Chapter 26
Ryan
I picked a new restaurant for us to try, one that served both Greek food, which Melanie loved and didn’t get to have very often, as well as a wide selection of steaks, which I would gladly eat every day of the week.
Since the restaurant was in the opposite direction as our house and her parents’ condo, we left her SUV at Kim’s office and she rode with me.
I reached across to hold her hand as I drove, and after a second or two, she threaded her fingers with mine. In that moment, I could pretend that all was right in our world.
As I pulled into the lot at The Mykonos Grill, she glanced at me with her brows raised.
“The reviews I read said their steaks are really good, too,” I explained, releasing her hand so I could park. I took her hand again as we made our way inside and were shown to a table near the front.
We spent a few minutes poring over the menu, and to my surprise, when our server came she declined the glass of ouzo he suggested and just got iced tea instead.
“I ordered Greek food on my birthday, and may have celebrated with a little too much ouzo,” she confessed wryly. “That Sunday morning was a challenge.”
I dropped my head and stared at the table as I processed the fact that my sweet wife spent her birthday alone, drowning her sorrows with ouzo while I was across the country in a fucking strip club.
“Hey,” she said softly, covering my hand with hers. “That wasn’t meant to be a dig about my birthday.”
“I know that. I just feel so damned guilty. I’m sorry, sweetness. I still can’t believe I fucked up so badly.”
“I know, but we’re working to get past that. Let’s just focus on that for tonight. I don’t think I’m up for anymore deep introspection today.” One corner of her mouth tipped up in a half-smile, and I squeezed her hand lightly.
“You’re right. I feel that we should decide what to order.”
Her brow furrowed as she warned, “I don’t think that’s how those ‘I feel’ statements work.”
“Eh, so maybe I need some practice,” I shrugged, giving her a teasing wink.
After I ordered my ribeye, and Mel ordered souvlaki – they served it with both chicken and pork here – she told me about going out for enchiladas and margaritas with Jen last night, and about the supply snafu with the Godwin project.
“When she finished talking to the original suppliers, Neela slammed the phone down so hard I was afraid she’d break it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so angry. On the plus side, Jen and I learned some choice curse words in Hindi.”
I laughed, unable to picture mild-mannered Neela slamming phones or cursing.
Melanie decided she was too full for dessert, but I ordered her a piece of baklava to take with her back to the condo. As I held the door of the ‘Vette open for her, she shocked me by pressing a quick kiss to my cheek before sliding into the passenger seat.
I had a huge grin on my face as I rounded the hood and got in on the driver’s side. I started the car and took a moment to enjoy the powerful engine one last time.
“If you don’t have to rush back, I need to make a stop, and I’d love it if you would go with me.”
She glanced at me curiously, and I simply shrugged as I pulled out onto the main road.
I drove a few miles away to the Ford dealership and when I swung into the lot, Melanie whipped her head around to stare at me.
I got to the row of F-150 pickup trucks near the front, then slowly cruised by them all until I reached the one on the end, a gleaming, glossy black Lariat model with shiny chrome accents.
I stopped and got out, then opened Mel’s door. After a moment’s hesitation, she took the hand I offered and stepped out of the car, glancing around in bewilderment.
“What are we doing here?”
“I’m getting rid of the last vestige of my midlife crisis, sweets. I came here on my lunch hour today and test drove this one, then talked to a salesperson about trading in the Corvette.”
She couldn’t have looked more shocked if I’d stripped naked right there in the parking lot and started dancing a jig.
I waved her over to peer into the truck’s interior with me.
“This is the same model I had before, only this one is the current year.
Since I used the inheritance from Dad when I bought the ‘Vette, and it still has such low mileage, I can trade it in and get enough to pay for the truck outright and still have almost twenty thousand left over.”
“But you love that car,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder at it.
“I did. It’s a beautiful machine, but it has some pretty ugly memories associated with it now. Besides, I’ve been a truck guy all my life. Truth be told, it’s felt strange not to be able to haul things around like I used to. I could barely fit my golf clubs in the trunk on that thing.” I scoffed.
“I thought with the extra money, we could upgrade your SUV, too.”
Melanie looked horrified at the idea. “But there’s nothing wrong with my Honda,” she protested.
“I didn’t say there was, except that it’s always bothered me that you skimped on the remote start and the heated seats. Those aren’t a luxury in Indiana, Mel. They’re practically a necessity.”
“Oh, they are not. Someone is just a little spoiled,” she chided.
“And someone deserves to be spoiled a little,” I said pointedly, then tapped her on the end of her nose, which was turning red from the cold.
“It’s freezing out here. Let’s park by the sales office and go inside. I texted her from the restaurant, so Deanna should be waiting for us.”
The salesperson I had met with at lunchtime greeted us eagerly, directing us to her desk where she had the paperwork all laid out for me.
It didn’t take long to look it all over and sign on the dotted line before I headed back out to collect my sunglasses and the few personal items I had in the glove compartment of the Corvette, along with the carryout container with Mel’s baklava in it.
With one last pat on the buttery leather seat, I handed the key fobs over to her, and she handed me the check from her finance manager to cover the difference in the trade-in value.
Mel was quiet as I escorted her out and opened the passenger door of the new truck with a flourish. “Your chariot awaits,” I joked.
She flashed me a bemused smile, then took my hand to steady herself as she stepped up on the running board and settled into the seat.
I shut the door after her, then hustled around and jumped into the driver’s seat. The leather seats molded to me, and they were definitely nice. Not quite as nice as those in the car that Deanna was currently driving around to the back of the lot, but still not bad at all.
Melanie fastened her seat belt and adjusted the seat a bit, then finally broke her silence. “You didn’t have to do this to prove to me that you’ve changed.”
“That’s not why I did it. I told you that the Corvette has some negative memories attached to it now. I feel that it was time for a change.”
“That’s still not how those statements work.”
“Doesn’t mean that what I said isn’t true,” I pointed out with a grin. “Let’s take this baby for a spin before I drop you off at your car.”
We rode around in spacious comfort for the next twenty minutes.
Melanie took charge of setting all the preset buttons for my favorite radio stations.
I tended to just add them as I came across one I liked, which always drove her insane.
“How do you ever find the one you want when they’re just programmed all willy-nilly,” she would grumble every single time she rode in my old truck.
Melanie was methodical as she added them in numerical order of the stations’ channel numbers, and I had to smile. I loved the orderly way she went about things, and the way she wrinkled her nose when she was concentrating intently on a task, as she was now, was absolutely adorable.
Her SUV was the only vehicle left in the parking lot, and I told her to wait in the truck while I started it for her. She tried to protest but handed over her key fob when it was clear that she wasn’t going to win that argument.
I settled into her driver’s seat and shivered when I could feel the icy cold leather through the denim of my jeans.
“She literally freezes her ass off in this car,” I grumbled as I fired up the engine and adjusted the heater to the highest setting.
I left it to warm up, then slipped back into my truck, rubbing my hands together to ward off the chill. “Let’s give it a few minutes before you get in,” I told her when she reached for the door handle.
She sat back in the seat, then smiled at me and thanked me for starting her car for her.
“Maybe I should think about having one of those after-market remote starters installed,” she admitted, and I gave a careless shrug and made a non-committal noise in the back of my throat.
I had already begun researching new vehicles for her, but given her reaction at the dealership, I would hold off mentioning that until I had all the information I needed to support my position.
“Thank you for dinner, and the baklava.” Melanie gestured to the carryout box resting on her lap.
“You’re welcome, sweetness. Thanks for agreeing to go out with me.” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck and let out a bark of laughter. “I feel as awkward now as I did on our second date.”
Melanie’s eyes flew to mine. “Really?”
“Yes,” I said, “I was afraid to push too hard then, too, but I really wanted to ask you to go out with me for the next fifty years or so.”
The security lights in the parking lot cast a faint glow inside the cab of the truck, so I couldn’t see if Melanie was blushing, but from the way she ducked her head and hid behind a curtain of hair, I figured she was.
“I remember you telling me that.”