interest again and again, but Melody never took the bait. She always told him she was seeing someone else… until she wasn’t.
“And you’re not together anymore, but he’s still in your life? In Luna’s?”
Melody’s chest got tight. It was one thing for that loser to not be in her life anymore. It was another thing for him to abandon their daughter. She had apologized to her baby girl on more than one occasion for choosing such a jackass to be her father. Luna always told her she was all the mom and dad she needed. Luna had a way of warming her heart and making her feel like she was enough.
“Neither, actually.” Melody finally answered his question and wasn’t surprised when his brows furrowed. People usually had that reaction to hearing about a dead-beat dad.
Jordan reached out and covered her hand with his. “I’m sorry,” he said, the words wrapping around her like the sun rising in the morning and kissing her cheeks with color. Warm, tingly, electric. She could feel his sincerity to her core. It wasn’t pity; it was compassion. She knew she was closing the distance between them. She wanted to lean into him even more, feel more than just his hand on hers.
But then, he backed away from her suddenly, stripping her of the warmth he had provided seconds earlier. Trying to forget the sweet moment they had just shared, Melody changed the subject. “How about you?”
Jordan lifted his hand and gazed around the room. “You’re looking at it. I’ve spent much of the last twenty in a hospital.”
“That’s it?” Melody chuckled. “Way to open up there, doctor.”
Jordan raised a brow. “Oh, is that what we’re doing?” he asked. “We’re opening up?”
“Well, I just told you about a husband, a kid, and a divorce. I guess I forgot to mention our dog, but… yeah, I’d call that opening up.”
He lifted his hands and shrugged. “Sorry, all I have is the hospital. No spouse. No children. I don’t even have a pet fish.”
“How are your parents?” she asked, shivering inside at the thought of his dreadful mother. The evil witch from any fairytale of choice didn’t have anything on Jordan’s mom. She was the typical old money matriarch seen in the movies. She didn’t think Melody was good enough for her boarding school, Ivy League, filthy rich legacy son. Everyone in their family was a doctor; most were surgeons. And Melody was not… anything… according to Dr. Aria, the mother.
Melody could still remember the last time she’d spoken to Jordan’s mom—the knot in her stomach, the grip on her throat, the sting in her eyes as tear after tear swept down her cheek. “I’m sorry Jordan hasn’t told you, but plans have changed, honey. He won’t be coming to California. He has been in a serious relationship for months and doesn’t have the heart to tell you himself. Maybe you can make it easy for him. Save face. Just a thought,” she had said among other things. She finished with, “Jordan, Melody’s calling. Pick up the phone.” Her tone had changed when she’d spoken to her son. Like she hadn’t just dropped a huge bomb on Melody. It wasn’t laced with the venom she poured into the phone to Melody. She knew it gave Jordan’s mom so much pleasure to be the one to tell her the news. She didn’t like it one bit that her baby boy was slumming it with the track-home-living, financial-aid-needing girl from the I.E. in California. If only Melody could have reached through the line and strangled her for hurting her the way she did. She would have much rather heard it from Jordan.
“They’re gone,” he said.
“Gone where?” Melody’s eyes widened. She was going to hell for what she was just thinking about his mother.
“My dad passed away nine years ago. He had a massive heart attack. And my mom passed three years ago after a long brutal battle with cancer. So, really. It’s just me.”
Yes. She was going to hell.
It was her turn now as she reached across the table and grabbed both his hands. “You’re not alone, Jordan.” She squeezed her fingers around his. “I am so sorry. If I had known, I would have been there for you.”
“I know,” he replied, gazing into her eyes. He cleared his throat and stood quickly. “Rapid-fire.”
For a split second, Melody missed the feeling of his skin against hers, but the feeling left as fast as it came with his call for “rapid-fire.”