“Kiss me,” she told him.
He didn’t have to be told twice. His kiss didn’t linger, it just said he cared. “Be safe. Don’t take any chances.”
“Wyatt. I’m not wired to speak with a drug lord. It’s Nathan . . . a putz, but hardly a criminal.”
He didn’t feel any better.
He kissed her again. “Be safe.”
“I will.”
She was actually nervous. They were driving north of River Bend to Waterville. The only real meeting place was a burger joint that doubled as a pizza parlor. It was public, and often loud, but it wasn’t in River Bend and it wasn’t all the way in Eugene, which Melanie refused since it was too far from Hope.
Luke drove around the restaurant before finding a space close enough to pick up a signal from the wire.
“He’s going to see me out here,” Luke said.
“I told him you were with me and that you’d stay in the car. He seemed to understand the threats and didn’t argue.”
“Good.”
She saw him step out of a rental car a few slots away and head inside. “Here goes nothing.”
“I’m right here.”
She winked and stepped out of the truck.
A pair of dress slacks and a pullover shirt replaced Nathan’s normal suit. He saw her approach and looked around. “No posse this time?”
She pointed toward the truck Luke was driving. “Just Luke.”
Luke shot his hand in the air with a little wave and a smile.
Nathan shuffled his feet before stepping inside the burger joint. It was after two, and the place wasn’t filled to the brim, but it was noisy.
They found a small table by the window and sat.
“Thank you for meeting with me.”
“My attorney suggested I not,” he said.
“Mine, too,” she lied.
“Why am I here, Melanie?”
“I need to know why. Why are you doing this?”
He looked around the restaurant. The place was filled with teenagers and young twentysomethings. No police or lawyers to be found.
“I want to know my daughter.”
If that was so, then why wasn’t he asking about her?
“Why now?”
“I’m in a better place now.”
Words he said the first time he walked into town.
“Okay.”
His eyes swung to hers. “Okay, what?”
“I think you should get to know Hope, too. Maybe you should come over for dinner.”
He seemed shocked.
“You’re serious?”
“Right now she’s scared to death you’re going to take her away. I can’t have her afraid of her own father, can I?”
“I don’t think my attorney will think that’s all right.”
Scurrying away already. What a shock.
“It doesn’t have to be tonight.”
His head nodded like one of those bobblehead dolls. “Probably something we should plan.”
“Right, for Hope’s sake.”
His untrusting eyes narrowed. “Why the change of heart?”
Melanie attempted to act unaffected. “I know I’m not going to win.”
“Why?”
“You’re smarter than me.” He always told her how his intelligence outweighed hers when they were together. A part of his ego she didn’t feed then.
“You didn’t used to think so.”
“Yeah, well . . . I do now. You managed to come up with a marriage certificate, and we both know that didn’t happen.”
He left a smile on his face but didn’t say a thing.
A smile wasn’t being recorded.
“What I don’t really understand is why. Why fake that kind of thing?”
He leaned forward, lowered his voice. “I told you I wanted to get married.”
“I suggested we wait.”
“Well, I’m a man of action, not words.”
“But I didn’t sign that paper.”
He huffed a small breath. “Yes, you did.”
“When?” C’mon Nathan . . . be cocky you son of a bitch.
“Right about the time you were signing all the papers for Hope’s legal name after she was born.”
Melanie had one of those moments when the light bulb goes on and everything makes sense. The delivery had been hard, and the doctors had given her medications for pain. She remembered signing stuff, like every new parent. They argued about Hope’s last name, but Nathan had relented after she signed . . . like it didn’t really matter.
“You slipped the papers in the mix. It makes sense now.”
“So let’s talk about making this divorce happen as quickly as possible,” Nathan said.
“Considering I didn’t know I was married, I think that’s a brilliant idea.”
“You’ll cooperate?”
No, but he didn’t need to hear that. “Sure. I never thought I’d keep Hope to myself forever. Are you really ready to be a dad?”
He hesitated. The man couldn’t even say the words. “O-of course. Hope needs a dad.”