MissBEHAVED

I gave her that night and the next, but that’s it. At lunchtime on Wednesday, I texted her to let her know I’d be at her house at seven-thirty that night and we were talking. My manager agreed to close the store for me, so I left at six-thirty, made two stops, and pulled into Mellie’s driveway at seven twenty-five, only to find the lights off. I parked to the left so I wouldn’t block her garage door and settled in to wait, hoping that she wasn’t going to avoid me and go to one of her friends’ houses for the night. I didn’t think she’d be that childish, but she also hadn’t responded to my earlier text, so I suppose she could claim that she never agreed to meet me.

The minutes ticked by slowly, each one taking what felt like an hour to pass. I decided to give her until seven forty-five before I either left or tried calling, though I couldn’t decide which route I’d take. Part of me was angry that she was blowing me off, while the other part recognized that we may not recover from the other night. I’d hoped that we could talk and she would understand my grandmother didn’t speak for me, but if she refused to see me, I wouldn’t get the chance to explain.

Finally, at seven thirty-five, headlights lit up the interior of my truck as Mellie pulled in. The garage door opened, and she pulled her SUV in without looking at me as she drove past. I got out of the truck and grabbed the grocery bags with the dinner and other stuff I’d picked up and walked over to the garage. It seemed to take forever for her to gather her things and get out, and when she finally did, I could tell she was stalling.

“You’re here,” she said, avoiding my eyes. She looked tired and not quite as put together as normal.

“You’re late,” I stupidly replied, but it did make her look at me. Though the glare she shot at me wasn’t really what I was going for.

“I had a ton of returns and exchanges of Valentine’s Day presents and a customer who walked in five minutes before closing.” She slammed the door of her SUV closed and stomped around the front of it, completely avoiding me, and out of the garage. “Not that I have to explain any of that to you.”

“Mellie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it come out like an accusation.” I hurried to follow her up the porch stairs and into the mudroom when she opened the door. Yeah, I just pushed my way into her house, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. “I was worried that you were going to avoid me.”

She unwound her scarf and shoved it into the sleeve of her coat before hanging it on a hook. “I considered it, but I’m a grown woman and I’m not going to hide.”

I took off my coat and boots and followed her into the kitchen with my bags. “I brought food. Is it okay if I turn the oven on and get it warming up?”

She studied me and I feared she was about to toss me out on my ass.

“What did you bring?” she asked, and now I worried that choosing the wrong meal might ruin everything.

“Ravioli and shrimp Alfredo from Ristorante Rizzoli.” She softened slightly when I gave the name of the place where we had our first date.

“Fine. I’m going to get changed. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She turned and practically ran out of the kitchen, away from me, leaving me worrying about the next hour. But I wasn’t a quitter and Mellie meant too much to me to give up without trying my best to win her back and get her to see the error of her ways.

Fifteen minutes later she was back downstairs, and I had the food warming in the oven in the tins from the restaurant and was pouring two glasses of wine.

“Let’s go sit at the table,” I said, picking up the wine glasses and leading the way. It took a second but then I heard her following me. I’d already set the table with plates and silverware and set out the bread and butter that came with our meals.

“This looks nice,” she said, taking in the place settings and the flowers I’d purchased from the florist next to the liquor store on a whim. She sat and relaxed a little.

“I got you a Riesling a guy at the store said was good.” I nodded toward the wine glass. “Why don’t you try that while I say a few things. And after you listen to what I say then you can think about what I said for a while and we can eat dinner.”

She eyed me over the rim of her glass. “What if I don’t want to think? What if I know what I want to say already?” She took a sip but her attitude practically dared me to call her out.

“I hope you’ll actually listen to me and consider what I have to say and take that into account before you make any rash decisions.” I took a breath and sighed. “But I’ll do whatever you want after you listen to me. Even if it means leaving you.”

It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I couldn’t force her to take me back. Even though it had only been two days since I’d last seen her, I knew I didn’t want to be without her, so I had to get through to her now. It was my only chance.

She nodded and sat back in her chair, waiting for me to start.

“First, I’d like to apologize for my grandmother’s behavior. She gets an idea in her head sometimes and refuses to consider any other options. She’s the one who thinks I want a stay-at-home wife, but that’s never been what I wanted. It’s my fault that I never came out and told her that, but I assumed when I kept turning down her suggestions, she’d get the hint. Unfortunately, she’s seventy-two years old and doesn’t get hints very well.” I chuckled to myself, but Mellie didn’t share my amusement. “But even with her thinking I wanted something that I didn’t, her actions were downright rude and insulting. I’ve never seen her act like that before, and neither had Gramps. We talked to her and found out she thought you were going to steal me away to Pittsburgh at the first opportunity, so she was determined to get rid of you.”

“Wow,” Mellie said, after a long pause where I stopped and waited for her reaction. “That’s messed up, Dixon. Didn’t she hear the part where I said that moving here and opening my store was my dream?”

“She did. She just got an idea in her head and wouldn’t let go.”

“How would I ever have any kind of relationship with her after this? Monday night was awful. What if she’s always like that to me?”

The fact that she was thinking about future interactions with my family had me taking my first sip of wine and sitting back in my chair.

“I made it clear that you were what I wanted, and she needed to stay out of it. And that we’ve talked a lot about our plans for the future and we’re on the same page. Then Gramps had a private chat with her about her behavior, so I don’t think that will ever happen again.”

She frowned and her forehead crinkled. “A chat like one of our chats?”

I nodded. “Yes, exactly like that. She apologized to me this morning and will do the same to you the next time she sees you. Assuming there is a next time.”

She shook her head, probably trying to shake the image of my grandfather spanking my grandmother. It was something I tried not to think about, too.

“I don’t know, Dixon. How come you didn’t tell her about me?”

“Because I knew she was going to give me a hard time, and I wanted to go in there and show her how wonderful and special you are and that we were meant to be together. Unfortunately, she turned into a mean girl and didn’t give us the chance.” I sighed. “I apologize for not telling her. I was avoiding a confrontation with her, not hiding you. I’m very proud you’re my girl.”

It was heavy handed, I know, but Mellie seemed to like it best when I took charge.

“Are you my girl, Mellie?” I asked, extending my hand across the table, hoping she’d meet me halfway and hold on. “I want you to be.”

She stared at my hand for a moment and then looked up at me with watery eyes.

“Are you sure, Dixon? Are you sure I’m what you want? I’m not going to change who I am and suddenly become Suzy homemaker.”

I bit back the curse I wanted to let out at my grandmother planting these ideas in her head.

“I’m sure. You’re what I want. You are who I want. One hundred percent.” I put as much certainty and decisiveness in my voice as I could without sounding like a growling monster and scaring her away.

“If you ever change your mind, you’ll tell me, right?” She sounded so forlorn, so small, so unlike her.

“Melody, look at me.” My sharp command got her attention, and she met my eyes. “Now take my hand.” I moved my fingers, gesturing for her place her hand in mine, which she did. “Listen to me. I want you, just the way you are, and not anyone else. I will prove that to you every day if you’ll let me. You just need to say you’re my girl, now, so that I can start showing you how I feel.”