Her father snorted. “You can’t be serious. Young lady, I’ve had about enough of this. It’s already been a long day. I had to take a flight first thing this morning to Maine of all places and find my daughter parading through town wearing a man’s pajamas. Your decisions are poor. You don’t know what you want. Now, get in the car. Graham is still willing to take you back, but you need to stop these stunts.” He flipped his hand in the air.
“I’m not leaving.” Melanie fought to keep her voice calm, even though she felt furious her father hadn’t taken her declarations seriously.
“Melanie Rutherford,” her father spoke quietly. “I am in a position to shut down a particular coffee shop for tax evasion when I inform the IRS Carlos Young apparently hired a woman under a false name. I can make sure that Dr. Goodwyn never works in medicine again, and I can certainly take your name off any trusts and bank accounts.”
Her father’s low, icy-calm voice sent a chill over her skin.
Her mother’s eyes were wide as she watched her husband. She smoothed her thick hair with a shaky hand.
Melanie’s stomach felt like it held a boulder. My father would blackmail me? Her muscles tightened and her breathing turned raspy. She eyed the bodyguard and the campaign manager. Her dad wouldn’t tell them to grab her and throw her into the car, would he? She didn’t know what he was capable of. She’d seen his angry reaction when she’d refused to date Graham. But those were just words. How much more vicious could he become now that she’d taken action?
She squeezed Seth’s hand, feeling tears leak out of her eyes in spite of her efforts to quell them. “I’m not leaving,” she repeated. “But I’m not hiding anymore, either.”
“Melanie,” her mother reached out her arm, wiggling her fingers as if she wanted to lead her daughter away from all this. “Come on home, dear.”
“Mother, Father.” Melanie straightened her shoulders. “I want to be part of your lives. But I want my own life, too.”
“We’ve given you your…” her father began, puffing out his chest.
“Not the life you made. The life I make.” She wondered if anyone besides Seth knew she was trembling.
“What’s your plan, Melanie?”
The entire group turned as Chuck spoke.
“I’m not completely sure.” She felt a nervous quiver in her stomach. “I’m coaching a softball team, and I love it.” She glanced at her parents, hoping to see a look of approval in their expressions. At least they finally looked like they were paying attention to what she said. “And I thought maybe the Rec program here could be expanded. I like working with kids.”
“This could work, Rutherford,” Chuck paced, nodding as he spoke. “Good publicity, your daughter living in a small town, working with the community. Her new direction could be a great asset to your campaign.”
The senator looked at his campaign manager and then his daughter.
Melanie held his gaze, even though every bit of her wanted to pull away.
Folding his arms, Melanie’s father turned to Seth, studying him with a raised chin and narrowed eyes. “And what are your intentions with my daughter, doctor?”
“Seth.” He smiled at Melanie. “I love her, sir. I hope to be part of her life for as long as she’ll let me.”
Melanie’s mother pressed her hands to her mouth. “Oh, my dear.” She pulled Melanie into an embrace, and then did the same with Seth.
Melanie had rarely been hugged by her mother and was surprised by how much she wanted a warm relationship with her parents.
Senator Rutherford maintained his thoughtful expression. Finally, he dipped his head in a nod. “See that you take care of her.”
“She doesn’t need taking care of, sir.” Seth held the senator’s gaze.
Melanie’s father studied Seth for a moment longer, and then turned back toward the car. “When she’s changed, get some pictures, Chuck.”
Chuck caught Melanie’s eye and winked.
****
That afternoon, Seth pulled the clinic’s glass door closed behind him. He walked across the parking lot and crossed the street toward Murphy’s Bar. Raising his gaze to Melanie’s window, he felt his heart speed up, and he walked faster.
When he reached the apartment door, he heard the pre-game show on the TV and grinned. He knocked.
Moments later, Melanie opened the door and stepped aside to let him in. “Did you mean what you said to my father, Seth?”
Her brow was furrowed, and he could tell she’d been thinking about the encounter with her parents that morning. “Which part?”
“All the parts.”
Seth pulled her toward him, holding her chin with one hand and the other went around her waist. “I meant it when I said I wanted to be part of your life.”
Her expression didn’t fully relax. “What about the other part?”
“That you don’t need to be taken care of?” He slid his hand beneath her ear, drawing her closer for a kiss.
She moved her hands up his back, tightening her arms around him as she returned the kiss. She pulled back. “And…?” The lines between her brows deepened.
Seth fought to keep a straight face. He knew exactly what she was asking, and also that she was too embarrassed to ask outright. Her uncertainty and the wide-eyed concern in her expression were completely adorable, and he decided to make her sweat it out a bit longer. “Let me see, I actually don’t remember much more. Your father is really intimidating.”
He moved toward the couch. “Since the game’s just about to start, should we watch here?” Plopping down, he picked up the two stuffed animals. “Hey, Jeter. Mariano.” He could see from the corner of his eye that Melanie hadn’t moved, and he held in his smile. He was enjoying himself. “So, Mel, did you happen to bring any blueberry scones from the coffee house today?”
Melanie sat on the edge of the couch and tucked her hair behind her ear.
Seth saw the shy woman he’d been attracted to months ago, but now he knew beneath her quiet exterior was a warrior. He couldn’t be more proud. Finally, he caved. “Are you wondering about the part where I said I love you?”
Melanie lifted her gaze and her cheeks flushed red.
He would never grow tired of bringing color to her cheeks.
“Do you?” She looked back down at her fingers.
She spoke in a soft voice that made his heart flip over. He scooted across the space and pulled her up onto his lap. His somersaulting heart picked up speed. “Mel, I know you want to be on your own. And I don’t want to make it harder, but I’m in love with you.”
Melanie sank against him. “I wanted to be on my own, but it doesn’t mean I have to do it alone, right?”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Putting her hands on his shoulders, she pulled back. “I love you, Seth.”
Hearing the words out loud sent heat spreading through his chest. “Even if I’m a Red Sox fan?”
“Well…I could probably overlook that one flaw.” Her lips twisted into a smirk. Leaning forward, she pressed a tentative kiss to his lips, and then did it again.
He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and smiling at the sound of her sigh. He’d burst through Melanie’s door determined to save her, but she hadn’t needed a protector, which is why her admission of wanting him made him feel so much more heroic. He wondered if she realized it. Or if his reasoning even made sense. But he figured they had forever to discuss it. Her lips moved over his, and talking was the farthest thing from his mind.
A word about the author…
Jennifer Moore is a passionate reader and writer of all things romance due to the need to balance the rest of her world that includes a perpetually traveling husband and four active sons, who create heaps of laundry that is anything but romantic.
She suffers from an unhealthy addiction to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century military history and literature, and she thinks a man nothing without regimentals.
Jennifer has a B.A. in Linguistics
from the University of Utah and is a Guitar Hero champion.
She loves studying maps and traveling, and tries to convince her husband that researching the history of a destination is nearly as fun as actually being there. Her very favorite places to visit are Southern Spain and Greece.
Jennifer spends an excessive amount of time driving carpools and attending kids’ soccer games.
She lives in northern Utah with her family, but most of the time wishes she were on board a frigate during the Age of Sail.
http://www.authorjmoore.com
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Other Titles by this Author
Change of Heart
The Sheik’s Ruby
Thank you for purchasing
this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Safe Harbor Page 9
