“Thank you,” Faith said, her heart filled with the strangest, most potent combination of dread and hope at once.
The next afternoon she retired to her office after her last patient and sank into her office chair. She was surprised she’d gotten any work done, she’d been so preoccupied with making the decision about the house. Of course the house was only at the surface of the core of the dilemma. Ryan hadn’t probably meant to do it, but by showing her that home last night, he’d brought the entire issue of their arranged marriage to a head.
In order to make such a game-altering decision, she knew she had no choice but to put all her cards on the table and hope that Ryan did the same.
She was going to have to bite the bullet and tell Ryan that she’d fallen in love with him. How else was it possible for him to make an informed choice about his future? How else was it conceivable for her? She was going to have to march home and tell him the truth.
When she saw his reaction to the fact that she loved him, body and soul, she’d have her answer as to how to proceed.
* * *
Ryan was down in the workshop assembling one of the many units of the bookshelf when he heard knocking at the front door. Had Faith forgotten her key? He glanced around hastily for his shirt, but didn’t see where he’d tossed it when he’d whipped it off earlier. The air-conditioning didn’t work very well here in the basement, and he’d been working up a sweat.
“Coming,” he shouted as he lunged up the stairs, two at a time. “Did you forget your—”
He paused in midsentence as he flung open the front door when he saw Jesse’s old girlfriend, Melanie Shane, standing on the front stoop.
* * *
“I told you I didn’t think it was a good idea for you to come here,” Ryan said coolly a minute after he’d let Melanie inside. They stood in the living room, exchanging tense words.
A tear leaked down Melanie’s face. She’d always been a good-looking woman, but her appearance had altered since Ryan had last seen her while they were both still stationed in Afghanistan. After Jesse had died, she’d started to lose weight. She’d lost even more since Ryan had left the service. Weight loss agreed with Melanie, making her voluptuous curves more streamlined and her blue eyes larger and even more haunted in appearance than they’d been when Ryan had last seen her.
“I had to come,” she said, her usually cigarette-roughed, tough-girl voice trembling with emotion. “You’re the only person I could talk to, Ryan. You were Jesse’s good friend. The only one who knew how close Jesse and I were. I mean...I know you didn’t entirely approve of Jesse’s and my relationship, but you’re the only one who could understand what his death meant to me. I’ve left the Air Force,” she said starkly after a pause.
“You did?”
She nodded and sniffed. Ryan sighed and walked across the room to get her some tissues.
“Look, Melanie, I’ve got nothing against you, but—”
“Don’t give me that line, Ryan.” Her jaw tilted up defiantly. “I know you always looked down on my and Jesse’s relationship. I suppose you thought even less of me because of that night we celebrated Shaunessy’s birthday.”
Ryan didn’t reply. He just stuck out the box of Kleenex tissues for Melanie. If she wanted to rehash the night she’d gotten drunk at Mike Shaunessy’s party and come on to Ryan because Jesse had been flirting heavily with a nurse from the hospital, she was going to have to do it with someone else. It wasn’t as if he hated Melanie. He actually felt sorry for her, and he had a good idea of why she was here...
...why she was feeling so miserable in regard to Jesse’s death.
But there was nothing he could do for her. He couldn’t offer Melanie the peace—or the solace—for which she longed.
“Like I’ve been telling you when you’ve called the past couple times, there’s nothing for us to discuss, Melanie. I want you to go. This is Faith’s home. You know that. You shouldn’t be here. It’s disrespectful.”
Melanie’s eyes flashed with anger at that. Her gaze landed on a photo on the corner table of Faith holding a tiny version of Topsy up to her cheek.
“So that’s the paragon of virtue herself,” Melanie said scathingly. She glanced around the house as if seeing it for the first time. Her gaze landed on Ryan. She gave him a thoroughly amused feminine appraisal, her eyes lowering over his naked torso. “I can’t believe you married Jesse’s widow. Isn’t that a little...sick?”
“Get out,” Ryan said quietly.
He’d been hoping to get rid of Melanie politely, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen. Melanie could be all right at times, but she also could get herself worked up into a real state. Jesse had used to joke that he didn’t know whether to dread or adore Melanie’s temper tantrums, because they were hell to endure, but heaven to make up from.
“So you really envied Jesse his sappy, sweet little animal-loving wife. Funny,” Melanie said, stepping closer to him, her voice going husky, “I would have pegged you above all men for needing a strong, hot-blooded female.”
Ryan halted her attempt to press against him by grabbing her elbows.
“Cut it out, Melanie. What are you trying to prove by acting so stupid?” he asked, his patience running thin. “It’s not going to get you anywhere here with me. No more than it ever did,” he seethed.
As if his angry words had popp
ed a cap off a geyser, she sobbed, her entire body heaving with uncontrollable emotion.