Forever and Always (5 page)

“Fine” Melanie replied a little too clipped, and she mentally scolded herself. She slid into a seat across from Maggie. “I can’t believe you eat doughnuts for breakfast”.

“Oh I don’t normally” Maggie laughed. “Just thought in honour of your first morning here, I would get something very naughty and fattening”.

After Melanie ate two doughnuts and washed it down with a glass of milk, she hated coffee and tea, she headed back to her room to get dressed. First she jumped into the shower and washed quickly. After she showered, she opened her suit case to take out some clean clothes. She settled on a pair of faded jean shorts and a powder pink plain t-shirt and matching dolly shoes. She brushed the knots out of her long chocolate coloured hair and quickly plated it into a French braid. As she rummaged through her suitcase for her light cotton cardigan she found an envelope hidden in the side of her case.

When she pulled it out,
she recognised the handwriting
immediately. It was from her Dad. Slowly she peeled open the envelope and she pulled out the letter. Melanie felt her stomach knot. Slowly she unfolded the piece of paper and began to read,

My dearest Melanie

I am so sorry for what has happened between us and for everything I have done. Please don’t hate me. I can’t bare that I have hurt you so much and you won’t talk to me.

You were NOT a mistake!!! I have loved you since the moment I saw you, even before. You are the biggest achievement of my life. I couldn’t be prouder of you.

Please forgive me.

Love, Dad x.

Melanie read it again and again until she could no longer read through the tears in her eyes. Her heart was breaking. She wanted to believe him but she was hurting and she knew he was hurting too. She loved him so much but right now she just couldn’t face talking to him.

She quickly washed her face and put on a little make up and her sunglasses. She didn’t want Maggie to know she had been crying. Zipping up her suitcase and grabbing her phone and back pack she went out to Maggie who was waiting for her in the sitting room.

Ten minutes later they were pulling out into the
mid-morning
traffic and on their way. Melanie curled up against the side of the car and stared out of the car window at nothing in particular. She closed her eyes as they drove and fell into a restless sleep.

The beach house was amazing. The furniture was all white and the soft furnishings were all navy and very New England. Melanie loved it. There was a beautiful white modern kitchen and dining room. Two large navy leather sofa’s in the living area. They were facing each other in front of a beautiful large fire place. In the corner there was a large TV and DVD player.

There was a hallway to the side that led to three very cosy bedrooms, each decorated in the same New England decor and each with its own private bathroom. Melanie chose the one with the best view of the sea. She was in heaven, this place was perfect.

At the back of the house there was a small deck and a little garden that was surrounded by a white picket fence. It was like something from a postcard. On the deck there was a small wooden patio table and four chairs on one side. On the other side there were two wooden sun loungers. Perfect for curling up on with a book or just stretching out to enjoy the sun

She woke every morning to the sound of the ocean in the distance. She went for a swim before breakfast each day and then spent the day curled up on a sun lounger reading or sitting in the sand staring blankly at the ocean unable to think about anything but her and her Dad and how much she missed him.

The night they arrived at the house she had phoned her Mom to tell her all about the house and beach.

“Mom it is amazing. You can actually see the sea from my bedroom window” Melanie said her words with a rush of excitement. “We are right on the beach and the view is unreal.  We are about a twenty minute walk to the centre of town”.

“Sounds perfect” Sarah replied relieved that her daughter actually sounded happy. “I am so happy you like it there”.

“Yeah it’s great” Melanie said sounding a little less happy. “I miss you though; I wish you were here with us. You would really love it here Mom”.

“I miss you too sweetheart” Sarah replied her heart aching to see her daughters face. “So does Dad”.

Melanie didn’t reply. Sarah let the silence go for a moment before speaking again.

“Please call him Mel” Sarah said softly. “He is so upset”. Again Melanie didn’t reply. She hated to think of her Dad upset. That was the last thing she wanted. She closed her eyes and sighed as she remembered her Dad’s face the day after their big argument.

“Melanie I hate that you are so far away and you seem so sad” Sarah sighed wishing she had never agreed to let her daughter go far away. “I wish I was there with you”.

“I’m ok Mom” Melanie finally whispered as the tears began to trickle down her face. She didn’t want her Mom to know she was so upset because she knew it would only upset her too. And that was the last thing she wanted to do. And the truth was it was killing her that her Dad was upset too. She loved him so much. But she wa
s hurt. He had hurt her more tha
n he could ever
realise
.

Ever since she was little she had always feared she had ruined their lives. She remembered when she was about five; she was staying over in Alex’s mom’s house for the night. She had woken up after a bad dream so she went looking for her Gran. She was halfway down the stairs when she heard her Grandmother crying. She didn’t know why she stopped but she did. She could just about make out what her Grandmother was saying.

“Oh Tommy” she sniffed. “What is he going to do”
.

“He’ll be grand Pat” her Grandfather replied.

“How can he be” She snapped at him.
“Single, and with a child.
And now this nonsense about going back to college.
Why can’t he just face it, he ruined his life and so did that young one next door. He will never find a nice girl now and settle down. What girl is going to want someone else’s brat hanging around? That little girl has ruined everything for him”.

“Ah Pat” Tommy replied. “Whatever else might be true Melanie is certainly no brat. She is a lovely little thing”.

“She will grow up wild just like her mother and will be nothing but trouble” she snapped back in righteous indignation. “You mark my words”.

Melanie couldn’t listen anymore. She crept back up to her bed and cried herself to sleep.

After that Melanie never really liked her Grandmother. She never told anyone what she heard that night.
S
ince then she always had the same doubting insecurities in the back of her mind. But now they were soaring through her and sometimes they were so strong inside her she could barely breathe.

“I will call Dad” Melanie promises her Mom. They talked for a few more minutes. “Love you Mom”.

“Love you baby” Sarah replied and hung up the phone.

But it was now four days later and Melanie still hadn’t rung her Dad. She had dialled his number a couple of time but never pressed send on her phone. She was miserable. Part of her wanted to just go home but there was also a part of her that wished she never had to.

Maggie tried everything to cheer her up. She would ask her to go shopping, or go to a movie or to dinner but Melanie always replied politely saying she was fine
that
she would rather just sit on the back  porch and read.

When she woke up on her fourth morning at the beach, it was Saturday. She climbed out of bed and pulled on her turquoise swimming suit. Then she pulled out her favourite white summer dress and slipped on her beach sandals.

She let herself out of the house quietly and walked down to the water’s edge. The beach was empty because it was not yet 8 o’clock but the sun was already hot. She bent down and slipped off her sandals and dropped them on the sand. She walked forward until the waves tickled her toes. The water was cold yet refreshing. She didn’t feel like swimming today. She didn’t really feel like anything today. She sighed and walked back to where she left her shoes and sat in the sand.

She didn’t know how long she was sitting there when suddenly she is aware of someone standing behind her.

“Ok I have had enough of this” a voice said and sighs loudly before they sat down next to her.

Melanie’s head spun around quickly to find possible the most gorgeous guy she has ever seen sitting beside her. He was smiling warmly at her, his beautiful piercing blue eyes staring straight into hers. His thick black hair blew slightly in the breeze. He had the perfect smile that just lit up his face. “Wow” she thought. He had to be the most perfect creature she had ever seen.

“Excuse me” She finally managed to say after a few minutes when her brain began to work again. For a moment she actually wondered if he was even talking to her.

“I have been watching you all week” he says
,
his piercing eyes holding hers. “And I don’t understand how someone so beautiful can sit in a place almost as beautiful and look so sad”.

“I’m sorry do I know you” Melanie replied her heart beating so hard in her chest she thought it was trying to break free, completely taken back by what he had just said. 

“My name is Sam” he said and held out his hand. “Sam Cooper”.

“Melanie” she replied and shook his hand feeling a little confused. When their hands met it felt like a thousand volts shot through her body. “My friends call me Mel” she added feeling a little self-conscious.

“Nice to meet you Mel” Sam said giving her a bright smile.

“ Wow
, he is overly confident” she thought to herself.

“I never said you were my friend” Melanie replied sharply, feeling a little irritated by this gorgeous guy in front of her. And part of her irritation was the fact she had thought he was possibly the most amazingly gorgeous guy she had every met and all she could think of was what it would feel like to kiss him, which was ridiculous because he was a few years older than her and definitely way out of her league.

“Ouch” Sam said and smiled shyly and
blushed
a little. “I guess I deserved that”.

Melanie tried her best not to smile but she couldn’t help herself. She felt a little bad that she seemed to have embarrassed him.  She turned and looked back out over the sea. She needed a moment to calm her thoughts.

“So” Sam said after a couple of minutes. “I assume from the accent you are from around here”.

“No I’m not” Melanie answered with a smile but still didn’t look at him. “I am from Dublin. I am staying with my Mom’s best friend for the summer”.

“Ah top o the morning to ya” he said in his best fake Irish accent and laughed loudly.

“I don’t talk like that” Melanie snapped and tried but failed miserably not to laugh too. “Why does everyone who isn’t Irish assume we all talk like bloody leprechauns?”

“I am sorry” he barely managed to say through his laugher. “I couldn’t resist”.

Melanie giggled too and for the first time in almost three weeks she could feel herself relax a little.

“Now that’s much better” Sam said softly he eyes capturing Melanie’s once again. “A beautiful girl like you shouldn’t look as sad as you have looked all week. It’s nice to see you finally smile. I knew it would be a beautiful one”.

Melanie was speechless. No one had ever said anything so sweet like that to her before. She wanted to look away because she knew her face was now burning pink from embarrassment but she couldn’t seem to drag her eyes away from his.

“And I have to wonder, what fool in his right mind could have
broken
your
heart so badly” he continued softly as he reached up and brushed a lose strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. His finger touched off her face ever so slightly but it sent a shock wave right down through her body that made her jump back.

“Nobody broke my heart” she snapped and shifted slightly to put some distance between her and him. She turned back to the ocean as her heart raced. Her breathing quickened. “Do you always make such personal observations?”

“I am sorry” he replied quickly. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable”.

She didn’t reply. She just gazed down at her fingers as they combed through the small patch of sand that was between them. They sat for a few minutes in an awkward silence.

“So how do you know Dan” Sam finally asked.

“Dan?” Melanie repeated not knowing who he was talking about.

“The guy who owns the beach house you are staying in” he explained.

“How do you know where I am staying?” Melanie asked; surprised he seemed to know so much about her.

“My Mom and Dad own the house next to Dan’s” he explained. “I saw you sitting on the deck reading a few times”.

“Oh, right” she said as she glanced back at the house next to the one she was staying in. It was much bigger than their one and was beautiful. “The guy, Dan, is Maggie’s editor. He is gone to Europe for the summer and he said we could use it”. He nodded and smiled.

“So how long are you staying for?” he asked, never taking his eyes off her.