Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) (23 page)

Melody chewed her
thumbnail as indecision overwhelmed her.  On one hand, she really wanted to
just concentrate on opening her store.  On the other, she wanted to live long
enough to see that store turn a profit.  Decisions, decisions.  Finally coming
to an inevitable conclusion, she shook her head as she looked at Honor.  “Not
yet.  I want to tell Cal first so that he hears it from me.  After that, we’ll
bring in Zeke.  I’ll need him to keep Cal from commitin’ murder on my ex-fiancé,
I imagine.  I’ll fill Cal in tonight after I get home from this business
dinner.”

“You’re doing the right
thing,” Harmony swore.  “There’s nothing like having the man you love at your
back, keeping you safe.  I don’t trust anybody more than I trust my Jake.”

“Yes, yes,” Honor
sighed, rolling her eyes.  “You see, Melody, my brothers-in-law are all just
saintly men.  They’d have to be to deal with my sisters.  Jake and Cain and
Abel are just paragons of masculine virtue.  Every woman should have a husband
like them,” she mocked drolly.

Smacking her baby
sister’s arm in retribution for Honor’s remark, Harmony narrowed her eyes. 
“Keep talkin’, little sister.  My reprisal will be swift but silent,” she
warned.

“I’m terrified,” Honor
returned dryly, barely sparing her older sibling a glance.  “Do you wanna tell
this poor woman why we
actually
showed up to see her out of the blue?”

“Oh, yeah!” Harmony said,
snapping her fingers as she suddenly recalled why they’d popped in to see
Melody.  “We just wanted to swing by and let you know that we’ve finalized all
the arrangements for your grand opening.  Honor will be providing finger food
of the appetizer variety.  Finger sandwiches, both chocolate covered and
regular fruit trays and a vegetable platter with dip, and a triple layer sheet
cake big enough for three hundred.  I’ve ordered the floral arrangements for
the door and arranged for the mayor to make an appearance at lunch.  We’re
almost to the finish line.  T-minus fourteen days, Miss Reardon!”

“I know,” Melody
breathed in awe.  “I’ve got all my staff hired with the exception of a night
manager, but I’m hoping to resolve that tonight.  If I do, I can begin training
everybody on our computer system on Monday.”

“I just wanted to thank
you again for offering Sunshine a second job,” Honor said gratefully as she
spoke of one of her favorite waitresses at the family café.  “She’s having a
really hard time right now and the extra money will really help.”

“She seemed like a
great girl,” Melody declared with a grin.  “A bit serious, but sweet as pie.”

“She’s had to be
serious,” Harmony said sadly.  “With a dead mother, a waste of flesh father,
and a baby sister that she’s trying to raise virtually alone, serious is all
that poor kid knows anymore.  When most kids her age are partying, she’s
working her butt off for her and her sister’s future.”

Melody’s jaw dropped. 
“Jeez… she never even mentioned any of that.  I mean, I asked her vague
questions, but none of that ever remotely came up in the interview.”

“Sunshine is very
private about her personal troubles and she almost never lets it interfere with
her work.  It took her months to open up to me,” Honor shared with a sad shake
of her head.

“Yeah, and
everybody
finds it easy to confide in Honor,” Harmony interjected with a fond look
toward her sister.

“I’ll make sure to take
special care with her, Honor.  I can tell she means a lot to you,” Melody
offered gently.

“Let’s just say that
damaged people can recognize a kindred spirit when they see one,” Honor
disclosed quietly.  “Sunshine might come from less than desirable stock, but
she’s a good person in a bad situation that she’s trying desperately to
escape.  I want to help her any way we can.”

Melody nodded.  “Count
me in, too, then.  I’m glad I chose to hire somebody actually deserving of the
job.  So many of these kids that I interviewed acted like they’d be doing me a
favor instead of earning a paycheck.  It was nuts.”

“Feeling self-entitled
seems to be the way of the world these days,” Harmony grumbled as Honor nodded
her head in silent accord.

“At any rate, I feel
like I’m close to having all the pieces required to open a successful business
in place.  Tonight should finally nail down that last item.  And after that,
I’ve gotta face a problem of a different nature with Cal.  Tomorrow, I’ll
either be very relieved or very alone.”

Harmony snorted. 
“Cal’s not going to leave you.”

“Oh, I’m not worried
about that.  I’m afraid I’ll kill him when he starts ranting at the top of his
lungs, but right now, I’m gonna focus on one hurdle at a time, and the next one
is hiring a night floor manager.”

“Well, we’ll let you
get that planned,” Harmony said as she straightened and tucked her chin length
blonde hair behind her ears.  “If you can think of any changes you want to make
to our plan, there’s still plenty of time.  Just give me a call, okay?”

“Absolutely,” Melody
agreed.

“And if you want me to
put a bug in Zeke’s ear, just pick up the phone.  I’m always either at the café
or at home, hon.  Church on Sunday mornings, but you know that considering you
go to the same one as we do.  So you don’t have any excuse to hesitate in
singing out if you need some help,” Honor added as Melody came around the
counter and offered both women hugs.

Tightening her arms
around Honor’s narrow shoulders, Melody whispered, “You know, it’s times like
this that I’m so glad I came back to Paradise to live.”

“It’s times like this
that remind me why I stay in spite of all the ugly memories,” Honor returned
with a weary smile.

It was then that Melody
noticed the dark smudges under Honor’s eyes.  “You know, if
you
ever
need to talk or vent, you can call me, too.  It works both ways, Honor.”

Smiling sweetly, Honor
nodded.  “I know, Melody,” she assured her, patting her arm before moving
toward the door.

Turning toward Harmony,
Melody frowned.  “Is your sister okay?” she whispered into the older woman’s
ear as she hugged her.

Harmony smiled a tad
sadly.  “She’s… trying to keep her chin up.  This has been a hell of a year for
her for a lot of reasons, chick.  Right now, one of us sisters tries to be near
at all times.  Knowing that somebody is trying to hurt her again…it’s weighing
on her.  On all of us, really.”

“I’m so sorry,” Melody
apologized softly.  “If Cal or I can do
anything
, Harmony, you call.  No
matter what time.  Day or night.”

Harmony nodded,
blinking back her own tears as she looked over her shoulder at where her sister
waited for her.  “Let’s get you all squared away and then we’ll see what we can
all
do to help my baby sister, okay?”

Melody could only nod,
offering Harmony one last squeeze before letting her go.  She watched as the
elder sister wrapped her arm around Honor and guided her out the door. 
Sighing, Melody closed her eyes.  Bad things always seemed to happen to some of
the best people, and she would never understand that freaky fact as long as she
lived.

Pulled from that
depressing thought by the ringing of her office phone, she raced to answer it,
ready to face her next hurdle of the day.

~~***~~

Beaming in relief as
she shook her brand-new night manager’s hand across the table, Melody allowed
herself to take her first deep breath of the day even though it was seven
o’clock at night.  “I am so happy to have you coming aboard our little ship,
Austin.  I know we’re going to work well together.”

The sandy haired man
wearing horn rimmed glasses who sat across from her offered a reserved smile. 
“I appreciate you taking a risk on me, Miss Reardon.  A lot of employers
wouldn’t be so open-minded,” Austin acknowledged softly.

“It’s Melody, Austin. 
And a lot of people are too closed-minded to consider all the facts.”

“I was in prison,
Melody.  Not jail.  Prison.  That’s a big thing to look past.”

“I did my homework,”
Melody stated evenly with a dismissive shrug of her shoulders.  “I talked to
the Sheriff
and
the Warden of the facility where you were incarcerated. 
Both men told me the same thing.  You should have never been convicted of that
crime.  Your warden also added that you were a model inmate that kept his head
down and nose clean.”

“I killed my
step-father, ma’am,” Austin admitted hoarsely.  “I did it.  Nobody else but
me.  The Sheriff and the Warden can’t change that ugly fact.”

Melody tilted her head
as she stared at the man across from her.  She’d been prohibited by law from
asking, but she guessed his age to be somewhere between thirty and
thirty-five.  He had a square jaw and grey eyes that seemed to be able to see
inside your soul when he trained them on a person.  He would have been handsome
if he smiled, but instead the years he’d spent locked away had hardened his
face, making him seem forbidding.  But if she looked closely, she could see the
kindness… the gentleness he held within himself.  “You walked in on your mother
being beaten and defended her accordingly.  That required deadly measures, but
I don’t believe it was murder.  Neither does the Sheriff or your former warden
or even my boyfriend, for that matter.  And he hates any man that gets near
me,” she shared quietly.

“Well, I appreciate
your faith in me and I’ll do my best to do a good job and make sure it isn’t
displaced.  I got my business degree while I was on the inside; I just never
thought anybody would give me a chance to use it,” he confessed huskily,
staring at the scarred wooden table where they sat.

“Well, happily, you
thought wrong,” Melody said with a kind smile as she watched the knowledge that
he’d found a job sink into the man across from her.  She’d noted him
vacillating from disbelief to stunned wonder to total silence over a span of
minutes.  Now, he seemed to slowly be awakening to the idea that not everybody
was going to pigeonhole him by his so-called former convict status.

Austin opened his
bearded jaw to say something but was interrupted when a pretty, petite raven
haired young woman stopped beside their table.  The girl was simply
gorgeous…or, she would have been if not for the fading bruise marring her left
cheekbone. “Hi, Miss Melody,” the girl greeted them in a husky voice.  “I just
took over Miss Faith’s shift because she had to get home to her baby girl.  Mr.
Cain called and evidently the little miss is runnin’ a little bit of a fever. 
She said that y’all were almost finished here,” she explained with a quick look
down at their mostly empty plates.  “Can I get either of you anything else? 
Coffee?  Maybe a slice of Miss Honor’s chocolate pie?  I snuck a piece before I
came in tonight and it was just yummy.”

“Sunshine!” Melody
welcomed the waitress to their table.  “I’m so glad to see you tonight.  I
thought you were working mornings, hon.”

“I am.  Just pullin’
this double so Miss Faith can get home to her little one.  I promise, this will
never happen if I’ve got an assigned shift at the book store,” the now anxious
waitress vowed, shooting a worried look toward Melody.

“Sunshine, if
any
of
the McKinnon sisters ever need you, I don’t want you to hesitate one bit in
telling me.  I know you consider them as close as family, sweetie.  And I also
know that they feel the same way about you.  Your job will never be in danger
at any time for you needing to stop and help them.  I can guarantee you of that
much,” Melody promised the younger woman as she squeezed her hand
supportively.  “Isn’t that right, Austin?” she said with a look at the blank
faced man sitting across the table.

Clearing his throat,
Austin nodded slowly.  “I’ve been gone from town for a while, but even I
recollect that the McKinnon sisters are considered town treasures.”

“They saved me,” Sunshine
mumbled, staring at the floor as Austin’s eyes caught the bruise on her cheek
and his lips pressed tightly together, the muscle in his jaw clenching as he
ground his teeth.  

Quickly interceding
before Sunshine could grow any more embarrassed, Melody smiled at Austin. 
“Sunshine, here, will be your lead cashier in the evenings, Austin.  Sunshine,
this is Austin Jackson.  I just hired him as Hooks and Books new night
manager.  You two will work a lot together.”

“Mr. Jackson,” Sunshine
mumbled, bobbing her head at the man quickly as she diverted her gaze.

“Call me Austin,” his
deeper voice rumbled, his eyes staying on the bruise she sported. 

Melody had seen the
bruise as well during her short interview with the girl.  She hadn’t liked the
look of it, but she also hadn’t wanted to make the skittish lady any more
anxious than she’d already been.  It had been a foregone conclusion that she
was hiring the shy waitress for a part-time position because, honestly, when
Honor McKinnon asked for a favor, you DID it, but she would have taken Sunshine
anyway.  There was just something about her that raised her protective
instincts.  When she’d gotten to know her a little better, Melody would do
whatever she could to help this girl with her struggles. 

She and Cal both would.