Chapter 11
Melody
Jonas and I talked last night and decided to have a small wedding ceremony at his family’s ranch. It’ll be different than what my family is used to. In my family, we don’t do small wedding ceremonies.
They’re expensive, elaborate affairs and the guest list is packed with movers and shakers. Those who are the rich and well-connected. The cost of Valentina’s wedding was astronomical and made the society pages.
No thanks. My wedding will be different, but meaningful. All I care about is that I’m marrying the man I was meant to be with.
A loud clap of thunder startles me. I’m hoping to reach Bear’s Diner before the skies open up since I forgot an umbrella. I’m excited to meet my family to tell them about Jonas. It might take them some time, but I know that they’ll warm up to him and see how amazing he is.
I squeeze my car into a parking spot I’m lucky to find. During lunch hour, the diner is always packed and for good reason. I dash out and make it to the door just as the clouds open up and rain comes down in sheets. I’m glad I didn’t get caught in it.
Humming under my breath, I walk into the diner and spot my grandfather and sister sitting in a booth near the back.
My happiness falters at dark expression on my grandfather’s face and I’m hoping there’s not bad news from home. That would make sense why they’re here.
I slide into the bench beside my sister and face my grandfather.
His gaze skims over me and he immediately looks away. That’s odd.
I turn to my sister. “What’s going on? Did Grandpa have a bad day in court?” My grandfather is a family court judge and sometimes the cases he deals with bother him. He’s due to retire at the end of the year.
“Wasn’t in court today,” he says gruffly, still not looking at me.
“You should tell her,” Valentina says, nudging the back of his hand with her finger.
“Tell me what?”
He waves his hand in a sharp motion, slicing it through the air. “It doesn’t matter. Break up with that cowboy.”
“What? Why?” I demand. “Because you think he’s not good enough for our family?”
“You’ll regret being with him,” he says darkly. “He has bad genes.”
“Bad…what do you mean?”
They exchange glances but neither of them answers.
“What the hell is going on?” I snap.
My grandfather stands abruptly and looks at Valentina. “I’ll wait for you in the car. You talk sense into her.” He strides away.
“Sis?”
Valentina covers my hand with hers. “We looked into Jonas’s background.”
“Why? To see if the family thinks he’s worthy?” The thought pisses me off.
“No.” She shakes her head. “Because…Grandpa handled the case involving Jonas’s family.”
Dread settles in my stomach. “What do you mean?”
She winces. “Jonas had terrible parents who gave up their parental rights and Grandpa sent him to the Gentle Children’s Home.”
My heart clenches. “What?”
“He thought he could help Jonas by arranging for him to be adopted but it was never finalized. After that fell through, he arranged a second adoption.”
“Grandpa was trying to help,” I say, but the dread grows heavier.
“Yes, but when the second couple brought him back without formalizing an adoption, Grandpa figured there had to be something wrong with Jonas.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Jonas,” I snap.
Something is off. It’s strange for my grandfather and sister to this agitated.
It’s so far off from their usual cool behavior.
My grandfather couldn’t have known that the Home…
was…I swallow the sudden lump in my throat.
“He didn’t know the Home was a place of horror, right? ”
Valentina is quiet.
“Right?” I raise my voice not caring when people seated near us turn to stare.
“Not at first. But when he did find out, he couldn’t do anything about it.”
Shock floods through me. “Why?” I demand.
“Because I came from the Home as a baby.”
I gape at her. “What?”
“Mom had a miscarriage and fell into a deep depression. At one point, she took too much medicine but claimed it was accidental. Grandpa was worried she might do something drastic, so he brought me home thinking it would help her.”
I can’t fathom any of this. My mother…my grandfather… “Why didn’t I know anything about this?”
“You were very young at that time.”
“Why didn’t Grandpa do anything about the abuse at the Home once he found out about it?”
Valentina takes a deep breath. “After he took me from the Home, he had the director destroy my records. A doctor friend of his created a birth certificate for him to make it look like I was born to our parents.”
Reeling from the information, I rub my forehead, trying to make sense of what I can’t understand. “Why did it matter if anyone knew that you were from the Home?”
“Rumors started spreading about that place and he didn’t want our family linked to it. If the truth were known about how I came into the family, there would have been a scandal.”
“He ignored what was happening because he didn’t want to get caught for what he did?”
“I asked him that,” Valentina says, her lower lip trembling. “He said he was protecting our family. The public fallout from that would have destroyed everything Grandpa and Dad worked for. And he was afraid of how it would affect Mom. That it would make her spiral.”
“Instead,” I say my voice and heart breaking, “he destroyed Jonas. How could he do that?”
“I don’t know.” A tear trickles down Valentina’s face. “I just found out about this and how my entire life is a lie.”
My heart is being torn apart. I ache for my sister’s pain and I hurt for Jonas. “I’ll tell Jonas everything.”
“It doesn’t matter even if you do,” she says wearily, shouldering her designer purse as she stands. “Call me once you break up and I’ll help you get resettled somewhere out of this town.”
I stand too. “I’m not leaving him. I won’t do to him what Grandpa did and sweep this under the rug like he doesn’t matter.”
Valentina’s tears fall faster. “Do you honestly think Jonas will be comfortable being with you once he knows how he ended up at the Home? Every time he looks at you, it’ll be a reminder of what he endured. Even if you don’t break up with him, you’ll still be hurting him.”
Her words are a hammer driving nails of truth into my heart. Once I tell him the truth, he’ll look at me differently. How can I stay when it’ll hurt him? How can I leave? How can our hearts survive either way?
“Melody—”
I brush her hand away from my arm and walk past her out into the pouring rain. The storm mirrors the one in my heart. I thump my fist against my chest and begin to cry, then to wail. Agony slices into me like a hundred razor blades.
I don’t know what to do to help Jonas. I don’t know what to do to help me.
I turn down the sidewalk, splashing through puddles, passing the windowfronts of all the familiar shops.
Thunder rumbles and the angry sound matches the roar in my heart.
Headlights blind me and I blink in the brightness. A truck passes, the taillights dimming in the rain, then brightening as it brakes.
I keep walking, not knowing where I’m heading.
The rain beats down hard on my skin, cold and relentless.
I look up at the sky. Yes, heavens. Pour out on me.
Punish me for the sins of my family but let Jonas be okay.
Heal him from everything my grandfather set in motion.
I squeeze my eyes together my heart begging for that plea to be answered.
“Melody?”
I stop and slowly turn.
Jonas is running toward me. Maybe for the last time. My gentle, handsome cowboy. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.