Chapter 13
“So how’s the new car?” Devon said catching her before they made their way into ethics the middle of the next week.
“Hmm…oh, it’s great. Basically, the same as my old one but about six years newer.
Thanks again for stopping. Jordan took me to the garage to get the stuff out of it, and I know why he was so worried.
If I’d been stuck in it I probably wouldn’t be here right now,” she admitted remembering the shudder that had run through her when she’d seen the damage to the car.
“And then where would I be, stuck writing an entire paper myself, though I guess I wouldn’t have to wear that dress, now would I?” he said making her laugh.
“You’re not getting out of that so easily. Tate’s already informed me he’d be more than happy to supervise.”
“Just my luck,” he stated as they took their seats. “I suppose I should tell you to say thanks to Jordan for fixing my car. They repaired the window that day and are currently working on all the dents and the rental’s not bad either.”
“Are you two talking about that storm?” Anna asked leaning towards them. “It was insane; it shattered the front window of my house and I’m still picking up glass from the carpet.”
“All I can say is I’m glad I wasn’t out in it,” Mel said shooting Devon another smile. “My Jeep decided to crash and burn, no not like that,” she added seeing the look that crossed her face. “It just completely died on me, and I was lucky enough that Devon was driving by on his way home.”
“Getting trapped at Mel’s wasn’t so bad. The place is awesome, and Jordan offered to pay for the repairs on my car as a thank you.”
“I’ve seen your Jordan around the construction site and he’s gorgeous,” Anna stated with a grin. “Did he design your house?”
“No, we’ve been living in ours for almost six years now.
We’ve designed our own place and for Valentines Jordan surprised me with the perfect plot to build it.
The team’s already started the foundation and we’re hoping that by the time we’re done with the construction around here that they’ll be able to work on finishing it while we’re taking a very long and much overdue vacation. ”
“You all haven’t taken a vacation? Or is it a honeymoon?” she asked curiously.
“We didn’t really have the time to take one after we got married because we were working on so many projects, then we started the one here and now it’s five years later and it’s almost done.
We’ve been looking at places to go, but I really don’t have any preference, so I told Jordan to just surprise me.
The only thing he’s confirmed is that we’ll be gone for at least a month and that I needed a passport. ”
“You’re taking off for an entire month?” Devon asked. “Man that construction company must be doing pretty well then, are you all shutting down while you’re out?”
“We’re doing great, with all of the requests to set up projects like this from colleges and even high schools we’re likely to be busy for the next ten years at least. We’re letting Tate and Dad take over the day to day stuff while we’re gone and we know it’ll be safe,” she told them.
“His dad’s in construction too?” Anna inquired.
“No, he’s going to handle the business side while Tate deals with the crews and anything to do with that.”
“I’d kill to be able to take off for a month and do nothing,” Anna sighed. “I’m so tempted to just say the hell with it and quit my job. If I didn’t have the student loans to start paying off I probably would too.”
“I’d say that Mel doesn’t have to worry about that aspect though do you?” Devon stated. “I saw the estimate for the car and let’s just say it’s about as high as just buying a new one and when I stopped in this morning there was already a check from Jordan there to cover it.”
“I’ll admit I don’t have to worry about paying bills anymore and Jordan’s very generous.
He doesn’t blink an eye when I come home after shopping with Nicole and have a stack of new dresses or shoes.
He simply smiles and sweetly checks them over to make sure my sister-in-law isn’t corrupting my fashion choices.
It’s a far cry from worrying about whether or not I can make rent as well as eat. ”
“I know what that feeling’s like,” Anna sighed as their professor walked in to start the class.
Mel couldn’t stop comparing her current life to what she’d had before Jordan, and she knew she’d been taking it for granted. It was surprising just how much she’d been taking it for granted and it occupied most of her brain for the next few hours.
“Mel, everything okay?” Dwight asked catching her in the hallway as she headed out for the day.
“Hmm?”
“You seem distracted, even during class you didn’t seem all there like you usually do.”
“I guess I wasn’t really. The storm this weekend’s been on my mind.
The Jeep broke down and there was no cell service but thankfully Devon, a guy from my ethics class, was heading that way and stopped.
He gave me a lift home and stayed to wait out the storm.
Jordan got home around seven and was terrified, when I went to get the rest of my stuff from the Jeep I discovered why. ”
“It’d taken a beating in the storm?”
“A major beating, I’d dropped my cell and since I wasn’t answering it, the office phone, or the home phone, since the lines were down out there. Tate called Jordan to see if he’d heard from me…”
“He hadn’t and they were both worried something happened to you?” Dwight offered.
“Yeah, Jordan had gotten done and was in the airport when the storm hit but they wouldn’t let them leave until it’d passed over; when the cell signals came back up Tate tracked the GPS in my phone to the Jeep.
The thing was demolished Dwight. A tree fell on the back half of it and a huge limb went through the windshield. ”
“Jordan found the Jeep and your phone but not you and didn’t know if you were alive or dead?”
“Yeah, when he got home and saw Devon’s car in the drive, he’d started to hope that I was there but since my purse and keys weren’t in the car, he couldn’t be sure.
He walked in, saw me and Devon working on our paper, and I seriously think he thought there was something going on between us, which is just crazy. ”
“Is it?” he asked. “Mel, you’re a beautiful and young woman.
You’ve been married for almost six years to one man, and not only that but a man you married when you were seventeen.
I’m sure Jordan’s afraid that you think you’ve been missing the real college experience like he had.
Hanging out after class, going to frat parties, being a very young adult… ”
“Why would I want any of that when I had something better with him and Tate? I’ve never been one to go to parties and I get way too bored if I just hang around doing nothing. I like being busy and I love Jordan.”
“And he loves you, which is the biggest issue for him I think. He sees you laughing and smiling with another man and he knows they’re bound to fall in love with you.
Don’t deny it,” he said with a laugh. “You don’t realize it, but it happens.
You’re so in love with Jordan and it shows in the way you interact with others.
You don’t, for the most part, see how men look at you.
You’re too comfortable in the way you look and the way you carry yourself to notice it unless they’re vulgar about it and that’s why they fall for you. ”
“You’re being ridiculous Dwight, name one person…”
“Let’s see from just last semester there’s Keith, Lucas, Shawn, Adam, and Eric,” he said ticking off the names of the guys from her class.
She shook her head laughing as they hit the quad. “They were…holy mother of…”
“Mel?” he said as she trailed off and her face paled. He glanced up and saw the woman walking towards them. He turned back to Mel and caught her just before she hit the ground.
∞∞∞
“Mel, come on baby, wake up,” Jordan said quietly as he knelt beside her.
“Give her a minute, Jordan,” Dwight stated as he came back into his office with the bottle of water. He shot a glance towards the woman and clenched his jaw.
“She’s been out for ten,” he argued then cursed seeing her wince. “Hey baby, I’m sorry,” he whispered as the door opened again and Tate rushed into the room.
“What the…you!” he said spying the woman. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Is that anyway to greet your friend’s mother?” she said standing up, her hands on her hips.
“You’re not her mother. You’re just the bitch that walked out on her eight and a half years ago.”
“Tate,” Mel said as she struggled up from the blackness surrounding her.
“Mel-Mel,” he said sliding over beside her as Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t care if she called out to Tate first, as long as she was okay that’s all that mattered to him. “Easy Mel,” Tate added as she began to sit up.
“Sorry, I could have sworn…holy hell,” she gasped when she looked around the room and saw her. The darkness threatened her again and she fought it as Jordan brought her gaze to his.
“You scared the hell out of me baby,” he said brushing her hair from her eyes. “I was coming up to see if you were finished and then you were crumpling to the ground. If Dwight hadn’t been there…”
“I’m sorry,” she sighed ignoring the woman as she glanced around at the three men. “Really I am, I guess that’s the last time I skip lunch.”
“I think it was a bit more than just that Mel,” Tate said taking the spot beside her as she sat completely up and Jordan took the other side.
“What are you doing here?” she asked finally looking at her.
“Can’t a woman come to see her baby girl?”
“After eight years?” Mel scoffed. “Not likely, so what are you really doing here and how much money will it take to get you to leave?”
“Not everything’s about money Melinda, maybe I just missed my girl.”
“Were you missing me when you left in the middle of the night? Did you miss me at all in the two years after that?”