by Susan Crosby
Every time he came over, the scenario was the same—they made love with wild abandon, their hands and bodies and mouths in constant motion, giving and taking as if it were the last time. They would shower after and arouse each other to the point of no return, then go to bed again and make love much more slowly and tenderly.
Then he would stretch out on his back with his eyes closed for a minute. After that he would roll out of bed, get dressed, give her a short, soft kiss and leave.
He showed up every night at the same time, left at the same time. The two hours in between were exciting, and yet…
And yet she was restless. He seemed fine with the arrangement, didn’t seem to want to take it beyond what it already was.
Melina sat at her desk and stared at a painting of an endless field of bluebonnets her mother had painted as an office-warming gift.
You’re the one who set the parameters, she reminded herself. But he was a hot-blooded man with a mind and will of his own, and if he wanted to change the rules, he could, or at least try.
In fact, she would welcome it, because she’d spent enough time with him both in bed and at the ballpark to have taken that dangerous, irresponsible step of falling in love with him again, especially after watching him with Elliot day after day.
Rafe had endless patience with the boy. There had been no need for Melina’s presence, because Rafe knew how to divert Elliot when he got frustrated and settle him down to focus on practicing again. Elliot expected perfection of himself. Rafe let him know it would never be possible.
There were only nine more days until the first official game. Eight days until the final team practice, when Beau said he would decide if Elliot would go or stay. Melina didn’t know who would be more upset if Beau wouldn’t keep him—Elliot or Rafe. Or what the end result would be.
Would Rafe have a legal avenue to pursue for Elliot? And what kind of life lesson would it be for Elliot if he’d tried his hardest and been denied the opportunity to play? He hadn’t been told of the possibility of not playing with the team. Maybe he should be warned.
Melina shoved her hair back from her face and blew out a breath. She couldn’t think about it right now. She’d worked with four patients today and needed to enter notes into their files. She opened Big John’s first. He’d had a stroke three months ago and had a staff of therapists—physical, speech and occupational. She’d retaught him how to make scrambled eggs today and bowled with him using a Wii. He was only sixty-two and wanted to drive his truck again, to get back to work at his job as an electrician. He was working hard toward that goal but was ornery as all get-out.
Melina had also worked that day with Elliot and a girl named Cindi in their classrooms at school. And then there was sweet Deenie, who was eighty, had no family nearby and was trying to live alone after hip replacement. Her daily, uncomplaining perseverance usually brought Melina to tears. She’d rearranged furniture and cabinet contents so that Deenie could maneuver easily around her tiny house, but everything was a struggle for her, with only slight improvement day by day. Melina checked in on her more often than she was scheduled for or paid to, because she worried about the frail woman.
A knock on Melina’s office door startled her. Angie stuck her head inside. “I’m heading home. And Rafe’s here to see you.” She waggled her eyebrows and grinned.
“See you tomorrow, Ang. Please tell him to come in.” She looked at her watch, surprised to see it was only twenty minutes until practice started. She backed up her data then shut off her computer as Rafe walked in, leaving the door open.
Melina didn’t get up to greet him. She didn’t know the etiquette in this situation. They were secret lovers. Did that mean they should hug hello as friends might? No, she decided, even though they were alone in the office.
“Hey,” she said as he stood just inside the doorway. “Have a seat.”
“I just need a minute. I wanted to let you know that I can’t come over tonight. Wasn’t sure if we would have a moment alone at practice to tell you.”
She waited for him to say why, but he didn’t. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
He hesitated a moment longer then turned away. “See you at practice.”
Melina didn’t move until she heard the front door close. He could have sent her a text message telling her, but he’d chosen to come in person. Why? He also could’ve chosen to tell her why he wouldn’t be coming, but he hadn’t done that either. Why not?
This was Tuesday, an unusual day for a date, if that was what he was up to—and the reason he wasn’t giving.
By the time she reached the ballpark, she was thoroughly annoyed. She was good enough to sleep with but not to confide in or be open with?
Are you open with him? her conscience asked, chiding her.
Well, no. Not completely.
So, whose fault is that?
Okay, okay, okay. She got it. By trying to keep herself from getting involved emotionally, she’d created an environment where her emotions were tested all the time. Oh, for the simple days of high school and pure, uncomplicated love.
When she got to the field, she waved at Elliot then sat in the dugout and watched the sky darken. The air smelled of impending rain, although it wasn’t forecast until the overnight hours.
Melina spotted June Adams’s sexy stride from across the field. The black tote she carried was too bulky to be a purse, so Melina guessed it was a camera bag and that June was here in an official capacity for the newspaper.
She popped into the dugout. “Hey, Melina. Mind if I leave my bag here while I take a few shots of the kids?”
One of Elliot’s quirks was that he didn’t like his picture taken, but Melina didn’t want to explain that to June, who might see Elliot as newsworthy. He wanted to fit in, not stand out.
“June,” Melina said, “I’m going to ask a favor of you—that you take pictures on any other diamond.” It wouldn’t matter if the camera was aimed at the other kids on his team, Elliot would react to it, believing it was on him, although, contradicting all that, he really wanted a team photo, craved that. When it was his choice and he was prepared for the photograph, he was okay with it.
June frowned. “I want to shoot Beau’s team. The article’s about him.”
“He coaches another set of kids right after this one.”
“I can’t hang around that long. I’ve got kids to get home to and feed.” She slipped her camera strap over her head. “What’s the big deal? Beau said I could come today.”
Melina fired a look at Beau, who looked back—or maybe he was looking at June. Melina had prepared him for Elliot’s behaviors, how sometimes he calmed his own anxiety by rocking his body rhythmically, that he often needed to line things up in a row—his baseball gear, for example—but the photo taking hadn’t occurred to her.
She could ask Elliot, but it would interrupt practice to do so, and they weren’t wearing uniforms yet because the season hadn’t started, so she thought he might object, even if asked. So far he hadn’t had any outbursts in front of his teammates, and Melina hoped it would stay that way, for his sake. Acceptance was something he was looking forward to, part of being on a team. It was as much a goal for him as learning to play.
“Could you hold off for just a minute, please,” Melina said to June, then jogged over to where Rafe stood next to Elliot, who was taking grounders from one of the coaches. She explained the situation.
“I’ll talk to June,” he said. “Stay with Elliot.”
“Where’s he going?” Elliot asked right away, not even seeing the ball coming at him so that it scooted past.
“To talk to the lady in the dugout for a second. He’ll be back. Just go ahead and play, Elliot. Everything’s fine.”
“I need him. I don’t know how to do this.”
She heard anxiety building in his voice, fear in his eyes. “I’ll be right here, I promise.”
“I need Rafe Mendoza.”
Normally Melina would’ve taken him aside and talked to him, but she
was trying not to make a big deal in front of his teammates. As a matter of course, he got enough teasing at school. He’d learned to deal with that, but his teammates were different. He wanted their acceptance. “He’ll be right back. Coach Greg is waiting on you, Elliot. Keep practicing.”
Melina knew Elliot and Rafe had gotten close in the past couple of weeks, but the depth of Elliot’s dependency startled her. She walked over to stand right next to him. “I’m here with you, and Rafe just has to talk to the lady for a minute.” She didn’t want to pull Elliot off the field, but she could see he was determined not to be apart from Rafe.
“How about if we walk over there together?” she said to him quietly. “Slowly, okay? Don’t run. I bet he’ll be on his way back before we get there.”
Melina felt people starting to stare, including Beau. The kids had a vague understanding that Elliot was new to playing baseball and needed more help, and since their goal was to win, they’d accepted Rafe being his personal coach. But to pull Elliot out of practice was another thing altogether.
She pleaded silently with Beau, who ordered the kids to give him their attention. Some did, some continued to watch Elliot, noting how he’d started running. Thunder rolled in the distance. He called Rafe’s name.
Rafe came out to meet him, shifting his glance to Melina momentarily. “Hey, sport. What’s going on?”
“I need you.”
“I’m here.” He turned to June. “Are we okay?” She nodded.
Just then the skies opened up and rain came down hard.
“Everyone in the dugout,” Beau shouted.
Because they were only a few feet away, Rafe, Elliot, Melina and June ducked inside the covered structure first. Melina watched the other kids eye Elliot, but he didn’t look at them in return, so he didn’t see the curiosity and, from a few of the kids, the ridicule in their expressions. One mouthed “Baby” to another, who smirked.
She decided to talk to Elliot’s parents. Explaining the situation to his teammates might help. Then again, she wouldn’t blame his parents if they decided against it, since he would feel even more different. At this age, it was tough to make that kind of call.
Beau talked skills as the rain poured down noisily. Elliot sat on the bench and rocked. Eventually his actions slowed and he seemed to be paying attention again. Melina and his parents had been working with him on apologizing, on understanding the importance of doing so, but he hadn’t grasped the concept routinely. But out of the blue he said, “I’m sorry for walking off.”
To Beau’s credit, he didn’t push Elliot to say why. “Thank you, Elliot. We accept your apology, don’t we, boys?”
Everyone nodded or shifted or made some kind of sound. Melina tried to thank Beau with her eyes, but his hardened, as if to say, “This isn’t the end of this.”
They all stayed in the dugout listening to Beau’s lecture until practice time ended, then they raced to the parking lot to catch their rides home. Melina decided to call the Andersons later rather than try to talk to them in the rain. She wondered if Elliot would be quieter than usual, making them wonder what had happened.
Rafe and Melina hunched under an eave, waiting for traffic to thin before they went to their cars.
“You probably don’t know it, but that was a big step for Elliot, apologizing like that, without anyone telling him to,” she said to Rafe.
A few beats passed. “I told him to. I whispered it in his ear. I shouldn’t have?”
“Oh.” The wind went out of her sails for a moment. “No, it’s okay. I was just excited because— Well, it’s good that you reinforced that behavior. Thanks.”
“What was going on with him?”
“He panicked when you walked away. I’m a little worried about the level of attachment he has with you, Rafe. What happens if you can’t make it for a practice or game sometime? Maybe I need to be more involved so that he would adapt to having me work with him, just in case.”
“I’ll talk to Beau about it.”
“What’d you say to June, anyway?”
“I appealed to the mom in her. She won’t take pictures or do any kind of story without talking to the Andersons.” He looked at the sky. “Looks like it’s not going to let up. I should get going.”
He’d barely looked at her, and kept himself more than a foot away. Worst of all, he seemed in a hurry to get away.
“Why aren’t you coming to my place tonight?” she asked, unable not to.
He finally focused on her. “I have a meeting with Ross Fortune. Will you miss me?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them, his expression was entirely different. She saw tenderness and a building desire, his eyes darkening by the second. “That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear,” he said, his voice low.
“Did you think it doesn’t matter to me whether I see you?”
“We never talk, Mel. We have sex—great sex—but that’s it. I don’t know how you feel about anything.”
“I thought it was what you wanted.”
“I thought it was what you wanted.” He inched a little closer. “Maybe now that we’re a couple of weeks into this relationship, we need to go over the ground rules, make some changes. Can I come by after my meeting?”
Relief raced through her, stealing her breath, weakening her knees. She’d been afraid he was starting to let her down gently. Her heart stopped pounding against her chest like a bass drum in a parade. “Yes.”
“How about we do something really different tonight?” he asked, a mischievous smile forming. “How about we just talk?”
She smiled back. “We can try.”
He laughed, then they ran to their cars as rain pelted them. Between the soaking in the rain and the late hour, by the time she drove back to her house, she was starved. But not just for food.
She wanted something more. Much, much more. And she didn’t think talking was going to satisfy that hunger.
Chapter Eleven
Rafe got home in time to change clothes and towel-dry his hair, Melina on his mind the whole time. Their relationship was about to undergo a change, one he wasn’t sure either of them was prepared for. To spend time talking meant letting each other in. They’d both been hesitating about doing that. He knew fear drove him, but is that what drove her, too? That the past would catch up with them, and they’d have to deal with it instead of ignore it?
And would he get to stay overnight now, to sleep with her? It’d been a long time since he’d held her all night. The last time he’d done that they’d been committed to each other, with plans to marry and have children. Now they both seemed determined to avoid such commitments.
His doorbell rang. Ross was right on time. They pulled up a couple of bar stools at the kitchen counter, but before they opened the lid on the pepperoni pizza Ross had brought, he set the baggie holding the gold medallion on the counter next to Rafe. Then he added a second one.
Rafe looked them both over. “Duplicates?”
Ross nodded. “I knew it looked familiar. Bear with me here, because this is going to sound totally off the wall, but I woke up from a dream this morning, one in which Ryan Fortune appeared to me. Do you remember him?”
“Vaguely. He died a few years ago, right?”
“Of a brain tumor. His widow is Lily, who, as you know, was to marry William Fortune the day he disappeared.”
“I’m following you so far.”
“I know it had to be a dream, but I swear I saw Ryan’s spirit at the foot of my bed, Rafe. He told me he hoped the medallion would help to reunite baby Anthony and his father—as if I knew who his father was. And that very second, I was sure where I’d seen that medallion. I had to hunt for it, but I finally found it with some family papers. My sister and brothers and I got these as Christmas gifts from our mother thirty-two years ago. I was ten years old.”
“Are they more than trinkets, after all?” Rafe asked, intrigued.
“They’re rare and expen
sive. At the time my mother told us a crazy story about their history that none of us believed, knowing her penchant for telling tales.” He pushed up the lid of the pizza box. “I did what you suggested and had the medallion appraised. It’s worth a small fortune. Because I had no choice, I called my mother, whom I rarely speak to, and asked where she got them, because I know she wouldn’t have had enough money to buy them herself. After some prodding she told me that William Fortune had given them to her. Since he’s gone missing, or possibly worse, I can’t verify that story, but there’s no reason not to believe her.”
“So, your sister and brothers also have matching medallions?”
Ross nodded, then pulled a slice of pizza from the box. “I talked to my sister. She still has hers. I contacted my brother Flint, who’s been living in upstate New York. He said he lost track of his medallion, but that he’d be on a plane down here within the next week. As for my brother Cooper, he’s pretty much a nomad. When he checks in with one of us, we’ll tell him what’s going on. Who knows? Maybe Ryan Fortune’s spirit will visit him and tell him to call home.”
Rafe snagged a slice of pizza and let the story run through his head for a minute while he ate. “So, either Flint or Cooper must be the father? It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise. Although it’s odd that the baby was left without a note saying so.”
“There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense. Yet. At least we can run DNA tests with Flint. Maybe Coop pawned his along the way—or something. But, as you say, it would be too coincidental for it to turn up in Red Rock around an abandoned baby’s neck.”
“To put it mildly. What does Jeremy say? Are he and Kirsten getting too attached to give up the baby when the time comes?”
“There’s always that danger, but they seem committed to finding the parents. And you know, we keep talking about the father but forget we don’t know the mother, either, now that Courtney has admitted she’s not. What a mess.” He looked bemused. “This is one of the most complicated cases I’ve ever worked on as a P.I., and it might turn out that the kid’s my nephew.”
