Chapter 11

I drove us home, taking extra care. I didn’t want to risk us getting into an accident because I’d been distracted. When I got there, Belinda was waiting, and Claire was just pulling up. I got out and helped Melody out of the car, carrying her to the door with me while she continued to sob. Belinda took my keys and opened the door, shaken at seeing the two of us like this. I wasn’t a lot better than Melody, at this point.

I’d just watched a man hand over everything he owned and kill himself. It was ... horrifying and touching that he’d made such a grandiose gesture at the end. I sat down on the couch with her still in my arms and the two of us wept inconsolably, unable to explain what had happened.

Eventually the others arrived, and we were surrounded with hugs as we poured out the story, stopping often when our emotions overwhelmed us. Eventually, I calmed enough to relate the hospice visit. The Will was passed around and the document canceling the prenup. I told them what Stan had done and what he’d said. Claire wanted it in minute detail, and I did my best to give her everything I could remember.

We sat in silence for a little while, drawing support from our friends, I found myself thinking this was the most heartfelt memorial that Stan Weaver would get. Two people he’d harmed monstrously, surrounded by the company of loving friends who’d been harmed by others in the same way. There were more tears than just Melody’s and mine. They wept for us though, not for Stan. I’d grudgingly come to respect Stan in the last hour of his life. He could have lived to be a hundred and I’d never have called him friend, but I respected that he did what he could to set things right at the end of his life.

Eventually, Melody cried herself to sleep, still clinging to my neck and we talked quietly for a little while.

“Thank you all for coming,” I whispered. “But it’s getting late. You all need to get up for work tomorrow, except Claire who’s going to stay up all night, typing notes for her new book.”

That got a few chuckles and Claire came and kissed me on the cheek.

“You take care of her. I need a happy ending for my book,” she whispered to me.

I nodded. I’d promised Stan that I’d take care of her both as his dying wish and my deepest desire. I’d protect her from harm, no matter what. One by one, they came to kiss me and Melody on the cheek. Well, Jason patted me on the shoulder because we’re guys. That’s the guy equivalent of a long hug and a promise to drop everything and come running. Never let anyone tell you that guys don’t feel. We just tend to express it without words. It’s funny. Use minimalist expression in a piece of art and women stare at it and dig for the meaning but use it in a conversation between guys and women growl something that ends in “MEN!”

When they left, I got up as carefully as I could and took Melody upstairs. The Master Bedroom wasn’t ready, so all I had was the guest-room. I laid her on the mattress, and she moaned in complaint when I pulled her arms from around my neck.

“No!” she whimpered, waking up in a panic.

“Baby, I’m just putting you to bed,” I told her soothingly. “I’m right here. I’m not leaving. I just need to pull off your shoes.

She nodded, sat up, kicked off her shoes and then started to undress. She asked me for a t-shirt, so I grabbed one from the dresser. She stripped down to her panties and pulled the shirt on over her head. I undressed in the bathroom and then set the alarm for a little later than normal since I wasn’t going to class. I also wasn’t going to work. Mel needed me close, so I’d be here.

The bed was small for two people, but she clung to me like I was life itself. I held onto her just as tight. When sleep took me, I was still whispering to her that I loved her. She was already breathing the slow breaths of deep sleep.

That night, I didn’t have any erotic dreams. I had no dreams that I remembered, but I woke several times to Melody weeping in her sleep. I held her and whispered that I was here and loved her. I don’t know whether she heard me or not, but it seemed to calm her, and she’d settle back to sleep each time.

When the alarm went off, I reached out to turn it off and then I settled back, holding this precious woman in my arms. I kissed her forehead and held her close. She hadn’t stirred when I turned off the alarm, so I took this opportunity to make a new promise.

“Melody, I promise to love you every day for the rest of your life,” I whispered to her. “You have no idea how perfect your name is. You bring music into my monotone life. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered back and then opened her eyes and looked at me with those soul-searching blue eyes.

“You were listening,” I said, smiling a little.

I leaned in and kissed her softly. I didn’t think she was in the mood for passion and neither was I, but this was the woman I loved, and I reserved the right to kiss her in the morning.

“Of course, I was listening,” she said. “I listened all those times you spoke to me through the night too. I kept waking up and you’d tell me that you were here, and you loved me, and it calmed me down. He’s really gone, isn’t he?” she asked me, her voice trembling as I held her close.

“We’ve set him free. The only things that were holding him here were guilt over what he’d done and worry that you might not be okay without him to take care of you. Last night we took those last worries from his heart. He’s at peace and happy for us, I think.”

She nodded and didn’t exactly cry, but she was mourning the man she’d loved at one time. She held me tight and I held her. I didn’t want to get up, but we had calls to make and details to take care of. I bundled her off to the shower while I made breakfast. I’d have to do some shopping later, but I made omelets big enough for the two of us. By the time she appeared at the bottom of the stairs, I was just ready to serve her.

I slid the eggs on the plate and set it at the table before I poured her coffee, made the way she’d taken it the other night. She thanked me and sat at the table. I noticed she was wearing another of my shirts, and she looked better in it than I did. I joined her a minute later with my own plate and mug and we sat down to plan our day.

We were each going to call the lawyers. I was calling Angela and she was calling Stan’s lawyer, Mr. Lawton, to find out what other arrangements he’d made. I was taking the day off work and then we were driving over to her place after the workmen left for the day, to see if anything had to be done there. As soon as Human Resources was open for the day, I called and told them that I wouldn’t be in.

“Someone I know is dying of cancer,” I told them frankly. “I’m very close to the family and I’m needed for the next few days.”

“Did you want to use your vacation time or take unpaid time off?” he asked me sympathetically.

“Unpaid for now is fine,” I said and thanked him for helping out.

My next call was to Angela.

“I’ve been expecting you,” she said when she picked up. “Imagine my surprise when I got a call from Stan Weaver’s attorney yesterday, asking me to meet with him and his client. Surprise turned to shock when they told me why I was there,” she told me. “He actually went through with it?”

“Yes. We stayed with him until he went to sleep,” I told her somberly.

It was still the damnedest thing I’d ever seen.

“We’re kind of lost in all this. I know Wills aren’t exactly your specialty, but I thought you might know an estate lawyer.”

“Taken care of,” she said. “You two don’t have to lift a finger. Stan prepaid the accountant, the estate lawyer and retained both my services and his existing lawyer to make sure no one starts to get thoughts of dipping into the accounts. The Savings and Loan will continue running. The only thing you and Mrs. Weaver have to do is plan the Christmas party and once probate clears, decide whether to keep or sell the business.”

“What about his properties?” I asked.

“The Miami condo is in mothballs, so there’s no bills there right now except property taxes and utilities, which the accountant will take care of. He has a few rental properties left and the primary residence that Mrs. Weaver is living in. Those bills, including for the staff will continue to be paid from the estate, for now.”

“Staff?” I repeated.

“From what I understand, there’s a housekeeper/cook and a groundskeeper. They’re a married couple who live in an apartment above the garage. There’s also a cleaning service that comes in twice a week. The lights will stay on, the bills will be paid, and Mrs. Weaver’s personal accounts have been made flush, so she doesn’t have to worry about groceries or other expenses until after everything’s been settled. Since Mr. Weaver isn’t dead yet, we’re all taking the next few days to prepare so we hit the ground running.”

“I think it’s okay for you to call her Melody,” I told Angela lightly. “So, we’re officially free to just relax and leave it to be handled?”

“That’s sort of why I’m involved,” she chuckled. Apparently, I have a reputation for being scary, so Stan thought of me when he wanted someone to look over everyone’s shoulder. He made it clear to all involved when he hired me that the money was coming from him, but you were my client. His lawyer is technically representing Melody, but the end result is that neither of us can dip into the accounts without the other finding out and I’m too honest to make a run for the cash.”

She paused for a moment and then sighed.

“So, you and his wife. If that isn’t the irony of all time.” she chuckled. “I did tell you things would get better for you.”

“You did,” I allowed. “You may absolutely wallow in saying ‘I told you so’. Wait until you see us together. You’ll sue me for contributing to your diabetic coma.”

“You’ve got it that bad for her, huh?”

“Angela, it’s like there’s a part of me that was always dead. Even when I was at my most in love with Beth, there was this space in the middle of me that was just ... dark. Melody fills it with life. It’s like she’s part of me and I’ve been incomplete without her. Last night was ... I don’t even have the words to describe what we witnessed at the hospice. I just know that I’ll never leave her. If there’s ever a compelling argument in favor of fate, this is it. We belong together. Even Stan saw it.”

“Stop it!” she told me. “You’ll ruin my cynicism for the day, filling me with this much enthusiasm in the morning. It’s got to be against some law.”

We chuckled a little and I thanked her.

“Call me in a couple of weeks and I’ll update you,” she promised.

“Okay,” I agreed. “Thanks again, Angela.”

“No problem. I’m glad things have gotten better for you, but we need to stay in touch this time to work through all of the estate issues.”

We hung up and when I turned around, she was watching me.

“So, I complete you?” she asked, obviously having heard some of the conversation. She had a beautiful smile on her angelic face.

“You’ve unlocked parts of my soul I didn’t even know were there,” I told her. “It looks like we’re free to start planning our future. Angela said that the only thing we need to do is to plan the Christmas party for the savings and loan employees.”

“Are you going to be okay with that?” she asked. “Your wife used to work there, after all.”

I shrugged.

“With you there, I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “The planning part will be interesting. I’ve never really planned a big formal party.”

“Not even your wedding?” she asked, surprised. “I’d have thought you were involved in that.”

“My involvement came down to, ‘do you like this choice or that choice’, followed closely by, ‘no, I think we’ll go with the other one’.” I shrugged and grinned. “I’ll try to be more helpful this time, I promise.”

“This one’s easy,” she said lightly and picked up her phone. She looked up a number and then dialed it.

“Hello, my name is Melody Weaver. I’m looking to book a Christmas party for my company ... About a hundred people with dates and all. We can be flexible with the date, but preferably on a weekend ... That’s a Saturday? Perfect. We’d like it decorated for the holiday. Tasteful. Not too glitzy. Okay. Dinner, bar services, dancing. We’d like to provide gifts to our employees, but we can ... You do? Wrapped? That would be lovely. I would think fifty gifts that contain both a ‘his’ and ‘her option would be suitable.”

I listened as she hammered out the details for the party. She wanted a DJ who could do Christmas, new music and some oldies and classic rock for dancing; she arranged the menu; suggested gifts for the employees for the evening; champagne fountain, snacks before dinner, dessert and even arranged for a suite for us for the evening so neither of us would have to drive.

Ten minutes! It had taken her ten minutes to arrange a venue, decorations, dinner, drinks, dancing, appetizers, music, gifts and a suite for the night. I was appalled. Beth, May, her maid of honor and various friends had spent two weeks to decide on where to hold our wedding reception; a month on decorations; we had a two-hour meeting to sample different dishes for the menu. They took a weekend to interview people for the music; a week on putting together the little gift bags she insisted on. And that was before she got into the nuts and bolts of her dress, bridesmaid’s outfits, matching tuxedos for the gents and I’m not even going to go into how vile the micro-managing was for the seating arrangements. We actually signed a peace treaty, swearing never to discuss the seating arrangements again.

“I can’t wait to sit you in a room with Beth and make her watch you plan a big party,” I laughed and told her about the wedding and all the nightmares, leaving out the seating plan, of course.

She chuckled.

“Well, we could have done that, but it’s so much easier to have the professionals at the Ritz-Carlton do it instead,” she pointed out.

I hopped into the shower and we got dressed. She was still wearing my oversize t-shirt and her jeans from yesterday. I dressed casually and by the time we were done cleaning up the dishes, the contractors were there to start work. I was exiled to my study, so I wouldn’t get hints and Mel came to visit me regularly, so I didn’t feel neglected.

“How do you feel?” I asked gently when she brought in lunch for the two of us and cuddled in my lap.

“I feel ... empty, I guess. I mean, I was looking forward to us having our revenge on him for all of it. Now, I don’t think I want revenge. I’m ... I’m grateful that he was decent at the end, you know?”

I nodded. “If not for him, you’d have continued on to college, probably in DC or somewhere in the north and we would never have met,” I pointed out. “He also loved you. The love you two had might not have been passionate, but he respected you and tried to protect you from the worst of himself.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I wasn’t in love with him, you know? I mean, he was my first, but he was more like an uncle than a husband. We even had separate bedrooms. He said that it was because of sleep apnea, but he admitted after he was admitted to the hospice that wasn’t it. He just didn’t want to be around me.”

I nodded and held her gently.

“Well, I do,” I told her with a playful smirk.

She looked at me, surprised and then laughed and settled against me and cuddled for a little while.

“You know, I always wondered why your wife hooked up with Stan,” she said. “When you told your story and mentioned that she was bored, I thought that was the most pathetic excuse imaginable. That’s a reason to stop watching a TV show or put down a book or cut a date short. You don’t get bored with someone you love. You sometimes need space, but you settle into a place like my grandparents did.”

“Grandma and Grandpa used to be able to sit in the same room, doing different things all day, without saying a word to each other. They took comfort from each other’s presence. I was probably twelve when I realized that they’d glance at each other and smile once in a while. Sometimes he’d look at her and smile while he watched her for a second. Sometimes she’d do it to him. Once in a while though, they’d both look up at the same time and the smiles they had for each other were so beautiful, I knew that was what I wanted from life. I wanted a man that would look at me the way Grandpa looked at Grandma even after all those years.”

She paused and squeezed me tight, leaning in to kiss me before continuing.

“So, when you told us that she’d said that she’d just fallen out of love, my first thought was of Grandma and Grandpa and I thought ‘that stupid cow doesn’t have the first sweet clue what love really is. She’s not after love, she’s chasing hot sex and she nearly ruined you in her search for more dick’. I kind of hate her for that.”

“I really don’t hate Stan any more. He did what he did because he’s been damaged for years before either of us met him. Your ex though ... I want to punish her. I saw in your eyes how badly she hurt you when you recognized me Thursday. I want us to show her what real love is all about.”

I smirked. “Her mother wants to meet you. She’s talking about wanting us to go down there for the holidays.”

“You told her about us?” she asked, looking at me. “Aren’t you worried she’ll tell Beth?”

I shook my head.

“She sometimes wants to shake Beth to see if she can hear the loose screws in her head rattle. May’s excited about you. She knows who you are and knows that Stan and Beth had the affair. She asked if we’d come down for Christmas. She wants to see the look on Beth’s face when she realizes who you are and how in love we are.”

“We should just hire a camera crew to follow us around when we go to see her,” she laughed. “So how come you told your ex mother-in-law?” she asked.

“Because I love May to death. Her husband is a complete asshole, but I’m told he’s starting to change, since I told him off after the divorce. Beth is Beth, but May’s always treated me like her own son, not an outsider that’s getting frisky with her daughter. She’s been worried about how I’m handling it, and she’s a little pissed at Beth for her latest stunt.”

“Oh?” she said, her eyes turning hard. “What’s she done this time?”

“Nothing terrible,” I promised. “She wants me to meet her new boyfriend. May’s mad at her because Beth made me meet Stan just after their affair started, and now she’s asked me to meet her new guy.”

She rolled her eyes at that and shrugged. “Typical self-centered bitch. She wants to rub your nose in it a little more.”

“Yeah, well, she’s in for a shock, isn’t she?” I said knowingly. “She has no idea that I’ll be bringing you with me. She can rub my nose in thoughts of Roger all she wants. I don’t love her anymore, so there’s nothing she can say that can get under my skin. If she decides to kiss him to make me jealous, she’s doomed to fail. She could tell me she’s two months pregnant and I wouldn’t care since I have you. Nothing in the world could make me want Beth back. And if me shaking hands with her cop boyfriend makes it more exciting for her, great. Let her chase the sex. We’re in love, and she has nothing compared to that.”

She nodded. “I still want to do something to punish her,” she said crossly.

“Bring a copy of Stan’s Will,” I suggested. “Showing her that he left everything to the two of us may make her head explode.”

She laughed at that. “If that doesn’t, we should tell her what he said at the hospice,” she suggested.

“Probably,” I said with a nod. “Even if it doesn’t get to her, I know that she’ll always know that I’m honoring Stan’s dying wish. Of course, he made it easy, by asking me for something that I was planning to do anyway, but she’ll always know that it was his last wish that the two of us stay together.”

“I still want her to scream with frustration,” she said.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed in spite. Even thinking evil thoughts, she looked adorable. I couldn’t help it, I laughed.

“You look so cute when you’re scheming,” I told her.

She looked like she wanted to argue, but she broke down into giggles as we enjoyed the rest of our lunch together.

“Trust me,” I told her. “When May hugs you like a daughter and treats you like family, steam will come out of Beth’s ears. If I can get May to share one of her recipes with you ... well, she never trusted them to Beth.”

That got her eyes to light up. “You think she might?” she asked hopefully.

“I think if we’re there for Christmas and we help around the kitchen, she might share some with both of us,” I told her.

“I’ll let my parents know that we’ll be coming to see them for New Year’s then,” she said sweetly. “I should check and see if I can get a flight for you to come for Thanksgiving,” she added and leaned forward to check the airline schedules.

Twenty minutes of that proved that we were weeks too late to find a last-minute flight to Washington.

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her with a kiss to the back of her neck. “I’ll stay here and have the gym to myself all weekend while everyone else is filling their plates with comfort food.”

“I don’t want that! You’ll be alone the whole weekend.”

“No, I won’t,” I told her. “I’ll have you in my thoughts. I promise, I’ll cook a really big steak or something else delicious.”

“You’d better,” she warned me. “Otherwise I’ll feel guilty about going.”

“Someone has to tell your parents about all of this,” I reminded her.

“Ugh! And my sister! She’s gonna ask more questions than Mom and Dad put together!” she told me. “Allison’s a pain. Thank God she’s still in high school or she’d be down here trying to insert herself into my life.”

I laughed a little at that.

“You think she’s going to decide that your pool is her pool?” I asked knowingly.

“Hopefully that’s all of mine that she decides to try to claim. I’d hate to have to send her home to Mom in a box,” she said sourly.

“Baby don’t get upset. She’s still a couple of years away from coming down here to try to do anything. We can just conveniently have already decided to vacation somewhere else.”

“She’d invite herself along,” she said, her mood already crashing.

“And your parents would just pay for her to tag along?” I asked. “Because we’re not. I don’t know her, and you don’t want her along. That means she’s gotta raise the money somewhere else.”

She gave me a dark look.

“Daddy’s Girl,” she sneered.

Okay! You don’t need to hit me over the head to know what’s going on here. Allison was very obviously her father’s little princess and Melody was the second-class citizen growing up.

“How about we put in a fence with a gate and just don’t give her a code?” I suggested lightly.

I caught the look on her face and decided she was still in a bad mood.

“We could electrify the fence,” I suggested.

She laughed, possibly at the thought of her sister lying in the driveway twitching with her hair smoking and sticking up on end.

“She’s not that bad, but she seriously gets everything that she wants from Dad. It’s revolting. I’m older, but she was allowed out later, had a car at 16, had fewer rules, more money, the best of everything.”

“Worried she’s going to try to take the best of your life?” I asked gently.

“Maybe. She’s been that kind of bitch before,” she said. “There was a reason that I jumped into things with Stan quickly. She’d already stolen a boyfriend from me. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to have your ex-boyfriend show up to family dinner on your sister’s arm?” she growled.

I shook my head. “My brother is sixteen years older than me,” I confided. “He was out of the house by the time I was out of diapers. I can promise you that she’s not going to get the chance to do that to you again though.”

“She’ll try,” she said sullenly.

“Let her,” I told her lightly. “After what you and I have been through this past year, neither of us will ever cheat on each other. She can try all she wants. If it helps you feel better about it, I’ll buy something special to wear any time we go to visit your parents.”

She looked at me strangely. She obviously hadn’t gotten as deep into the websites as I had in my research. I took the mouse and surfed to an online store I had saved, clicking on one of the links.

“Male chastity devices?” she read the title out loud.

She took the mouse from me and started looking through the items.

“These look uncomfortable,” she said uncertainly.

“They probably are,” I admitted.

I’d looked at them a few nights ago and wondered why any sane man would agree to wear one. Now I was suggesting it for her peace of mind.

“For you, I’ll wear one while your sister is around.”

She looked at me as if trying to decide if she should agree or trust in me to keep Allison off of me. I took the initiative.

“Pick one. We’ll order it and it’ll be here in time for us to have it on the trip.”

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around my parents,” she shook her head.

“Just pick one,” I said. “We’ll bring it with us and decide to use it or not. If we use it, you keep the key to the lock.”

She frowned, but we finally selected one that didn’t look like it was too uncomfortable to wear. I ordered it and set it to be shipped to the house.

“I’m really not comfortable with this,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t want you to feel like I don’t trust you.”

“That’s not how I feel at all,” I told her. “This is about me trusting you. First, I trust your judgment that Allison is a threat. Second, I trust you with the key to unlock it.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she asked sheepishly.

“Until we make sure that Allison has no interest in breaking us up, I’d prefer it,” I told her. “I’ll never touch her, but this stops any misunderstandings that she might be able to arrange. The last thing I need is to come out of the shower and find her lying across the bed waiting to ambush me.”

She nodded and looked at the screen again, getting another hard look at what we’d just bought.

“Okay,” she relented, her voice sounding relieved. That told me that the fear was real for her. I held her quietly for a while and let her calm down, taking the mouse long enough to close the browser window so she wouldn’t keep looking at what we’d bought.

“We probably won’t need it,” I soothed her gently, “but it’s for both our peace of mind.”

She nodded and slowly, we got back to a normal mood. We talked about Christmas in Atlanta instead of Washington and she regained a little of her good mood as we planned to help May with dinner.

“Let’s call her and make plans to be there,” I said lightly, hoping that May would cheer her up considerably.

We called and got hold of May.

“Hello Rand! I am so happy to hear from you again.”

“Hello May. I’ve got some good news and good news.”

“Oh my. Two good bits of news. I feel so special!”

“May, this is Melody.”

“Hi.”

“Oh my, this is good news. Hello my dear. So, you are the wonderful woman that has saved my Rand’s life?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Ok, first things first, Melody. My name is May, not ma’am.”

“Thank you. Rand and my friends call me Mel.”

I cuddled with Mel and talked a little, but mostly let them make the arrangements between them.

“May, we would like to take you up on your invitation. Can we come for Christmas?”

“Oh yes! I’ll have one of the spare rooms ready for you.”

“No, we’ll stay at a hotel. We don’t want you to go to any trouble for us. We’ll book a suite, so you don’t have to worry about us being in the way. It also gives us somewhere to retreat if Beth doesn’t like the idea of us.” Mel said with a giggle.

“You let me handle her,” May said with a conviction that said Beth had better be prepared to face the skillet if her mother became angered. “My daughter may be a handful, but she’ll behave under my roof. You two are coming at my invitation. Glen and Beth will just have to deal with it, or they can cook their dinner out in the garage - and eat it out there as well. Glen likes to keep a case of MRE packs in the garage, they can just snack on those, if they misbehave.”

This was May on the warpath. I’d never heard her dig in and draw battle-lines like this. I was a little intimidated.

“Uh, May?” I cut in, uncomfortably. “I’m a little worried. It sounds like you’re kind of looking forward to duking it out. What’s up?”

“The more time I spend thinking about the past six months, the less I like how Beth treated you,” she said with a sigh. “You both tell me that she fell out of love with you a long time ago and I’ve given that a lot of thought, too. If Glen had learned to keep his fat mouth shut, she might have had more respect for you, so I’m mad at both of them. I love them dearly, but I love you too, Rand. You’ve treated me like your own mother for as long as you’ve known me. I won’t turn my back on you and if they don’t like it, well, they know where the MREs are!” she growled.