by Steena Marie
“What are you doing here?” Melissa kept her voice down, not wanting to alert Abby.
“I wanted you to find out from me, not from anyone else.” Nyah bit her lip, a tell she’d always had, even when they were in high school. The woman was nervous. Good. She should be.
“Find out what?”
“Can I come in? So we can talk?”
Melissa shook her head.
Nyah sighed. “I’m back. For good. My dad needs me, and I was, well, I’m tired of running away.”
Melissa found that a bit hard to believe. Running was all Nyah seemed to know how to do.
“Is your dad okay?” Dr. Henderson had to be close to retirement. He’d been around forever.
Nyah shrugged. “He’s tired. Ready to slow down. That’s why I’m here. To help him do that.”
“Do what? Run his office? You’re not practicing medicine.” She wouldn’t dare.
Nyah winced and shook her head.
“How is Wade?” From the way Nyah blurted the words, Melissa knew she hadn’t meant to say it.
“Now? Now you want to talk about my husband after all these years? Why not when I needed to? I sent you so many emails, tried to call so many times but you just ignored me.”
“I’m sorry.” The regret in Nyah’s words and demeanor were evident. And softened Melissa’s heart. Somewhat.
Once, Nyah had been a medic and had by luck or misfortune been the first on the scene at Wade’s accident. She’d been traveling back home from visiting her mother in Oregon and had actually been the one to call Melissa about the news.
She would never forget that phone call or the way Nyah sounded as she told her there’d been an accident and a little girl had died.
With a sigh, Melissa pushed open the screen door for Nyah to come in. If they were going to do this, they might as well do it in private, away from prying eyes.
“Hey, Mom. Can I…oh, sorry.” Abby rounded the corner, the rim of her eyes bright red.
“What do you need, hun?”
“Nothing. Just going to have a shower.” She ran up the stairs and into the bathroom, and slammed the door behind her. Poor girl was probably embarrassed to have been caught crying by a stranger.
“Wow, she’s really grown up.”
Melissa nodded. “Funny how that happens.” She led the way into the living room and waited for Nyah to join her.
“Wade is good. He’s coming home this weekend, actually.” Melissa decided to just lay it out there.
Worry and relief flashed across Nyah’s face. It was funny how well she could still read her old friend.
“I heard some rumors…” Nyah visibly swallowed but didn’t bother to finish her sentence.
Melissa nodded. “I’m sure you did. Let me guess…it’s about Wade, isn’t it? About my mistake, my lies?”
She searched Nyah’s eyes, waiting for…what? Whatever she’d expected to see, the compassion and understanding Nyah gave her wasn’t it.
“You probably just reacted in shock, Mel. And wanted to protect your daughter. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Melissa snorted at the advice.
“Trust me, I know,” Nyah said softly.
“Reacted? Yeah, you could say that. I was in shock. I know that now. But it doesn’t excuse my actions.” Any more than it excused Nyah’s that fateful night, but Melissa didn’t say that. “I led everyone to believe he’d taken off and left not just me, but everyone. His friends. Those closest to him. And I made his brother live a lie too. Nice one, huh? But even worse—I kept my daughter away from her father. Nice reaction there.” The words just tumbled out and when they did, a weight lifted off her shoulders. A weight she didn’t realize she’d carried. It felt good to admit what she’d done to someone other than Parker or Becky.
For a moment there, it was as if the past between the two, the years when they’d lost touch for whatever reason, just melted. She wanted to ask Nyah where’d she gone, why she had disappeared so suddenly and at a time when Melissa needed her the most.
Losing her best friend like that, with no word, no explanation, had almost killed her. She had no one to turn to, no one to talk things through, other than Parker.
It had hurt. More than she’d wanted to admit. For years, Melissa waited for Nyah to contact her, to come home and see her dad. Whenever she’d run into Dr. Henderson downtown, she’d ask about Nyah, see whether she was coming home for the holidays but eventually she stopped asking.
And now she was here.
“We all make mistakes, Mel.” Nyah’s voice dropped. Melissa caught the way she gripped her hands, how white her knuckles were.
Mistakes. Yes, they all made them. Wade’s mistake was falling asleep, costing a family to lose their little girl. Nyah had made a mistake in trying to do something she wasn’t equipped to do, and her inexperience unfortunately didn’t save a life. Melissa made the mistake in not telling the truth and letting her daughter grow up thinking her father had abandoned them. Her.
The heaviness of that weighed on her.
“Where’ve you been, Nyah? Why did you come home now?” Melissa turned the conversation.
Nyah bit her lip, obviously struggling to find an answer.
“That’s what I wanted to come and talk to you about.”
In that moment, Melissa knew, whatever Nyah had to say, she didn’t want to hear it.
14
Nikki
“Mom, hurry up. We’re going to be late.”
Nikki stared at her reflection for half a second longer before she pulled her hair into a ponytail and turned away. There was no point. She was never going to be able to cover up the bags under her eyes, or get rid of the redness. Anybody would be able to see she’d been crying, but she didn’t care. She had been.
And why shouldn’t she? She’d basically kicked out the best thing that had ever happened to her because she couldn’t deal with the reality of the situation.
She grabbed her sweater and made her way down the stairs, where Ryan waited to go to the Pumpkin Festival. The very last thing she wanted to do was go to the festival. What she really wanted was to climb back into her bed, pull the covers over her head and forget about everything, especially the Pumpkin Festival and Parker Rhodes, who would be there.
Not only was Parker going to be there, but he was helping Becky and Matt organize a “Welcome Home Wade” surprise at the festival, which she only knew about because Becky had called and asked her whether she’d help out. Apparently Melissa and Abby were headed up to the prison to pick Wade up and as a way to welcome him back to town, and to basically tell everyone in town the truth and turn it into a celebration.
Nikki wasn’t sure how she felt about celebrating something like a prison release, but it would be good for Abby and Melissa to have Wade back and that’s what was important. It would be good for Parker, too.
Parker.
Nikki hadn’t been able to think of anything or anyone but Parker for the last few days. His face, and the hurt and confused expression he’d worn, haunted her. And she missed him. A lot.
“Mom, you look like you haven’t slept in days.”
Ryan scared her, shocking her back into the present and reminding her that she needed to rally and pull herself together, for the sake of her son. The festival was important to him and that’s all that mattered. Not Melissa, or Wade, or even Parker. It was all about Ryan. It had to be.
“Thanks, buddy.” She tried her best to put a smile on her face and a joke in her voice, but judging by the look Ryan gave her, she’d failed. “I’ve had a little trouble sleeping lately is all.” She might as well go for honesty.
Unexpectedly, Ryan took her hand as they left the house. He rarely took her hand anymore now that he was older. She gave it a squeeze.
“Does it have anything to do with Parker and your fight?”
Nikki’s stomach rolled and she froze in place. “What are you talking about?” She couldn’t even look at her son as she spoke. He wasn’t a fool,
and he’d see right through her terrible acting.
“Mom.” Ryan tugged on her hand. “I’m not a little kid anymore. I know you had a fight and I know you’re sad. I’m also not blind.” He gave her a look that basically said you look terrible, and she flinched. “Whatever happened, you’re obviously not happy, so just fix it.” He moved to keep walking, but stopped at the last minute and turned back to her again. “But first, you might want to brush your hair or something.”
She couldn’t help it; Nikki laughed. Kids had a way of seeing through the bullshit and putting things into perspective. “I look that bad, huh?”
“You know how I used to tell you that you were the prettiest girl in the world?”
Nikki nodded, but her stomach clenched at the memory of her little boy not that many years ago. She also braced herself for the open honesty of a pre-teen who no longer wore rose-colored glasses when it came to his mother.
“Well, I still think that.” Nikki breathed a sigh of relief. “But it wouldn’t hurt to put some makeup on or something.”
She laughed again. “Okay. I see your point. Can you wait one minute?” Nikki grabbed the door handle, full of a new energy. Maybe Ryan was right; a little makeup couldn’t hurt. Maybe if she at least tried to look better, she might actually start to feel better. She could hope, anyway.
By some miracle, they were only running a few minutes behind, but even so, by the time Nikki and Ryan got to the Pumpkin Festival, things were already well underway. Her heart squeezed a bit at the thought that she was supposed to be there with Parker. She was supposed to be doing a lot of things with Parker. But that was before all the lies and secrets. She shook her head and tried to push the thought of Parker out of her head. At least for the moment. She wasn’t stupid; she wouldn’t be able to avoid him.
“Hey,” Ryan called out. “There he is!” Panic filled her. She wasn’t ready yet. She thought she might have a few minutes to get acclimatized before she ran into him. “Levi!” Ryan waved his hands in the air.
Levi?
Nikki could have laughed at her own ridiculousness. Ryan was excited about meeting up with Levi, her late mother’s dear friend who’d become a sort of grandfather figure to him. She smiled a genuine smile and followed Ryan over to where Levi stood with a cup of apple cider.
“It’s good to see you.” She allowed herself to be pulled into a warm hug. “It’s been too long.”
“Well, you’ve been busy with a certain young man,” Levi said. “Just the way a woman your age should be. I’m glad to see it, too.”
Nikki shook her head and glanced at Ryan, who rolled his eyes and volunteered the information she didn’t feel like sharing. “They had a fight,” he said. “And Mom’s being dumb about it.”
“She is, is she?” Levi lifted a furry eyebrow at her, and it was Nikki’s turn to roll her eyes.
“Totally. All she does is cry and sleep and she won’t talk to him.” Ryan crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s dumb.”
“Ryan, it—”
“It certainly sounds dumb.” Levi cut off her protests. “But sometimes adults do dumb things. Hey, why don’t you go get some of those pumpkin spice muffins that Muriel is selling over there?” Levi handed Ryan a twenty, and he didn’t have to be asked twice.
When Ryan was gone, Levi turned to her, and Nikki knew she wouldn’t be getting away very easily. “So are you going to tell me what happened with you and Parker, or do I have to guess?”
The last thing she’d wanted was to talk about it, but now that she had the opportunity, getting it all out seemed like the best option she’d had in days. “He lied to me,” she said quickly. “Well, not really lied, but…kind of withheld the truth.”
Levi nodded knowingly.
“What?”
“I’m just agreeing with you.”
“Agreeing with what?” Nikki eyed him carefully.
Levi nodded sagely like old men tend to do. “You seem to have it all figured out, is all. You’ve made your decision.”
Nikki knew he was up to something. She knew the older man well enough to know that he was definitely going to have an opinion about things. But she also knew he wouldn’t volunteer that opinion unless she asked.
“Okay, what? I know you’re dying to tell me what you think.”
Levi chuckled a little before his expression grew serious again. “I know Parker. He’s a good man. I also know the secrets he’s had to keep for almost a decade and that can’t have been easy. He’s sacrificed his own life for that little girl and her mama. He didn’t have to do that. But he did.”
She hadn’t looked at it that way before. But wait…
“You knew? How did you know about Wade?”
Levi smiled. The skin around his eyes crinkled up as he did so. “I think a lot of folks around here knew the truth. Secrets are hard to keep in small towns.”
“But nobody said anything?”
He shrugged. “Melissa had her reasons for doing what she did. And whether you agree with them or not, they were her reasons. People respect that. She needed it, so if anyone knew the truth, they kept quiet. Because that’s what family does. And Halfway? We’re a family. You should know that by now.”
Nikki nodded and let what he said roll around in her brain.
“But Parker?” Levi continued. “He gave them everything. That is, until you came along. It couldn’t have been easy, and I think you need to cut the man a little slack. He didn’t tell you everything, it’s true. Not because he didn’t want to, but out of loyalty for Melissa and Abby. And don’t you think that’s a good trait to have in a man?”
Nikki nodded again, because there was no way she could disagree. “Still, Levi…the lies….I just can’t—”
“I agree, lying is not okay, but don’t you think before you throw it all away, you should talk to him about it? Give him the benefit of the doubt? Don’t you owe it to everyone, yourself included?”
She thought about that for a second, but she didn’t have to think for long. She knew what she should do, what she wanted to do. “You’re right, Levi.” She reached up and kissed his cheek. “How did you get so smart?”
The older man blushed. “Years of experience, my dear. Now why don’t you go find that young man of yours? I’ll keep an eye on Ryan.”
They both looked over to where Ryan happily munched on a fresh muffin. He wouldn’t need much looking out for and they both knew it.
With one more smile for Levi, Nikki turned and headed into the thick of the festival. She wasn’t exactly sure where they were setting up the surprise for Wade, but it wouldn’t be too hard to find. Judging by the excited whispers from people all around her, Wade’s homecoming was literally the talk of the town.
It didn’t take long for her to find Parker. He stood on a ladder and pulled one end of a banner up on the stage. Matt held the other end, with Becky between them to direct the whole affair.
Matt was the first one to turn and see her, but as soon as he did, Parker followed suit. His face immediately turned up into a smile, but it quickly faded into a look of cautious surprise.
Nikki smiled in return, in a way that she hoped was encouraging. “Hi.”
Becky turned at the sound of her voice, lifted her hand to wave and say something, but her mouth opened and shut like a fish out of water and she turned to Parker. Obviously, word of their breakup had gotten out.
Parker held his end of the banner in mid-air. “Hi.”
As she looked around at everyone watching her and waiting for a reaction, Nikki knew this was not how she wanted to do things. Not that there were a lot of options, but still. “Can we talk?”
“Absolutely.” Parker dropped his end of the banner and was down the ladder so fast that Matt cursed in his wake, but he didn’t seem to notice as he focused totally on her. “Why don’t we go behind the pumpkin carvers’ booth? It’ll be quieter there.”
“No problem, Parker,” Matt called behind him. His voice dripped with sarcasm. “I got this. Y
ou—”
Nikki turned just in time to see Becky smack her husband’s arm and she stifled a smile.
“I’m glad you came,” Parker said as soon as they were out of sight from their well-meaning, but nosy, neighbors. “I’ve…I’ve missed you, Nikki.”
He moved to reach for her hands, but she saw him pull back, uncertain of how she’d respond. She knew she’d caused that uncertainty, and she hated herself for it because at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to hold Parker’s hands.
“Parker, I—”
“Nikki—”
She pulled back and laughed a little, all at once nervous.
“You go first,” Parker said. “I want to hear what you have to say.”
She nodded. So did she. The truth was, she had no idea what she would say. She took a deep breath. The last few days had been miserable just thinking she’d ruined everything with Parker. All she really needed to say was that she missed him, that she…
“Okay,” he said when she still hadn’t spoken. “I’ll go first.” She nodded. Maybe that was best. “Nikki, I’m so sorry I kept everything from you. It was never my intention to lie to you, but I—”
“I understand.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she realized they were true. She did understand.
“You do?”
She nodded. “I do. I think I always did, but Ryan…I had to think of him and everything he’s been through already…well, honesty is really important to me.”
“I know.” He took her hands then and pressed them together in his own. His warmth filled her. “I know what you’ve been through, especially with Ryan. It wasn’t my choice to keep it from you, but Melissa and Abby, they’re—”
“I know,” she said again. “I understand and to tell you the truth, your commitment to them is honorable. It couldn’t have been easy for Melissa.” The same feeling of understanding she’d had for the other woman passed through Nikki. She still smarted a little from the words Melissa had said to her, but she could relate to her and her need to protect her daughter. After all, hadn’t she carried out a similar if not different deceit not that long ago when it came to Ryan and Matt? It might be awhile until Melissa and Nikki could call each other friends but at least she could let go of the anger, and that was the first step. “I know you did what you did out of love and loyalty for your family, and that’s what makes you so amazing.”
