by Jaymin Eve
Chloe froze, her eyes locked on Melodee’s face.
“If that’s true,” Chloe started, “then I have nothing to say but fuck you.”
Melodee almost fell backwards off the step. She hadn’t expected there would be hugs or the perfect Brady Bunch moment, but still this seemed excessive. The blonde took a step forward, raising her hand and pointing her finger at Melodee in rapid movements.
“I’ve spent my life alone, in and out of foster care, and according to my case worker, the excuse from our parents was that their eldest child was too much work. I don’t need you, I don’t want you. And I figured if that was the life I escaped from, I was lucky. I promised myself that if my sister came looking for me she’d get this speech.”
Melodee cleared her throat. “What makes you think any of this is my fault? You were two the last time I saw you, I was only four. And think about this, the life you escaped from, I didn’t.”
Chloe shrugged. “I have my inheritance from parents I didn’t even know, and money was the best thing they could have left me.” Her eyes flicked up to Jewel. “I hope that little girl has a good daddy, because she doesn’t need to be as messed up as her mother.”
And with those words Chloe stepped inside and slammed the door. Melodee fought down her anger, her need to defend herself. What did Chloe mean about being messed up? What could she even know about Melodee’s life? With a shake of her head she turned and walked back to her car. Clearly the little girl she'd mourned had actually died in Dallas, because grown-up Chloe was a bitch.
Back in the car Melodee smashed her hands down on the steering wheel.
“What a bitch,” she said, out loud this time.
It didn’t make her feel any better. Chloe’s words were reverberating around her head. Maybe she had a point? What was Melodee thinking, she was not the right person to raise Jewel. She had to hope they found a family member who Jewel could go to, because she deserved a real home and someone to raise her who hadn’t been cursed from birth.
Melodee was halfway back to Syracuse when Jewel woke, so she decided to stop off and get gas and feed her. This morning before she’d left she’d sent Nathan a text to explain where she was going, so he wouldn’t freak when he got home, but then she had switched off her phone. So she was a little surprised to glance up as the diner doors slammed open to find Nathan in the doorway. Clearly it was a day for shocks.
He stalked toward them and Melodee found herself holding her breath. She figured he was going to be pissed off but instead he swept her up in his arms.
“Don’t ever take off like that again,” he muttered into her shoulder. “I’ve been losing my god damned mind.”
“How did you find us?” Melodee asked as she pulled back from him.
“The Rover has GPS tracking built into it. I’d have been here sooner, but I didn’t get your text until after practice.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Where’s your car?” Melodee couldn’t see any vehicles outside.
“Matty dropped me off.”
Melodee snorted. “Yeah, I’ll bet cursing my name the entire way.”
Nathan’s features hardened. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“I was so sure that Chloe died,” Melodee said, stirring her juice around. “Despite the fact she has the personality of our mother, I can’t believe she’s alive.”
Nathan leaned forward. “Why did you think she was dead?”
Melodee focused on the flashes of memory from that day. “Chloe was two, she got between our parents while they were sparring.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I tried to get to her, but I was too slow. Father hit her. He was a tall, powerful man. She flew so far, her tiny body crumpling as she hit the wall.”
Melodee had to compartmentalize her emotions or she was likely to lose it. She hadn’t thought of this moment for so long.
“I ran to her … as fast as my little legs would move. But she was so still, her skin icy. Mother said she broke her neck. The last time I saw my sister my father was ‘taking care of it’.”
Melodee’s voice choked off. She shook her head, refusing to speak more. Nathan watched her, but didn’t push further. He seemed to understand she was done reliving the past. When Jewel started to fuss in her highchair, the three of them left the diner.
Nathan drove the rest of the way back to Syracuse, Melodee just stared out the window, and he could tell that she’d cut herself off from him again. All the ground he’d made bringing her into his life and he felt he was back where he started.
He couldn’t handle the silence any longer. “Are you going to tell me what happened just now with your sister?”
“She hates me, blames me for her shitty life.” Melodee’s voice was low. “I know that’s insane, I was only four and I don’t take blame for that. The fault for both our lives lies with my parents. But still she said something about Jewel that kind of made sense. The life I have lived has not given me the necessary skills to be a parent.”
She spun in her seat, her hands brushing gently over Jewel’s hair. The little girl was playing with her bear. She loved the crunchy paws.
“Jewel deserves a mother who knows how to be a family.”
Nathan growled. Melodee didn’t sound depressed, she wasn’t feeling sorry for herself. This was part of her altruistic nature, and something told him that if she thought she was doing the best thing for Jewel she would never change her mind.
“Jewel just wants love, Dee, and trust me, you have an endless capacity for that.”
She opened her mouth to speak but the ringing of Nathan’s cell cut her off.
He glanced down at the number flashing on his car screen.
“It’s CPS,” he said. “I can’t ignore it.”
Melodee sat forward in her seat. “No, we need to know what’s happening. Answer it.”
Nathan hit the green button.
“Nathan Sinclair,” he said.
“Hello, Nathan, it’s Denise from child protective services. I have an update. We’ve identified the deceased woman: Brandy Monroe.”
“So what does this mean for the baby?” he asked.
“At this stage we haven’t found any family, but Brandy’s records state she has a sister in Florida. The baby’s name is Chelsea. She was born June thirtieth and her father is listed as deceased on her birth certificate.”
“If she has no family, I want to adopt her.”
Melodee’s jaw dropped at Nathan’s words. What the hell was he doing?
“I did not expect that, Mr. Sinclair,” Denise said slowly. “It’s a fairly complicated process, but with your father’s influence I don’t think you will have a problem getting the necessary paperwork pushed through.”
“Great, well let me know when it’s clear for me to start the adoption process,” Nathan said.
Melodee was full on glaring at him now. He ended the call. “Why would you say that?” she said, her eyes wide. “How are you going to look after a baby full time? You’re about to become a professional basketball player.”
“I’m not going to do it alone.” Nathan met her gaze. “You’re a wonderful mother and role model for Jewel. No one ever said you needed to come from a perfect cookie cutter family to know how to create a home. Dammit.” He slammed his hands on the wheel. “You’re exactly the person I’d choose to raise my children.”
Melodee’s heart fluttered, her breath coming in a few short gasps as happiness filled her. Reaching out, she threaded her fingers through his hand.
“Thank you,” she said. While his adamant defense of her did offset some of the hurt from her sister’s words, the worried thoughts could not be squashed so easily.
The next day Nathan was at basketball training when his phone rang. Melodee hadn’t even realized he’d forgotten it until the clanging noise started. She dashed to it, not wanting to wake Jewel. It had taken her an hour of walking to get her down for her morning nap. Looking at the screen, she stopped as ‘Denise from CPS’ flashed up. Sliding the gr
een answer bar across, she lifted it to her ear.
“Hello.”
“Is this Melodee?” said a female voice, but the connection was terrible. Melodee could only just make out the words.
“Yes,” she said, her brow crinkling as she pressed the phone harder against her ear. “Do you have some information about Chelsea’s family?” She had to remind herself not to call her Jewel.
“Yes, the sister has come forward. Can you bring the baby down to meet her? Her husband and kids are here also.”
Melodee’s heart sank at these words.
“The connection is bad, I’ll text the address,” Denise said, before ending the call.
Melodee closed her eyes. The pain ripping through her was worse than any torture she’d endured. Pulling herself together, she lifted Nathan’s phone and dialed Charles’ number. He answered on the first ring.
“Nate, what’s up man? I thought you were at practice this morning.”
“Shit, sorry Charlie, I called from Nate’s phone.”
“Dee.” His tone changed to concerned. “What’s wrong? I can be there in ten minutes.”
“No, wait, I need you to give Nate a message. He left his phone at home.”
“What message?” She could hear that he was moving. “I’m at college so I can be at the gym in a few minutes.”
“CPS called. Jewel’s aunt is there and wants to see her. I’m going to take her down.” Melodee only realized that she was sobbing when the tears running down her cheeks splashed onto the bench. “It’s for the best, really. They have other kids, and Jewel will love having siblings.”
She couldn’t contain the well of grief that was lifting from the center of her being. For someone generally so self-contained, she didn’t know how to process these emotions. How did people survive such pain? Could she ever go back to the woman who needed no one? She had the suspicion that once emotion found its way into your life, you could never be the same again.
“Melodee, listen to me, don’t do anything until we get there, I’m getting Nathan right now.” Charles’ voice was low and forceful. “We need to check this family out. Jewel deserves the best parents, and as far as I’m concerned that’s you and Nate. Screw these other people, they didn’t even report the girl missing.”
“Every child deserves a real family, Charlie. I won’t stand in her way just because I love her.”
“Just wait there, I’ll be five fucking minutes. Please, Dee.” But she knew they would exert their power as Sinclairs and probably crush this poor family, and she couldn’t do that.
“I’m only going for a visit,” she finally said, “nothing’s been mentioned about handing Jewel back. I’ll take my cell if you need to contact me.”
As she hung up the phone Charles was cursing in her ear. But maybe after her sister’s harsh reality check yesterday, the fact Jewel might have a proper family to go to seemed like fate. And Jewel’s happiness was Melodee’s number one priority. Nathan’s phone beeped in her hand. She looked down to find a text from Denise; she’d sent the address. Melodee forwarded it on to her phone and went to grab Jewel.
Slowing the car, Melodee peered through the window. The area outside looked industrial. She wondered if the navigation system had made a mistake. This looked more like a space where her cage fights would be, not a government department. Was this what the recent budget cuts had led to?
She stopped the car in front of the address given. It looked like a shipping yard, but there was no water close by. She picked up her phone to check the address again. Suddenly it rang in her hand. Seeing Nathan’s name flash up, she answered it.
“Dee, baby, what are you doing?” his voice blasted into her ear. “Come back and get me, you don’t have to do this alone.”
“It’s just a chance for Jewel to meet her family,” Melodee said. “I wasn’t sure that you’d let it happen, and I think she deserves a real family.”
“I won’t argue with you right now about how much of a real family we already are,” Nathan said. “But I was always realistic. If Jewel had no family, then I wanted her, and if a relative came into the picture I was willing to meet them and see if they would be good enough for her. What I don’t like is you running off and taking the decision off me.”
Shit, he had a point, she’d let her emotional state get the best of her and she rushed off on a crazy mission. Besides, he deserved a chance to judge this family too.
“Okay, Nate, Ill head home now.” She’d fallen into the habit of calling it that, even though she still had her empty apartment sitting there. “I think Denise sent me the wrong address anyways.”
“Where are you?” Nathan asked.
“There should be a text in your ph–”
Melodee’s words were cut off as her window exploded beside her.
She was thrown to the side, glass raining over her, and she could tell by the sting that small cuts were littering her face and arm. Before she could get her equilibrium back, the door was wrenched open and she was dragged out by two beefy men. It was at that point she realized that one of them had punched in the window. She hit the asphalt hard, gravel biting into her palms. They came at her again, but she was over her shock and already moving. She kicked one in the face, breaking his nose, and the other reached for her, allowing her to lock on to his hand and bend his wrist. The bone cracked with a satisfying snap. On her feet, she went into full-on crazy mode, worried about Jewel’s safety. The man whose wrist she’d just broken was howling as he dropped to his knees. She smashed him in the temple, knocking him unconscious. The second came at her from the side, clipping her in the chin and knocking her backwards. She locked him in her gaze.
“You are going to fucking die,” she said. And she took a running jump, before twisting into a flip and landing on his shoulders.
She was about to snap his neck, but stopped at the last second. She wasn’t a killer, she worked really hard to appreciate life. And she especially did not want this to happen around Jewel. So instead of breaking his neck, she just chopped it on the side, rendering him unconscious. She stumbled off as he crashed to the ground. Her injured ribs were screaming at her as she scrambled around the car to check on Jewel. She shrieked to see the door already open and the seat removed. There wasn’t much snow on the ground at the moment, but it was still icy and slick; she almost fell as she spun around.
Across the lot she spotted a car tucked in beside the tallest of metal structures. She ran straight for it, panic threatening to overwhelm her. It was taking every part of her training to keep control of her famous calm. A baby’s cry ripped through the tunnel between the buildings and Melodee sped up. She slid over the bonnet of the car and to the other side. It was a red Mustang and it was empty, but then noise from an engine had her spinning in time to see a second car just starting to drive out of the graveled area. Melodee sprinted after it and with a dive landed on the driver’s door frame. She used the side step and mirror to balance herself, clinging to the side, but not one iota of fear entered her emotions. She focused on the driver, cursing as long red hair filled her view. Leanna.
The psycho swerved her car when she realized Melodee was attached to her side window, before snarling and winding the glass down a fraction.
“You’re supposed to be fucking dead. I’m going to take our daughter back to Nathan. He’ll be so worried.” Her eyes were unnaturally dilated, and Melodee knew that in this condition there was no reasoning with her. But even more worrying was the fact that she was drugged off the planet, and she had Melodee’s precious Jewel in the car.
Melodee reached back, using the edge of her toes to keep herself steady. She needed a bit more reach to smash the window, as her angle was bad. Leanna swerved again, coming close to overhanging metal. Melodee avoided it at the last second. But she lost the ground she gained trying to get a better angle. Leanna was coming up to the edge of the industrial area, so with her fingertips screaming Melodee reached herself out again and managed to fly to the door and crash her elbow
into the window. It didn’t smash, but she did create a small crack, tearing up her elbow in the process.
“Why won’t you just die?” Leanna screamed through the window gap. “You’re stopping Nathan from loving me. You’re all that stands in my way.”
“Yeah, me and the fact you’re bat-nuts crazy,” Melodee screamed. She was leaning back to hit the window again when a gun appeared in the small hole.
“Don’t ever call me crazy,” Leanna said, and she started to fire.
Melodee flung herself to the side again, avoiding a direct hit to her face, but two bullets still connected, one on her right side – the immediate shortness of breath told her it had partially collapsed her lung – and the other bullet ended up in her thigh. She was flung off the car, hitting the ground hard. Her last thought before her head connected to a building and everything went dark was hope that Nathan would save their daughter.
Chapter 13
Nathan heard the sound of crunching and then a distinct sound of breaking glass. It echoed loudly through the phone speaker.
“Dee!” he called. She’d just been about to tell him where she was, something about a text message. But what the hell had just happened? Had she hit something?
The phone was cut off then, but he was already moving on his way to where Charles was waiting downstairs in his Porsche, engine running.
“Where is she?” Charles asked as Nathan jumped into the passenger seat.
“I don’t know, she got cut off, and there were sounds of smashing glass. Fuck! I think she was in an accident.”
“Fuck,” Charles repeated.
“Hang on,” Nathan said as he pulled up his recent messages. There was one from Denise right at the top.
“Okay, plug this into your GPS,” he said to his brother, reading out the address.
“I know where it is,” Charles said. “That’s a really shitty part of town.” He put his foot down, his car speeding up in response.
