Protecting Melody

by Susan Stoker

  Chapter Eighteen

  Melody sat in the circle of Tex’s arms and looked around in wonderment. Her little apartment was overflowing with people. She wasn’t sure exactly how it had happened, but all of Tex’s friends were there as well as four of their women. Caroline couldn’t come because she was in the middle of a huge research project and Alabama had a final exam at school that she couldn’t miss. Both had sent their profuse apologizes for not being able to be there.

  Melody wiped the tears from her eyes. It felt like she’d been crying forever, but she couldn’t seem to make herself stop. She’d had one hit after another and now she found herself crying at the slightest provocation.

  “I still don’t understand what you’re all doing here,” she said, voice breaking once more.

  “We’re here because you needed us, Melody,” Wolf told her. He was leaning against the wall as if he was overseeing the group. “All it took was a phone call and Commander Hurt helped get us on the next military flight out here. Tex might live on the other side of the country, but he’s always been there for us, it’s the least we can do for him to be here when you guys needed us.

  “Thank you for getting Dr. Gaiser to come for Baby. We appreciate all he tried to do for her.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, Melody. I’m just so sorry he couldn’t save that leg.”

  “It’s okay, Wolf. Baby’s alive. That’s all that matters. And you know what? I’ve seen lots of dogs get along just fine on three legs.”

  Tex ran his fingers through Melody’s hair. “Besides, we’re a matching set now. Me and Baby.”

  Everyone in the room laughed. Melody closed her eyes. She was exhausted. After being seen in the emergency room for the cut on her arm, and after Tex had been patched up as well— he’d required some stitches, but refused to be admitted to the hospital—she’d spent the last day at the emergency vet with Baby.

  Dr. Gaiser had managed to safe Baby’s life, but the bullet had cut through her femoral artery, and he hadn’t been able to save her leg. The first time Baby had woken up and licked Melody’s fingers had been completely overwhelming. The doctor had finally kicked her out, telling her to go home and get some sleep. Baby would be coming home sooner rather than later and Melody and Tex would have their hands full keeping her from chewing on her stitches and helping her get used to her new reality.

  “So this woman, Diane, was holding a grudge from when you guys were in high school together?” Summer’s voice was incredulous.

  “Apparently. I had no idea. But it wasn’t just that. She had some sort of mental disorder. The specialists who’d treated her in the past recommended she stay on medication for the rest of her life, but after a couple of years she thought she was better and stopped taking them. That’s when it really started. She saw me, and how happy I was with my life and suddenly I was the cause of all the bad things she’d had happened to her in her life. And well . . . you know the rest.”

  Amy, who’d rushed back to Pennsylvania from Virginia after hearing what had happened, and had also come over to the apartment, chimed in as well. “Seriously, the bitch used me to find out where Mels was. I can’t believe it was her. I hardly even remember her from high school, but apparently she remembered us.”

  Melody blinked and tried to keep her eyes open. She knew it was rude, but she was exhausted. She’d been stressed for what seemed like forever and having the stalker off her back and knowing Baby would be okay, was making her feel lethargic and she knew she was crashing. Worse were Diane’s words that kept echoing through her brain. “Choose, you or him.” It was a horrible decision to have to make. Melody knew Tex wasn’t happy about her choice, and that he’d want to talk to her about it, but she was just so tired.

  She vaguely heard voices around her and put her arms around Tex as he picked her up and carried her somewhere. She didn’t care where, as long she didn’t have to open her eyes or talk to anyone. She felt herself being laid down and she gripped Tex’s neck tighter. “Don’t go.”

  “I’ll be right back, Mel.”

  “Mmmm.”

  Tex walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. “Thanks for coming, everyone. I appreciate it more than you’ll know.” Everyone nodded, but looked worried. They’d seen how tired Melody was, and how emotionally fragile she seemed.

  “How’s she really doing?” Dude asked.

  Tex took a deep breath. “She’s fine. She’s tough. I was worried there for a while when we didn’t know if Baby was going to make it, but she rallied.”

  “Is Diane going to make an insanity plea?” It was Mozart that asked.

  “Probably, but I have no idea, and I don’t care. Mel will testify if she has to, but we’ll just wait and see what happens. I know she just wants to move on with her life, with our life.”

  “Tex, we want you guys to move to California. We want you near us.”

  Tex shook his head at Cheyenne. “I love that you want us there, but, no. We’ll be staying here. This is her hometown. Her friends are here, her family is here. She loves this place. I’ll be moving up here to Pennsylvania as soon as Mel’s ready.”

  “She’s ready now, Tex,” Amy said with certainty.

  Tex smiled at Amy. “You bringing Becky and Cindy over tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, just let me know when she’s up and ready. She’s had a tough few days. I don’t want to rush her.”

  “Speaking of a tough few days, we’re going to get out of your hair,” Abe told Tex and came over to shake his hand. “If you need anything, just let us know. We’ll probably be heading out in the morning. You don’t need all of us here.”

  “Thanks, Abe. It means a lot to me that you guys came all the way out here.”

  “SEALs don’t leave SEALs behind,” Wolf said with a smile, remembering when he’d gotten together with Caroline how much those words had meant to him and his team.

  Tex smiled at the SEAL motto. He might not be active duty anymore, but the words rang just as true today as they always had. He put his hand on Wolf’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

  The men slowly left the apartment with their women and Tex watched them go. He felt lucky to have such good friends.

  The last to leave was Amy. Tex knew she’d planned it that way and he waited for her to say what she had to say.

  “Mels is my best friend. Neither of us had a sister and we became close when we were in grade school. We’ve been through a lot, and we’ve always been there for each other. When I got married I knew we were entering a new phase in our lives. I figured we’d grow apart, but Mels wouldn’t let that happen. She browbeat me into going out when I was tired, and she forced me to come over and spend some one-on-one time with her. I love her as if she truly is my sister.”

  She took a breath and cleared her throat then continued, “When she came to me and told me someone was stalking her, it tore my heart in two. I didn’t know what to do for her. The reality was that I couldn’t do anything. When she called me and said she wasn’t coming back because of the stalker, I cried for two days straight. She was hurting and scared and I couldn’t help her. Thank you, Tex. Thank you for seeing something interesting in her stupid chat room handle. Thank you for making the effort to go and find her when she deleted her account. I know her. She would’ve just kept running if she thought I was in danger and me and my family would’ve never seen her again. You’ve given me back my sister and I can’t ever repay you.”

  “I didn’t do it for payment, Amy.”

  “I know, but you’re gonna get it in one form or another anyway. My kids see Melody as their Aunt. That means you’re now their Uncle. You’ve suddenly become a part of my crazy family. I hope you can handle it.”

  “I can handle it.” Tex smiled, liking the thought of being an Uncle.

  “Good. Now, what are your intentions toward my friend?”

  Tex chuckled. “I love her. If it was up to me, we’d fly to Vegas tomorrow and get married, but I have a feeling the two of you have probably plan
ned her wedding down to the minute detail.”

  Amy just smiled at him.

  “Can I make a request?” Tex asked Amy seriously.

  “You can, don’t know if I can accommodate it, we’ve planned her wedding down to the color of the napkins on the tables after all,” Amy quipped.

  “I want Baby standing up with us.”

  “Done.”

  They smiled at each other and finally Amy told him, “Okay, enough mushy crap. I’m glad that you’re okay. I don’t know what went down with Diane yet, but eventually Mels will tell me, but I can tell it gutted her in a way that her physical injuries didn’t. Give me a hug, and then get back in there with my best friend. Be forewarned, I expect a girl’s night out soon, so be prepared.”

  “No problem.” Tex grabbed Amy’s wrist and hauled her to him in a bear hug. “Thanks for being such a good friend, Amy.” He felt her nod against him then she pulled away.

  Tex watched until she got in her car and pulled out of the parking lot, then he closed the door and headed for Mel, without caring about the mess in the rest of the apartment. There would be time to deal with that later, now he needed to hold Mel in his arms and rejoice they were all still alive.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Melody snuggled into Tex’s arms and sighed. She loved waking up with Tex. She vaguely remembered the night before, and was embarrassed she’d slept through all his friends leaving. She opened her eyes to see Tex staring at her.

  “You’re still here.”

  “I didn’t want to leave you this morning.”

  Melody smiled. She’d gotten used to him getting up before her, kissing her awake, then heading out to take care of Baby and to workout. Melody was true to her word and had always fallen right back asleep after he’d left.

  “I didn’t dream it, did I? Baby’s going to be okay?”

  “Yeah, Mel. She’s going to be just fine. We’ll go and see her today and see when Dr. Gaiser thinks she can come home.”

  “Good. I can’t wait to bring her home. I miss her.”

  “Me too. Mel, we need to talk about what happened.” When Melody turned her head away from him, he put his finger under her chin and gently turned her head back to him. “I love you, but you made the wrong choice.”

  Melody knew immediately what he was talking about. “No, I—”

  “You did. I told you once and I’ll tell you again, I’d die for you. You mean everything to me. I’ve known my entire life that I could die on a mission. I was ready for that. We went through training in the Navy on how to withstand torture. You, Mel, you are the most important mission of my life. I swear to fucking God I can’t live without you. If she’d shot you and you’d died, I wouldn’t have been able to go on without you.”

  “Tex—”

  “No. You are the most important thing. You always come first. I don’t care what the situation is. First in line, first to eat, first to come, first in everything.” Tex’s voice hitched and he cleared his throat, forcing back the tears that threatened. He was a big tough Navy SEAL. SEALs didn’t cry. “When you said you loved me and you turned and told that bitch that you chose yourself, my heart literally stopped. I can’t live without you, Mel. I can’t.”

  “Don’t you get it, Tex?” Melody said earnestly, hoping like hell he was hearing her. “Everything you just said I felt in my own heart as I tried to decide what I was supposed to do. I can’t live without you. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d told her to kill you. I couldn’t. It was an impossible situation, a fucked up impossible situation. Please don’t hold it against me. Please?”

  Tex hauled Mel into his arms as she sniffed. He rested his cheek on her hair and gritted his teeth, feeling more emotional than he could ever remember being in his life. Jesus, they’d come so close to losing each other. Baby truly was their hero. Tex had been about ready to strike out at Diane, but he might not have made it before she got off a shot. Diane had been standing so close to Melody that it was likely she would’ve killed her before he could’ve reached Diane to disarm her.

  Tex could feel Melody pulling back and trying to control herself. He pulled back and wiped the tears off her face as she reached up and put her hand on the back of his neck. Tex put thoughts of Diane and how close they’d all come to dying out of this mind. Mel was alive and in his arms. That was all that mattered.

  “It was nice of your friends to come all the way out here.”

  “They’re your friends too, Mel.”

  “I guess. I’m still getting used to it. It’s just been me and Amy for so long, and when I was on the run, it was only me.”

  Tex rolled until she was underneath him. “I’ll tell you this now, Mel. You’re now a part of a big crazy family that includes six SEAL members and their women. Wait . . . sorry, that’s seven team members . . . I heard Commander Hurt recently got serious with the woman the team went down to Mexico to rescue.” At her look of confusion, Tex brushed it off. “I’m sure you’ll get the whole long story from the girls later. Anyway, you’ll also probably be adopted by the other SEAL and Delta Force teams I help out as well. They’ll all drive you crazy before long, I have no doubt.” He watched as she smiled. Tex took a deep breath and said what had been in the back of his mind for longer than Melody would ever realize. “I have something to ask you.”

  “Okay.”

  “Will you marry me?”

  “What?”

  “Will you marry me?”

  “Oh my God, that’s what I thought you said. I thought you were going to ask me something like what I wanted for breakfast.”

  Tex just smiled and stared down at the woman he loved.

  “Yes, John Keegan, I’ll marry you.”

  “Thank fuck.”

  Melody giggled. “I’m not sure that’s the appropriate response.”

  “Do you care?”

  “No.”

  “I’ll get to work today in getting my stuff moved up here. I hope you aren’t too attached to this apartment. We really need a bigger place, one with a yard so we can let Baby out and not have to walk her on a leash.”

  “Uh, Tex—”

  “And you’ll need to make sure you contact your boss to make sure she’s okay with what happened the other day.”

  “Tex, wait. You’re moving up here?”

  “Yeah, Mel. You agreed to marry me, Of course I’m moving up here.”

  “There’s no of course about it, Tex. We both have portable jobs, we could go wherever we wanted.”

  “We could live anywhere, but this is your home. I would never take you from Amy, and your parents, and from here. You ran long enough. I’m more than happy to come up here and live with you.”

  “I love you, Tex.”

  “I love you too.”

  “No, I love you.”

  Tex chuckled. “If I remember, we never did get to break-in that counter. It’d be a shame to move out of here before we lived out that little fantasy of ours.”

  “I think I’m hungry. Care to meet me in the kitchen?”

  Tex leaned down and kissed Mel deeply. “We were made for each other, Mel. You make me feel more of a man than I ever have before. Thank you. Thank you for loving me, for letting me love you back.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, come on, I’m hungry.”

  The look in her eye was so carnal, Tex could feel the blood pump into his erection.

  He couldn’t resist. He leaned down and kissed her, holding nothing back. Melody gave as good as she got. She plunged her tongue into his mouth and countered his thrusts with her own. Tex’s hand made its way up her belly, under her shirt, until he reached her nipple. As he squeezed the taut nipple she broke her mouth away from his and gasped, throwing her head back.

  “Tex.”

  “That’s it, Mel. That’s it.” Tex could feel her legs trembling against him. He paused long enough to pull her shirt up and off her head until she was bare from the waist up. He’d never get tired of her. “You’re beautiful. And mine.” He lowered
his head until he had one nipple in his mouth. He used his hand to plump up the other breast and to tease that peak until it pebbled.

  Tex loved feeling Melody writhe and arch up to him. He took hold of the bud he had between his teeth, and watching her eyes, pulled upward. When she gasped, he let go and watched as she brought her hand up to his face.

  “I need you, Tex. Now. Take me.”

  “We have a date with a kitchen counter. Go on. When I walk in there I want to see you on the counter, naked, legs apart waiting for me. You’ll eat soon enough, but I think it’s my turn to go first.”

  Melody smiled as she climbed out of bed and headed for the door. She made her way down the hall to the kitchen. After removing her boxers, she thought about her life. She had everything she’d ever wanted. Friends, family, and now a man who would not only stand next to her, but in front of her when she needed it and behind her when it suited him. He was perfect. She couldn’t wait to become Melody Keegan.

  Melody sent up a silent prayer of thanks to Diane. In a sick way, it if wasn’t for her delusions, Melody never would’ve met Tex. Everything happened for a reason, sometimes you just had to wait around for a while to figure out what those reasons were.

  As Melody hopped up on the counter and leaned back on her hands, waiting for her fiancé, she grinned. Life was good.

  Epilogue

  “Come on, Baby, come ‘ere girl!” Melody called to her dog and watched with a smile as the dog ran toward her. She only had three legs, but she’d never let it slow her down. From the first day Dr. Gaiser had put her upright in the animal hospital, she’d hopped along like she’d been doing it her entire life. Melody had, of course, cried with joy.