CHAPTER FOURTEEN #2
Some of Mel’s anxiety lessened with the easy welcome. “I don’t miss teething. They’re just so miserable.” Mel crouched down when the tiny dog with a sparkly lime-green collar sniffed her shoes. “This is the most adorable dog I’ve ever seen. Is she a Morkie?”
“Yep,” Cam said. “That’s Willa. Would you mind bringing her inside? We don’t let her run around with the big dogs. I’m afraid a hawk will think she’s a snack-size treat.”
Mel scooped up Willa, who licked her hand. “You, little thing, can’t weigh more than a newborn baby. My daughter would go nuts over Willa,” she told Cam.
Cam smiled as she led the way into the house. “You’re welcome to bring her over so they can meet. Willa loves kids. Come on in. The guys are out back.” She waved behind the door. “You can leave outerwear on the hooks.”
Melanie set Willa down and she trotted to a small bed next to the hearth.
Gage took Mel’s jacket and hung it beside his.
Cam led the way to a bright kitchen that had been remodeled since Melanie had been there last. She’d been inside the big house many times as a child.
The home now had a brighter, more open feel than it had back then.
Freshly baked turnovers cooling on wire racks smelled heavenly.
A woman with silver hair rose from a chair at the table and came forward using a cane. Regal and reserved, Clara Bryant had raised her granddaughter while Delaney’s mostly absent father had crisscrossed the globe working as a photojournalist.
“Hello, Mrs. Bryant.”
“It’s good to see you, Melanie. I’m pleased you’re home in Sisters.”
Clara Bryant, who had every reason to judge her harshly, grasped Melanie’s hand briefly before releasing her. Melanie swallowed against the sudden rush of emotion tightening her throat.
“This is where you and your little girl belong,” Clara murmured. “I spoke with your mother the other day. She and Paul are so glad you’re here.”
“Thank you. It’s good to be back. It feels like home.”
“That’s because it is. Now, I know you young people want to talk. I’ll leave you to it.” With that she made her careful way from the kitchen.
Cam secured JT in a high chair with a teething ring. “Gran, I’ll bring a turnover and tea to your sitting room.”
“Thank you, dear.”
The back door opened and Walker came in, followed by Sawyer. The McGrath brothers together made an impact. Both were well over six foot and shared the same dark hair and strikingly handsome features. Seeing Walker for the first time in over a decade had Mel’s insides roiling with anxiety.
He and Sawyer had lived with their grandfather in the cabin on the farm. She remembered him as a boy, then as a teenager. There’d been a wildness to him that only Delaney had been able to calm.
Walker’s gaze took in Gage, who’d moved to stand at her side, then locked on hers. This man had spent over two years in prison for a crime against her, a crime he hadn’t committed. Two years in a cage, being treated like a wild animal.
She’d last seen him at the trial, a young man with his whole life ahead of him, until that future had been ripped away.
The memory of the jury foreman reading the guilty verdict was etched forever in her brain.
Walker’s face had turned to stone. He’d stared straight forward, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze, until being led from the courtroom in handcuffs.
Now in his mid-thirties with a wife and child, he wore a layer of maturity that looked good on him. She took a deep breath, hoping it would ease the nerves bubbling under her skin, but it didn’t. “Hello, Walker.”
“Melanie. It’s been a while.”
“Yes.” She sucked in a shaky breath. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I should’ve been able to convince the jury it wasn’t you.” She blurted out the words in a rush of emotion. “I knew it wasn’t you, but I couldn’t get anyone to believe me.”
Walker looked startled, his forehead furrowing as he raised his brows. She should’ve eased into what she wanted to say, not ambushing him the moment she laid eyes on him. The guilt she’d been living with for so long couldn’t be contained.
Except for JT fussing in his high chair, every person in the room had stopped what they were doing, their eyes on her and Walker.
“What the hell?” Walker studied her with a frown. Delaney came to stand beside her husband. Melanie didn’t miss how their hands brushed and held before releasing.
“Have you been carrying that around all this time, the idea that somehow you’re responsible for sending me to prison?”
She nodded slowly.
“You were never the reason, and I never blamed you.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Good god, Melanie, you were a traumatized kid. The DA wanted a conviction, not justice. You and I were sacrificial pawns.”
“You had to blame me. I couldn’t convince them of the truth.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. I was so damn grateful you had the guts to testify on my behalf. Not many did.” He huffed out a breath and opened his arms. “Come here.”
Melanie hesitated, then walked into his embrace. When his arms closed around her, some of the pain she’d held inside loosened, then began to melt away. He relaxed his hold. When she stepped back, he muttered, “We good?”
She brushed a tear from her cheek. “Yeah, we’re good.”
“Let’s sit at the table.” Delaney’s tone lightened the mood. “Cam made turnovers. We have coffee and there’s hot water in the kettle for anyone who prefers tea.”
As people moved around them, Gage dropped a hand on her shoulder and guided Melanie into the living room. She wiped at her cheeks again. Crying was for wimps. “I’m fine,” she muttered.
“Want to take a walk, see what the dogs are up to?” His thumb stroking the back of her neck helped to settle her.
“No. Truly, I’m fine.” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean to dump that on him without warning. I’ve been thinking about it for so long it just tumbled out.”
“Understandable. But Mel, you’re too hard on yourself.”
“Maybe I have been. Even with therapy I hadn’t been able to let that go. I guess I needed to hear it from Walker.” She felt steadier. “I’m better now. Thanks for standing by me, Gage.”
“Always.”
She had a feeling he meant that.
They returned to the kitchen, where JT’s fussing had turned to howling, his face scrunched up as he banged his teething ring on the tray in front of him. When Cam moved toward him, Sawyer stopped her. “I got this guy.”
He lifted the little boy from the high chair, and the fussing immediately stopped.
“Time to try that nap again, kid.” Sawyer patted his back, and JT laid his head on his dad’s shoulder, his eyes already drooping.
Moving to the doorway, he murmured something to Cam, then walked out of the room with his son.
Gage ran his hand down Melanie’s arm. “You want tea?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“I’ll get it,” Delaney said. “You two have a seat.”
“Sit, Laney,” Walker growled. “You were up last night with Harper. I can bring stuff to the table.”
“Well, okay then.” She took the chair across from Melanie.
Once everyone had their beverage, they sat around the table. Melanie cut off the corner of her apple-berry turnover and bit into the flakey goodness. “This is delicious, Cam. Where’d you learn to bake?”
Cam leaned back in her seat, a mug of coffee cradled in her hand. “I worked at a bakery in college, then learned more following bakers online and experimenting with recipes.”
She looked up as Sawyer returned, a baby monitor hooked to his belt.
He dropped a hand to her shoulder and brushed his lips to the top of her head before moving to the counter to pour coffee into a mug.
Melanie saw so much communicated in that moment: you’re my person, I love you, our child is settled. We’re in this together.
The pang of longing startled her. She never once regretted not staying with Addy’s father, but there were times she yearned for someone to share that connection, who would be for her what Sawyer so clearly was for Cam.
Taking a fortifying sip of tea, she turned to Delaney. “I’m curious how you, Cam, and Emery found each other.”
While everyone enjoyed their pastries, Delaney told the story.
“That was all Gran. After Dad died, I read his journals and learned he had two other daughters. He was a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy.
When Gran found out, she made it a mission to find my sisters.
She hired a private investigator who tracked down Emery and Cam.
” She went on to relate how Emery’s work for a developer had brought her into direct conflict with Shane Keller of Lone Pine Ranch, which shared a boundary with Cider Mill Farm.
Delaney continued, “But before Emery came on the scene, Cam started working for us under an assumed name. I had no idea she was my sister.”
Cam took up the narrative. “I was in a bad situation in Oklahoma and ended up having to run for my life. I’d gotten a letter from Gran inviting me to Cider Mill Farm.
That gave me a destination. I didn’t feel safe revealing my identity, but Delaney still hired me without official ID or a Social Security number.
” She eyed her husband. “But Lieutenant McGrath was suspicious and kept poking around.”
Sawyer caught her hand and gave her a satisfied grin. “I got you, didn’t I?” His gaze shifted to Melanie. “She thought she could fool law enforcement, but I was on to her.”
“Wow, it’s amazing how it turned out,” Melanie said. “Clara must be thrilled to have her granddaughters all living in the area and marrying local boys.”
“That’s a definite yes,” Delaney agreed. “I didn’t know I needed sisters, but now I can’t imagine my life without them. Gran brought us together and we’re here for her whenever she needs us.”
“I’d like to meet Emery.” She glanced at Gage. “I recognized Shane Keller at Easy Money the other night, so I’m assuming that was Emery with him.”
“That was Emery. She’s been good for Shane.”
“He looked happy.”