I pour myself a cup of coffee after sending Braydon a quick message to make sure he got Jacob to school. “Hey, why are you texting me instead of making up for lost time with Melanie?” Braydon says when he walks in my door a few minutes later. I didn’t go into details in my message, but I did let him know that I was here alone if he wanted to stop by.
“Let’s say last night didn’t go as planned and leave it at that. I haven’t had enough caffeine to try to think about it again.” I slump back on the couch, reaching for the remote. I should have known that he would race over here as soon as I told him she wasn’t here. The man is seriously one of the biggest gossips I know.
“Um, we’re going to talk about this. What the fuck did you do? When you left yesterday, it seemed like you were finally thinking clearly and that she’s who you want to be with.” He towers over me with his hands on his hips. “Seriously, I know this isn’t easy for you, but if you keep waffling, you’re going to chase her off. Melanie is too fucking good to live in Alyssa’s shadow. I know that might sound weird seeing as I tried chasing Mel away, but that was before. Now, Alyssa isn’t coming back, whether you like it or not, and you’re about to fuck up the best thing that happened in your life, other than Jacob, for a second time.”
I want to tell him it wasn’t me this time. Every angry word spilling from his mouth is the truth and I know that. But this time, it’s not my fault.
“Bray, it’s not that simple. You’re right, I want to be with Mel. When I’m not thinking about hurting Alyssa’s feelings, Melanie is the only woman I want in my life. But she’s scared that I’m going to freak out and push her away again.” I take a long drink of my coffee, wishing there was a way to get it coursing through my veins faster. Braydon isn’t going to let this drop.
“Maybe that’s because there’s a hell of a lot more on the line now. Your head is still in a fucked up place and she knows it. You have to do something to prove to her that you love her the way you say you do.” Braydon finally calms down enough that he sits next to me, throwing one arm over the back of the couch.
“I’m not asking her to marry me, if that’s what you’re suggesting.” The time will come for that, but it’s too soon.
“Don’t be stupid. I’m certain it’s only a matter of time before you do that, but no, nothing like that. It has to be something meaningful. What could you do that would bridge the time you were apart? Is there anything she loved doing back then that you could do for her now?”
Braydon keeps listing off ways I can show her that I love her rather than telling her and a plan begins to form in my mind. Now, I’m torn because I don’t want him to have Jacob again tonight but I don’t want to wait to make things right with Melanie.
“I know what I’m going to do. But I need your help again.” I sit up a little straighter, confident that this is going to be the only way to get my point across to her. I just hope I have what I need to pull this off.
I give Braydon a quick run-down and ask him to pick up Jacob from school and meet us at Tornado this evening. Melanie promised she would call me today, so I’m going to plan everything around her keeping her word.
Melanie called early this afternoon, apologizing for running last night. I told her it was okay, even though it’s not. I don’t want to be angry with her and I don’t want her to hold back around me. We need to rebuild the trust we used to have in one another. She agreed to meet me for dinner at six o’clock, which gives me fifteen minutes from the time Braydon and Jacob walk in until everything comes to a head, for better or worse.
Jacob runs up to me as we approach the restaurant from opposite directions. “Daddy, daddy! Unca Braydon says we get to have a fancy dinner tonight. He said I have to behave because this isn’t a place kids get to come very much. Where’s Melly?” He looks around me for the woman he adores and my fractured heart crumbles a bit more. Now that I’ve had time to think about the words that pierced me last night, I see what she was saying. The only thing that realization does is strengthen my resolve to never let her go. We both need her in our lives.
The hostess gives me a dirty look when she sees a five-year-old in tow. Braydon wasn’t wrong, this isn’t an establishment where families come to dine. It’s a favorite among high power businessmen and members of state government because of its proximity to the Capitol. Braydon whispers something in the young woman’s ear and her cautious smile softens.
I open a small black box and show my brother the key component of my plan. The silver heart pendant with Melanie’s birthstone and my own. I kept it all these years as the only piece of Melanie that I would have forever. When Alyssa and I got married, I took it out of my dresser and buried it in a box of papers and mementos from college. It didn’t seem right to have it where she could find it but I still couldn’t get rid of it.