The Game Changer (35 page)

This time it was Melody who reached out and covered Rick’s hand with hers. “I appreciate it,” she told him.

His smile was a little more genuine this time, and he turned his hand over to hold onto hers. “Are you happy?”

Melody let out a long breath. “I don’t know about
happy
, but I’m working on it.”

Rick bobbed his head. “That’s all I want for you, you know. It’s all I ever wanted for you, I just didn’t know how to be the one to
make
you happy.” He released her hand to retrieve his wallet from his back pocket, pulling a bill from the fold and laying it on the table. “This is probably going to sound really lame, but…do you think maybe someday we can be friends?”

Melody chuckled softly. “I think so. We never really were friends, so it’d be something new for us. Maybe we’d work better as friends than we did as a couple.”

“I sure hope so.” Rick stood, reaching down for her hand and pulling her to her feet. “First I need to find a way to get Sydney out of my life.”

“That should definitely be your first priority,” Melody agreed, unable to keep the smirk from her face. On impulse, she straightened his crooked tie, patting his chest when she was finished. “I wanted to run screaming when I saw you today,” she told him, and almost laughed again at the shocked expression on his face. “But I’m glad we talked. I didn’t hate you when we broke up, but I didn’t have the best feelings for you. Now…well, now I think I can really move on.”

“I’m glad.” Rick held his arms out hesitantly, but when Melody stepped into them, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head. In her ear, he said quietly, “I don’t know the name of your new boyfriend, but you tell him he better treat you right. I can’t make up for being a lousy boyfriend, but I can kick his ass for being one.”

It took Melody a minute to realize Rick meant Julian. She opened her mouth to tell him they were just friends, but decided she would let him think what he wanted to think. Smiling into his chest, she said, “I’ll tell him.” Stepping back, she grinned up at him. “Good luck with Sydney.”

Rick chuckled darkly. “Thanks. I’m going to need it.”

Melody didn’t doubt that. They said their goodbyes, and when Rick gave her shoulder a final squeeze and started to walk away, Melody called out to him. “One more thing,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’ve always hated it when you call me Melly.”

Rick’s eyebrows winged up in surprise. His face was otherwise blank as he stared at her, but then his expression softened, and his mouth curved slightly. “Duly noted. I’ll see you soon, Melody.”

She smiled to herself as she watched him walk away. When he had crossed the street at the lights, Melody’s eyes were drawn to a couple on the sidewalk. She blinked, certain she was seeing things, but she would know Julian’s dark hair and solid build anywhere.

She wasn’t sure what surprised her more: seeing him, or the excitement she felt at seeing him. Regardless, it quickly turned to confusion and hurt when she considered he hadn’t told her he was coming back to town today. Then there was the beautiful blond who was currently leaning against him with her arm slung around his waist.

Julian’s face was serious as he spoke to the woman. His hand rested lightly on her shoulder, and when she glanced up at him and smiled, Julian’s face broke into a quick grin.

Melody tamped down the jealousy that bubbled inside her. As much as she tried to tell herself she and Julian were just friends, she knew that like everything else in her life, her feelings for him were changing, too.

She watched as Julian hailed a taxi and held the back door open for the blond. She kissed his cheek and slipped inside with more grace than Melody was ever able to muster. Julian closed the door and the woman gave him a smile and a little finger wave as the cab pulled away.

Torn between joining Julian and leaving so he wouldn’t see her, Melody sat frozen at her table. She took a deep breath and realized her heart was racing, despite the fact that she wasn’t doing anything strenuous. Julian stepped to the crosswalk and headed down the street in the direction of Melody’s apartment. She wondered if he planned to go to her place, hoping to surprise her. Picking up her cell phone, she held it in her hand, waiting for it to vibrate. She judged the amount of time it would take Julian to walk to her apartment, and when her phone still hadn’t gone off, she set it down, disappointed.

Swallowing the last of her now-cold coffee, she set the cup down with a clatter, left money on the table for her lunch with Angelica, and rose from her seat. Change and disappointment seemed to be the themes of her life lately, but she refused to dwell on it. She’d had enough of self-pity and letting her emotions rule.

A few hours later when her phone buzzed from inside her pocket during her walk home, she couldn’t help the little thrill of anticipation that raced through her. She paused on the sidewalk, saying hello to a few familiar faces as they passed, and read the text that was waiting for her.

Finished early, back in town already. Let’s make a date for this weekend, okay? -J

Melody shook her head and read the text again.

Sounds like a plan
, she typed.
Just let me know what works for you.
Putting the phone back in her pocket, she ducked into Lion’s store. After the weird week she’d had, tonight felt like a night for a microwave dinner and a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

CHAPTER 18

Melody was having ice cream for lunch the next day when she heard the key in the door and turned to see Olivia step inside carrying a small overnight bag.

“Oh, hey,” Olivia said, a little too brightly. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her smile was forced as she kicked off her shoes and locked the door behind her. “I didn’t know if you’d be home or not.”

Melody started to ask what was wrong, but Olivia said, “I’m just going to shower real quick and I’ll be back. Is that what you’re having for lunch?” She pointed to the tub of ice cream on Melody’s lap, but continued without giving her a chance to respond. “I’ll make us some proper lunch when I come out, okay?”

Still not giving Melody time to speak, Olivia disappeared down the hall. Melody could hear her moving around in her bedroom, and a moment later the bathroom door closed and the shower turned on.

“Okay…” Melody pushed herself to her feet and ambled into the kitchen, taking one last bite of ice cream before sticking it in the freezer. She leaned against the counter for a second, then headed for her bedroom to get dressed. On her way past Olivia’s room she paused in the doorway.

It looked as if the overnight bag Olivia was carrying had exploded all over the bed. Clothes, lingerie, and various toiletries were scattered everywhere, and the bag lay crumpled on the floor, empty. Melody was surprised the small bag could hold so much, but the contents it held accounted for most of the clothes that had disappeared from Olivia’s closet in the last few weeks.

Melody was dressed and back on the couch when Olivia surfaced thirty minutes later. Barefoot, and wearing a summery sunshine-coloured dress that swung around her knees, Olivia’s hair and makeup were done to their usual perfection, and all hints of her formerly red-rimmed eyes and pale skin were gone. She breezed past Melody and into the kitchen, where she began rummaging through the fridge.

“So…” Melody said, trying hard to fight the odd feeling of irritation that was swelling inside her at Olivia’s nonchalant behaviour. She made her way to the kitchen and sat at one of the island stools. “This is unexpected.”

“What is?” Olivia asked over her shoulder.

Melody’s jaw clenched. Was Olivia really going to pretend nothing was wrong or that it wasn’t totally bizarre for her to be here on a Saturday afternoon rather than out with Cameron? “You being here.”

“Well, I do live here.” Olivia straightened, holding a pair of shiny red apples in one hand and a package of deli chicken in the other. “We really need to go shopping. You’re bordering on Mother Hubbard status here.”

Melody waved the comment aside. “You’ve basically been living here in name only. You’re never here anymore.”

Olivia froze, her expression a mixture of hurt and guilt. After a minute, she shrugged one shoulder and set the apples and chicken on the counter, then took a loaf of bread from the breadbox. “Things are going to be different now. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me.”

Melody raised one eyebrow. “Not that I’m not thrilled about that, Liv, but…what’s going on?”

Olivia sighed and paused halfway through assembling the first sandwich.
“Cameron and I decided to take a short break.”

“You broke up?” Melody asked, incredulous.

“No, we didn’t break up. We’re just taking some time apart. Neither of us has ever been in a relationship this serious, and…well…you were right. Things are moving really fast.”

“I don’t understand,” Melody said slowly, shaking her head.

“What’s to understand?” Olivia snapped. She sighed again, and rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand, a sure sign she was getting a headache. “Sorry. It’s really just that simple, Mel. You were right. It was too much too soon.”

Melody was still shaking her head. “But…you were happy. You were spending all this time together, what made you suddenly decide it was too much?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Olivia said, turning her back and searching the opposite counter for something.

To Melody, those words were like a flashing neon warning sign. Olivia wasn’t the type to pull the ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ card. They told each other everything, always.

"Olivia.”

“Melody,” Olivia said, her tone edging toward exasperation. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She enunciated each word. “Do you want to go out? See a movie or something?”

Melody could feel her blood pressure rising. Maybe it was the edge in Olivia’s voice, or the bitter way she’d told Melody she was right. She’d never been one to pick a fight, but after spending the last few weeks feeling abandoned and forgotten, she wasn’t going to let this go. “Whose idea was it?”

Olivia let out a hollow laugh. “Are you kidding me right now?”

“No, I’m not,” Melody said, surprised at how even her voice was. “Something’s going on here, and I think it would make you feel better to talk about it. You can’t just waltz in here after ditching me for weeks and expect everything to go back to the way it was.”

“
Ditching
you? What is this, high school?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. Isn’t ditching your best friend something a girl does in high school when she’s infatuated with a guy?”

Olivia scoffed and muttered to herself before saying, “Are we really going to do this? Are we going to have a fight over something this stupid?”

“I don’t
want
to,” Melody said. “But I also don’t like you keeping me in the dark about things.”

Olivia opened the fridge door, looked inside, then slammed it without getting anything. She paced the length of the island several times, her lips pursed, colour high in her cheeks.

“Whose idea was it to take a break?” Melody asked again.

“
Mine
, okay? What the hell difference does it make?”

“I bet it makes a difference to Cameron,” Melody commented. “The guy who was clearly falling for you before you slammed on the brakes.”

Olivia paused in her pacing and glared across the island at Melody. “You don’t know anything about it.”

“I bet I know more than you think,” Melody said, her voice rising. “I know that you’re scared, and when you get scared, you run away.”

Olivia’s mouth fell open. “What could I
possibly
be afraid of?” she cried.

“Getting everything you ever wanted in life.”

Olivia snorted. “That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Melody.”

“Only because you know I’m right.” She moved to stand directly across from Olivia, leaving the island between them. “You were afraid of succeeding at design, so you ran away from that. Now you’re afraid of being happy with Cameron, so you ran away from that, too.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Olivia whispered, tears glistening in her eyes.

“You know I’m right. You want so badly to prove your mother wrong, but you’re terrified that if you do, something bad will happen. She said you’d never succeed as a fashion designer, but you
know
you could. I know you could do it, your teachers and placement supervisors in college knew you could do it. But if you succeeded, then what? Your mother’s not around to rub it in her face, so is it really worth it? You’d have every right to be proud of yourself, but you wouldn’t know how because your mother dragged you down for so long.