost ten. Greg should have been here hours ago; she was the one late getting home from school. Thinking of her boyfriend made her check that she didn’t have paint on her to give away she wasn’t sitting through dreary classes. It was odd for him to be late, and now that she thought about it, he hadn’t texted or called once all day.
When her text went unanswered after an hour, she called, her lips pulled down as if by a hook. No answer. Guess he was still busy with the big case. Her boyfriend was an up-and-coming lawyer and worked all the time, though he usually found a few hours during the week and on weekends for them to do something, even if it was only a movie or quick dinner. But he’d promised they’d spend the whole weekend together. At eleven, she called again.
“Hey, honey it’s me. Guess you left your phone on silent again or out in the car on the charger. My final went really well and I’m exhausted. I’ll see you at nine tomorrow. Sleep well.”
As she curled up in bed, the warm breeze carried the sounds of the boats through the open window, and Mellie fell asleep dreaming of the perfect wedding…though when she turned to face the groom, he didn’t have a face and was nothing more substantial than a stick figure.