The Black Sheep's Secret Child

“I’m pregnant.” Melody offered up a tremulous smile. “Yikes.”

“That’s great. I’m so happy for you and Kyle.”

“Well, you can be happy for me.”

From the tenor of Melody’s response, Savannah sensed not all was well. “Kyle isn’t happy? How is that possible? He adores you.”

“I haven’t told him yet.”

Savannah closed her eyes briefly, recalling the confusing muddle of uncertainty and joy when she realized she was pregnant.

“You know he’s going to be great about this.”

“I don’t know that. We haven’t been together that long and haven’t talked about marriage. I don’t know where he stands on the whole kid thing.”

“How far along are you?”

“Barely six weeks. I took a long weekend off from the tour and flew to LA for his birthday. It was a fantastic three days.” Her eyes glowed with heartbreaking fondness for several seconds before dimming. “And then Nate called to say that they’d added an extra two weeks to the tour and Kyle got so mad. He complained about how much time we’d been apart and told me to quit. We had a huge fight.” She trailed off, looking miserable.

“But he was all for it. He’s been one hundred percent behind your career from the very beginning.”

Melody gave a little shrug. “I don’t think either one of us realized how hard it was going to be to be apart.” She sat down and put her hands in her lap. “He’s been so distant these last few months. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. I’m worried he doesn’t love me anymore.”

“That’s impossible. I’ve seen you two together. He adores you.”

Melody pressed her lips together, shifted on the couch and heaved a huge sigh. “A month ago, he practically accused me of cheating on him with Hunter Graves.”

Savannah understood why Kyle might be worried. “Because of that photo of the two of you holding hands as you left that New York club?” She’d wondered what was up after seeing the image, even though she knew without a doubt that Melody would never risk her relationship with Kyle. “Okay, I’m sorry, but I could see where he might have gotten the impression that you and Hunter were together.”

“But we’re just friends. Nothing more. It was a madhouse as we left. Hunter grabbed my hand so we wouldn’t be separated on the way to the car.”

“You dated him on and off for a year and a half before you and Kyle got together.”

In fact, at one point Melody had tried to use Kyle to make Hunter jealous. The plan had backfired, but in the best way possible. The ruse had awakened Kyle’s true feelings for Melody and made her realize the man she was meant to be with had been right under her nose.

“And I was miserable,” Melody said. “Why would Kyle think I would go back to that?”

“Maybe you should talk to Kyle about all this. Tell him how you feel.”

Given her own situation, Savannah wasn’t the best person to be offering relationship advice, but she felt compelled to say something that might ease her friend’s mind.

“I don’t know, but we haven’t spoken more than a half-dozen times in the last three months.”

And Savannah knew that wasn’t like them. “You need to talk to him about this.”

“I will. I promise. But I really need to get the album finished first.”

“How long do you think that’s going to take?”

Melody had been living with Kyle three months before going on tour with Nate. They’d been dating for six months before she moved in with him. And before that, they’d known each other and been friends since high school. Kyle had been Trent’s best friend since they’d met freshman year, and Savannah had known Kyle from all the times he’d hung out with Trent. She hadn’t been surprised when Melody and Kyle finally got together.

Melody looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know.”

“The longer you wait, the worse it’s going to be.” Since Rafe’s death, at least once a day Savannah regretted not telling Trent the truth about Dylan when she first learned she was pregnant. She’d kept quiet because she’d been afraid to get hurt again. Which had been silly, because she’d lost Trent anyway.

“You’re right. But if I go to LA and tell him, I’ll know how he reacts. If I stay here and finish the album, I can pretend for a while that when he finds out he’s going to be thrilled.”

Melody was operating with the same faulty logic Savannah had used. It had backfired for her; she could only hope that the same didn’t happen to her good friend.