43. Melanie
CHAPTER 43
Melanie
Fall washed over Tilikum like a cleansing shower. A solid week of rain helped control the wildfires and clear the smoke from the air. After the storms, the sun came out and the sky had never seemed so blue. The leaves turned, and the temperature was cool enough for a sweater.
With glee, I got out my favorite knee-high boots. Their time had come.
On a bright, crisp, Saturday afternoon in October, Luke and I arrived at Lumberjack Park. I was delighted to be wearing a cardigan with jeans and my boots. I’d missed my fall clothes, especially after such a long, hot summer.
Luke walked next to me, holding my hand, dressed in a dark orange flannel and jeans. It was a good look on him—gave him a lumberjack meets small-town mechanic vibe that kind of made me wish we were going home so he could take off my boots and cardigan.
But there’d be time for that later.
My parents were already there, as were Nathan, Sharla, and the kids. Lucia and Zola were decked out in full princess attire, plastic crowns and everything. Lucia was probably getting close to outgrowing her dress-up and play-pretend phase, but I was glad she hadn’t quite left it yet. Nico wore a black cape that had been serving as villain, superhero, prince, captain of the guard, or whatever character his sisters gave him.
Zola caught sight of us first. “Luke! Auntie Mel!”
The other two gasped and all three of them beelined for us. I wasn’t even mad that the girls hugged Luke first. I could hardly blame them.
“Look at you,” I said, as if I hadn’t seen them in costume a hundred times. “What beautiful princesses.”
They did their obligatory twirls.
“Grandma got us new crowns,” Lucia said, touching hers and fluffing her hair.
“They’re lovely,” I said.
“What an awesome grandma,” Luke said. “They’re perfect.”
We walked to their picnic table and said hello to the adults. My parents still looked at me with a certain anxiety in their expression, as if they expected me to fall apart any second. That seemed like a normal enough response to their daughter being abducted for the second time by the same psychopath. I gave them each a hug.
“How are you?” Mom asked. “I’m not pressuring you to talk about anything, I’m just wondering. But really, how are you? Do you need anything? Chocolate? Pickles? Chocolate-covered pickles?”
“I was about to say no, I’m fine, but chocolate-covered pickles? Do those exist?”
“Please, no,” Nathan said, and Luke chuckled.
“I don’t know, but if they do, I’ll find them.” Mom got out her phone.
“It’s okay, Mom, I can research later. And I really am fine. Probably more than I have any right to be, all things considered.” I glanced at Luke. “But everything is… really good. ”
With a sigh, she put down her phone. “I’m sorry. I’m trying not to project my anxiety onto you. But it’s not easy.”
Dad gently rubbed her back. “You’re doing fine, my love.”
She smiled at him.
“Honestly, right now, I just want pumpkin spice everything,” I said. “Does anyone know if Angel Cakes has pumpkin spice muffins? We need Harper to get on that.”
“I think there are, actually,” Sharla said.
I grabbed Luke’s arm. “I know what I want to do after this.”
“What my girl wants, my girl gets.” He grinned at me. “Pumpkin spice it is.”
“Luke, can we do our play now?” Zola asked.
“What play?” Mom asked, looking curiously at Luke.
“Oh, it’s just a little something I helped the kids come up with,” Luke said. “Lucia, did you bring our scripts?”
“Yep!” Lucia held up a few small stacks of papers stapled together. “Got them right here.”
I nudged Luke with my elbow. “When did you help them write a play?”
He winked with a casual shrug and Lucia handed him the script. “There’s a part for you.”
“Oh yeah? Who am I playing?”
“Queen Ione,” Zola said.
“Of course. I should have guessed. Do I need to rehearse or are we just doing this?”
Luke gave me a copy. “Just read along. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.”
There weren’t any lines for me on the first page, so I started to look through the rest of their script.
“Don’t read ahead,” Luke said.
“Why?”
“Because spoilers.”
“There aren’t spoilers when you’re in the show. ”
“Just don’t.” Luke walked over to the other side of the picnic table. “Ready, girls?”
“Mom, take a video!” Lucia said.
“Got it.” Sharla held up her phone. “And… action.”
Lucia’s expression changed, her smile disappearing as she read from her script. “I am Princess Persephone, and my realm is threatened by the evil Queen Ione, who lives in the forest.”
Zola stepped up and twirled. “I am Princess Iris, twin sister of Persephone. My sister, we must find a way to stop the queen.”
“But how?” Lucia said, putting the back of her hand to her forehead. “She is too powerful. Our magic is no match for her. And her minions are pouring over our borders.”
“What does she want with our kingdom?” Zola asked. “She has her own realm.”
“I do not know,” Lucia answered. “But we must find a way to stop her.”
They paused, and everyone looked at me. I’d been watching them instead of reading along with the script. I turned the page and realized my line was next. “Sorry!” I cleared my throat and began in my Queen Ione voice. “The princesses are plotting against me. I must discover their plans so I may thwart them.”
Nico marched over to me and bowed. “My queen.”
According to the script, he had more lines. I paused, waiting to see if he’d remember.
“What are your orders,” Lucia whisper-yelled at him.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “What are your orders?”
“Spy on the princesses and discover their plans.”
He bowed again and walked away. He was so cute, it was hard not to break character.
Taking a few steps, I kept reading. “Their power is nothing compared to mine. But I fear they have a secret weapon that could be my undoing. ”
The scene shifted back to the girls, so I moved out of the way.
“Princess Iris, I know what we must do,” Lucia said.
Zola gasped dramatically. “What?”
“We must enlist the help of Queen Ione’s greatest nemesis.”
“Do you mean?”
“Yes.” Lucia pointed at Luke. “King Lukonidas. His power rivals the queen’s. He is the only one who can stop her.”
“Will he help us?” Zola asked.
“I do not know. But we must try.”
The girls marched over to Luke and curtsied to him. While I’d been looking down at the script, someone had handed him a gold crown. It was slightly too small, balancing precariously on his head. He stood straight and put his hands on his hips.
“Princess Persephone. Princess Iris.” He bent his head to each of them, and I could tell he was having trouble keeping the crown on his head. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit.”
I couldn’t stop smiling at his king voice—his tone low and serious. It sent a little shiver down my spine.
“We come to you with great need, King Lukonidas,” Lucia said. “The evil Queen Ione threatens our kingdom. You are the only one who can stop her.”
“For you, sweet princesses, I will do this.” His crown slipped off and fell to the ground, but he kept going. “I warn you, however, once I have begun this quest, I will not stop until it is accomplished, come what may.”
“You have our thanks,” Lucia said, and the girls curtsied again.
I had to wipe the smile off my face and get back into character as Luke strode over to me. But it wasn’t easy.
“We meet again, Queen Ione,” he said.
“Foolish king. You think you can defeat me? ”
“We have done battle many times and always come to an impasse. This time will be different. I will prevail.”
Nico ran up and handed us toy swords. The script said we were supposed to do battle with magic and swords. Holding the plastic weapon in one hand, I clashed it with Luke’s a few times, then stepped back and stretched out my arm, as if casting a spell. He deflected my magic with his blade, then cast his own.
I glanced at the script. “Your power has grown, Lukonidas.”
“So has yours, Ione.” He lowered his sword a little. “As has your beauty.”
“My…” The slight flush in my cheeks was no act. It was so silly, but something about Luke’s king voice was getting to me. “You try to distract me.”
“No.” He stepped closer. “I came here seeking to defeat you. But now I know the truth. I love you.”
“How could you possibly love me?”
He moved in, closer still, and his voice gradually shifted to his own. “For long years, I have loved you, my beautiful queen. Fate has kept us apart, but it will no longer be so.”
I lowered the script and met his eyes as he continued.
“Your spirit burns bright, a fire that devours all in its path. It has consumed my heart, melting the ice that once encased it.”
“The girls wrote this?” I asked, totally breaking character.
“Shh.” He put a finger to my lips. “Though we once faced each other as enemies, I see now our mistake. It is not hatred that fills our hearts. It is a love beyond imagining.”
I stared at him. Part of me wondered if I had more lines, but I couldn’t quite make myself break from his gaze to look at the script.
“Melanie,” he said softly, and it occurred to me that he’d used my real name. “I want to be the man who loves you forever. The king to your queen. ”
He lowered himself to one knee. The script slipped from my hand and fluttered to the ground as he pulled a ring from his pocket.
My lips parted in shock. My mom was already sobbing while my dad tried to hush her.
Meeting my eyes, Luke lifted the ring. “Will you marry me?”
I started nodding before I regained the use of words. He stood and slipped the ring on my finger.
“Yes,” I said. “Oh, this is happening. Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
My family erupted in applause as Luke scooped me into his arms and held me tight. The kids surrounded us, jumping up and down and cheering.
Tears stung my eyes as Luke pulled away. He swiped a tear from my cheek and placed a knuckle beneath my chin to lift my mouth to his. The kids’ cheering turned to exclamations of disgust as he kissed me.
It was perfect. Absolutely, completely perfect.
He slowly broke the kiss and grinned. “I love you.”
“I love you too. You planned all that?”
“I had a little help. Although Nico wanted you to turn into a dragon.”
I glanced at my mom. She was sobbing into my dad’s shirt. “She didn’t know, did she?”
“Would she have kept it a secret?”
“Oh my goodness, no. Krista Andolini couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.”
Dad met my eyes and winked.
“You talked to him first, didn’t you?” I asked, nodding toward my dad.
“We Havens are a bit old-school like that. I let him know my intentions with his daughter.”
I wound my arms around his neck, and he dipped his head to mine, our mouths meeting in a delicious kiss .
After everything we’d been through, the long road we’d traveled to get there, I was going to be Luke Haven’s girl—forever.
There wasn’t anything in the world I wanted more.