Avery never said a word about it, though she must have known the situation, and Melody sure as hell wasn't about to ask. It didn't matter anyway. After tonight, she wouldn't see them again. She hated the idea of what she was about to do, but it had to be done. She couldn't risk being so close. She'd called the bus company earlier with absolutely no luck.
Avery had fallen asleep again, and Melody quietly fished around the house until she found a set of keys. One of them had to be for the truck. She stared back again at Avery's sleeping form in the recliner. The guilt ate at her. What a nice woman, offering Melody a part time job at her parents' inn and helping her find a place to stay.
It all sounded so good. Too good to be true.
Melody longed for it.
No! The faster you get that thought out of your mind, the better off you'll be. You need to go.
She could take the truck as far as she could, leave it somewhere safe, and make an untraced call back to Harmony's Echo. That way Avery and Lucas could have their truck back.
A sob erupted from her throat.
She felt lower than scum.
It wasn't too late. She didn't have to go through with it. Maybe, if she let him, Jameson could help her.
No!
Jameson already had enough on his plate. That look in his eyes still tugged on her emotions. He was hurt. Adding herself to his list of things to handle wouldn't be fair.
Keys and her bag in hand, Melody tip-toed to the front door. So far, so good. When she opened the door, it squeaked. Her heart raced. It wasn't like the sound was even that loud. Already on edge, the smallest noises scared the hell out of her.
Avery didn't stir.
I'm so sorry. Forgive me.
Tears falling down her cheeks, Melody left the house. The September night had a chill to it. The dark, moonless sky matched her mood.
Melody spotted the truck parked under the carport. God, she hoped this wasn't a loud engine. If Avery woke up right now-.
She made it to the truck. As she reached for the keys to figure out which one would be the one to open the truck, her entire body quaked. She tried each and every key on the ring, having a difficult time keeping her hand steady.
She almost had the last key inserted when a pair of headlights lit up the driveway.
Oh no. No, no no. Lucas was home. It had to be him.
Melody dropped the keys and ran, her bag slung over her shoulder, hitting her as she bolted. She heard him yelling behind her and the sound of heavy footsteps following her.
"Hey! Stop!"
She looked back. Stupid move. The next thing she knew, Melody was kissing the dirt as her face met up with it, and Lucas caught up to her. He grabbed her arm. She couldn't help it, Melody screamed. "Let go of me! Let go!"
"What the- Mary? What the hell were you doing by Avery's truck? What's going on?" Lucas released his grip on her, but still held her steady.
Her entire body wracked with sobs, Melody broke down. "I can't stay here. I'm sorry. I didn't want to do it, but I have to get as far away from here as possible. Please, let me go. Don't hurt me!"
"Whoa. No one is planning on hurting you, least of all me." Lucas's tone took a softer approach. "Mary, what are you hiding from? What in the world would possess you to try and steal my fiancées truck and run?"
"I can't. I can't talk about it." She wished he would let her go. What now, was he going to call the cops and have her arrested? Then it would be news for sure. She'd be found and then there would be no keeping herself from getting killed.
"You're in some kind of trouble. And believe me, I know all about trouble. Come on, let's go back inside and figure this out. How did you get past Avery? You better not have done anything to her." His voice grew cold.
Melody sat up. "I didn't do anything to her. I wouldn't- do such a thing. I'm not trying to cause trouble. She's sleeping. Avery is just fine. Please, Lucas, let me go."
"I'm not sure I can do that. Come on." He jumped to his feet, holding out a hand for her.
Melody took it, climbing to her feet. She really had no other choice. Stupid plan. Had she not hesitated so much, she probably would have made it. "I really am sorry," she whispered. She allowed him to lead her back into the house. When he opened the door and waited for Melody to come inside, she came face to face with Avery.
"What's going on?" She looked at Melody with wide eyes, then turned her attention to Lucas. She sounded tired.
"Honey, I caught her trying to take off in the truck," Lucas told her.
"What? Why would you do that?" Avery narrowed her eyes, shooting daggers at Melody.
"Avery, calm down. It's not good for the baby. Let's go sit down and sort this out." Lucas shut the door behind him, glared at Melody, then went to stand beside Avery and wrapped her in a hug. "We're going to talk about this. If you think about bolting, I will call the police. Right now, I'll give you the chance to explain."
Melody hung her head. She'd really screwed up. Now, if anything, she had no one to back her up, to help her, because she went behind these good people's backs to run. Lucas and Avery took a seat on the couch, huddling together. Those two were so in love. Anyone could see that. She couldn't help but wonder what that felt like. She kind of envied Avery, because she had someone that would always watch her back, protect her, and keep her safe. Hell, it seemed she had Jameson to do that for her too.
When was there ever a time someone had done that for Melody?
Okay, now isn't the time to have a pity party.
"Mary?" Lucas asked, his tone gruff. "You might want to start talking."
"I-."
God, where did she begin? She couldn't just tell them everything. No way. It was too complicated, too scary. It made for something right out a suspense movie.
Okay, the shortened, quick version. Something that would ease them, be the truth, and not give anything away. What if they suggested she go back?
"I'm running from someone. A relationship gone bad. Real bad. And … if he finds me-" Her voice cracked. Her vision blurred as tears pricked the corners of her eyes again.
Avery's jaw dropped, but Lucas still held his angry gaze on her.
"I've learned you can't run away from your past forever." Lucas broke the silence first. "I understand that can be scary, but maybe you need to let someone help you. If you do things like you did tonight, that might not be so easy."
"I know. I'd give anything to feel safe. I can't stay here. It's too close to home." Melody hiccuped, sobs catching in her throat.
"There are laws to protect you, you know," Avery spoke up.
Melody shook her head. "No, there really aren't."
"Mary, if someone has threatened or abused you, there are things that can be done," Lucas affirmed.
She shook her head. He didn't understand. How could he? How could either of them? She wasn't ready to tell them anything else yet. She couldn't bring herself to do it. "It's nothing he did to me. Not directly, anyway." She shouldn't have even said that. Damn it!
"Look, I've been down that running all the time road-" Lucas started again.
"You can't even begin to understand!" Melody yelled, startling not only herself, but both Avery and Lucas. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to yell. I'm just scared. I have nowhere to go, I can't call home, I can't call where I was supposed to go. I should never have left that bus, but I couldn't just leave that poor woman to figure out what to do by herself when she was in labor."
"That tells me that all around, you are a good person." Lucas ran a hand through his hair and exchanged a glance with Avery. "Why don't we all try and get some rest? I'm serious, Mary, we can help you if you let us. You don't need to be afraid. You can stay here tonight, but I'm a light sleeper. Very light. I'm going to make sure all of our keys are very well hidden, and if you try anything, I won't hesitate to call the police this time. I'm willing to help, but I won't be taken advantage of."
Melody stared at him in shock. After what she'd done, they were still willing to help her? She fi
gured when Lucas caught her, that was the end.
"Tomorrow, we come up with a new game plan. I'm off then, and I promise we'll try to do what we can to help. Does that sound fair?"
She nodded. Another night of good sleep would be nice. She still didn't feel that safe, but it was better than the alternative. "I appreciate that."
"Okay. This couch pulls out into a bed. You can sleep here tonight." Lucas stood, reaching for Avery to help her up. She still hadn't said much, and kept shooting weary looks over at her.
But she deserved it. She'd done something utterly stupid.
Lucas pulled out the bed and brought her a blanket and pillow, then told her goodnight. Avery had already gone off to the room without saying a word to Melody.
As she lie awake in the dark, hoping sleep would come, she huddled under the blanket and wished things were different.
She could hear Avery and Lucas talking from the other room. It had to have been about her. The voices drifted through their closed door, but Melody heard pretty much everything loud and clear.
"I know it's not the ideal situation. Don't be upset with me," she heard Lucas say.
"She tried to steal the truck, Luke! I don't trust her."
"I'm not sure I do either. I just think we could do something. Come on, you gave me a chance when I first came out here."
"That's different."
"Not really, Avery."
As they argued, Melody cried herself to sleep. She never intended on causing problems between them.
*****
Jameson hesitated in the truck, parked in front of the house. His mother had probably gone to sleep. Hell, who knew if she'd even come out of the room after he left, but he just wasn't ready to go inside and face it all.
He wondered if Mary was still with Avery. This late, Avery might be asleep already. She'd been doing that lately, but Jameson would bet anything Lucas was still up. It wouldn't hurt to shoot him a text, just to see. If anything, Lucas wouldn't respond.
Yep, he was stalling.
Damn it.
Jameson pulled his phone from his pocket and sent Lucas a text. A few minutes later, he received a response.
Yeah, she's still here. Call me. I've got a lot to tell you about her.
Maybe Lucas finally got the woman to talk. Jameson hit the speed dial. "What's going on?" he asked when Lucas answered.
"I came home and caught Mary trying to steal the truck and run."
"What?" He knew something was wrong, but why would the woman try and take off in Avery's truck?
"She's fearful of someone, Jameson. Real bad. I don't know all the details, but she wants to get as far away as possible. She can't be all that bad, because she did stay to help the other woman. Shelly, right?"
"Yeah, Shelly. Wow. Is Avery okay? How did Mary get the keys and get out?"
"Avery fell asleep, and Mary took that chance. She was trying to find the right key when I pulled in."
"Where is she now?"
"She's here. I told her she needed to come back and explain, or I would call the cops. That scared her enough to the point where she complied. I don't really know what the hell to do, but I saw a little bit of me for a second. The person I used to be. I don't know … I couldn't turn her away. Avery isn't too happy about it. I don't blame her, but I felt like I should do something. You know?"
He did. Jameson felt the same way. He wanted to help Mary, but she kept everyone at arm's length. Even more than just being a stranger. She didn't let anyone in it seemed. At all.
"At least I have tomorrow off. I don't have to leave her with Avery, and maybe I can try and figure something out."
"I can come by too, if you want." He had the day off tomorrow, and anything would be better than hiding out here. Like he was doing now.
"Sure, why not? The more the merrier."
"All right. I guess I'll see you then. Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this. Hey Lucas, tell Avery I'm sorry about earlier." She must have at least mentioned something to Lucas, which was fine with him. He'd shut her out earlier, when maybe he should have reached out for someone. This wasn't a battle he should fight alone.
That's how it always ended up.
"I will. She's just worried about you, Jameson."
"I know."
"You know if there's anything we can do..."
"I appreciate it, Lucas. But there isn't. Hey, I'd better get inside now. I just got home and I'm ready to pass out." No, more like he wasn't ready to go down this conversation with Lucas, let alone with anyone.
"Okay. Have a good night. See you when you get here."
Silence greeted Jameson when he finally decided to go into the house. He flicked on the kitchen light, surveying the room. He tossed his keys on the dining room table. The kitchen had stayed clean after he took care of everything at lunch time, which meant his mom never came out, either that or she chose not to eat anything.
Not really tired, Jameson decided to go in the garage and just goof around with the guitar for awhile. Music soothed him, kept him calm. He grabbed a water from the fridge and headed into the garage. He closed the door behind him, grabbed the swivel stool and put the water down by his feet. He picked up the guitar, running his fingers along the neck, lost in thought. He grabbed the pick from his case and started a few chords.
Thank God for the band. The sweet release of music. When he was up on stage, jamming on the guitar next to Avery, there was nothing better. The stage, the songs, beat real life right now. Despite everything, he was thankful that he and Avery hadn't ruined their desire to play together. Without Baby Stetson, Jameson wasn't sure how he would handle things so well.
Or maybe, he wasn't really handling anything. When the hell had he become the type to shut everyone out? He'd never done that before. When he had to tell Avery about that one night, he'd been open and honest, even though he knew what would happen, and he'd always been honest since. So what the hell changed? It wasn't like she stopped caring about him, because she didn't. Even though she found love with Lucas, Avery always made time for Jameson and their friendship. That look in her eyes earlier when he'd pushed her away, it hurt. He shouldn't have done that. Avery wasn't going to judge him. She knew the situation. She'd been around too, watching in horror as his mom spiraled out of control. She'd offered so many times to come over and sit with Mom. Hell, Avery jokingly threatened to go find Blaine and drag her ass back here. He could almost see Avery doing it, too.
Jameson heaved a sigh. He set the guitar down and stared at the wall. Like a feeling of deja vu, a loud banging sound distracted him. Already on edge, he flew from the stool and was out of the garage in no time. He glanced around the dining room and kitchen, trying to figure out what was wrong. Jameson bolted down the hall. The door to his mother's room was open, light on, and she was nowhere to be found. "Mom?"
What had she done in there? The walls had holes in them. Great. Another thing to put on the list of things to fix. They couldn't stay that way. It looked like a war zone in the room.
Where was she? And what was that noise?
His truck?
Oh hell no.
Jameson's legs felt like rubber, but he rounded the corner to the dining room. The first thing he noticed was that his keys were no longer on the table. "Oh Mom, no!" Jameson yanked open the back door and ran down the steps to the driveway, where he saw his truck being backed out of the driveway. Tires squealed. Damn it, she was drunk, and driving his truck?
He wasn't thinking. Jameson ran to the truck, gravel crushing beneath his feet as he tried to reach it in time, before she drove off and did something stupid. He was at the driver's side of the door, trying to pull on it as she focused her eyes on him, looking pissed off and not completely coherent. "Mom, what are you doing? Open this door now, and get out of the truck!"
She was shaking her head wildly, saying something to him, but he couldn't hear through the window. She hit the gas hard, sending Jameson flying back, landing on his rear, and before he could scramble bac
k to his feet, she was gone.
He had no other choice. Jameson grabbed his phone and dialed a number, his heart breaking the entire time.
Chapter Five
By ten the next morning, there was no word.
No word. How the hell could that be?
Jameson couldn't figure out how his mother got past anyone driving the way she had. Harmony's Echo was a small town. Someone should have found her and the truck by now. Did it count as stealing if it was his family? He thought back to his conversation with the police officer. He only called them because of safety issues. When they mentioned a stolen vehicle, Jameson panicked. That's not what he meant to achieve, damn it! His mother wasn't a criminal. Just a woman in mourning that he had no idea how to help anymore.
What have I done?
Maybe he should have just let her blow off steam. She would be back.
But he saw that empty bottle in the room, the shape of the walls. If she just wanted to go somewhere, she could have asked him. She didn't need to grab his keys and drive off, especially when he'd gone out there to try and stop her.
Still, Jameson felt like the worst person in the world right now. Sometimes good intentions didn't turn out the way they were meant to.
He shot up from where he sat in the dining room. Waiting around wouldn't get him anywhere. He had a hard time with the empty house. The silence practically echoed off the walls. He needed to get out of here. He could just jog over to Avery and Lucas's place. It was only a couple of miles. A walk would do him good. Yeah. That's what he'd do.
About a half hour later, Jameson slowed his pace and made his way up the driveway to the house Avery and Lucas rented. He checked his phone for any messages. Even though he had his sound all the way up, he needed to be sure he didn't miss a thing. He rang the doorbell.
The Melody In My Head (Love and Music in Texas Book 2) Page 5
