“Thanks. That sounds delicious.”
She pulled a mug down from the cupboard and stuck a tea bag in it. Then poured hot water from a kettle that had been on the stove into the cup. “Honey?” she said, holding up a little plastic bear container half-full of honey.
“Yes, please. Thanks.”
“Here you go.” She handed me the cup steaming with something that smelled heavenly. “Have a seat,” she said and sat in one of the chairs.
“Thanks.” I sat in the other chair across from her and sipped the tea. “Hmmm. That’s delicious.”
“It’s my favorite.”
“Have you seen Asher this morning?”
“Yes. He left with Brodie and Jackson.”
“Oh. Will they be back soon? I thought we would be leaving today. I’m getting a little homesick to tell you the truth. Plus, as much as I am dreading it, I need to tell my mom about the baby.”
“You have time. If your mother is anything like mine, God forbid, there’s no point rushing that one.”
“I don’t really know how she’ll take it. I know she’ll be disappointed in us. She considers Ash part of the family. My brother and Ash—well, me too—were best friends since childhood. Ash’s mother and mine were very close.”
“You said were. Did you decide to end your friendship with Ash?” Gabby asked.
“No. I said were because my brother just died a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, God. Mel, I’m so sorry. Forgive me. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. How could you know? I’m not sure Ash mentioned it. I know I didn’t. Ash and I haven’t even talked much about Ted. Well, we haven’t talked at all since we found out that I’m pregnant.”
“Yes. I know.”
“I bet you all think I’m being silly about it, but I’ve known Ash my whole life and I can’t tell you how much it hurt that he thought this baby was someone else’s.”
“I know I’ve said this before, but maybe he was just shocked about it. You were shocked, right? In fact, you didn’t want to believe it at first.”
“Yeah, I was. But that’s different.”
“Maybe. But it’s pretty clear to all of us how much Ash cares about you. I think he asks where you are every hour of the day.”
“I know he cares about me.” As a friend. My mind raced to the first time we’d had sex in the cottage upstairs, how vague Asher had been about where our relationship was headed or where it was at that moment. “I’m just having a difficult time forgiving him for the way he acted when I told him I was pregnant. I never imagined he would think it was Alex’s and not his. That just hurts, that’s all.”
“Hey, ladies. What am I missing in here?” Lena’s all too cheery voice sang out as she entered the kitchen. “Hmmm…there are two too many gloomy faces in here. What’s going on?”
“We’re just talking about Ash’s lack of tact,” I supplied.
“Ohhhhh. That again. Well, I have a super idea that might help change the mood.”
“Anything would be an improvement,” I said.
“Since you’ve been here, you really haven’t had a chance to see much of Turtle Lake. I thought since the sun is out and the temperature is up in the high 60’s, maybe we could go shopping or have a picnic down by the lake. We could even take Jackson’s small fishing boat out if you want. If we hit it around dusk, there might be a cool sunset.”
“I think I should wait and talk to Ash first. I thought we were going home today.”
Lena shook her head. “That’s not what I heard. In fact, the boys are planning another jam session at the bar tonight.”
I sighed. Fuck. That was just like Asher lately. Never bothering to ask me what I would like. Just going ahead and making his own goddamn plans without even consulting me. I was fuming mad, I could feel the steam coming from my nostrils.
“Don’t be mad, Mel. We don’t want you to leave yet. Come on. Let’s go shopping and forget about Asher.”
I shook my head. As fun as shopping with them sounded, I just couldn’t. “I can’t. I don’t have any money.”
“You won’t need money to window shop. Most of the stores are just little souvenir type stores anyway. It’s a cute town. We’ll do some window shopping, then stop in at the corner grocery store and get some cheese and stuff for a picnic.”
“That sounds fun,” Gabby said, “I haven’t really looked in those stores since I’ve been here.”
It did sound like fun.
“Okay.” I guess there really wasn’t much I could do about leaving anyway. Not if I couldn’t even ask Asher for the money for the bus. I looked down at my yoga pants and t-shirt. “Do I need to change my clothes?”
“No. What you’re wearing is perfect,” Lena said. “I’m wearing the same thing.”
We strolled down the sidewalk on Main Street looking in all the little shop windows. There weren’t very many. Nothing like San Francisco. But the few that were there did have some interesting pieces and trinkets that were made locally.
Lena hadn’t been joking when she mentioned the corner grocery store. It was literally on the corner and about as big as a liquor store in San Francisco. We picked up some cheese, crackers, and some salami, along with some lemonade and headed out toward the lake.
It was a short two-minute drive to the lake, and Lena pulled the SUV into an open, gravel-covered area nestled between a cluster of trees. Gabby grabbed the bag of groceries, Lena grabbed the blanket, and I followed behind. We headed into the forest, following a small trail that led to the lake and I was suddenly in awe of my surroundings. This place was beautiful. The water was so pristine and glassy smooth; as if the lake had never been touched by humans.
“Here, help me spread this out,” Lena handed me a side of the blanket.
We each ate some food and talked about our lives. They told me about how they’d met Brodie and Jackson. Lena’s story was particularly interesting and it broke my heart to listen as she recounted it all. She’d had a rough life growing up, and an even rougher time until she’d met Jackson. Gabby’s tale of how she and Brodie became a couple was sort of funny, and even she couldn’t help but laugh at how stupid she’d been when she’d first met him. I told them all about my brother and Ash, the way we were always a threesome. How my brother had died. I even told them the story about how Ash and I had decided to have sex that first time. How I wanted to lose my virginity, and Ash volunteering.
“What red-blooded man wouldn’t want to volunteer for that job?” Lena laughed.
Now that I thought about it, it was funny, but I felt a bit abased at how naïve I’d been. I nibbled on a piece of cheese as my cheeks warmed with chagrin.
“Sorry, Mel. I don’t mean to make light of what happened. You told Ash—a gorgeous man, by the way—that you wanted to lose your virginity, and you told him you were going to have sex with the one guy he hated most. Of course, he would volunteer.”
“I know. But I’ve been so stupidly in love with Ash my whole life, for me it was the best option possible,” I admitted. “When he told me he wanted to be my first, I thought I’d heard him wrong. I couldn’t believe he was telling me that my fantasy was about to come true. And now, because of my stupidity and forgetting to take my pill, I’m going to have his baby. I didn’t trick him into a baby, though. I want you to know that. I really did forget about the pill. I was so high on the experience of being with him that it didn’t occur to me that missing a pill would be a problem. Then when my brother died, I forgot to take it a couple more times.”
“We know you didn’t trick him,” Gabby said.
“Do you think he thinks that?”
“No. At least, he’s never said that. No. I seriously doubt he thinks that,” Lena said. “No one thinks that.”
“I hope not.”
“Hey, let’s take Jackson’s boat out. Do you know how to work it, Lena?
“I think so. It has a motor. What could be so hard?” We got up and headed toward what looked like a pile of brush. She
shoved the branches away to reveal a small, metal boat that lay upside down. “Give me a hand.” She placed her hands on the edge and Gabby and I flanked her on each side and lifted it up and over. It was a small boat with a small outboard motor.
“This looks fun,” I said.
We pushed and shoved it into the water, getting our feet wet in the process. Then we all hopped in when the motor cleared the silt and the prop became completely submerged.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Gabby said.
“Don’t worry. I’ve seen Jackson do this all the time.”
“Wait, shouldn’t we pick up the blanket and stuff first?” I asked, pointing back at the grassy area with our stuff.
“I’m sure it will be fine. We won’t be out very long.”
Once we were a safe distance from the shore, Lena pulled the cord on the motor. It started right up. The view was gorgeous. I’d never seen a lake so calm and smooth. Like glass. We traveled down the lake until I could barely make out the blanket we’d left on shore. As we headed farther into the lake, we turned a corner after passing some land that jutted out into the middle and then we headed into a wider part of the lake. “This lake is a lot larger than I thought.” My eyes about popped out of their socket at the sight of snow-covered peaks. “Is that Mount Shasta?” I asked.
“Yeah. Isn’t it gorgeous?” Lena answered, beaming with pride. “I love this lake. I love coming out here with a good book and just sitting here in the boat while Jackson fishes.”
I dipped my fingers into the water. “Burr. This water is so cold. Does it freeze in the winter?”
“No. It’s not cold enough since this lake sits right in the heart of a valley. We occasionally get some snow, but it melts pretty quickly.”
We kept on going for about fifteen more minutes.
Gabby looked up at the sky and pointed. “It looks like some clouds are coming in. So much for our warm sunshine.”
The clouds came in quickly, and along with them wind.
“We should probably head back. I don’t like the look of those clouds,” Lena said as the wind blew her long, red locks into her face. She swiped them away, but it was no use, they just kept coming back. The strong wind was blowing all our hair out of control.
Gabby reached into her pocket and came out with some hair bands. She handed one to me and one to Lena.
“Thanks,” I said, taking the elastic and pulling my hair back into a ponytail. Lena did the same.
“I usually have a spare or two,” Gabby said and started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“The three of us would make a great Clairol commercial. A redhead, a blonde, and a brunette,” she said while pointing at each one of us as she said the hair color.
The wind got stronger and I shivered. All I had on was a t-shirt and my yoga pants. I’d left my hoodie back on the blanket where we’d been picnicking. It had been sunny, and the warm rays had felt good on my arms. In fact, that was close to what we all had on, except Lena wore a pale blue button-down, long-sleeved blouse instead of a t-shirt. But it was thin, and I could tell she was just a chilly as I was.
As Lena turned the boat around, the engine sputtered and then stopped.
“What happened?” Gabby asked.
“I don’t know. It just stopped.” She stood up and pulled on the cord to start it again. It came right back on.
“Whew,” I said, but I spoke too soon as the motor sputtered and stopped again.
“Dammit! What is wrong with this thing?” Lena whined and pulled on the cord once more; the engine cranked and whined but wouldn’t turn over. She tried again, and again, and again. Still nothing. “My fingers are getting raw.”
“Here, let me try,” Gabby pulled it a few times, but still nothing.”
“Wait. You’re flooding the engine,” I said. I didn’t know too much about boats, but I knew if you cranked too long on the gas peddle trying to start a car, it would make things worse.
“What?” They both looked at me, their foreheads wrinkling with bewilderment.
“If you try to start it too many times, the engine will flood from too much gas,” I explained then blew my warm breath on my fingers that were becoming numb from the cold. My arms were cold, my feet were cold too since my socks and Converse were still soaking wet. “Let it sit for a few minutes and then try it again.”
They nodded and Gabby sat down.
“The wind is getting stronger by the minute,” I said.
“It’s going to get colder, too. The wind is blowing all the cold air from the mountain down this way.”
“Are there any oars?”
“There should be one,” Lena said, glancing around the small boat floor, but none of us saw one. “It must have fallen out when we flipped the boat over. I didn’t notice it. Sorry.” Lena sank down and sat in the floor of the boat. “Come down here, it helps a little.”
Both Gabby and I moved to the floor. The sides of the metal boat weren’t very high, but they did help block some of the wind.
After about ten minutes Gabby said, “Maybe we should try again?” She stood and pulled on the cord to start the motor, but this time, it didn’t even try to catch. There was barely a sputter.
“Are we out of gas?” I asked.
“No. I checked it before we left. It was almost full. We haven’t gone that far, there should be plenty of gas still.” Lena got up and unscrewed the cap and peeked inside the tank. “Yep. There is plenty of gas.”
“God, what are we going to do? The water is too cold to swim to shore. We’re stuck out here in the middle of the lake. Did anyone bring their phone?” Gabby asked.
I shook my head, “I left it in my jacket. No pockets to carry it.”
“Same here,” Lena said. None of us had pockets, so all of our phones were back on the picnic blanket with the food and our jackets while we sat stranded in the middle of a freezing lake.
Great.
Gabby got up to try the motor again. “Someone give me a hand. Maybe if two of us pull it will catch.”
I got up since I was the closest and put my hand over Gabby’s.
“On three. Ready?”
I nodded.
“One, two, three.” We yanked on the cord and Gabby’s elbow hit me in the chest, sending me backwards. I lost my balance and fell into the lake. My ankle hit the side of the boat on the way in and I thought I would die from the pain, except the shock of the cold water made me completely numb within seconds.
“Oh my God. Mel!” I heard Lena shout as cold water enveloped my body. I came up sputtering, teeth chattering.
“Take my hand,” Gabby said. I did, and Lena grabbed onto my arm, pulling me back into the boat.
“Co…co…co…cold,” I chattered out the word and sank down to the bottom of the boat to get out of the wind.
“I am so sorry, Mel,” Gabby cried. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head. Tears stung my eyes, but I doubted that they noticed since I was soaking wet. “My ankle hurts. It hit the side of the boat.”
“I can’t believe I shoved you in the lake. God, Mel, I’m so sorry,” she said again, and I nodded. I knew she hadn’t done it on purpose, but I was freezing nonetheless, and my ankle was throbbing.
“We have to get back. Mel will freeze to death if we can’t get that motor running,” Gabby said.
They both tried to start the engine again, but it was no use. With the force of the wind, we drifted farther away from where we’d started. The chance of anyone finding us was slim.
My head swirled and my stomach twisted into a knot. “Oh, no,” I cried and leaned over the edge, losing all the cheese and salami I’d eaten earlier. This baby didn’t seem to care much for the cold water any more than I did.
I sat there shivering. Lena sat beside me and wrapped her arms around me. “You’ll get all wet,” I said.
“That’s okay. You need to keep warm.
Gabby sat on the other side of me and scooted in close,
wrapping her arms around me also. It helped. A lot.
“Let me see your ankle,” Gabby said.
I lifted my pant leg and she took off my shoe and sock. My ankle had a small cut on it, but other than that, it wasn’t swollen.
“It doesn’t look too bad. Does it still hurt a lot?” she asked.
“Not t…too much,” I stuttered.
I looked up for a second. The clouds were darker, and several more had accumulated over the past several minutes.
“Was that a raindrop?” Gabby said.
“Oh, no,” Lena groaned as rain belted down on us. It was so sudden, as if someone up in the sky held a giant bucket over us and dumped it out right on top of our heads. And, if that weren’t enough, lightning bolted through the sky, making the three of us jump. I may have let out a scream. Three short seconds later, thunder roared, reminding us that we were alone and scared in the middle of a lake on a little metal boat, not really even a boat, more of a dinghy, with a bad motor. God, I was going to die pregnant. I wanted Asher.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Asher
Brodie, Jackson, and I had left early in the morning to head to Redding. Brodie said it was the closest place with any decent music stores when he’d asked me if I wanted to go. He needed some new guitar strings, and Jackson wanted to pick up some more music sheets.
I jumped at the chance to get away. Not being able to talk to Mel was driving me crazy. We stayed in Redding after the music store, deciding to grab some lunch. I was glad to have the opportunity to hang with them some more. I knew Mel was anxious to leave, though she hadn’t come right out and said so, considering she wasn’t talking to me. But I could tell.
This trip had been a bittersweet journey. I’d finally gotten to meet my brothers, whom I’d hated most of my life until now, but I’d lost my best friend somewhere along the way. I knew she would eventually speak to me, but I didn’t think we’d ever get back the close relationship we had. I didn’t know what I was going to do without her. I was sure she’d let me be in the baby’s life, but I wanted more than that. I didn’t care about the baby so much. Wait, that didn’t come out right. I did care about the baby. Of course, I cared about it, but not like I cared about Melody. She was my life. My best friend and…I loved her. Oh, God, I loved her so fucking much. I always had. Why hadn’t I seen it before? I needed to fix this, and I needed to fix it today.
Beautifully Undone (The Beaumont Brothers #3) Page 14
