Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Melody

I had no idea what I was doing at the date auction. Gretchen had marched over to the shop and forced me to come.

“I’m not happy that I’m here right now. I’m not going to be someone’s date.”

“Maybe you need to bid on someone,” Gretchen replied.

“I’m not bidding on anyone.”

Gretchen smiled and held up a credit card. “I have it on pretty good authority that you are going to bid on someone.”

“No, I’m not. Whose credit card is that, anyway?”

Gretchen pushed through a plethora of people. This place was packed. “This credit card belongs to Mrs. King.”

“What are you talking about?”

Gretchen laughed. “It was sent over to me earlier today. I also got a call from Mrs. King, asking if I would make sure that you came to this auction with me and that you bid on Charles.”

I was stunned. “What?”

Gretchen nodded. “The lady likes you.”

I had no idea what to do with this information. Honestly, I hadn’t really thought about his grandmother over the years. Until the other day, when he had mentioned that she had bought a doll from my doll shop, I had assumed that his grandmother had hated me as well. “This is crazy.”

As if the universe wanted to play a joke on me, Pastor Lee finished auctioning off someone I didn’t recognize and said, “I’ve been saving this date for the end. As many of you know, the King family suffered a great loss many years ago. It was a loss that they turned for good. They are the ones who set up the foundation for cancer research. Their Christmas gala in two days will fund a cancer wing at our own hospital, making it possible for many families within a two-hundred-mile radius to get the care they need without going to the bigger cities. I saw Charles on Sunday and strong-armed him into agreeing to be one of the dates for tonight.” He chuckled. “I wasn’t sure if he would come, but he’s here. Ladies, are you ready to bid?”

There was an audible rustling from the crowd, followed by laughter and clapping. Someone called out, “Yes, we are!”

Pastor Lee leaned into the microphone. “Let’s start the bidding at two hundred dollars.” Immediately, someone called that out. As if Pastor Lee had suddenly turned into a professional auctioneer, he said. “Three hundred dollars.”

Quickly, another person agreed to that price. This continued until it hit four thousand dollars, and I was intimidated by how it had escalated. The crowd sort of calmed down.

Suddenly, Gretchen raised her hand. “Five thousand dollars.”

Everyone in the crowd turned to face us. My cheeks burned.

Charles peered out into the crowd to where everyone else was looking, and his eyes met mine. A tiny smile played at his lips.

“Going once. Going twice. Sold for five thousand dollars,” Pastor Lee finished.

Charles stepped off the stage and headed toward us. Many people in the crowd moved closer, asking questions and making comments. Gretchen anticipated them and gave me a push that sent me right into Charles’s arms. As if he knew exactly what to do, he grabbed me and led me toward an exit. He called over his shoulder, “Thanks, Gretchen.”

She called back, “Anytime!”

“Wait.” I stumbled. “What is going on?”

Charles laughed and took my hand, quickening his step. “My grandmother told me to come tonight and she would handle everything else.”

“And she called Gretchen.”

“She did.”

I laughed.

“Okay, I’m your date. Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know. Technically, your grandmother bought you.”

“For you. She bought me for you. Well, technically, she had you buy me…for me.” He laughed.

I laughed with him, feeling giddy.

Charles walked us to what looked to be an expensive motorcycle. He paused and picked up one of the helmets hanging from it.

My adrenaline kicked up. “This is what we’re riding?”

He strapped the helmet to my head. “If that’s okay.”

“Hold on. First, why would your grandmother want us going out?”

Charles put his own helmet on his head and then turned and slid onto the motorcycle. “Because I told her what my grandfather told you. She was devastated. She wanted to fix things between us.”

I was shocked. “She didn’t know?”

“Nope.” Charles started the motorcycle and turned back. “Why don’t you hop on?” He gestured to the church. “People are coming. I would rather get away and talk with you than face them.”

I looked over my shoulder in time to see a large group filtering out of the church. Many of them had spotted us and were heading our way. I quickly got behind Charles on the motorcycle.

The only other time I’d ridden on a motorcycle was when we had dated. Peter had never been the type to drive a motorcycle. He always claimed they were too dangerous. Of course, when my own son wanted a motorcycle when he became a teenager, I’d agreed. Now, I held onto Charles with anticipation. “I can’t believe this.”

Charles laughed and took off. “That’s Grandmother. She was always trying to fix what Grandfather messed up, even when I was a kid.”

We turned onto Main Street and then sped up a bit. I was forced to hold on to Charles tighter as memories rushed through me. I couldn’t help but think about his grandmother’s conniving ways. I was glad she didn’t also think I would be an inconvenience for Charles.

Charles turned off Main Street and onto the highway, picking up speed. Tonight, the wind was calm, and even though it was barely in the low sixties, it felt good. The wind whipped through my hair and onto my face. I couldn’t help but laugh and feel free, good, young. How long had it been since I’d felt those things?

Charles took it up a notch and yelled back, “Hold on tight!”

I obeyed and felt the surge of power go through the motorcycle. Adrenaline coursed through me, and I laughed again and snuggled into Charles.

Charles was different now. Older. More mature. Stronger. I could feel the powerful way he held the bike, and even through the leather jacket he wore, I could feel his muscles. Attraction sizzled through me. I couldn’t help but marvel at how I’d gotten here on a motorcycle with him.

I wasn’t sure where we were going until I spotted the lighthouse in the distance. So many feelings pulsed through me. That lighthouse symbolized a lot more than a beacon for sailors who were looking to come to port; it was where Charles and I had spent our first date. Where we’d shared our first kiss. It had been “our” place, if I had to pick one.

Charles got to the parking lot next to the area where tourists parked to go to the lighthouse. He slowed, then stopped, putting his feet down.

I let go of him, feeling suddenly awkward being so close to him. He put the kickstand down and leaned it to the right; then we both got off. As we pulled our helmets off, I had to marvel again at the beauty of this man. His smile was glorious. Truly, it made him look young again. His dark hair was styled in an “ever the businessman” type of cut, and it was longer on top and flopped a bit, since the helmet had messed it up. He brushed it out of his face, and my heart raced when his ocean-blue eyes caught mine.

His eyebrows lowered. “You’re cold?”

I hadn’t even realized I was hugging myself.

Immediately, Charles took his jacket off and put it around me. I was touched by his thoughtfulness. He’d always been a gentleman. Maybe it was stupid, but the gesture made me tear up a little, and I turned toward the trail. “Are we going where I think we’re going?”

Charles lightly took my hand. “If you’re up for it.”

I stared at our hands. “Sure.”

He began walking, tugging on my hand, and I followed, grateful I’d worn shoes I could walk in.

“I really can’t believe you showed up and bought me tonight. I was very worried about who I’d be with on this date.”

“Hold up. Is this really a date?”

He paused and grinned at me, squeezing my hand. “You tell me. Do you want to not call this a date, and we can plan another one?”

The moonlight was bright enough that I could see him staring at my lips. Another round of adrenaline shot through me, scattering my brain. “Nope. This is a date, I guess.” I started walking down a rockier part of the path.

Charles turned on his phone flashlight to light our path. We walked for a few minutes in comfortable silence. It was nice to have someone I could be quiet with but not unsure about. Finally, we got off the rocky part and onto the sandy path to the lighthouse, which wasn’t very far away.

Charles turned off his phone light and walked faster. “I haven’t been here in a long time.”

His happiness was contagious, and I found myself caught up in the night. “Me neither.”

We got to the lighthouse, and I noticed it hadn’t been kept in great condition.

“What happened here?” Charles asked, echoing my thoughts. He pushed in the door, and it creaked open. There was trash everywhere, and it looked like someone had graffitied the hallway that led up to the little rooms.

“Oh no,” I said as we walked up the winding stairs. The second level was just as trashed as the first.

“I’m going to do something about this next week,” Charles vowed, tugging my hand and taking me up the next set of stairs.

“This place needs to have some security or be made into a historic site or something.”

The third level didn’t seem to have as much trash. The light streamed in, and there were still parts of the old lighthouse intact in the center. Charles moved to the window that overlooked the ocean. With the moonlight cutting across the water and the stillness of it all, it was gorgeous.

“Wow,” I said a tad breathlessly.

Charles turned and grinned at me. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

I was suspicious of his comment. “It seems like I’m unsure what you’re talking about, Mr. King.”

Charles kept his face close to mine. Since I was about five-nine and he was six-one, with his head bent just the right way, we were close enough to kiss. “Well,” he breathed. “I guess it’s okay to tell you something you knew a long time ago, since it still stands now. I’ve always thought you were beautiful. I was struck by that beauty a couple days ago when I walked inside that doll shop. In fact, you’re more beautiful now than ever before.”

I just stared at him, stunned and speechless.

“You don’t believe me?”

I hesitated.

He pushed a strand of hair out of my face, and his touch sent warm chills through me. His gaze dropped to my lips. “I remember that Christmas… All I could think about while Grandfather dragged me from meeting to meeting was how much I wanted to get back to Jewel Cove and kiss you.”

I froze, feeling that familiar attraction wash through me. “Really?”

Gently, he reached up and put his palm to my cheek. “Really.”

His touch was warm, and I found myself leaning into it.

Carefully, he traced my lips with his thumb. “That’s seriously all I could think about, but I guess my grandfather stopped it, didn’t he?”

I stared up at him, my heart racing. “No one’s stopping you now.”

He closed the distance between us and lightly brushed his lips against mine. “Melody,” he whispered, pulling back. “I’ve missed you so much.”

My head spun, and I pressed my lips against his. Just like so many times when we were young, our lips moved together in perfect rhythm. My knees went weak.

Charles grabbed me by the waist and pulled me against him, holding me tight.

My hands ran through his hair, and suddenly it was like I couldn’t get enough of this man.

He deepened the kiss, and it was everything that had been missing from my marriage with Peter. It was passionate and tender, exhilarating and the most natural thing in the world.

I didn’t know how long we made out like that, but when he broke away, I was breathless and happy. “Oh my gosh.”

He kept a hand on my waist, steadying me.

“I can’t believe I did that,” I said, suddenly embarrassed.

“Why?” Charles asked, taking my hand and lacing our fingers together as if we were sixteen again.

I laughed even as my eyes burned. All the emotions I’d been holding back started to bubble up.

He smiled wider and pulled me against him, stroking my hair. “It’s okay, Mel. It’s okay.”

Back to “Mel,” the intimate way he’d always referred to me as if I were his again. For all intents and purposes, it felt like I was. Like I’d never been anything else but his.

Our chests heaved and then quieted. His hand pressed my head gently to his chest, and I took comfort there. He stroked my hair again. “I’ve missed you. Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

“I know.” Tears streamed down my face.

He pulled back and shook his head, as if confused. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” I sniffed. “I guess I was so angry at you for so long because I told myself this story that I wasn’t good enough. Especially because of what your grandfather said to me.”

“I hate that so much.”

“Wait, there’s more.” I had to get this out. “Then, over the years, I just tried so hard to be what I had to be for my son, for my husband … and then, last year when it all blew up, I just became numb. Angry. When you showed up and started pursuing me ... I don’t know if that’s what to call it.”

He flashed a smile. “Oh, I’m definitely pursuing you.”

I laughed. “When you showed up, it caught me off guard, and I guess I’ve just played this game with myself that I’m still not good enough for you.” I hated the way my voice broke. “I didn’t want to think about it, but that’s what is at the bottom of my feelings—the idea that I’m somehow still inconsequential .”

Charles winced and put both of his hands on my hips. “I’m so ticked off that my grandfather said that to you. I don’t know how he could have done that.”

“Because he meant it.”

Charles slammed a hand against the wall beside me and backed up. “But it’s not true. He made you feel that way, and I’m so angry at him.”

I registered his fury, and it made me feel better. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago. I shouldn’t let it get inside my head.”

“I can’t believe he did that, and it wasn’t true.” He took me into his arms again. Gently, he leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. “When I showed up at your wedding, I was convinced that you couldn’t marry someone else, not when I felt the way I did about you.”

My pulse raced. “I convinced myself that you never loved me. That somehow, I was always going to lose you.”

“I was so confused. I didn’t understand how I could feel …” He stuck a fist to his chest. “I didn’t understand how I could be so in love with you, but you were over me. I didn’t understand how you could be marrying another man when I knew I’d never get over you.”

Emotion bubbled inside me. “I don’t think I ever thought it was possible to be together. That day, I remember not really believing you were there. In the church. Trying to break up my wedding.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”

Charles pulled me against him and kissed my head. “It’s okay. It’s okay. We’re together now.”