Saving Mel

by Rye Hart

  Layla gave me a side-glance and I knew she read my mind. I didn’t put the two together because I didn’t want to. Ashley was a talker in school. A gossiper and an instigator of drama. She thrived on the shit, and I was not looking forward to catching up with her at all.

  Ashley got up to give me a little hug and I returned the gesture in kind.

  “You look wonderful. I didn’t know you knew Layla,” she said.

  “We met at her coffee shop a few days ago,” I said.

  “Such a small world. I’m Lindsay, by the way.”

  “It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Daniel,” I said.

  “You already know Ashley and Layla. This is the oldest sister, Amanda, and this is our mother, Patrice.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you all,” I said.

  “Daniel! I’m sorry, I’m just a little shocked that our little Layla is bringing home a man. Sweetheart, you didn’t tell us you were seeing anyone,” Patrice said.

  “Trust me, there’s a reason for that,” Layla said, grinning.

  “Why don’t you come sit down with us and have a drink?” Amanda asked.

  “Layla?”

  I looked over at her and I could tell she was a little stressed at the situation. I stepped back toward her and wrapped my arm around her, then dipped my lips into her ear.

  “If you want out, just say the word,” I said, whispering.

  But she shook her head no, so I followed her cue.

  “I would love to,” I said, smiling.

  “Oh, yay! I love company,” Amanda said.

  “Would you like a soda or some lemonade?” Patrice asked.

  “Why don’t you surprise me? I love surprises,” I said.

  “You’d have to if you’re with Layla,” Ashley said.

  “Trust me, I do.”

  I looked down at Layla and she began blushing again. The conversation flowed between all of us and Layla seemed to loosen up. I could see the tension slowly diffusing from Layla’s body, but it wasn’t long before my cell phone rang out from my pocket.

  And I recognized the fucking ringtone.

  “I’m so sorry, ladies. Will you excuse me? Someone from my company is calling,” I said.

  “His company!?” Ashley said, squealing.

  “Do you own a company?” Lindsay asked.

  “I’ll be just a second,” I said, as I kissed Layla’s forehead.

  “What?” I asked as I stepped out of the room. “What is it now?”

  “Dude. You gotta get back here. It’s an absolute mess.”

  “Brady. What in the world could be so wrong with a publishing company?” I asked.

  “We’ve been hacked. The first drafts of fifteen manuscripts have vanished.”

  “Fuck. Come on, Brady. I hired you for a reason. What the hell’s going on?” I asked.

  “I got in this morning, and it was a mess. I was able to retrieve shit from the hardware, but things are fried. And I’ve got no fucking clue who has copies of those manuscripts. If they get leaked, we’re sunk for this year,” he said.

  “Look, I hired you to handle this shit so I could take care of my grandmother. If you can’t handle it, I’ll find someone who can. I’ll remote in with my laptop and see what I can do from here, but if I have to come back, you’re fired. Family is too important to me, and my grandmother isn’t well.”

  “I’m sorry, Daniel. Just try to do what you can. I’ve got a couple of tech buddies of mine trying to figure out where these things went.”

  I heard a door open, and I knew I had to get off the phone quick before my first impression with Layla’s family was ruined.

  “When I can get back to my laptop, I’ll remote in and call you. Stay by your fucking phone and update me every step of the way,” I said.

  I hung up the phone and went back into the room to find a man as tall as I was standing in the middle of it. He was hugging Layla tight before he kissed Patrice on her lips, and when he turned toward me I knew exactly who it was. Layla was the only daughter in the family who looked like her father.

  “Mr. Westin,” I said.

  “I take it you’re the Daniel my ladies are chattering about,” he said.

  “Guilty as charged. It’s nice to meet you,” I said, as I held out my hand.

  I shook the man’s hand and noticed he had a strong grip. He was a dominant force. A businessman. I dealt with his kind all damn day, and the confidence in my system began to surge. I met his grasp with an even pressure and looked him in the eye, then I waited until he broke the handshake and smiled.

  “Well, I’m off work early today. Don’t know about my son-in-law’s, but I guess Patrice will have to put up with me for the afternoon,” he said.

  “There’s no putting up with you. Trust me,” Patrice said. “My husband’s a loud, boisterous man.”

  “So that’s where Layla gets it from,” I said, grinning.

  “So you know my daughter well, then!”

  Layla giggled and shook her head before I winked at her from across the room.

  All of us gathered around in their living room and shot the shit for most of the afternoon. Layla’s mother kept the sodas and lemonade flowing while I got to know her family. They were warm and welcoming, full of jokes and wonderful stores of Layla as a child. She was embarrassed as all hell over the stories they were choosing, but I was loving every second of it.

  Slipping my arm around her, I pulled her close just to make sure she knew I was on her side.

  I started wondering what it would be like to live here again. The small-town atmosphere coupled with the fantastic food was quickly drawing me back into its gravitational pull. If I could get this shit resolved with my company, it would be easy for me to travel to Washington only when I needed to and live here for the rest of the year. That meant more time with Layla and her family, more time with my own family, and I could keep basking in the joy of my hometown.

  But there was something I needed to tell Layla first. Something that would make up my mind faster than anything else.

  CHAPTER 9

  Layla

  I was still reeling from how well the visit with my family went yesterday. Instead of staying for only an hour like I’d planned, we spent the entire day talking with my family. Daniel fit in so well. Almost too well. It consumed my thoughts so much that I was distracted at work, and Angela was beginning to give me weird looks.

  “You good?” Angela asked.

  “Yeah, yeah. Just a—bit tired,” I said.

  “Going too hard with that handsome man?” she asked.

  “I hope that answer is yes.”

  Daniel’s voice brought a smile to my lips as I looked up to see him. His smile was bright and his hands were in his pockets, and he looked more handsome than ever. I felt my legs growing weak as his eyes ran up and down my form, and I found myself wishing I no longer had to work.

  “What time do you get off today?” Daniel asked.

  “Five,” I said.

  “I’d like to take you out again, if you’re not too tired,” he said hastily.

  “I’d like that.”

  “If you’ve got the energy to entertain him, you’ve got the energy to work,” Angela said.

  “Then I won’t take up any more of your time. One large coffee with room for cream and sugar, please,” he said.

  I rang him up and blushed when our fingertips met around his cup of coffee. He seemed a bit nervous. His words were a little more rushed than usual. But we had been spending a lot of time together and he was probably reeling from yesterday like I was. What I really needed, though, was to talk to Melanie.

  My mind was spinning, and I needed to settle it before Daniel picked me up.

  “Hey there,” Melanie said. “How was work?”

  “I gotta talk to you about something,” I said.

  “This doesn’t sound good. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I don’t think. I don’t really know, I just know I have to settle my mind befor
e Daniel comes and gets me.”

  “Did he do something wrong?” she asked.

  “No, no. See, that’s the thing. Look, I think I’m—”

  Could I even fucking say it? It was preposterous, right? I couldn’t possibly be feeling this way after only a week or two.

  Right?

  “Layla, I’m gonna tell you what you tell me. Start from the beginning.”

  “Daniel and I went to my parents’ house yesterday and he met everyone,” I said.

  “He met your fucking parents?”

  “It wasn’t supposed to be that way. My mom asked me to stop by and he told me he’d swing me by their house before we were on our way. But he fit in so well and they were all talking so easily, it just felt so right and we ended up staying all day, and now I don’t know what to do because—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, Layla. Take a breath. Are you worried that he fits in with your family? Because that doesn’t sound right,” she said.

  “No,” I said. “I’m worried because I think I’m falling in love with him.”

  The phone conversation fell silent and my heart started hammering in my chest.

  “I’m gonna tell you the realization I came to when I figured out I was in love with Evan.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Love works in weird ways and comes at the oddest of times. When you know, you know, and there’s no denying it. You’re not panicking because you love him. You’re panicking because you think it’s too soon. But love doesn’t understand time like we do.”

  “It doesn’t?” I asked.

  “No,” she said, giggling. “It doesn’t.”

  She was right. I was freaking out because of the timing. I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves, then I looked at the clock and saw I was running late.

  “I gotta go. I gotta let Daniel know I’m off work so he can come get me.”

  “Get get ’em, Layla. Let me know how it goes.”

  “Always,” I said.

  I hung up the call and shot Daniel a message before I started getting ready. Then thirty minutes later, he was on my porch with a picnic basket. I smiled and threw my arms around him and he caught me in his free arm, and I took in everything about him. The way he stood. How strong he felt. The way he smelled and how closely he held me.

  “Missed you too,” he said. “Come on, I’ve got a picnic in the park planned for us.”

  “With this type of chill?” I asked.

  “Just trust me,” he said.

  We got into his car and he drove us to the park. He started crossing the grass and slowly driving through the woods, and I held the picnic basket tightly. He stopped on the edge of a field so we could see the stars twinkling in the sky, then he scooted his seat back and urged me to do the same.

  “Now we have the view, the food, and the heat,” he said.

  It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me, and I looked over at him and smiled.

  “Before we eat, though, there’s something I want to tell you,” he said.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I know it’s only been a week, or a week and a half, or something like that. And I know I might sound crazy, but I can’t keep it in anymore.”

  My heart was thundering in my ears as I turned my body toward him.

  “I—am falling in love with you, Layla. I—I love you.”

  His beautiful hazel eyes flickered up to mine and I could see the fear running behind them. The same fear I’d experienced while on the phone with Melanie. My blood rushed through my veins and my hands began to shake with happiness. The fear and anxiety I once felt rushed to my toes and bled out onto the floor of his car.

  “I was just telling my best friend that exact same thing,” I said.

  “You were telling her that I loved you?” he asked.

  “No, you idiot,” I said, giggling. “I was telling her that I was in love with you.”

  “You are?”

  “Yeah,” I said breathlessly. “I am. It scares the shit out of me, but I am.”

  We stared into each other’s eyes as his hand came up and brushed my hair away. He tucked it behind my ear as his eyes danced along my face, drinking in the moment just like I was. The moon was high in the sky, casting a warm glow along our bodies in the car, and soon Daniel’s lips were moving toward mine.

  I met his in tandem as we kissed underneath the stars, surrounded by the warmth of his car while our dinner sat in my lap.

  “I love you, Layla,” he said, whispering.

  “I love you too, Daniel.”

  EPILOGUE

  Daniel

  One Month Later

  My time with my grandmother was coming to an end, and my family thought it would be best for her to move back to Washington with us. It broke my heart that I would have to leave Layla. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to let her go. I’d spent the most incredible month with her, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

  I knew it would devastate her, but I had a solution to the issue.

  “You’re what?” she asked.

  “My parents want my grandmother to move back to Washington with us,” I said.

  “So is this our last dinner together or something?”

  I could see the disappointment wafting over her face, and it broke my heart.

  “Not if you don’t want it to be,” I said.

  “But how could that work? I don’t have the money to fly out to you or anything, and you’re not paying for that on your own.”

  “I figured you’d say that, so I offer you this. How about coming with me.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Come with me to Washington. Look, Layla. I know you’re close with your family, but I also know you don’t quite feel like you belong. Come live with me in Washington. I have this beautiful three-bedroom apartment that would be perfect for us. There’s plenty of room, we’ll find you another job, or you can go back to school if you want. Or open your own business. You can do anything, and I’ll be there to support you.”

  “Daniel, I can’t just—”

  “The thought of being far away from you is killing me. I couldn’t sleep last night when the decision was made, and this is the only thing that settles my heart. That gives me you without the distance. Come with me to Washington, Layla.”

  Sitting there in her townhome surrounded by food we weren’t eating, I could see her debating. I was frantic this morning to get her alone tonight. To try and propose this to her, hoping she would say yes. I knew it was short notice and I knew it was fast, but I couldn’t go back to Washington without her.