Kurt put his cup down and slapped James on the shoulder. "I'm sorry this is happening. I look forward to the day you don't have to look over her shoulder."
James rolled his head on his neck. "Me too. Anything else?"
"Just one last thing," said Kurt. "You're a complete moron and I can't believe we had to have this conversation you big dummy."
James grinned. "I love you, too."
Kurt grinned back. "I know. Now go home. I doubt she'll come back here after her stalker was here."
James nodded. "Thank you, brother."
"Merry Christmas. Let me know if you need anything."
James cleared his throat. "There is one thing."
Kurt raised his eyebrows and waited.
"Will you pray with me?"
Kurt swallowed and pursed his lips. "Of course I will."
¯¯¯¯
THE telephone rang. Rikard sighed as he answered it. "You risk much when you call."
"I've waited weeks. It's time to move."
"I'll move on Monday. That will be the perfect time."
"And the other?"
"Your little bugs are picking up every word. I have programs analyzing every keystroke. They're close. Better be ready to move."
"You be ready to move."
He looked at the high powered rifle. "You don't need to worry about that. I am looking forward to this."
¯¯¯¯
CHAPTER 20
MELODY sat in the chair in the corner of her room and watched the sun come up, heralding Christmas morning. Her eyes ached and her head throbbed. She had cried until she could cry no more.
Why had she overreacted so badly? Why had she left her husband on Christmas Eve, when all he wanted to do was protect her? It wasn't unreasonable for him to suggest that she postpone her tour, especially when he wouldn't fully know all of the planning and preparation that went on months in advance prior to a tour.
She lifted her hand to cover her burning eyes, and remembered the pain his whole body emanated six months after Angela's death.
This … man … Richard she would call him for lack of another name … wanted to kill her. Of that she had no doubt. It didn't take a computer engineer to figure that out. James was a smart man — probably the smartest man Melody had ever met. He knew. And in knowing, knew that he stood a very real chance of becoming a widower twice over.
How terrifying for him.
But the second the one person in the world who loved her more than Morgan suggested a plan of action she didn't think of herself, it had her putting her back up so fast she was surprised she didn't break it. Where had that come from?
She thought she'd gotten over her childhood by now, had gotten over the way Richard manipulated and controlled her just like her mother had. Surely, she didn't actually think James would try to control her life. She knew, deep down, she knew he didn't mean that at all. Yet, here she was, watching the dawn of the morning of their first Christmas Day as a married couple, and they were miles apart.
Determined to rectify that, Melody pushed herself out of the chair. She would go to James' apartment, and, until they found a house, that would be their home.
She dressed in a pair of jeans and a black sweater. After she called for a cab, she went to the front porch and settled into the porch swing in the corner, wrapping up in her jacket.
The opening of the front door didn't surprise her. She looked over as Kurt stepped out onto the cold porch. "Merry Christmas," she greeted.
"I hope so," he said in reply. He wore a gray sweatshirt with a yellow jacket on the front of it. "Need a ride somewhere?" He asked hopefully.
"No." He raised an eyebrow. She continued, "I didn't want to interrupt your morning. I called a cab."
Kurt nodded and put his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He leaned against the porch railing. "He's at the apartment. Not the hotel."
Melody nodded. "I figured he would be. I told him I couldn't be in that hotel room anymore."
After a few minutes of silence, Kurt spoke. "His relationship with Angela was really amazing," he said without preamble.
She raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to hear this?"
With a shrug, he continued. "Depends. Want some insight into how your husband ticks?"
She didn't answer, merely thinned her lips. He continued his story. "They met in college. They worked on some project that I can't begin to comprehend, and by the end of the late nights and early mornings, they weren't so much dating as they had already transformed into a couple. They were an absolute match made in heaven, and I don't mean that lightly. It was like they did everything in one accord. If they ever got into a single argument, I didn't know about it."
"This is supposed to make me feel better somehow?"
"Don't let yourself get in the way and miss the point. Just hear me out." Kurt continued, "We all lived in that farmhouse of hers. Some uncle left it to her in his will, and we were all so broke getting through college that after they got married, we just pooled our resources. The two of them had a business plan, and I had the personality and know-how to get some investors lined up and get the work done. Between the three of us, we had some serious potential. Once Angela started in on that data storage endeavor, there was nothing in our future that couldn't be ours for the taking. It gave us confidence to make risky business decisions that really panned out in the end. In hindsight, I truly believe God was directing us even then."
Melody stared at him, but didn't speak.
He continued. "I loved them. I love him, I loved her, and I loved the two of them together. They were the only family I'd ever known. I couldn't imagine James with anyone else. Ever. The last few years, he tried dating here and there, but I didn't encourage it because I knew there was no one else for him. Angela was the beginning and the end for him."
Her lip curled into a snarl only to hide the desolation his words caused. "Gee, thanks."
Kurt looked at her with surprisingly stern eyes. "Hey, Melly. Didn't you hear me? Are you listening to me? I'm not comparing the two of you because there's no comparison. Angela was my friend. One of my best friends. She was beautiful and funny and she loved James like nothing I can even explain. And oh-my-heavens was she smart. Smarter than all of us combined. And she loved God. She would work and work and work and just hum or whistle old hymns the whole time … Old Rugged Cross or Amazing Grace. There are days I still miss her."
Kurt's sincerity forced Melody back out of her bubble of self-pity. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect."
Kurt nodded. "I know. You just never met her. You don't have any context. For all you know, Angela's just this hole in your husband's past labeled 'irreplaceable love of my life.' And the funny thing is, ever since Angela died…" He swallowed and his eyes grew hard. "Since that sick psychopath murdered my very good friend Angela, my best friend's wife … ever since that day I would have agreed with you. No one could take her place. How could anyone?"
Melody heard herself smother a sob. She had never really considered the impact that terrible violent act had on everyone who had ever known her husband's first wife. Clearly, Kurt still mourned the loss of that remarkable woman.
"Then I saw James with you. Whatever I thought of Angela … seeing him with you wipes the slate. He is so enamored of you. He's going to have a hard time saying it. He is a man of few words, and not many elaborate ones. But, he loves you. He loves you, Melody, like something I've never seen before. The way he loves you is like, it's like something everyone around him feels, like the wind in your face."
The offense that had started to take root in her heart immediately dissolved, and though she thought she'd cried her last tear, she felt wet trails racing down her cheeks.
Kurt cleared his throat. "When he killed her, I thought maybe he'd killed some part of James, too. Maybe his soul was murdered and burned down to the ground along with her. For a long time, he just hurt so much."
"When I met him …" Melody said, but then stopped speaking. She couldn't exp
lain the man she had witnessed all those years ago, but then Kurt glanced at her and slowly nodded.
"Yeah, that's right. You met him about six months later. So you know what I mean." He turned his face away from her and stared at the flaming southern sky as the sun crawled slowly higher over the rooftops. "If he loses you, if this psycho gets to you, he won't just be murdering you. Losing you will kill James once and for all. It will kill everything about him. He will just go through the rest of his life waiting to die."
He stood as her cab pulled into the long drive. Before she got up he bent and gave her a hug. "Just remember something I'm sure you know already: Every single minute of every single day, he is afraid to lose you, and that's going to make him difficult to deal with because he knows what's on the other side of that kind of loss."
Melody sniffed and then put a hand on his cheek. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."
"You're welcome." He straightened and gestured as she stood. "Looks like your ride's here."
¯¯¯¯
MELODY'S cab pulled up outside of James' apartment building. The doorman opened the cab door for her before she could finish tipping the driver.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Montgomery," he said. Melody wanted to ask him how he knew who she was, then she remembered that most people in Atlanta would recognize her after the recent media frenzy.
"Thank you. Merry Christmas to you as well."
She walked through the door he opened and the security officer at the desk smiled at her. "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Montgomery."
"Thank you," she said, smiling. "I'm afraid you both have me at a disadvantage."
"I'm Cliff, ma'am and your doorman is Montez. We work most mornings, six to early afternoon."
"Well, Cliff, it's a pleasure to meet you. Were you expecting me?"
"We expect all of our residents at all times, ma'am. That way, we're never surprised."
Despite everything, Melody laughed. "That's very Biblical you know."
Cliff merely inclined his head. "Indeed, ma'am."
With a smile, Melody said, "Have a blessed Christmas."
"Oh, here's your key. Mr. Montgomery asked me to have it made for you, but didn't collect it yesterday. It will work on the elevator and the door."
Melody took the small silver key from the palm of his hand and closed her fingers around it. "Thank you," she whispered.
Desperate now to get upstairs, she rushed to the elevator. The ride up seemed to take forever until it finally stopped on the appropriate floor. She went to the door and felt her stomach twist with nerves before she slipped the key into the lock and it effortlessly turned.
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, pressed a hand once to her fluttering stomach, and walked into the apartment. James stood at the large bay window across the room, looking out at the city, his hands in his pockets, his stance a bit tense. He turned at the sound of the door closing, and she felt a twinge of sympathy about how horrible he looked. "I was kind of hoping you would show up last night," she said by way of greeting.
"I thought you might need time alone last night." He jingled some change in his pocket. "Kurt came by and we chatted."
"Oh?" Melody crossed the room.
"He called me a moron."
Melody could not reconcile that but assumed it was some male thing. "He and I chatted a bit this morning."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, but he didn't call me a moron."
James grinned. "Very chivalrous. What did you chat about?"
"Angela." James frowned. "Anything else come up in your conversation besides questioning your intelligence?"
"Your mother."
Melody stopped in front of him and reached up to cup his cheek with her hand. He closed his eyes and leaned in, as if trying to get her hand even closer. When he opened his eyes, the strength of the emotions swirling around their hazel depths made her gasp.
"I've been praying about it," he said, "and I realize now that I was reacting fearfully and acting on that fear. I was wrong to do that. God says we should not live in a spirit of fear. I withdraw my opinion that you should postpone your tour and instead simply request that I be a part of the talks with your security team. You are a highly successful businesswoman, and I am not going to ever again try to tell you what you should and should not do in your career." He stopped. "Unless you ask."
Melody smiled. "Funny you should say that," she said, "because I've been praying too, and realized that I need to trust you enough to submit to you." She lowered her hand, intending to step back a step, but he grabbed her wrist and held her hand to his chest. "So if you really want me to postpone the tour, I will abide by your decision. I'm your wife and you're my husband and that is just the way it's going to be."
James grinned, "Begin as you mean to go on? That right?"
"That's exactly right. I love you and I know you love me. I really, really don't want to mess this up."
James kissed the top of her head, "Oh, honey, neither do I. And I don't want you to postpone the tour. I don't."
Melody said, "I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I was overwhelmed, and scared, and felt defensive."
"I don't know how to do this," he said gruffly. "It seemed so easy before."
Unexpectedly, her eyes welled up with tears. "It doesn't have to be hard," she said.
Suddenly his arms came around her. She rested her face against his chest and breathed in the smell of him, listened to the beautiful rhythm of his heartbeat in her ear, relished in the feel of the strength of his arms around her. She slipped her arms around his waist and squeezed tight.
James said, "I think we should make up for arguing, now."
Melody sniffed and giggled at the same time. "Make up, huh?"
James nodded and said, "Definitely. I think we should begin as we mean to go on."
¯¯¯¯
MELODY slept until noon. She smiled, eyes still closed, when she felt the bed give under James' weight. Reluctantly she pried one eye open and saw him sitting there, freshly showered, wearing a pair of jeans and a worn-out Georgia-Tech sweatshirt. The most beautiful sight, besides her husband, was the cup of strong coffee he held in his hand.
"Merry Christmas," he said, bending over and kissing her cheek. He had not bothered to shave, so the rough scrape of more than a day's worth of beard scratched her neck and shoulder.
"Merry Christmas." She pointed at the cup. "Is that for me?"
"Maybe, for a kiss," he said, then laughed and set the cup aside when she launched herself into his arms and kissed him all over his rough face. She snatched the cup off of the night stand before scooting back and leaning against the headboard, pulling the blankets up with her.
She took a sip of the delicious brew but something about the flavor startled her. "What's in this?"
He grinned slowly. "Honey."
She grinned back and took another sip, deciding she liked the unexpected flavor. "When you find some honey …"
His grin became a smile. "Exactly."
She pushed her hair back from her face, the coffee warming her middle. "What are your plans today?"
He ran a hand down the shape of her leg under the blankets and peered at her over the rims of his glasses. The gleam in his eye made her giggle with joy. "I have no specific plans," he growled. Then he laughed with her and said, "But I do think we're supposed to be at Kurt and Morgan's at some point tonight to celebrate the holiday. I'm sure she's cooking up a storm."
Melody took another sip of the coffee. "Actually, she's having dinner brought in. But we do have to be there. At six."
James raised an eyebrow. "What's six?"
"My crew is all due in tomorrow. Some of them are coming in tonight. Morgan is hosting her annual Christmas dinner slash open house slash come to get leftovers if you get in too late for them that she always throws for my crew."
James nodded. "Right. I remember. She invited me weeks ago, but I declined because I had Mark coming in town."
Knowing his plans to v
isit Mark's late wife's family in Savannah, she said, "Did he mind you not going with him this morning?"
"Not at all. I think he figured out when I got married a few days ago that our Christmas plans would change."
Melody ran her tongue over her teeth. "Right. Good point." She reached out and ran a finger over his muscled forearm. "I am looking forward to introducing you to everyone."
"And I am looking forward to feeding you." He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose. "Brunch is ready in ten minutes. If you want to take a shower, I packed your stuff for you at the hotel yesterday. Your bag filled with your clothes and various mysterious gadgets and potions is in the bathroom closet."
"Thank you," she said.
He plucked a flat box gaily wrapped in Christmas paper off of the corner of the night stand and handed it to her. "Merry Christmas, Melody. I love you."
She grinned and snatched it from him. She ripped open the paper and opened the box, a gasp escaping when she saw its contents. "Oh, James, how beautiful." It was a choker made of sapphires, and after every third stone was a small diamond encrusted music note. She pulled it out of the box to look at it in the light, then launched herself in his arms. "It's perfect," she said with a smile as she pulled his head down for a kiss.
¯¯¯¯
A Melody for James (Christian Suspense) Page 19
