Defining Moments (A Moments In Time Love Story 2) (11 page)

Melisa had not expected to feel the way she did as she entered her home. She had expected a dagger to ram itself into her chest when she crossed the threshold. But instead an overwhelming, unexpected calm rushed over her. As if the house were welcoming her back with a hug. It was the same house she’d left weeks ago, but at the same time, it wasn’t.

Heat had changed things. As she stood near the entrance, clutching her purse, she looked at the amazing transformation. The once-white walls were painted a soft celadon green and at the entrance, and they were lined with black-and-white framed photographs of Melisa and Heat during happier times. Her heart squeezed when she detected an unfamiliar photo among the others, of Ben sitting on a motorbike, a white helmet under his arm. It looked like it was taken a while back. He looked younger and his face was wreathed in smiles.

Melisa pursed her lips to hold back the joy that overwhelmed her. Ben had chosen to become a part of their family. They had lost their baby, but they were also getting their child back.

Melisa’s gaze was still glued to Ben’s photo when she heard footsteps. She turned to see Heat standing behind her and Ben a short distance behind him.

“Welcome home. Thought it was time for a change.” Heat kissed her. “Ben and I were very busy yesterday. Do you like it?”

Melisa felt like bursting at the seams. “It’s beautiful.” She hugged Ben as well. “Thank you.”

Heat had not stopped at repainting the walls and putting up family photos; he had renovated the whole house, including the nursery. He had removed all the baby things and turned it into an office for her, complete with a new laptop on the desk, and a shelf filled with cookbooks. He had also framed and hung up photos of cakes she had baked, which she had stored on her old laptop. He had left no sign whatsoever that a baby had been expected to live there.

Melisa teased him that it was a risky move he made. It could have backfired. She could have been upset that he had erased all traces of their baby. But she wasn’t. She was moved. Besides, he hadn’t thrown anything away. He’d packed all the baby clothes and toys into a closet for her to keep for as long as she wanted to. Though she wasn’t quite ready to look in the closet yet, it comforted her to know it was there. Heat had no idea what a shift his gesture had caused within her. What he did confirmed to her that no matter how hard it got, they would always have a chance to start over.

They all prepared a large breakfast together, then settled down at the kitchen table like a family would. They talked and laughed at Ben’s jokes when he told them of his trips around the country with his rock band, The Chickens. From the way he laughed, and the little things he did, like helping Heat prepare the house for her, preparing the meal with them, or just taking a moment to refill their glasses with orange juice, Melisa knew their son had a beautiful heart. That took away some of the sting left behind from giving him up for adoption. His adoptive parents had done a fantastic job raising him, and she would forever be grateful to them.

When the lighthearted conversation came to an end, they discussed his move to Serendipity. Heat and Melisa promised him they would do everything to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible. They’d help him get into Serendipity University, and find him a small apartment. He insisted on living alone, even though they offered him a room in their home. Melisa would give up her office for him in a heartbeat.

“Thanks, but I don’t want to intrude. You need your space,” Ben said.

“Are you sure that’s all it is?” Heat said with a wink. “Are you sure it’s not you who needs the space, so the girls don’t think you’re still living at home with your parents?”

Ben chuckled, and if Melisa closed her eyes, she would have mistaken the sound for Heat’s laughter. “I choose not to dignify that question with an answer.” Ben bit into his butter-smeared slice of bread, a smile tipping the corners of his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, and then his expression grew serious. “And in case you’re thinking of helping with the rent, don’t. I plan on getting a part-time job.”

“Are you sure, Ben?” Melisa lowered her glass from her lips. “Let us at least pay until you get a job.” She wanted to do everything she could to try and make up for the past. Ben nodded.

“One month,” he said firmly. “I’ll let you pay for my first month in Serendipity. Should be long enough for me to land a job.”

“Deal,” Heat said. “I’ll see if I can get you something part time at the station if you want. But there’s something else that’s nonnegotiable.” Heat leaned forward like a dad having a heart-to-heart with his son. “We are paying for your education.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? I was going to apply for a scholarship. My grades are good. My…parents also left me some money.”

“Use that money to start a life after college. This is not up for discussion.”

“I appreciate your offer, but—”

“It’s the least we can do,” Melisa said, smiling. After meeting Ben for the first time, Melisa and Heat had decided that if they were ever presented with the opportunity to invest in Ben’s future, they would grab it with both hands. They would scrape up the money, even if they had to take out a loan.

“How about I still go ahead and apply for a scholarship, and if I get it, the deal’s off?” Ben stacked their dirty dishes on top of each other.

The conversation moved away from money, and Melisa leaned her elbows on the table as she watched her family move on to other topics—sports, cars, music, movies. Her heart had been battered, but it was a relief to find out it was still capable of feeling happiness.

After breakfast, Ben hopped onto his bike and drove away while Heat and Melisa stood on the doorstep like parents watching their kid heading off to college.

Melisa was still smiling when Heat took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re not going back to the hotel immediately, are you? I thought maybe we could sit and talk for a while?”

Melisa tipped her head back to look up at him. “That would be nice.” She would spend maybe another hour with him and not think of anything else. Not even Scott. Heat had done his part, now it was her turn to try and repair their marriage.

They went back inside the house, still hand in hand, and sat in the living room with cups of coffee.

For a while they talked about things that didn’t hurt and just enjoyed each other’s company. Melisa couldn’t believe how much she’d missed him. It had been so hard to get back to each other after everything that had happened, but she felt that Ben had opened her eyes. Finally she saw what she would be risking if she didn’t pull herself together.

Melisa put down her cup and leaned over to kiss Heat.

As soon as their lips met, Heat jerked back as if he’d been burned, and his eyes widened. He hadn’t expected this much affection.

Melisa’s heart bled as she watched a tiny smile form on his face. She had hurt him. She wanted to make it better. He was the love of her life and nothing was ever going to change that.

This time it was Heat who leaned toward her. He started the kiss slow, treading carefully. Finding no resistance on her part, he deepened it, exploring her mouth with his tongue, accepting what she was offering him, what he hadn’t been sure he’d ever get back. “I missed you so much,” he whispered against her lips. “I. Missed. You.” He moved the kiss to her neck and inhaled her scent.

“I missed you too.” She closed her eyes and allowed her body to melt under his touch. She opened them again. “Stop,” she said and stood.

Heat searched her face in confusion. “I thought…”

“You thought right.” Melisa smiled and extended her hand to him. He took it and she led him to their bedroom.

Standing next to their bed, they started kissing again, and peeling their clothing off each other. Too many things had stood in their way—they wanted to get rid of them, starting with their clothes.

Fully naked, they stood in the middle of the room holding each other. Then Heat lowered Melisa onto the bed. A voice inside her head wanted her to feel self-conscious about her body being far from perfect after the pregnancy, but she didn’t listen. Heat didn’t seem to care. He loved her and she felt comfortable with him in every way.

“You’re so beautiful.” His gaze traced the lines of her body. “I need you.”

“I need you too.” Melisa pulled him down on top of her and opened her legs, and Heat accepted her invitation; he positioned himself between her legs, looking into her face, and glided his cock into her. He lay on top of her, supporting his own weight with his arms on either side of her body. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Am I hurting you?”

It was uncomfortable at first, but as she felt him throb inside her, she felt so aroused and didn’t want him to stop. She wanted him so much, wanted to be one again, as they were meant to be. “No, I want more.” Without knowing how she had done it, Melisa made a swift move that flipped them around and landed her on top of Heat instead of the other way around. She wanted to ride him, to give him back everything they had almost lost. She threw back her head, her hair spilling down her back, as she swayed and gyrated on top of him, making sure she felt every inch of him. He filled more than her body. He brought her back to life in so many ways, and she never wanted to live without him. She leaned forward and kissed him passionately. He returned her kiss with a hunger she had never seen in him before. As they kissed, his hands traveled to her ass and squeezed it, then he lowered her over him, gently at first, and then picked up the pace. Eventually he let out a deep-throated sound and she screamed out as the ball of orgasm he’d built inside her burst.

Both satisfied, she collapsed on top of him and laid her head on his chest.

Heat wrapped his arms around her and didn’t attempt to slide out of her. They stayed like that for a long time, and then they started kissing again.

For the rest of the day, they hardly left the bedroom. Melisa lost count of how many times they’d made love. Later in the afternoon, Heat cooked both of them lunch, which they ate naked in bed. When they were done, he asked her if she wanted to stay the night. She declined, but promised she’d return home in a few days. For good. Whatever issues she still had to deal with, she would deal with at home, where she belonged.

Heat clasped his hands behind his head and groaned as he stretched out on the bed. The pillow still smelled of Melisa’s mango shampoo. Stretching his body to its full length, he felt the tension of the past months melting away. Ben had been the answer after all.

After Heat had called him, when he’d been at a loss for what to do, he wasn’t sure Ben would actually come to Serendipity. Especially since Heat had been sending him endless emails—some about the accident—and he hadn’t responded to even one of them. But yesterday, he’d shown up at the house while Heat was hauling the parts of Melisa’s new office desk from a rented truck into the house. When Heat had told Ben what he was doing, Ben offered to help.

Two hours later, he was still at the house. They had assembled the desk together, and he even helped Heat hang the pictures on the wall. When Heat asked if they could have one of his photos, he agreed. As luck would have it, he had the perfect one in his digital camera. They quickly drove to Fotolit
and had the photo blown up. Just like that, Ben had become a part of their family. Melisa had been touched even more than Heat had anticipated. He still couldn’t believe they’d spent the whole day making love.

A smile curved his mouth as he unclasped his hands and stretched his left arm sideways, toward Melisa’s side of the bed. Her place was still warm. He slid his hand under the pillow and his fingers came into contact with something hard. He pulled it out. Melisa’s cell phone. For a while, he twirled it in his hand, wondering what to do with it. Should he call the hotel and let her know about it, or should he take it to her? Fifteen minutes later, he decided to drive to the hotel and drop it off. She might need it. Now that they had reconnected, she might even be happy to see him again so soon.

As soon as she got back to the hotel, Melisa started packing. She had already called Scott from the room phone—since she couldn’t find her cell—to come and see her later. She had something important to tell him. Now that she knew where she belonged, she could see so clearly. Even though a part of her heart would always love Scott, no one could ever complete her like Heat did.

Scott knocked on her door at 8:00 p.m. and her stomach twisted as she opened the door. “Are you okay?” he asked, sitting down on the couch.

“Let’s eat,” Melisa said.

She had already ordered room service and the table was set, but neither seemed to be in the mood to eat. Melisa pushed her food around her plate for a while and so did Scott.

“What’s on your mind? I have the feeling you want to tell me something. The suspense is killing me.”

“I’m moving back home…to Heat.” She sighed. “I care about you, but I can’t meet you in secret like this anymore. Heat deserves better. He’s my husband.”

Scott removed his cap and raked a hand through his hair. He started twisting the cap with his hands. “How about giving me one more week, a few more days, that’s all? Then I’ll leave town. You don’t have to see me again.” He paused. “Once Heat finds out, it could impact your relationship.” He reached out and squeezed her hand. “Please. What’s one more week?”

“It’s not a relationship, Scott. It’s a marriage.” Melisa disentangled her hand from his grasp. “A part of me will always love you. You were my husband. I want to be there for you. And I can be. Both Heat and I can. But I can’t keep lying to him. I don’t want to destroy what we have together. I have moved on, Scott. I don’t want to put my marriage on the line anymore.”

He nodded and exhaled. “Do you love him more than you loved me?”

Melisa’s cheeks heated with anger. “You know what, Scott? You have no right to ask me that. But if you want to compare yourself to Heat, all I can tell you is that he might have broken my heart when we were teenagers, and it did hurt. But you”—she pointed at him with a trembling finger—“you ripped my heart right out. Do you really still want to compare yourself to Heat?”

“I’m so sorry. It’s so hard to imagine you with someone else. But I do get that it’s my fault, and I have to accept it.”

“Damn right you do,” she shouted as tears flooded her eyes. “You willingly left, you alone chose to give me up.”

“What the fuck is going on here?”

Melissa whipped around and the blood drained from her face.

Heat stood in the doorway, his own face white as a sheet. Something dropped from his hand and hit the floor with a thump. He took a step back, as if about to bolt.

Melisa looked at Scott with terrified eyes and then at Heat. “I’m sorry,” was all she could get herself to say. “I… I should have told you.”

Heat shook his head. “Who the hell is… What kind of sick joke is this?”

Melisa blinked away tears. “It’s him, sweetheart. Scott… Scott is alive. Isn’t that wonderful?” Even to her own ears she sounded ridiculous.

Heat leaned against the door frame and sank to the floor, a hand over his mouth, his eyes wild.

While Scott said nothing, Melisa rushed over to Heat and kneeled before him. She put her arms around him and cried. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I didn’t know how to. I was in shock, too. It’s really Scott.”

Heat sucked in a breath of air and pushed away from Melisa. He stood, leaving her on the floor, his eyes fixed on Scott. “What kind of game are you playing?” His voice was raw and brittle. “Scott is dead. What monster would pretend to be him?” He looked down at Melisa, who was crying loudly at his feet.

“It’s not a joke, man.” Scott’s voice trembled. “I didn’t… I didn’t die. I had to go away for a while.”

“He was in trouble, so he faked his death,” Melisa finished for him. No reason in holding back the truth now.

Melisa picked up the cell phone that had fallen from Heat’s hand—she had forgotten it at home and it was probably the reason he was here—and dragged herself to her feet in time to see the thunderbolt on Heat’s face before he lunged for Scott and slammed a fist into his face.

Scott stumbled back and landed on the table at which they had been sitting a few minutes ago, sending it crashing to the floor in two halves.

Melisa stumbled across the room to grab Heat by the arms before he struck Scott a second time. “Heat, stop,” she begged. “Don’t hurt him. He’s sick.”

Heat froze and turned around in slow motion to face Melisa. His face held many questions and she was so afraid to answer them. They had come close to getting their lives back together, and now this could change everything. He’d found out before she could tell him. The way he looked at her now… It was almost as if he didn’t know her. Melisa’s insides shriveled as guilt strangled her.

While Scott wiped the blood from his nose with a napkin, Heat slumped into one of the chairs, looking furious, shocked, and scared all at once. Melisa could easily imagine what was going on inside his head. She had felt the same way just a few weeks earlier.

Heat lifted his hands high and dropped them again, resigned. “Talk. Tell me every fucking detail. Don’t you even think about lying to me.”

Scott scrambled to his feet and from a distance, and without meeting Heat’s eyes, he told him everything. His fear of going to prison, faking his death, the diagnosis. Everything he had told Melisa. He also confirmed to Heat that he was not here to stay and that he planned to leave town in the morning, even earlier than he’d told Melisa.

When Scott was done talking, Heat stood up from the chair and stomped out without saying a word to either of them.

Melisa followed him out the door, calling his name, her voice trailing after him down the corridor, but he didn’t look back, not even a glance. She turned around. She had packed and was ready to go home tomorrow morning to surprise him. Now she wasn’t sure what to do. Would he even want her back after tonight, after she’d lied to him for weeks? Would he ever forgive her? How would they get past this? From where she stood, it looked like she had to make a choice right away. If she continued seeing Scott, she could lose Heat. If she didn’t see Scott, even if there was nothing more than friendship between them anymore, she would be worried sick about him. The thought of him suffering and dying alone tore her up inside. She had to talk to Heat. They needed to help Scott. She didn’t know how he would agree to it, but she hoped he would forgive a dying man, as she had done. Wasn’t death punishment enough without being shunned by the two people he had cared about most?

When she went back into the room, she found Scott picking up shards of glass and broken dishes from the floor. When he saw her, he threw everything into a waste basket and straightened to his full height. His face was shadowed with regret. “I’m so sorry for ruining everything for you.”

“You know what? I’m getting tired of your apologies. You should leave. Go. I’m checking out of the hotel tonight.”

“I understand,” he said and used a napkin to dab at the blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth. “Is this goodbye, then?”

Melisa walked past him toward the opposite side of the room. She lifted her bags from the bed. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Heat. You don’t deserve it, but I’ll try to get him to understand you. I can’t promise anything. But you’re right, you ruined everything for me.” She hurried out of the hotel room, Scott following close behind. He attempted to help her with her bags, but she yanked them out of his reach.

“I’ll stay in Serendipity another day, in case you call. If you don’t, please know everything I did was out of love for you. Hurting you was the last thing on my mind.”

She glared into his face, then walked away from him, not sure if or when she would see him again.