by Dori Lavelle
Chapter Twenty-Five
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.
Chapter Twenty-Six
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.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
When the taxi pulled into the driveway, Melisa gazed through the car window at the small townhouse. The lights were out and the car was nowhere to be seen. Heat must have gone to work. She had wanted to discuss what had happened, but maybe it was best for him to take some time to cool off.
Inside the house, she stood in the darkened entrance hall, too afraid to switch on the light and see what she stood to lose if things didn’t go according to plan. But she couldn’t let that happen. She’d fight for Heat with every breath. She had messed up, and she would make things right.
***
Heat arrived home at 7:00 a.m. and was surprised to see Melisa sitting at the kitchen table. His eyes were tired and troubled as he observed her from the doorway.
Melisa remained seated, afraid to make a move, in case it turned out to be the wrong one.
“Are you sure this is where you want to be?” His face was as stony as it had been at the Lux.
She stood up then and went to him. “There’s no place I’d rather be.” She kissed him on the lips, and her heart deflated when he didn’t return her kiss. But at least he didn’t move away from her.
“Did you sleep with him?”
Melisa shook her head in response to the question and detected an impending headache. “No, I wouldn’t do that to you.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I seriously don’t know anymore what you would and wouldn’t do to me. You know how a lie almost destroyed us before. Now you’re keeping things from me again. I thought we were done keeping secrets from each other. Tell me,”—he sat—“how exactly do you want me to react?”
“I don’t know… I didn’t want to hurt you, Heat. That’s why I didn’t tell you. Scott… he wanted it to be kept a secret.”
Heat jumped up from the table and paced the kitchen. “I can’t believe this.” He gave a sarcastic laugh. “You chose to be loyal to the man who betrayed you, made a fool of you… of all of us? Who screwed up your life so much that you lost everything? I was there for you, Mel. I helped you heal. After we lost the baby, I couldn’t bear to look at myself in the mirror. While I was going through this, you were meeting up with your believed-to-be-dead ex behind my back?” He slumped into the chair again and raked both his hands through his hair. “Do you still love him?” he asked, looking up, his voice cracking.
Melisa rushed to his side and knelt down at his feet. “No, Heat. I love only you. I married Scott while I still had feelings for you. You’re the love of my life. You have to believe that. I do care about Scott. I was married to him, but I’ve never loved him as much as I love you. That’s why I’m home, back with you.” She placed her head on his lap and started to sob. “I’m so sorry.”
The room was silent for a very long time. Then Heat placed a hand on top of her head and gently smoothed her hair. “I need to know one more thing.”
Melisa looked up at him with dripping eyes.
“Is there anything else you’re keeping from me? Anything I should know?” He still wasn’t smiling, but his face was softer now. “I’m tired of secrets, Mel.”
Melisa took a deep breath. “No, I promise I’m not keeping anything else from you. I’m so sorry.”
Heat rose from the chair again. This time he looked about to explode. “Where’s he staying?”
“Don’t you ask me that,” Melisa begged.
Heat’s face crumpled. “Don’t tell me he was staying with you. Please don’t.”
Melisa shook her head vehemently, shocked at what he was implying. “Of course not.”
“Then give me his fuckin’ address.”
“The Drawbridge Inn. He’s staying at the Drawbridge Inn. Please don’t hurt him,” she pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears as Heat charged out of the room like an angry bull.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Heat saw red as he burst out the front door. In long, determined strides, he approached the SUV, but halted before yanking the door open. He didn’t trust himself to drive. He dug inside his pocket for his cell and called a cab. He didn’t go back inside the house as he waited for it to arrive. He couldn’t bear to look at Melisa right now. A walk around the block killed the time.
“Drawbridge Inn,” he said when he climbed into the taxi. “Hurry.”
The taxi wheezed through traffic and Heat shifted in his seat, tapping his foot. He knew where the inn was, had driven past it a few times. The closer they got to it, the more his blood boiled inside his veins.
When they arrived at the inn, Heat pressed some bills into the driver’s hand and hopped out. He wasn’t even sure how much he’d paid for the ride. The cab driver grinned as he drove away, so he must have tipped generously.
Now that he was looking at the inn, he had no idea what to do. If he charged in right now, he’d kill Scott with his bare hands. God knew he deserved it. Heat couldn’t wrap his mind around the horrifying truth that his best friend, whom he’d known since childhood, had done such a despicable thing. What angered him most was that Scott had hurt Melisa. For that alone, Heat felt like strangling him. But whatever he did, he had to think of Melisa first. As furious as he was, he would still do anything to protect her.
He went for another stroll down the empty streets, forcing himself to breathe, to calm down. He allowed the night breeze to cool his anger.
Ten minutes later, he returned to the inn. The walk had not done him much good, but to hell with it. He was going in to see Scott.
He rang the bell and a woman with snow-white hair wrapped in a tight bun, and tired green eyes opened it. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Scott…” Shit, Scott was in hiding. What if he was using a different name here? Heat should have thought of that before and asked Melisa. Too late—he had to figure it out, and fast, since the old lady was now eyeing him with suspicion.
“There’s no one here by that name. Sorry.” She made a move to close the door, but Heat stood in the way.
“An old friend of mine from school is staying here. I’m afraid I can’t remember his surname. He asked me to come see him.” He smiled, putting on his charm. “He told me what a great place you have. I have a lot of friends who visit Serendipity. I should tell them about it.”
The woman’s eyes glittered. “I’d like that. But I pick my guests very carefully. Not just anyone can stay here.” She knitted her eye
brows. “Do I know you from somewhere? You look kind of familiar.”
“I work for the fire department.”
The woman smiled. “Then I do know you. A few months ago my daughter, Charlotte, had a minor fire emergency at her house on Reed Street. When I got there the place was crawling with firefighters. As a young woman I always found firefighters rather alluring. I dated one myself once.” She fanned her face with her hand. “Anyway, you must have been one of the firemen sent to put out the fire. I’m sure I’ve seen you. I don’t forget faces.”
“I do remember a basement fire on Reed Street. Does your daughter happen to have a little girl?” To his surprise, Heat found his anger abating.
“Yes, my ten-year-old granddaughter was the one who called nine-one-one.”
“As I recall, she had inhaled a lot of smoke.” Heat was relieved that the woman was warming up to him. He was certain she’d let him in now.
“So you were the handsome young man who took care of her. Didn’t you give her some kind of badge?”
Heat dug inside his pocket and pulled out two small metal badges with Hero engraved on them. “Did it look like one of these? I give them to all brave kids.”
“That’s exactly how it looks. You made her day. She has it hanging on her bedroom wall. You’re a fantastic young man. Who did you say you wanted to see again?”
Heat cleared his throat. “A friend from school. He’s tall, has grey eyes, and…” Heat remembered that Scott had been wearing a cap, maybe to disguise himself. “He loves to wear caps.”
“And he’s just as handsome as you are.” The woman opened the door wider to let him in. “I know who you mean. There are only two men staying here. One is too old to be your friend from school.”
