CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Monday evening, Melanie sipped tea from her mug, her laptop balanced on her knee. The planned gathering at Cider Mill Farm had been postponed until the next day because Harper was still recovering from a bug.
With Addy in bed, Mel was curled up on her small couch, staring at her spreadsheet. Focus was difficult. She was so damn furious.
That afternoon she’d stood at the end of her driveway watching Addy get off the bus.
She’d trudged up Bluebell Lane, shoulders slumped, and when she’d reached Melanie, had immediately burst into tears.
Once inside and calm enough to talk, the story came out of how Liam had called her an ugly name and told other kids to do the same.
The teacher on yard duty had made Liam sit on a bench for the remainder of recess.
Gage had nailed it by calling Addy “sunshine” because her girl radiated sweetness and warmth, and some bully kid had no right to steal that light from her.
Getting benched at recess wasn’t nearly good enough.
Melanie could feel herself getting angry all over again.
It wasn’t lost on her that both she and her daughter were dealing with harassment.
Maybe they’d both come out stronger from the experience, but right now it sucked.
After setting Addy up with hot chocolate, cookies, and a video, Melanie’d taken a minute to calm herself before texting her teacher.
Mrs. Delgado called back immediately and promised to monitor Liam any time he and Addy were in the same vicinity.
She also promised to talk with Liam’s teacher.
Melanie thanked her but let her know she planned on calling the principal.
While she trusted Mrs. Delgado, teachers were busy and simply monitoring Liam didn’t address the underlying issue of the kid’s bullying.
So next she called the school secretary requesting a conference with the principal and Liam’s parents.
She’d done what she could but was still steamed. The meeting was scheduled for the next afternoon, and Donna had offered to come with her. Mel would have liked the backup but didn’t want to pull her mom away from the animal shelter and leave it short-staffed.
All this was after Addy’d been questioned by Deputy Guerrero at school on Friday. Melanie had been ready for her to be upset, but according to Addy, it’d been no big deal. Not wanting to make it a big deal, she hadn’t pressed for details.
All of which meant she was keeping a close eye on her daughter. Gage’s suggestion that the child neglect complaint was an attempt at harassment made sense, which only made her more watchful.
One good thing was Sawyer had texted to tell her Child Services had closed the case against her.
Her phone chimed with an incoming text. She glanced at the lock screen. Chase Bradford. Crap.
She’d have to decide how to move forward with him. Maybe he’d cooled down and they could have an adult conversation. But first she’d make it clear she wasn’t romantically interested in him. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the cushion. She’d read the text in the morning.
While no longer feeling like punching someone, the pent-up anger over Liam’s behavior had given her a low-level headache. Maybe she’d do yoga before bed. But until then, she needed to focus on her project.
She checked her email, not really expecting a reply to the message she’d sent Neil Grafton and cc’d to Gage.
She’d probably written more than she should have, but she wanted him to know how his actions had affected her, and how she wanted to hold the person who’d assaulted her to account.
Then she’d requested permission to visit him in prison so they could talk.
There was no reply. She had no idea how often prisoners had access to the internet, so she was prepared for it to take weeks to hear back. If she ever did.
She clicked to open the spreadsheet. For the hundredth time, she went over the list of people who’d been at the bootlegger, trying to picture who’d been there in case she’d missed anyone.
There were columns for arrival and departure times, and one for relationships – who’d been with who, what the friend groups were, who’d been dating.
Delaney might be able to provide phone numbers or email addresses.
A knock at her front door had her sitting up.
Setting her laptop on the coffee table, she rose to her feet.
She hesitated at the door. She didn’t have a peephole and no way was she opening the door without knowing who was on the other side.
Luke from Ballard Security was squeezing her in as a favor to Gage, but it would still be the end of the week before the system could be installed.
“Mel, it’s Gage.”
Her breath left her with a whoosh. The worry she was being targeted was wearing on her.
She worked to smooth out her features before turning the deadbolt and opening the door.
Gage wore a heavy sweater open over a gray knit shirt, his long legs encased in faded blue jeans, and leather boots.
Pancake standing at his side with a doggy smile only made the man more attractive.
He finger-combed damp windblown hair back from his forehead as he studied her, eyes dark and searching.
Maybe it was because she felt wound up emotionally. Maybe it was because something about him called to her on an elemental level. Or maybe it was because Gage was so damn appealing. Whatever the cause, the result was desire curling through her as seductive as a whisper.
He crossed the threshold, his hands settling on her shoulders. He bent his knees to look her in the eye.
“What is it?”
No way was she telling him she had a bad case of lust, so she shrugged.
“Addy okay?”
“Um, yeah. She’s asleep.”
“You’re upset. What happened?”
Which only proved she had zero poker face. Resigned, she stepped back. “Come in first.”
Gage grabbed Pancake by the collar and Melanie closed the door.
“You got a towel? It’s still wet out.” A storm late in the afternoon had sent thunder echoing off the mountains and brought an intense downpour followed by a persistent drizzle.
“Yeah, give me a sec.”
In the service porch she took a moment to calm herself before grabbing a towel from a stack she used for cleaning. Gage was like the thunderstorm, wild and electrifying. It made her wary of getting burned.
Returning to the front entry, she handed him the towel. Once Pancake’s paws were dry and she was free to roam, she nosed around the living room before heading for the kitchen.
“She’s looking for Addy.” Gage pulled off his boots and set them beside the door.
“Yeah, she is,” Melanie agreed. “Do you want tea? I don’t have beer or wine.”
“No, thanks. I’m good.” He caught her hand. “You hurt pissed or mad pissed?”
There it was again – that support and quiet insight that steadied her at the same time it made her heart yearn. She fought back the urge to move in for a hug, to wrap her arms around his solid strength and hold on, knowing doing that was a slippery slope she might not be able to climb back from.
“Is there an FBI class on reading people?” she muttered. “You’re annoyingly good at it.”
He brushed the back of her hand with his thumb. “It’s a special skill. And I’m dogged, not annoying.”
She rolled her eyes.
“But you’re deflecting. What’s going on?”
Melanie stepped back and he released her. She led the way into the living room, where he sat next to her on the loveseat, knees brushing. Yep, she needed more seating because being this close was way too cozy. She curled her legs under her and leaned back against the cushion.
Tea mug cupped in her hands, she said, “Remember when I told you about that kid Liam?”
“You mean the little fucker who pushed Addy? Yeah, I remember.”
“You can’t call a child a little fucker, Gage.”
“A kid pushes Addy, he’s a little fucker. He still harassing her?”
She told him what happened and felt herself getting steamed all over again. “So now I have a meeting with the principal tomorrow afternoon.”
“Will the kid and his parent be there?”
She shook her head. “I asked for that, but maybe they think I’ll go off on the boy because the secretary said that’s not happening. I don’t even know if they’ll talk to his parents. They should because he needs therapy.”
Pancake returned, looking unhappy at not finding her bff.
She commando crawled into the space between the loveseat and the coffee table before settling herself with a sigh.
Melanie reached down to give the dog a good rub and Pancake stretched under her touch.
“Hey there, Pancake, make yourself comfortable.”
“She likes it here.” He drummed his fingers on his knee. “You know the kid’s last name? I’ll find the parents and have a chat with them.”
“Really? You’d do that? Is that legal?”
“Yeah, really, and yes, it’s legal.”
“Wow, okay, but no, thank you. I’ll get Liam’s last name tomorrow, but I want to give the school a chance to deal with him.” Addy was lucky to have Gage solidly in her camp.
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
The quiet stretched between them, not uncomfortable, but…waiting.
She wondered what had brought him over and if he was thinking about kissing her because she really liked kissing him, and in that moment, it was all she could think about. His gaze snagged hers and her cheeks warmed.
Her phone chimed, breaking the moment. A glance at the screen had her groaning. “It’s Chase again. It’s the second time he’s texted this evening.”
“He bothering you? He’s one of the reasons I came over. What does he want?”
She set her mug on the coffee table. “He’s not bothering me.
Tonight’s the first I’ve heard from him since that night at Easy Money and it’s been over a week.
” She tapped the screen and gave an incredulous laugh when she read the messages.
“Get this, in the first text he says he had a nice time when we got together. In the second he’s inviting me to his house so he can cook for me. ”
“Oh hell no.”