Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Fourteenth encounter
“Why do you always smell like honey? What kind of deodorant is that?”
“You’re talking again.”
“And I won’t stop until you tell me where I can get that scent, I…”
Then he silenced her insistently.
Lucas would claim he was good at forgetting, at pushing things away and simply not thinking about them anymore. Anna Temple would be one of those things.
“Lu, when is Anna coming to visit us again?”
That morning’s breakfast dishes were set on the table.
“I don’t know, Mel,” he said calmly, handing her the bread to put in the toaster while he flipped the fried egg. “It was a one-time thing that she looked after you.”
“Oh.” Melody furrowed her small brow and turned on the toaster before asking, “Why?”
“Because she’s busy.”
“Because she’s a doctor?”
“Yep.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Fox countered from the kitchen table, clasping his hands behind his neck. “You could just ask her if she wants to come over again. I’m sure you can find a way to talk to her, even though that’s not your strong suit, right?”
Lucas pressed his lips together and gave him a warning glance over his shoulder.
He should have known it was a stupid idea to invite his best friend to breakfast. But Melody had said she wanted to see Uncle Austin again before they left for Phoenix for five days — and how could Lucas say no to that?
You didn’t tell a five-year-old girl that Uncle Austin was currently angry at him for having sex with Aunt Anna in the communal shower even though he’d stated they were merely friends.
Shit, he wouldn’t tell Melody that even if she were twenty, or forty, for that matter!
“Yes, please, ask her, okay?” Melody looked at him hopefully.
“She wanted to show me how to put on a cast and was going to bring a saw to remove it. She said if you were okay with it, I could even use it!” Her eyes lit up, not unlike the toaster.
“Anna says they really only saw the cast, not the arms or legs, but I’ll have to see for myself. ”
The corners of his mouth suggested a smile. Yes, naturally, he had a child who dreamed of sawing through limbs.
“I’ll talk to her,” he said hesitantly as the toaster spat out the bread. “But you should concentrate more on eating. Your grandparents will be here soon to pick you up.”
Melody sighed heavily and slid the hot toast onto her plate. “Fine.”
“How’s kindergarten going, Mel?” Fox wanted to know.
“Hmm,” she said, frowning. “The other kids said I was an orphan. What does that mean?”
Fox immediately sat up straighter and exchanged a look with Lucas, whose heart sank.
“Who said that?” Lucas asked.
“Just the other kids. What’s an orphan, Lu?”
He sighed heavily. “An orphan is someone whose parents are both dead.”
“Oh,” she said, seeming thoughtful for a few seconds. Then she said, “Well, then I’m not an orphan. I have you.”
He smiled and nodded. “Exactly.”
“Yep,” Fox confirmed, making a move to stand.
“What are you doing?” Melody wanted to know immediately.
“Getting some coffee,” he said, puzzled.
“No, no. You’re the guest. Stay seated. I…” She tapped her chin before whispering to Lucas, “Lu, can you make Uncle Austin some coffee? I don’t know how.”
He smiled. “No problem. I can teach you.”
She shook her head vigorously. “I’m not old enough for that yet. And I need to concentrate on eating because Grandma and Grandpa are coming soon.”
She picked up her plate from the sideboard, walked around the table, and sat down next to Fox.
“Mel, it would be polite to offer our guest the first toast, you know?” Lucas reminded her.
“Oh,” she said, looking at Fox wide-eyed. “Um. Would you like some?” She stuck out her lower lip along with the plate.
Fox grinned broadly. “No, no. I’m waiting for an egg.”
Her shoulders slumped in relief. “That’s good because I don’t want an egg.”
Of course not. At the moment – and that meant for going on nine months – her favorite food was honey.
Lucas watched her dip the knife into the glass and spread the sticky mess generously on her bread and fingers.
It was good that Melody was here in the kitchen with them.
No one could be angry in her presence, especially not Fox.
He had a weakness for children. He'd always wanted them. His ex-wife hadn’t, but she had failed to tell him that in the five years they were together.
That had ultimately been the reason for his divorce — and for his unhealthy distrust of people, especially the women he dated. Not that Fox dated anyone. Ever.
Lucas transferred the eggs to two plates, placed one along with his cup of coffee in front of Fox, and the other in front of Melody, who was already looking at him expectantly.
“It’s pretty sticky, Lu,” she said innocently before raising her hands with the honey on them.
“Hm,” he said, sitting and leaning toward her. “You’d better wipe your hands on something.”
Her smile widened — and his heart lightened. It made him so damn happy when she was happy.
“Okay,” she trilled, reaching out her small hands and spreading honey on his face and in his beard.
“Oh, that again,” Fox said with a dramatic sigh, but Lucas just smiled.
It was a tradition. He didn’t know how it had become one, but for months, he’d been covered in honey at least once a week.
At first, Melody hadn’t stopped crying after Laney died. Lucas hadn’t known what to do to calm her down because there hadn’t been anything that could have made it better.
But one morning, while she was having breakfast, she made herself a honey sandwich and ended up with half of it on her fingers.
He’d tried to clean it off, but in the process, he’d gotten some on his forehead.
And Melody had laughed. For the first time in weeks.
And if honey on his face made her happy…
then he’d bathe in the stuff for the rest of his life.
“You look very pretty,” Melody commented contentedly when she’d finished her honey artwork.
“I feel pretty too. Or like a bee,” he remarked dryly, which earned him another chuckle. “But you know what’s coming…”
“I have to wash my hands,” she said with a grin.
“With soap.”
“Okay.” She slid off her chair and walked out of the kitchen to the bathroom, where a stool had been set up for her to reach the sink more easily. Lucas also rose.
He wiped the honey from his face and neck with a damp cloth, knowing he’d still smell of it for hours. But no one had ever noticed—no one except Anna.
“Man, you’re a good father, Moreau,” Fox said. “Though a bad friend right now.”
Lucas stiffened. A good father. Those were the words he was hanging on to., but not the ones Fox expected a response to.
“Because I slept with Anna or what?” he asked quietly, turning away.
“Because you promised me that wouldn’t happen again,” Fox replied staunchly. “My goodness. You spend ten years with someone, start out together as rookie players, get traded to the same teams over and over, and spend more time together than with anyone else…and then you get blatantly lied to!”
Lucas snorted. “You’re more dramatic than Mel.”
“I’m not. Do you know what a stupid situation you’re putting me in? Jack and Dax are my friends too. They’re my teammates too. I don’t like lying to them.”
“She came into the shower, okay?”
“And forced you to fuck her?”
Well, she had looked at him and talked to him, and then smiled, so…yeah! She had practically forced him.
Fox sighed and rubbed his face. “I honestly just don’t get it. You’re not right for each other at all. You’re complete opposites.”
“I know.”
“Then how did this all happen?”
“She approached me, not the other way around.”
Fox snorted in amusement. “Oh, believe me, that was obvious. You don’t talk to people.
That would involve both speaking and people, both of which you’re not a fan of.
But she talked to you, maybe flirted with you, I don’t know.
Why the hell did you go along with it? Why didn’t you just tell her you weren’t the right hockey player for her?
I don’t get it. It goes against everything I know about you.
You’re not spontaneous or impulsive. You don’t pick up random women without thinking.
Besides, you like quiet people who don’t cause drama.
Who don’t like complicated things any more than you do.
Anna is none of those things, so why did you sleep with her? ”
Lucas gritted his teeth and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed. The answer to that question was as simple as it was unsatisfying. He still had trouble understanding it himself.
“Because I wanted to,” he murmured.
Fox’s eyes widened. “What?”
He exhaled heavily. “I wanted to. I wanted her.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds before saying in a low voice, “Laney had died just a few weeks before. I had Melody, who just cried. I wanted to do right by Melody. Wanted to do everything right and couldn’t do anything right.
Because her mother had just died! But I had this new responsibility — and I was suffocating under it.
I had a child, my parents were trying to convince me that they should have custody, and I had lost my sister.
It was too much, Fox, okay? So then Anna came to that damn bar and looked at me.
And smiled.” He rubbed his face. “Shit, after her first two words, I forgot why I felt so bad. I talked to her and…made a joke. I’m not even the joking type, you know that!
And when she kissed me, I forgot everything.
" He swallowed. “With her, I was able to breathe for the first time in months. I needed her in order to breathe. I needed those few easy hours with her during the week, when I could be someone else.” His hands clenched. “So, yeah. It was stupid. But…I don’t regret it. I guess it’s only because of her that I didn’t go crazy. ”
Fox stared at him and slowly dropped his hands. He looked stunned, almost perplexed.
Yeah, yeah, he didn’t usually talk so much, Lucas knew that!
“Moreau?” his best friend finally asked slowly, almost gently.
Lucas raised his eyebrows in annoyance. “What?”
“It sounds to me that, at first sight, you fell…” He trailed off — and Lucas’ stomach abruptly dropped.
“I what?” he asked tensely. Because whatever Fox was about to say, he was wrong!
Fox opened his mouth…
“I need a towel, Lu!” Melody shouted in frustration.
He jumped and hurried into the hallway. Maybe he didn’t want to hear what Fox had to say. No, in fact, he almost certainly didn’t.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, finding Melody standing on her stool, bent over the sink.
“There’s no towel,” she complained, pointing to the hook where one usually hung.
He nodded, reached into the cupboard to his right for a new one, and hung it up. “Thank you.” She started to step down from her stool, but he held her gently but firmly by the shoulders.
“Show me your hands, please.”
She placed her little fingers on his. They were still sticky, like the last two times. “They’re not clean yet, Mel,” he murmured gently. “Did you use soap?”
“Yes,” she said seriously.
“Melody…”
She sighed. “It takes so long with soap. I’m hungry.”
“Wash them again with soap, please. Your grandparents are coming in half an hour, so we have to hurry a bit. And eat a tomato, okay? I’ll put it on your plate.”
“All right,” she drawled, but didn’t turn on the water.
“Are you okay, Mel?”
She chewed on her lower lip. “Lu?”
“Hm?”
“Five days is a veeery long time.”
“I know.”
“And you fly, right? Planes crash.”
“Flying is very safe, Mel,” he whispered, crouching in front of her to be at eye level. “And I’m sorry, but the playoffs are only for a few more weeks, and after that, I’ll be here all summer.”
She swallowed and nodded. “I prefer it when you put me to bed. Grandma doesn’t like reading aloud much.”
“I’d be happy to read to you on the phone on the nights I don’t have a game.”
She nodded. “I can read a little myself.”
“That’s true.”
“Will you miss me?”
“So much,” he said seriously, looking her straight in the eyes. “And I’ll come back safe. I promise.”
“Okay,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him. The fear that he wouldn’t come back was great. He knew that. So he tightened his arms around her even more.
“I’ll call every day, Melody.”
“Twice?”
“Twice.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “I hope you win quickly so you can come home!”