“You don’t know if I’m improved at all,” he said, shooting her a teasing look as he connected the cables to his own battery.
She shrugged. “I don’t know, you’re reconnecting with your dad.”
“Well...” He sucked in a breath. “I’m trying to find him, at least.”
“Why now?” she asked.
Why indeed. Because he felt like a failure in all the ways that mattered most and he needed to change something.
“My mom passed away a year ago, and she made me executor of her will. She left this locked wooden box to my father, and requested that I hand deliver it.”
“So one year later, here you are,” she observed.
He’d recently come across some old diaries his late wife had written, and that explained his added sense of urgency here. His wife hadn’t remembered the same cozy marriage that he did. Apparently, he’d been pretty selfish over the years.
“Better late than never,” he said. “I was hoping you might know where he’s at.”
“Me?”
“You live here now,” he said.
“For a few weeks. I’m not up on local gossip yet. When did you last talk to him?”
“About twenty years ago.”
“Wow.”
He nodded toward the car. “Turn the key.”
Melanie got into her car and this time the engine turned over. She hit the gas a couple of times, revving the engine, then got out again.
“Thank you, Logan. I didn’t want to be stuck here tonight.”
“Not a problem.” He unclipped the cables from his vehicle, and when he came over to her car, he paused. She stood next to the car, her arms crossed as if she were cold.
“So how are you going to find your father?” she asked.
“I’ll start by nosing around a bit, I guess,” he replied. He didn’t actually want to be here—back in the town where he’d been raised and where he was always on the outside of his father’s family. The memories here were too bitter...all but the memories with Melanie, at least.
“Logan, I’m going to level with you,” Melanie said. “This divorce has put me through the wringer, and that lake house isn’t exactly the gift my ex seems to think. I don’t want to just sit by the lake and rehash painful memories. I’d like have some kind of control over my situation.”
“I know the feeling,” he said. “You have a better idea?”
“You want help tracking down Harry?” she asked.
He was surprised she’d even offer. She must really want to avoid those memories.
“I wouldn’t turn it down,” he replied. “You sure that’s a good idea? I mean, I might not be a great source of happy memories, either.”
“You aren’t, but you were a lifetime ago,” she replied. “Adam is more recent. Besides, it might give me something more immediate to focus on... I mean, if you want the help.”
He smiled ruefully. “All right. Fair enough.”
“I don’t know how to start over, Logan.” The joking had evaporated from her tone. “Obviously, I have to, but... How did you do it after your wife died?”
“I’m not sure I have,” he admitted. “I guess we just keep moving forward. See what happens.”
She nodded. “Well, it’s different for you. Your wife didn’t cheat on you for years because you weren’t enough. I’m not trying to belittle your grief, I just mean that maybe you don’t need the fresh start that I do.”
Maybe his wife hadn’t cheated, but there had been a different kind of betrayal that had lasted for years. He needed that fresh start as much as she did, but he wasn’t sure he deserved it. Things with Caroline hadn’t been so simple...
“You’ll figure this out,” he said. Look at her. She was gorgeous. If she wanted a new husband, a new start, she’d have no trouble doing that. “Seeing you in the dining room—” He cleared his throat. “I mean, you look good. You look comfortable. I think you’ll land on your feet, is what I’m trying to say.”
“I hope so.” Melanie paused. “Because right now, I really miss the kids. Adam’s kids, I mean. I feel like I’ve got an empty nest. For the last fifteen years, I was their stepmom. It was my full-time job. Not that they miss me, I’m sure. I was just a stand-in. Tilly made sure I knew that.”
“Tilly?”
“She’s the youngest. She was about two when I married Adam.”
“Maybe you don’t have to start over, exactly,” Logan said quietly. “Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t erase your history. You couldn’t erase them.”
Any more than he could erase Graham, or Caroline, or the truth of their marriage.
“I’m not a part of their family anymore, though,” Melanie said with a shake of her head.
“You aren’t married to their father anymore, but you might still be part of the family for the kids. It’s too soon to tell,” he replied. “How long have you been divorced?”
“Two months.”
“That’s fresh.”
She was silent for a moment. “It’s late. I need to get home.”
“Right.” He nodded. There was a lot there she wasn’t saying, but he wasn’t the one she’d open up to, anyway.
“So you want some help tracking down Harry, then?” she asked. “Give me something to do besides think?”
He glanced up at her and smiled. “Yeah. I’d take the help.”
“I’m my own worst enemy if I just sit and brood,” she said.
“Aren’t we all?” he said.
Logan backed his vehicle up to give her space to drive out of her spot. Melanie slid into the driver’s seat and undid the window. “Come by the lake house tomorrow, then.” She raised her voice over the engines. “He’s got to be somewhere, right?”
He shrugged. “I could always look up his kids. I’m sure they’d be thrilled to know my mom remembered him in her will.”
Melanie grimaced. She knew enough of his family history to appreciate the awkwardness there.
“I’ll come by in the morning,” he said. “Late morning. I’m not a monster.”
“Much appreciated. Thanks for the boost,” Melanie said, and with a flutter of her fingers in farewell, she pulled out.
Melanie had
