All They Need - By Sarah Mayberry Page 0,38
warning this time.”
She went very still as his hands landed on her shoulders and he leaned forward again. This time his kiss landed square in the middle of her left cheek.
“Look after yourself, Mel.”
She watched as he stepped away. Justine was coming up the walkway and they crossed paths, Flynn giving her a small smile as he passed her by.
“My God. Who was that?” Justine asked the moment she hit the porch. Her sister shared the same slim, slight build and straight dark hair as their mother and her grin was wide and curious as she waited for Mel to answer.
“His name is Flynn Randall. He’s the guy who bought Summerlea.”
The interested, speculative look dropped from her sister’s face like a rock. “The rich guy?” She said rich as though it was a dirty word. “What was he doing over here?”
“Something came up for him today and I helped him out.”
Justine’s mouth thinned. “Don’t do it, Mel. Don’t get sucked in by another one of those I-own-the-world assholes.”
Mel frowned at her sister’s motherly tone. “I’m not getting sucked in by anyone. He’s moved into the area, I was helping him out. He’s interested in gardening, I’m interested in gardening. That’s all it is.”
“Gardening.”
“Yes. Gardening.”
“Are you sure?”
“Just, if you’d seen me scuttle away from his house the other night when he told me he’d broken up with his girlfriend, you would know exactly how ridiculous this conversation is.”
“What were you doing at his house?”
“My God, you’re nosy. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“I’m protective. There’s a difference.”
“You don’t need to protect me. That’s my job.”
“Okay. Just make sure you do it this time.”
Mel flinched. Justine’s face creased with instant contrition.
“Jesus. Sorry. I’m not sure where that came from.”
Mel did. Her sister had urged her to walk away from her marriage half a dozen times before Mel had finally bitten the bullet and done it. But it was always easier to make big, brave calls from the sidelines. Especially when you hadn’t been demoralized by years of put-downs and criticisms.
“I need to dig that charger out for you,” Mel said, pivoting on her heel and heading into the house.
Her sister followed her, watching from the study doorway as Mel stuck her hand down the back of the desk to try to pull the charger from the outlet. She could just reach it with her fingertips.
“I’m sorry,” Justine said after a moment.
The plug was wedged in too tightly and Mel couldn’t get a good grip on it. She dropped to her knees and crawled under her desk, yanking the damned thing free. When she emerged, she looked at her sister.
“I know I made mistakes, Just. If I had it to do over, there are about a million things I would change. But I don’t need you judging me as well. I’ve got enough of that going on in my own head, without you joining in.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just get so angry on your behalf sometimes.”
Mel stood and handed the charger over. “I know. And I appreciate your concern. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’ve learned my lesson. Believe me. No one will ever do that to me again.”
Mel had made a vow to herself in the early weeks of her separation. It had been a painful time as she’d struggled to come to terms with how much of herself she’d given away during her marriage. Sitting with her new self-awareness, looking back over the past six years with wiser, sadder eyes, she’d made a promise—never again would she put herself in another person’s power the way she had during her marriage.
Never.
Justine nodded. “I believe you.”
They walked to the door. Justine put her arms around Mel and gave her a hug. “I really am sorry.”
“Forget about it. It’s okay,” Mel said.
And it was okay. Her sister had been a rock in the aftermath of her marriage; she could hardly blame Justine for wanting to protect her from future hurts, even if the only person who could ever really do that was Mel herself.
“Thanks for the charger. I’ll pick up a new one tomorrow and get this back to you ASAP,” Justine said as she started down the steps toward her car.
“No worries.” Mel stood on the porch in the cold for a while after her sister had driven away. It was strange, but out of all the things that her sister had said, the two things that lingered were Justine’s comment about Mel not protecting herself and