Need You Now (Love in Unknown)

chapter 4





One morning, a few days after her date with Ian, Mel woke at six. She couldn’t sleep. Not an unusual occurrence for her. Medical school had pretty much ended any normal sleeping patterns she might have had. Downstairs, she heard her brother moving around in the bakery, getting ready to open for the day. Groaning, she got up and went through the motions of getting ready for the day.

Rather than heading straight to the office, as no sane person would show up there for at least another three hours, she let herself through the back door of the bakery. Her brother stood at one of the counters, kneading a big batch of bread dough. Comforting smells of yeast and sugar and flour, with an underlying aroma of chocolate, filled her senses, taking her back to childhood.

“Somebody’s up early,” Micah said, flashing her a grin. He’d always been more of a morning person than she was. He’d bounce out of bed and be ready for school long before Mel managed to tug on whatever t-shirt and jeans she touched first. Her dad always teased that it was because Micah wanted to get to the food before anyone else.

Mel leaned against the metal counter. “Not by choice. I’m a bit of an insomniac these days.”

They stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the only noise the gentle suction of the bread dough as her brother worked it over and over.

“I walk in here and I expect to see Dad coming through the door, a smudge of flour on the side of his nose,” Mel said softly, Lord, but she missed him. During the summer when she was little, she used to wake up early just to come and sit on this counter to watch her daddy work his magic. The man could make anything taste delicious, but the things he could do with flour, sugar, and a piece of chocolate were amazing.

Micah grimaced. “Me, too. When I’m here alone, I keep waiting for him to grumble that I’m not using enough chocolate chips in the cookies or I didn’t put enough sugar in the fruit for the pastries.”

The terror she’d felt when she got the call that their dad had lung cancer haunted Mel’s dreams. As a doctor, she knew every procedure that would be done, every method that could be tried. As a daughter, she felt completely useless. She’d been alone when she got the call that her dad, the larger than life hero she’d worshipped, died of a heart attack on the operating table. That had been the first time in nine years she’d wished Caine were with her, to hold her. Andrew, her boyfriend at the time, had been very clinical about the whole thing, spouting medical statistics and telling her it was better that her father died before he ran up a huge medical bill trying to fight the cancer.

“It’s finally real. That he’s gone, I mean. Coming home, him not being here. It’s finally made it real.”

Micah, careful not to touch her with his floured hands, pulled her into a quick hug. As much as he looked like their dad, Micah even smelled like him now. A little salt, flour, sugar, and vanilla. Even a hint of chocolate. Warm and solid as the ovens he worked with all day.

Micah pulled back and changed the subject. “How’d your date go? Mom said the guy was a ‘very nice, young man’.”

“He was.” Ian was a sweet man. While he couldn’t be accused of being a deep thinker, he was amusing and interesting enough for her to consider a second date. “I had a nice time with him. I don’t think we’ll ever have a passionate love affair, but there’s enough there that I’ll probably see him again if he asks.”

“Are you happy here, Mel? Do you wish you’d stayed in North Carolina?” Expression serious, Micah began to separate the bread into smaller loaves.

Mel nodded. Even if she hadn’t gotten the call about their mom, she wouldn’t have stayed in North Carolina much longer. Her life there had been about school and learning to be a doctor so she could come back to Unknown and fulfill that promise she’d made so long ago. “I’ve missed being home. What about you? Don’t you miss being a fancy New York pastry chef?”

“Nah.” Micah winked. “I wouldn’t trade the chance to raise my son here for anything in the world. Jax needs his family around him. So do I.”

Micah refused to tell her the whole story, but Mel knew her nephew had been abused by his mother. Micah’s job and Jax’s mother had kept him from seeing his son very often, so Micah hadn’t known. By the time he found out and managed to get his son away, Jax had developed into a quiet, sullen little boy who only cared about video games and baseball.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” Mel grinned. “Especially since it means I have you just downstairs to make me all sorts of tasty treats.”

Micah kept kneading. “Go pull the chocolate chunk cookies out of the oven and you can take two to work with you. There’s a Coke in the fridge, too.”

“Breakfast of champions.” Mel hurried to complete her task before grabbing her share for breakfast and pressing a kiss to her brother’s scruffy cheek. “Love you.”

The sun, just beginning to rise, glided everything a lovely golden orange color, and Mel couldn’t resist walking the few blocks to the office. She loved Texas in springtime. Though it was brief, the entire world looked clean and fresh. In several yards, residents had mowed around large patches where bluebonnets bloomed. The early morning breeze, damp with dew, bore their scent, something akin to ylang-ylang. At this time of morning, there were few people out to disturb the small town peace that hung over her like a cozy blanket. In a short while, kids would spill out of the house rushing to school, harried moms behind them. The old men who frequented Carrs’ cakes would settle into their usual breakfast spots, ready to grumble about the weather or sports or whatever else they felt like complaining about that day. Her mother’s cronies would start bustling around town, running errands and picking up gossip like magpies with shiny new toys. But for now, it was just her and the small town she’d missed.

Climbing the wooden porch stairs of the practice, Mel sighed and said a little prayer. She’d been saying the same prayer every morning when she got to work. Please let patients come today. A silly little prayer, she knew. She didn’t wish for people to get sick or injured, but a few new patients in for a yearly physical wouldn’t hurt. Some of the parents brought their kids to see her, but business was still slow. She was just grateful that scholarships and grants eliminated most of her student debt and her father’s life insurance money took care of the rest. Otherwise, she’d be up a creek without a paddle right now.

It was too early for Sandra to be in yet. The oh-so-charming receptionist didn’t like to come in until exactly nine o’clock. Anna had two teenagers to get off to school, so she wouldn’t be in for another hour at least. Doc Booth was out of town for a long weekend with Clara. There were no cars in the drive. So why in the world was the front door ajar?

The wood around the doorframe looked scarred, as though someone had hacked at it or forced the door open. Instinct told her she should call Gage and wait outside until he got there. She listened to half of it.

“Gage? I know it’s early, but someone broke into the clinic last night.”

“Is anything missing?” Gage’s voice was rough with sleep, but alert.

Mel glanced in. “I don’t know. I have gone inside yet.”

“Don’t touch anything until I get there.”

Mel hung up and used her elbow to ease the door open even further. From the doorway, she could see one of the antique tables Clara Booth loved tipped over the flowers it held strewn across the floor. Stepping carefully into the house, she went first to the reception room. Glass shards littered the polished wood floors, broken out of the china hutch that held little medical knick knacks and pictures of Doc Booth with patients. She did her best to avoid the glass as she made her way to the supply closet that lay between Doc Booth’s office and the reception area. It used to be the butler’s pantry.

Rolls of gauze, packets of cotton swabs, and band-aids covered the long, narrow little room. A few bottles of alcohol and hydrogen peroxide must have been poured out, because puddles of liquid seeped into the supplies on the floor, the astringent odor stinging Mel’s eyes. The locked cabinets where they kept a small supply of prescription painkillers and antibiotics stood open, the locks obviously pounded off by a hammer or something heavy.

Doc’s office looked like a snowstorm of papers had erupted in it. Forty years of medical documents, thrown around into complete disarray. An ache of panic took root in Mel’s chest. Restoring everything would take weeks, maybe even months. At least they’d left Doc’s books alone. And his pictures. It would break his heart to lose those.

Rubbing her sternum, fighting to take slow, easy breaths, Mel climbed the stairs to check her office and the examination rooms. They’d hit her office even worse than Doc’s. Books tossed everywhere, a few looking like pages might have been torn out. Her keyboard had been thrown against the wall, her computer tower tipped over. The med school degree her mother had taken such pride in framing was knocked to the ground, glass broken and the fame cracked in half.

She bent over to look at the framed piece of paper. Maybe not knocked off the wall after all, she mused, noting that the cracks in the glass webbed out from one point of impact. A memory flashed through her head of her mother accidentally stepping on a hand mirror on the way to church one morning while wearing heels. The crack in the glass was almost identical.

“Mel? Melody! Where in the hell are you?”

Hearing Gage’s worried bellow, Mel left the disaster scene and went to the head of the stairs.

“I’m right—“ She stopped mid-sentence. Gage wasn’t alone. Caine stood behind his brother, a thunderous look on his handsome face. “—here. What are you doing here?”

Gage rolled his eyes. “I’m the police chief, genius. You called me, remember?”

She glared at him, annoyed at his attempt to lighten the atmosphere. The last thing she wanted –-or needed — to deal with right now, in the middle of this god-awful mess, was Caine Maddox. “You know I didn’t mean you, jerk face. Last time I checked, making calls to crime scenes at seven a.m. wasn’t on the mayor’s list of official duties.”

Caine gave her a dry look. “It is on the list if the crime scene happens to be at the work place of one of my oldest friends.”

And former f*ck buddy. The last part lingered in the air between the three of them, unsaid, but obvious all the same. Gage looked between them before returning his attention to the mess. “Anything of value missing?”

“No.” Mel walked slowly down the stairs, her feet heavy. “They might have gotten some low grade painkillers and antibiotics. We don’t keep anything more valuable than the computers in the clinic.”

Mouth tightening, Gage prowled through the house, making his own assessment, leaving her alone with Caine.

“You okay?” The soft words held a note of worry that Mel would have found disconcerting any other time. Now, it was just comforting. For one weak moment, she wanted to melt into him. She knew from past experience how strong and safe those muscular arms of his were. Even when she was little, he’d been the one she wanted to comfort her when she fell and scraped her knee because she was trying to play with the big boys. It would be so easy to just give up and let him take care of her like that again.

Stay strong, Carr. He’s no good for you.

Those blue eyes bored into her head, willing her to meet them, which she did. “I’m…It’s hard to see. I grew up here. Feels like someone invaded my home.”

“How bad is it upstairs?” Caine looked as though he wanted to touch her, to put his arm around her or hold her hand, but he didn’t. Smart man. If she gave into weakness now, she’d hate herself for it later.

She shook her head. “I don’t know about the exam rooms, but it looks like my office was hit the hardest. All they did in Doc’s office was toss his files everywhere. My computer was trashed. Pictures broken. Books—“ Her voice caught in her throat. Damn it. “They tore up my books, Caine.”

His arms did go around her then. She didn’t protest, she just let him pull her into his strong chest and hold her close. They’d disagreed on a lot of things and changed in many ways, but he’d always understood how much her books meant to her. Even if it was only for a moment, she needed to be close to him. To smell the familiar, wonderfully masculine smell of clean, cotton shirt, fresh cut grass, and a slightly musky scent that was forever labeled in her mind as “Caine.” She’d deal with regrets later.

“Can you think of anyone who would do this? Any patients who have been pissed off?” Gage’s disembodied voice echoed through the old house, the wood floors creaking as he walked. Mel jumped away from Caine, remembering where she was and who he was.

“Not anyone in particular. Doc said that some of the older patients were upset that he was retiring and turning the clinic over to a woman who just finished residency. But I haven’t seen enough patients to get on anyone’s bad side and everyone loves Doc.”

Caine’s frown returned. “Anyone in town who’s said anything against you personally?”

Mel paused, trying to think. Briefly her mind flickered back to the strange call from the other day, but she dismissed it. “No. I mean, there’re people like Sandra who still think I’m a bit of a freak or an Ivy League snob. They don’t necessarily like me too much, but enough to do this? No. There’s no one.”

Gage returned to the entrance hall. “At first glance, it looks like some kids trying to score drugs, but I’ll get Stan down here with the county forensics truck and see what he can find. Once he gets through with everything, you and Anna and Sandra can get in here to clean up. I’ll have Stan take pictures and send them to your insurance company.”

“Have there been any burglaries like this?” Mel asked. A niggling doubt at the back of her mind told her that drugs weren’t the motive behind the break-in. The destruction of her office felt personal, not a random act of vandalism. The extent of the damaged bordered on vindictive. Maybe she was just overreacting. Gage would probably think so.

He shook his head. “Not recently. I’ll check in with the other clinics in the area and see if there’ve been any break-ins in the last year, but I haven’t heard anything.”

“So, I’ll stay here until the forensics guy gets here and have Anna help me get in touch with the few patients we had scheduled today. I need to get the files cleaned up and reorganized as soon as possible.” She took a slow, shuddery breath. “Thank God Doc is out of town. This would break his heart.”

“Sorry, Mel,” Gage said, “but until the tech’s gone over the place, I don’t want you touching anything. We’ll keep things locked up tight and I’ll have an officer stationed out front, but this is still a crime scene. Once we’ve gotten any evidence we can find, I’ll help you and Anna get the place straightened up. Anna will know who to call from home. And everyone in town probably knows about this by now, so you shouldn’t worry too much about your patients.”

Mel tightened her jaw, briefly considering putting up a fight, but her shoulders drooped in defeat when she saw the identical, immovable expressions on the Maddox brothers’ faces. “Okay. I guess I’ll head home then. Unless there’s anything you need me to fill out?”

“No. I’ll have some paperwork for Doc to fill out and we’ll need details about what’s missing, but that can wait until tomorrow. From the looks of things, it’ll take a little while for Stan to go over the place. He’s our only forensics tech and this place is bigger than our standard crime scene.”

After thanking Gage, Mel started to leave the clinic. A hand on her shoulder stopped her on the porch. “Where’s your car?” Caine asked.

Eyebrows arching, she stared at him for a second. She hadn’t expected him to follow her. Of course, nothing was going the way she expected today. “I walked this morning. Too pretty to waste gas.”

“Can I give you a ride? I know it’s not that far, but I’d feel better if you weren’t walking by yourself.”

Mel looked around for a car, but all she saw was Gage’s Jeep with UNKNOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT emblazoned across the side. “Didn’t you ride with Gage?”

“Nope. I brought the golf cart.” Caine pointed to the side of the house where a golf cart sat. Not just any golf cart, either. The sleek, top of the line vehicle sported the city seal and the label MAYOR MOBILE across the front.

Mel let out a choked laugh. “You’re not serious. You can’t be. There’s no way you drive that thing.”

“Oh, but I do.” Caine smiled ruefully. “Old Mayor Brown couldn’t walk around town very well towards the end, so the Garden Club and the Women’s Auxiliary joined up and raised money to buy the cart for him. When I took over, Jemma Hartsfield made it known that I had better use the damn thing or they would be highly offended.”

She couldn’t help it. In spite of everything, Mel burst out laughing. Maybe she was just a little hysterical. Caine stood there looking chagrined as she gasped for breath until she got herself under control. “I’m sorry. I just…I can only imagine what all of those snotty guys you hung out with in college would say if they saw this.”

“Do you want a ride or not?” he asked with exaggerated patience.

Mel shook her head, still stifling snickers. Through all of the pain and confusion that had been between them at the end, she’d forgotten how much he could make her laugh. If she wasn’t careful, he’d make her forget why she needed to stay mad at him. “No thanks. I’m fine, really. You and your golf cart go on back to City Hall. The walk will do me good. No offense, Mr. Mayor, but it would take a lot to get me in that contraption.”

Feeling better than she had a few minutes ago, Mel began the walk back to Carr’s Cakes. Hopefully Micah wouldn’t object to a little help. A whirring noise behind her drew her attention. As Caine’s golf cart zipped past, she succumbed to another laughing fit. The arrogant, self-important Caine she’d known would never in a million years have lowered himself to drive around in that thing. Looking down at her feet, she began to come to terms with the fact that he’d probably changed a bit more than she was willing to admit. This new Caine was going to make it hard for her to ignore him. She just hoped she could stay strong.

#

Caine couldn’t believe he was doing this. After she turned down his ride this morning, he doubted Mel really wanted to see him, but he had to see her. Despite her laughter, he’d seen how shaken she was by the break-in. Every summer he came home from school, he’d rarely seen Mel because she was always at the clinic, helping Doc Booth and Anna. It was her second home; a safe place where she could practice medicine. Someone had violated her sanctuary. Anger boiled inside of him at the thought. Things like this happened in larger towns, but Unknown’s crime rate was negligible. A few petty crimes and DUI’s. They might have had a homicide case twenty years ago. Stuff like this should happen here.

Going out and catching the bad guy’s was his brother’s job. So Caine had spent the day in his office, restless with the need to somehow fix this for Mel. He counted it a victory that he managed to last until after dinner before showing up on her doorstep. He’d even gone to the store to get a special gift for her. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the aged door of the apartment over the bakery.

Mel pulled the door open and he had to smile. Every time he’d seen her since her return to town, she’d looked perfectly put together, hair sleek and clothes fashionable. Not tonight. With her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, she wore a pair of light blue cotton pajama shorts and a white camisole that peeped out from under a thin gray sweater. God, she looked gorgeous. It never stopped surprising him how beautiful she’d grown in the last ten years. She’d always been pretty in a sweet, innocent sort of way, but wow.

“Caine. What are you doing here?” She tugged the sweater tighter around her, obscuring his view. It didn’t matter how much she tried to hide, though, because he knew her body, even if the woman in front of him was a mystery.

“I wanted to check up on you. I know today was a little rough and I was— I was worried.” There was no other way to put it. He and Mel had never minced words with each other. Why start now?

Mel closed her eyes for a second before opening them again. “That’s really sweet of you, Caine, but I’m fine. You really don’t need to worry about me.”

Caine braced one hand on the doorframe. “I’ve always worried about you, Mel. Ever since we were little and you insisted you could do everything that Micah, Gage, and I could. You were so little and breakable. I remembered that today.”

Not waiting for her to invite him in, he pushed past her. All the years he’d known the Carrs, he’d never been up here before. It’d always been rented out. The apartment was cozy. Warm yellow walls, thick blue carpet. A big overstuffed couch and club chair took up most of the living room. The same old tube TV she’d had in college sat on a low table against one wall. Pictures of her family served as the only artwork. He saw a small kitchen off to one side. A low bar with wooden barstools served as the dining table.

“It’s not the Maddox mansion, but it’s home.” Mel’s voice held a defensive note. Though she rarely vocalized it, she’d always been wary when it came to his family’s money. Ethan and Emma Carr raised their children to value hard, honest work and his parents looked down on the concept.

“It’s great, Mel. I’m just surprised it feels so homey when you’ve only been here a few weeks.” He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “I see you still insist on having every single book you ever owned with you.”

She shrugged. “Books are one thing that never let me down.”

Ouch. He picked up a well-worn copy of Persuasion from the end table. Unless he was mistaken, it was the same copy he’d bought her in a rare moment of thoughtfulness one rainy afternoon not long after they started sleeping together. “How many times have you read this thing? A million?”

“Only a few thousand.” She snatched it away from him, a blush flaming in her creamy cheeks. “What are you doing here? And what’s in that bag?”

Caine looked down at the paper bag from Jackson’s Grocery. “I thought you might need some comfort food, so I stopped at Jackson’s and got this for you.”

Mel narrowed her eyes and stepped just close enough to take the bag from him. Cautiously, she opened it, looking inside as if she expected to see a bomb or have a spider jump out at her. “Ice cream?”

“Not just any ice cream. Strawberry cheesecake ice cream.” Specifically, Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. HIs ace in the hole.

Mel’s eyes narrowed, then her shoulders slumped a little. She met his gaze and for a second, all of the years faded away, just as they had that morning when he’d hugged her. Heat and light sparked between them, the air so charged it almost hurt for him to breathe. “You remembered,” she whispered.

It stung a little that she thought he would forget, but he knew she had every reason to think he hadn’t paid attention back then. “My ice cream deliveries were the only way I could see you some days. You were always so busy with classes, but I knew you’d stop working if I brought you ice cream.”

Mel’s spine stiffened and her expression shuttered. “I appreciate the gesture, but why are you doing this, Caine? And don’t try to sell me some bullshit story about being concerned for my welfare because it’s your duty as mayor.”

He leaned against the back of the chair, crossing his arms. He could lie. Say that Gage asked him to stop by or that Doc sent him. But he’d never been able to lie to her. Not successfully, anyway. “Come on, Mel. We’re both adults. Highly intelligent, mature individuals who don’t play games with each other. I didn’t want us to be over, remember? I care about you. I’ve never stopped. And a big part of caring about someone is being concerned when they’ve had a shitty day.”

“I’m fine. Honestly.” She bit her lip. Her tell. She was holding something back. “Look, I appreciate the ice cream and the concern. But if you’re trying to convince me we should be together again, don’t. I told you I’m trying to start a new life.”

Caine shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He tried to think of a more infuriating woman, but he came up with nothing. No one got to him as much as she did. “I understand that, Mel. I really do. I just wish we could start over. Be friends again. Like Anne and Captain Wentworth.”

Not waiting for her response, Caine pressed a kiss to her forehead and left. Let her stew on that for a while. He knew she would. For all of her scientific practicality, his Melody was a sucker for her books.

#

“You really didn’t have to do this,” Mel said as she swept up yet another pile of glass. Two days after the break-in, she and Gage were finally cleaning up the wreckage. She thanked God all the floors in the clinic were wood. It made their job easier. Anna was in Doc’s office re-filing papers while Sandra scrubbed down the exam rooms upstairs. With any luck, they’d be able to reopen their doors tomorrow and she could get back to convincing everyone in town she was perfectly capable of running the clinic in Doc’s place.

Gage pulled a hammer out of his tool belt. Along with being police chief, he was also pretty darn handy with home repairs, thanks to her dad. The boys spent one memorable summer month building a tree house under Ethan Carr’s strict supervision. “But I really did. It’s the law.”

“The law?” Mel raised an eyebrow, leaning down to scoop the glass into a dust pan.

“Yup. Best Friend Law Code, Paragraph E, Sub-section Twelve. Best friend must assist other best friend whenever really bad shit happens to them.” He readjusted the door of one of the cabinets in the storage closet. “Besides, you seriously suck at fixing things.”

“You might be right there.” Brushing a stray piece of hair back toward her ponytail, Mel continued to sweep. She sucked at fixing a lot of things, like her own freaking heart. She was supposed to be moving forward with her life, damn it. Not being thrown into a tailspin by her past with Caine.

“What’d my brother do?”

Mel blinked over at him. It took a second for her to realize she’d said that last bit out loud. “Did you tell him to come by and check on me the other night after the break-in?”

Gage scratched his head and wiped sweat off his forehead. Spring was taking a break today with a heat wave. The air conditioner had suffered enough damage that they’d opted not to turn it on until the inspector gave it a once over. “No, Mel-bell, I didn’t. But I’m not all that surprised that he did.”

“Why? Has he said something to you?” God, she sounded like a tenth grader asking for gossip in the hallway between classes. But she needed to know what Caine was thinking so she could figure out the best plan to get him out of her head once and for all.

She watched Gage hesitate, the war between good brother and good friend going on in his head. “He might have said a few things.”

Mel rolled her eyes and huffed. She knew that tone. That was the mysterious, guarded tone that had infuriated her to no end as kids. “What kind of things? Things about him wanting to mess with my head and drive me crazy?”

“Depends on your interpretation. He’s never come right out and said it, but I know my brother still cares about you. A lot.” Gage bent down, picking up new boxes of gauze to store in the cabinet he’d repaired.

“No, he doesn’t. He…” Mel searched for a plausible explanation. “He likes the idea of me. I was his rebellion and now that he’s settled into the life your parents planned for him, he wants to revisit the time in his life when he did what he wanted and never had to think about anyone else’s feelings.”

Gage laughed. “You really believe that bullshit you’re slinging? Because I don’t. I know my brother, Mel. I saw his face when I told him you were back. It’s more than just nostalgia. Don’t try to convince me you’re apathetic toward him, either.”

Biting her lip, Mel looked away. She picked up a few boxes of band-aids. Gage didn’t know the whole story of what happened that summer she ended things with Caine. All he knew was that his brother had betrayed her trust and she’d switched schools to avoid him. “He’s in my past, Gage. And I want him to stay there.” She did. She really did…

“I remember a time when you would have killed to go on a date with my brother. You used to follow him around with those big Bambi eyes even when you were a kid, doing stupid stunts with us to get him to notice you.” Of course he remembered. That’s how they’d grown so close. Caine and Micah would devise some scheme and they’d convince her or Gage to be the guinea pigs. Gage usually took the brunt of the stupider ideas, since they all knew her father would kill them if she was seriously hurt.

“I was what, eight? I’m twenty-eight now. That was just a schoolgirl crush.” One that turned into a hot, crazy, exhilarating college fling that had ultimately broken her heart. Which was exactly why she didn’t want to be within ten feet of Caine Maddox.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Gage propped a hip against the counter and watched her work. “Aside from the whole ex-boyfriend thing, Caine was your friend first. Why not give him a chance to at least get that back? You can never have too many friends.”

The sullen look she gave him ended that train of conversation. For the moment, anyway. She knew Gage wouldn’t leave it alone for long. Neither would her stupid brain, apparently. No matter how hard she worked, thoughts of Caine kept popping in.

Damn him and his sneaky little comment about Persuasion.

It had taken her a month and several heavy make-out sessions to convince him to read the book in the first place. He knew the reason she loved it. She’d read a lot of books multiple times, but that one drew her in because it was a story of the power of love and forgiveness. Of true love finding its way back after eight years apart and miles of society. As a teenager, she’d loved the story because it gave her hope. Hope for her and Caine, if she were going to be completely honest. When he bought the book for her, she’d treasured that copy. It was her last connection to the man she’d been enchanted with her whole life.

Damn him.

The tug of war continued even as she let herself into her apartment after dinner with Gage that night. Mocking her, Persuasion lay on the end table, exactly where Caine left it the two nights ago. Muffling a sound of frustration, Mel went into the bedroom and flopped onto the cozy quilt. She wanted to crawl under it and bury herself away from the world. Instead, she pulled out her cellphone.

He answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

The deep baritone voice never ceased to send little tingles down her traitorous spine. She hated that he could still do this to her. “Hi. It’s me. Mel.”

“I know who you are, Mel. I’d recognize your voice anywhere.” Caine’s warm voice had her eyes drifting closed as she settled into the bed. She remembered letting that voice lull her to sleep after a bout of quick, passionate sex. She’d known he’d be gone in the morning, but she always felt secure in his arms. Apparently, old habits didn’t want to die.

“That was a low blow, you know.”

A rumble of a chuckle filled her ear. “The Persuasion comment. Yeah, maybe. But I’m guessing it worked since you’re calling me less than forty-eight hours later.”

She didn’t speak for several moments, biting her tongue, fighting the words with every breath. Her instincts said to run, but her heart said to tell him.

“This is not me agreeing to go out with you or anything.” She wanted that perfectly clear up front. Better for everyone that way. No false hopes or pressure.

“Then what is this?” There was no easy confidence in his voice anymore. Wariness, maybe, which she understood.

She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly before replying. “I guess this is me apologizing for being such a bitch last night. You were just being…You were just being you. You’ve always been the kind of guy who wants to take care of everybody and fix everything. I guess I forgot that. Which was stupid of me, because that was one of my favorite things about being your friend. And I really just wanted to say I’m sorry. For last night.”

She was sorry for a lot of things that had happened between them, but she didn’t intend to tell him that. This call was just about the previous night.

“I think you get a pass for last night. It’s a bit difficult seeing a place that’s so special to you wrecked like it was. How’d the clean-up go today?”

Mel chuckled and groaned, flipping onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. “Anybody ever told you that you’re too nice? Clean-up went really well. Although my muscles have already begun to lodge a protest. I’m not really used to that much cleaning.”

“What, you fancy doctor types don’t pick up after yourselves? Poor Anna.” Caine was actually teasing her. Teasing her the way he’d used to. It felt…nice. And unsettling.

“Yeah.” She didn’t say anything for a little while, instead studying the gentle rotation of the fan. “Look, Gage hinted that you want us to be more than friends.”

He sighed. “And I know that you’re not ready for that. I screwed up and you don’t trust me. I get that. So, quit biting your lip and tell me what’s going on.”

She quickly released her top lip. “I want us to try to be friends. If we can. I mean, if you want to. I just—“

“Breathe, Mel.” Caine’s words were barely more than a whisper. “You always tend to ramble when you’re nervous. I think we can manage friends. In fact, I’d really like that. It’s been difficult since I came back to town.”

Difficult. She almost laughed at that. “People not rushing to be BFFs with the mayor?”

“The mayor part hasn’t been the problem. It’s the lawyer part. Most of the cases I handle are for local businesses, but I take on some civil cases. Eventually, you’ve got half the town annoyed with you. You and Micah coming back to town is one of the best things to happen to me in a long time.”

They talked for a few more minutes, making idle conversation. When she hung up, Mel didn’t move for a long while, fingers rubbing absent circles over the patches of the quilt. Things felt a little more right in her world for the first time in years. If she thought too much about that fact, she’d run scared as hell. Right now, she’d just be happy to have her friend back.