Pulled(5)
Author: A.L. Jackson

Honestly, I’d been surprised by the instant connection we’d made when we first met. She was a blunt woman, and I’d been afraid she would judge me, tel me to grow up and forget about my past, but she never did.

She was just there for me.

“Hey, babe.” She grinned as I approached.

“Hey, how are you?” I asked, not hesitating to reach out and hug my closest friend. She was about an inch shorter than I was, though I had to look up at her with the extra height her boots gave her.

“I’m great.” Her blue eyes danced as she stepped back and took my hand, pulling me behind her into the shop.

We ordered and found a quiet spot in the back where I sank down into the cushions. I moaned in pleasure as I took the first sip of my mocha latte, all owing its warmth to soothe me.

Katie lounged deep in a plush maroon chair. “So can you believe the bid the guys put in? If they land it, it’ll bring in enough money so that Shane wil finally be able to start his own company.”

Shane was almost as miserable with Nicholas as I was. He couldn’t wait to tel his partner goodbye, and I’d been praying for the day when he could finally escape Nicholas’s influence.

It also broke my heart. I knew once Shane split with Nicholas, I’d no longer be all owed to have Katie and Shane in my life, and, once again, I’d lose the only people who meant anything to me.

“Listen,” she said, her voice softening, “I need to talk to you.” I braced myself for what was coming. “Shane and I were talking. When he makes his break, we think you should make one, too.” She looked up at me hesitantly, gauging my reaction. She had been trying to get me to leave Nicholas from the moment we’d met.

“Katie,” I choked out. Did I want to be with Nicholas? No. But I had no other place to go. After I’d left Dal as, my mom and I had never been the same; and there was no way I was going back to Colorado Springs. I hadn’t talked to my dad since I’d first left, and the last I’d heard, the Montgomerys were still there. “You know I can’t do that.”

“There’s no reason for you to stay with Nicholas.

Look,” she said, shifting to the edge of the chair and inclining her head toward me, “Shane and I want you to come and stay with us…for as long as you need.” She had fire behind her eyes. “You have to get away from that ass**le. I’m not going to stand by and watch him tear you down any further.”

“I appreciate it, but I chose this life a long time ago,” I said. What’s done is done.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. Just let me take care of you, please?” I knew she just wanted me to be happy, but what she didn’t understand was that I would be unhappy wherever I was, with or without Nicholas, and it was just easier to stay. My heart was already dead, so no more damage could be done.

Sighing, I finished my last sip of coffee and hurried to the door, hoping for a way to escape the conversation.

Katie was right behind me. She grabbed my arm, spinning me around. “I’m serious, Melanie. We’re going to talk about this.”

“Can we just go? Please? We’ve talked about this before, and you need to just drop it, okay?” Pleading, she took my hand, squeezing it, “Shane and I love you. You don’t have to spend your life like this.”

“I know you do, Katie. I love you, too.” I bit my lip where it trembled, refusing to shed the tears gathering in my eyes. “But it doesn’t change anything.” Sadness clouded her face. “Melanie—”

I cut her off. “Listen, I’m going to head home.” The memories were starting to creep in after our talk, and I knew I’d hit my breaking point soon.

“Okay.” She stepped to me, wrapping me in her arms. She hugged me closer, and then whispered against my ear. “I won’t give up on you.”

Wearing old jeans and a thin, white T-shirt, I went through the kitchen and out the back door. The weather was still warm, and it drew me outside. I moved across the vast lawn to the hedge lining the back of the yard and the flowerbed running along it. Resting on my knees, I began to pul the weeds that had sprouted up between the flowering plants. My hands worked while my mind went back to him, to his beautiful face, to hazel eyes I could never forget. It was as if they watched me across the distance separating us. They haunted me and comforted me at the same time.

“Daniel, I miss you.”

I prayed he could somehow feel me. I wondered if he knew how often I thought of him. I could only imagine that he had another family by now.

Family.

I grasped the weed in my hand as if it were an anchor. If I held on tight enough, maybe I could feel that joy for a moment, the anticipation we’d had for our little family. I took in measured even breaths, willing the hurt away, only all owing myself to feel the love I had for her. I’d never even held her, but I knew her. I could see the amazing little girl she’d be right now, her brown hair flying around her face, hazel eyes blazing as she played in the back yard.

My thoughts swirled around her for a long time before drifting to Patrick and Julia. How I longed for them.

They had been like parents to me. I had loved them so much. I would never forget all that they had done, the support they’d given. I knew they had felt the same way about me.

And Erin. Tears streamed down my face as I thought of the one person who was both my best friend and the sister I’d never had. She’d always been there for me, standing by me during the most uncertain times of my young life. I’d known why Daniel no longer wanted me. What I couldn’t understand was why she’d abandoned me, too.

The phone ringing inside brought me back. I didn’t know how long I’d been out here, but my hands were covered in mud, and I’d nearly cleared out the flowerbed. I wiped my hands on my pants, jogged inside, and grabbed the phone on the fourth ring. “Hel o?” I said, panting.

“Melanie? Honey, are you okay?”

“Mom?” It took me a second to wrap my head around the fact she was on the line. “Yeah, fine. I was just outside and ran in.”

I couldn’t believe she was cal ing. We hadn’t talked since I’d made a quick, obligatory, happy birthday cal to her five months ago.

“How are you and Mark?” I asked.

After I’d left for Chicago, things had never been the same between Mom and me. Of course, I still loved her, but I harbored a lot of resentment toward her. I was angry with her for putting so much blame on Daniel, but in the end, she’d been right. He’d left me for someone else when things got rough. Beyond that, I guess I felt even more betrayed at how taken she seemed to be with Nicholas. But how was that her fault? I was the one who’d chosen this life.