“Yes. I work for the BlackThorpe Wellness Center.”
Tyler leaned forward, bracing an arm on the table, his other hand still on her back. “Melanie is in charge of the Center. That’s where we met. She wasn’t running the place back then, but she is the driving force behind the success of the Center now.”
Warmth spread through her at the pride she heard in his voice. “It’s my privilege to be able to help provide a place for people who need the services we offer. Tyler is definitely one of the Center’s success stories.”
“So you guys have known each other for a while?” Though Rena was the one asking the question, Melanie could see that others at the table were listening.
“Almost seven years,” Tyler said. “Before I even left the Center, Marcus Black offered me a position at the company.”
Rena’s gaze moved between Melanie and Tyler. “And it’s only now that you’ve started dating?”
“Hey, ya’ll.”
A woman approached the table, a wide smile on her face. She had long blonde hair that curled over her shoulders and her eyes were a light shade of blue. Though she looked to be about Melanie’s height, her figure had more curves. The greetings that were called out to the woman quickly clued Melanie into the fact that this was Betsy.
Her gaze swept the table, moving past Melanie to Tyler only to jerk back to her. Betsy’s eyes narrowed, and Melanie was sure she was seeing where Tyler had his hand on her. Betsy moved toward the end of the table where there was a vacant chair between Tyler and Jeff. Melanie felt a tightening in her stomach, and it had nothing to do with the way the woman looked at Tyler.
It had everything to do with the woman’s appearance. Melanie felt like she was seeing what she would have looked like if she hadn’t worked so hard to change her appearance. Without the dye, colored contacts and leaner body because of her excessive workouts and strict eating, she would have looked very similar to the woman.
Betsy held out her hand toward Melanie. “Hello. I’m Betsy St. John. I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“Melanie Thorpe.” Melanie took her hand in a firm shake. “Nice to meet you.”
She could feel Tyler’s hand tense on her back, but until the woman said or did something to provoke her, she would be friendly.
Before Betsy could ask any more questions, Rena quickly filled in the details she’d managed to gather already.
“Why don’t we say grace and then we can go get our food,” Jeff suggested when his wife finished talking.
Melanie was just bowing her head when she saw Tyler flip his hand palm up on the table where it rested. Remembering that they’d held hands during the prayer for the food with his parents, she reached out and pressed her palm to his. As his fingers closed around hers, she felt the brush of his thumb on the skin just above the neck of her jacket.
Jeff’s prayer was way too short, Melanie thought as it ended, but Tyler didn’t let go of her hand as he stood, drawing her up with him.
“Ready to go get some food?”
She nodded, though the thought of food wasn’t the most appealing thing at the moment. Thankfully, there were lots of choices at the buffet so Melanie was able to find enough acceptable food to fill her plate. Back at the table, she concentrated on taking small bites and chewing so it looked like she was eating even though she was still on her first plate when others were going up for seconds.
Every time she looked at Betsy all she could see was what might have been. And despite what she thought the woman might be like, given Tyler’s warning about her, Betsy was actually a friendly and funny woman. Would she have been more like that if she hadn’t had the experiences she’d had? There were also some other similarities between them in addition to the physical. Betsy was in the medical profession as well and she had just started up her own pediatrics practice.
Why had Tyler not been interested in her? Was dark hair and eyes his type? Melanie thought back to when she’d met his ex, Kelly. Though she couldn’t recall her eye color, she definitely had had dark hair. Her gut clenched. If things got serious between them, eventually she’d have to at least reveal that her eyes were blue. Was it false advertising for her to let Tyler think this was how she looked when it was all fake?
And now she had more thoughts to shove to the side for the moment. Before this got too much more serious, she needed to make some decisions.
Although, according to her heart, it was already serious.
~*~*~
Tyler was surprised at how accepting Betsy was being of Melanie. Given her dogged pursuit of him in the past, he was sure she’d have an issue with it. Of course, he was thankful that she was being nice. He’d seen the way she’d been studying Melanie as she had interacted with Rena and Jeff and others at the table. He sensed she was curious about what it was Melanie had that had finally managed to get him to start dating again.
After he had finished the food on his plate, he glanced over to see that Melanie still had over half of the food she’d taken, left on hers. And even what she’d taken had been the healthiest out of the selections. Fish. Salad. Baked chicken. No potatoes, pasta or any of the bread they had. He admired her for sticking to her healthy way of eating, but she still needed to actually eat it.
“I’m heading up for more,” he said, leaning close to her. “Do you want me to grab you anything?”
She smiled at him. “No, I’m good.”
Ryan stood when he did and walked with him back to the food. “Melanie seems to be fitting in.”
Tyler stopped near the part of the buffet with the roast beef. “Do you think so? She’s hardly eating and seems tense.”
“Well, I didn’t say she wasn’t nervous, but she’s engaging in conversation and seems to be connecting with Rena and—surprisingly enough—Betsy.”
“I’m just…worried.” Tyler glanced over to see Melanie leaning forward, her gaze on Rena and Jeff.
Ryan took a step closer as people passed by him. “What’s the deal?”
Tyler thought through all the little things, wondering if he was adding one and one and getting five. “Did you know she runs ten miles a day? And then still does weights on top of that?”
Ryan’s eyebrows rose at that revelation. “Ten miles?”
“Yeah. And you can see what she had on her plate here, and she’s hardly eating it. I worry that she’s got an issue with food and exercise.”
“Or maybe she’s just super health conscious. I mean, she looks healthy. Not overly thin like you’d expect from someone who hardly ate and exercised excessively.”
Ryan was right about that. “I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s just now that I’ve finally got her, I don’t want anything to happen to take her from me.”
His friend clasped a firm hand on his shoulder. “I hear you. Not saying ignore it, but take circumstances into account. I’m sure that today she’s just not eating much because this is all a new thing to her.”
“You’re right.” He motioned to the food. “I’m eating enough for the both of us.”
Ryan laughed as they proceeded to fill up their plates for the second time.
Back at the table, Melanie still hadn’t made much of a dent in her food, but Tyler was going to assume that Ryan was right and it was just nerves.
It wasn’t too long before people began to get up to leave. Tyler, however, wasn’t in a rush for their time to be over since it would mean Melanie would be headed home.
“You’ll have to come to our next monthly get-together,” Rena said to Melanie.
“Get-together?”
“Yeah. We all go to someone’s house for a night of games and food. It’s usually a lot of fun.”
“Usually?” Melanie asked as she lifted her glass.
Rena laughed. “Well, depending on the games we choose to play, a few people can get a bit more competitive than necessary.”
“That sounds like fun.”
Tyler couldn’t tell if she was being serious or polite, but he nod
ded when Rena instructed him to bring her to the next one. He hoped she would agree. This group of people was important to him. Some of the guys were ones who played basketball with him on Saturday nights, and others were part of the Sunday night Bible study. Though he was closest to Ryan, he considered Jeff and a couple of the other guys as close friends as well.
“Ready to go, babe?” Jeff asked as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Rena’s temple.
“Yep.” Rena reached up and rested her hand on his cheek briefly. “It was so great to meet you, Melanie. Hope to see you again soon.”
Melanie glanced at Tyler as if asking him if that was possible. Did she think he didn’t want her to be part of this group? “It’s been a pleasure getting to know you.”
Betsy stood when Rena and Jeff did and after saying goodbye, she walked out of the restaurant with them. Melanie laid her knife and fork across her plate and took another drink of water.
“Are you ready to go?” Tyler asked.
Melanie nodded. “It’s been fun, but I do need to get home.”
Ryan left with them then waited at his car while Tyler walked Melanie to her truck. After she’d climbed behind the wheel, Tyler stepped close. “It was great to see you today. Do you think you’ll come back to the church again?”
Melanie seemed to consider it before nodding her head. “It was good. Made me think.”
“If you want to talk about the service or the sermon, give me a call. I’ll be at the Bible study from seven until nine, but you can call me before or after.”
“Thank you for introducing me to your friends. They seem really nice.” The corners of her mouth turned up. “Even Betsy.”
“Yeah, that blew me away. And my friends are your friends. I think they liked you too.”
When silence fell between them, he said, “Guess I’d better go.”
Melanie nodded. “Hope the rest of your day goes well.”
“Yours too.” He was reluctant to leave her but loitering around in a parking lot while his friend waited on him wasn’t exactly the place to hold a long conversation. “I’ll talk to you later.”
He fought the urge to stand to watch as she drove away. Instead, he made his way back to where Ryan waited. He sat behind the wheel, studying his phone, and glanced over when Tyler opened the door and slid onto the passenger seat. “Thought you’d be a bit longer.”
Tyler shook his head. “Standing in the cold in a parking lot doesn’t really work. Plus, we’re not teenagers. We don’t need to spend every moment of every day together.”
Ryan chuckled as he started up the car. “But you sure want to.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But I’m trying to take my cues from her, and I think she was ready to go home.”
“Maybe I’d better give you some pointers on reading body language.”
“Yeah. You probably should.”
Tyler was wishing for those pointers when he happened upon Melanie on Tuesday morning. Marcus had asked him to come to the boardroom to meet with him and Alex before their management meeting. As he left the boardroom, he’d immediately spotted Melanie standing a little ways down the hallway with Justin. They were standing fairly close together, and Justin had his head bent as if to hear what she was saying.
Jealousy wasn’t something he’d dealt with often but now within the space of a couple of weeks, he’d experienced it twice. He didn’t like the feeling. The churning in his gut. The thoughts going through his head. Especially since he knew that Melanie had been friends with Justin nearly as long as they’d been friends, and Justin was engaged to someone else.
Not feeling comfortable with interrupting their conversation, Tyler turned to go down another hallway which would eventually take him to the elevators even though it was a more roundabout way. Maybe if they’d been together in a relationship a little longer, he would have felt comfortable approaching them. Though, as he thought about it, if they were still just friends, he probably would have approached them. Instead, he felt like he was in limbo. No longer just a friend, but not feeling quite a boyfriend.
He pushed the button to call the elevator then stood waiting for it to come, his hands shoved into his pockets, head bent as he stared at his shoes. When he heard the ding, he looked up and waited for the doors to slide open.
Adrianne walked out, surprise on her face when she spotted him. “Hey, Tyler. Fancy meeting you here.”
“Yeah, I had an early meeting with Alex and Marcus. Now they’re all yours,” Tyler replied as he put out a hand to hold the doors open. He stepped into the elevator and gave her a smile—at least he hoped it looked a smile. “Hope your meeting goes well.”
Adrianne glanced down the hallway to her right and then back at Tyler. “Yeah, me too.”
He moved his hand from the door and pressed the button for his floor. “See you later.”
She smiled at him just before the door slid shut. He leaned against the wall and tilted his head back. This was crazy. She was Melanie. His friend. First and foremost, his friend. And yet, his greatest fear was that she still viewed him as just a friend, in spite of agreeing to something more.
Worst of all, what if she didn’t feel about him the way he was already feeling about her?
~*~*~
“Hey.” Melanie looked over to see Adrianne sink into the seat next to her. She leaned toward her. “Did you and Tyler already have an argument?”
Melanie frowned and, keeping her voice low, she asked, “What are you talking about?”
“He was waiting for the elevator when I got off. He seemed upset or maybe it was more that he didn’t look like his usual friendly self.”
“Tyler was on this floor?”
“He said he had an early meeting with Alex and Marcus.” Adrianne tilted her head. “You didn’t see him?”
Melanie shook her head. “I rode up with Justin and then we were talking in the hallway. He would have had to walk past us to get to the elevator.”
“Unless he went the long way.”
Marcus called the meeting to order, but Melanie’s thoughts were not focused on the agenda. Had he intentionally gone the other way to the elevator? Had he seen her with Justin and assumed she wouldn’t have wanted him to interrupt them? A sick feeling tightened her stomach.
If that was the case, how was she supposed to deal with this? She chewed the inside of her cheek. Was she not supposed to have any male friends now that she and Tyler were dating? Ugh! This is what happened when she waited until the ripe old age of thirty to seriously date. And maybe Tyler had been right to be concerned about losing a friendship if things didn’t work out. Already their friendship was suffering because she didn’t know how to do this kind of stuff.
The irony was that she’d been talking to Justin about Tyler. She was letting him know that she’d taken his advice about taking the step and praying it would work out if it was God’s will. But now what did she do? They hadn’t made any plans to meet today since Melanie hadn’t been sure if she’d have to return to the Center to meet with a potential new resident. As it turned out, they weren’t going to be at the Center until two o’clock, so now there was no rush to get back.
Keeping an eye on Marcus and half listening to what he was saying, Melanie pulled her phone out and sent a quick text to Kelsey, the receptionist on the management floor.
Can you get a roast beef sandwich and a chef’s salad sent up from the deli? Pretty please? I’ll swing by your desk and grab it after the meeting. Oh, and a bottle of water and an iced tea. Have them put it on my account.
Melanie turned her attention back to the meeting, listening as each department head reported on their area with a special focus on the increased security. She spoke when it was her turn. Thankfully, she’d known she would need to give this update so she was prepared.
Adrianne didn’t have a department to report on security-wise, but she did give an update on the big dinner/fundraiser that would happen at the end of November. Though they had smaller ones throughout the year—us
ually with a special focus—this big one was a chance to meet potential clients as well as thank current and previous ones all while raising money for the BlackThorpe Wellness Center.
This year, she might have a date for the first time. No, she would have a date. Whatever was going on with Tyler right then, she planned to get them over it. When her phone vibrated, she flipped it over in her lap and read the message.
It’s all here whenever you’re ready. : )
Feeling a bit nervous about her plan, Melanie tried to keep her focus on the meeting and not on what might happen when she went to see Tyler. When Marcus dismissed them, she didn’t linger to chat. She just assured Adrianne that everything was fine—boy, she hoped she was right—and that she’d talk to her later.
Kelsey smiled when she got off the elevator. “Your order is all ready to go.”
“Thanks so much, Kels. Last minute planning is not my thing.” Melanie picked up the two bags that sat on the corner of her desk.
“Is this for you and a certain curly-haired someone?”
Melanie decided she wasn’t going to try to hide her relationship with Tyler even though it was still rather new. “Yep. Gonna try to grab a quick bite with him before I have to head back to the Center.”
Kelsey’s smile grew. “I’m so happy for you two. You’re perfect for each other.”
“Well, I don’t know about perfect,” Melanie said with a laugh. “But I think we suit pretty good. We know each other fairly well since we’ve been friends for so long.”
“I’ve always heard that friendship is a great basis for a relationship.”
“Here’s hoping they’re right.” She glanced at the elevator as it dinged and the doors opened. “I’d better get down there. Thanks again.”
Than and Alex stepped out of the elevator, both of them looking surprised to see her there.
“What’s up?” Alex asked as his gaze dropped to the bags in her hand.
Melanie lifted them. “Just had Kelsey order some lunch from the deli for Tyler and me.”
Than grinned. “So, it’s a go then?”
“We’ll see.” Melanie returned his smile. She stepped around them to push the button to call the elevator which had once again gone to a lower floor.
A Matter of Trust: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 3) Page 21
