Melissa's Mates (2 page)

Chapter 2

The week didn’t go as badly as she thought it would. Evelyn didn’t show up to work until Thursday. Even then, she didn’t look very good. Now, as Melissa sat at the table at their favorite Cajun restaurant, she was having a hard time focusing with the words she’d just heard. Confused, she looked back and forth between her two best friends, unable to get over the shock of what just passed their lips.

Again, she let the words process in her mind, repeating them over and over. After a few seconds, she shook her head. Nope, she still couldn’t believe it.

“You’re both what?”

Fingers weaved through her red hair while she pulled it annoyingly out of her face. Evelyn and Sarah, the two people she counted on most in the world, turned to look at each other and then back to her. Picking up her glass of soda, Melissa took a big drink and tried to catch her breath. The longer they remained silent, the more their statement sunk in.

Sarah leaned across the restaurant table, her long blonde hair spilling forward, and stared deeply into Melissa’s eyes, hurt. “Mel, Evelyn and I are both pregnant. That’s why we can’t go out anymore. If you would have just let the argument drop, we wouldn’t have had to tell you this way.”

“How pregnant are we talking here?”

Evelyn’s eyes cut to Sarah. “I’m around eighteen weeks. Sarah’s a little over twelve.”

Opening her mouth, a response tried to come out, but nothing left her lips. Standing, dazed, she reached for her purse. Melissa had no idea what she was doing. Pregnant? Evelyn, okay, she could accept that. Sarah? No way. She’d just barely grasped the idea that Devon and her friend were now back together, not to mention Gavin, Sarah’s other boyfriend. How could she be pregnant just a little over three months later? Weren’t any of them thinking straight at all? And so far along? That would mean she got pregnant almost immediately. Her world began to swim as she processed everything.

Melissa bit her lip so she wouldn’t say anything that might unwillingly come out. Well, to Sarah, anyway. The fear that her beautiful friend would end up losing another baby or have the man she’d so easily forgiven hurt her all over caused tears to come to her eyes.

“I think I should go. I’m sorry. Please, don’t think I’m not happy for you both. A baby is wonderful, a gift. I just need to think some things over.”

Melissa turned and left the crowded Cajun restaurant and headed for her truck. Pregnant. Jesus. She prayed everything worked out for her friends. She really did. The protectiveness she felt toward them bordered on insanity. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for either one of those girls. Although she had five very close friends, Evelyn and Sarah she’d known since she moved to Port Aransas, Texas. They’d helped her get over the worst time in her life, and for that she’d be forever grateful.

Music blasted through the interior, but she quickly cut off the sound. She already couldn’t think, and although tempted to drown herself out completely, she couldn’t get past the nagging feeling that those two girls were hiding something more than just pregnancy. Even though technically nothing changed since they’d found their men, normal people just didn’t get into relationships consisting of three people. It was hard enough with two. Three had to be impossible.

Pulling out of the parking lot, Melissa pushed away what had just happened and made her way to her small, one-bedroom house. The majority of the homes on the island were on stilts, and hers wasn’t an exception. But from the main floor on the second story, the view was to die for. Countless times, after a long night at the bars, Melissa would watch the sun rise. She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever have someone to share the beautiful experience with. But she knew, deep down, now wasn’t the time.

After countless years of being in one bad relationship after another, she decided instead of wasting her time on the wrong man, she’d wait for the right one. Everyone always said when you see the person your meant to be with, times stops. Although she didn’t believe that, she had no doubt the feeling of aptness would be immediate.

Pulling into her driveway, Melissa jumped down from her truck. The conversation with Ev and Sarah kept coming back. She tried to think of something else to occupy her thoughts. A voice saved her from having to.

“Gosh darn it, Mel! I nearly had to run the red light to catch up with you.”

The sound of Julie’s voice had her smiling as she turned around. “I thought you couldn’t make it to town today? Shouldn’t you be at work? ”

“Work, right.” Julie dragged out the last of her sentence, rolling her eyes. “Hell no. I finished court early today. Why aren’t you going back to the office?”

Melissa walked over to the sporty, two-door Mercedes. “Not in the mood. Plus, the office will forward over my calls if anyone needs anything. The market is slow, you know that. Not too many people want to buy houses in this recession.”

“Very true. Now, how ‘bout you jump in and come with me. I’ve had one hell of a morning. I need a drink.”

“This early? Are you kidding me?”

Melissa noticed the blonde highlights that had streaked her friends’ brunette hair were gone. As one of Julie’s perfectly sculptured eyebrows rose, Mel knew she was serious.

“Do I look like I’m kidding you? I got fucked this morning at court. I think I’m going to lose my first case, and truthfully, I don’t want to think about it. Thompson, fucking genius. I should have had my guard up better with him. He’s the best in the area, and you know I wouldn’t admit it if it wasn’t true.”

“If you colored your hair already, then you must need a drink pretty fucking bad. “

“Oh, you noticed that.” Julie patted her now dark brown hair. “Yeah, I was tired of the blonde. Thought I’d go back to a more natural look. So, are you going to get in or just stand outside my door all day?”

Melissa climbed in, pulling her black, knee-length skirt down. “Where are we going?”

“Fuck, I’d settle for a forty from a convenience store right now. I need alcohol.”

Studying her friend cautiously, she tried to ignore the desperation in her voice. Surely she wasn’t getting out of hand. Maybe it was the stress of basically getting her ass served on a silver platter at work, but still, she felt the need to watch Julie carefully. The last few weeks at the bars, Julie had gone beyond having a good time. Once, she literally passed out in the restroom and had to be carried out of the bar by Stephen.

They took off toward town. Rap settled through the car, and Melissa inwardly groaned. How could she have forgotten about Julie’s love for bass? The whole car was set up to be heard a mile away. Although she didn’t have a dislike toward some rap, the vibrations of the music gave her a headache at the volume her friend preferred.

Pulling up to the restaurant Melissa had just left, she prayed Sarah and Ev weren’t still inside. There wasn’t really a need to worry about Natalie. She worked in Corpus, too, so her getting here was impossible sometimes. The traffic was a bitch to fight at lunch time.

“You’re drinking with me, right?”

“You know I can’t do that. Who will drive us home?”

“Fuck, you’re right. Hell, we could walk. You only live three blocks away.”

Melissa mouth parted, shocked that she was distressed enough to ask. Well, hell, after the morning she’d had, why not. “You’re buying me some new pantyhose. I refuse to walk the three blocks in these heels. You owe me so big, Julie, it’s not even funny.”

“Oh, God, I love you, Mel. Come on, let’s get so wasted Stephen has to threaten to arrest us for public intoxication.”

“Shit.”

They both walked in, and Melissa sighed in relief to see her other friends had gone already. They sat at their regular table, Julie not even picking up the menu before flagging down the waitress. “Two Coronas. Thanks.”

“Ugh, Julie, you know I don’t like those. Bud Light, please.”

The waitress nodded and left. Melissa looked over at her friend. “So, you’re going out tonight, right? I mean, now that Sarah and Ev aren’t going to be going anymore, I think we need to find some new people. This sucks.”

“Wait, why aren’t they going anymore?”

Melissa could have kicked herself. Why did she always do this? For some reason, her mouth and brain just did not communicate well together. Damn it. At least this one hadn’t been embarrassing. The things she allowed to slip at times could turn her face as red as her hair.

“You’ll have to ask them. It’s not my secret to tell.”

“Fuck, this day just keeps getting better and better. If I find out those men turned into possessive pigs, I’m going over there and laying down the law. That’s horse shit.”

Julie practically grabbed the beer from the waitress. Melissa watched, shocked as the bottle didn’t leave her lips until it was empty. “Yeah, keep them coming, like every few minutes.” The waitress’s eyes grew wide as she nodded her head.

“Slow down, I’m not carrying your ass to my house.”

“We’ll call a cab. About tonight—of course I’m going. I already talked to Natalie, and she’s coming, too. I think she’s bringing a friend with her. Cindy, I think.”

“Good, we’re going to need more people at this rate.” Melissa picked up her beer and took a big drink. “Julie, do you feel like something weird is going on? Well, I mean, with the whole ménage thing? First Ev, now Sarah. It’s one thing for it to be a freak occurrence, but now with Sarah, too. Something feels off.”

“Hell no. Shit, if I had two men wanting to be with me, and they looked like any of the men those two have, I’d jump for joy and die happy.”

“You see nothing wrong with being with two men?” Melissa couldn’t believe her ears. Her friend couldn’t be serious.

“Melissa, get real. Those two trios love each other. If the love is there, why fight it?”

Taking a bigger drink, she kept quiet. Why fight it? Why! Well, maybe because it just didn’t seen natural. Hadn’t most people been taught growing up that you find one man and fall in love? Nowhere in the fairy tales did it mention two hot men coming in to sweep Cinderella off her feet. There sure as hell was no Snow White and the seven studs. Melissa laughed under her breath at the thought.

Yeah, why was it that she could imagine that? Maybe she wasn’t as far off from accepting the scenario, or maybe she was just losing her mind with all these suspicions of secrets. She’d be damned if Ev and Sarah weren’t hiding something.

Chapter 3

Looking at her watch, Melissa cursed. They’d been here for hours. If they didn’t leave soon, the dinner rush would no doubt be coming in, and she sure as hell didn’t want to be here when they began to arrive.

“Jules, that’s number eight you just finished. You ready to go back to the house? I thought you wanted to go out tonight. At this rate, you’ll be passed out by nine.”

“So right. I prolly should sober up if I want to be able to make some sort of appearance.”

“Absolutely.” Melissa stood and reached for the new brunette the moment she started to sway back. Grabbing her arm, she barely was able to keep her from pulling them both to the ground.

“Wow, okay, I admit it. I think I’ve had a little too much. Fuck, get me out of here before I fall over someone’s table.” Even though Julie seemed a bit concerned about her condition, she still couldn’t hold in the laugh that escaped from her mouth.

“Just hold on to me. We’ll try to get out of here before we both make asses of ourselves. I may have only had four, but I’ve never been much of a drinker, you know that.”

Both women tried to play it off as they weaved through the tables. Melissa finally was able to breathe as they stepped outside and connected with the salty air. The sound of the seagulls had her closing her eyes and smiling. Walking forward, blind, wasn’t the smartest idea, given her equilibrium. The connection she made against what could be described as nothing short of a wall of stone made her bounce backwards. Off balance, she waved her arms desperately, reaching out for Julie.