Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Melody listened to every word. At first, she wasn’t able to believe what he was asking, but then she realized Karen must have put him in an equally awkward position. At least he was giving her an easy out. Eventually, she managed to say, “I don’t play piano.”

As soon as it came out of her mouth, she realized she should have accepted his invitation and just said a simple “no.” What she had said inspired inquiry, and he asked, “You don’t or you can’t?” and she wondered if he really didn’t already know the answer. Maybe she had been too vague about her past. Maybe that had been purposeful.

She couldn’t think of an answer that would readily explain what she had meant, and since he’d already told her she could simply say no, she decided not to answer at all. “So what is our plan for tomorrow?”

There was a lengthy silence as he realized she’d changed the subject, and Melody hoped he hadn’t found her refusal to comment on his question too rude. After a break, he said, “Well, the parade starts at 6:15, right?”

“Yes,” Melody affirmed, readjusting so she was dangling one leg off of the bed.

“What time do people usually get down there to find a good viewing spot?”

“My mom doesn’t come home at all,” she explained. “We’ve got that bench right outside of our shop, so she just goes out there around 5:30 and saves it for us. Well, my dad and I were actually usually in the parade, but the few times we weren’t, we’d sit out there with her. We can do that if you’d like. I’m sure Michael will want to stand a little closer to the street so he can get candy, but that’s as good a place as any to see.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Reid replied. “I have to admit though, I’ve never been on a date before where the girl brought her mother.”

Melody giggled. “No? I always bring my mom on dates. Even when I was in college, I’d fly her in.”

“Really? Wow—she must have racked up a ton of frequent flyer miles coming in to visit that often.”

“Ha,” Melody exclaimed. “Obviously, I was kidding, but I didn’t date that much. I mean, I had a boyfriend for a little while, but most of the time I was so busy studying I didn’t even have time to think about guys.”

“I can see that. You seem like you’d do really well in school.”

“Are you calling me a nerd?”

“Nah, just saying you seem like a bit of a bibliophile.”

“Are you using big words to test me, to see if I’m actually smart?”

“Nope. That’s the only big word I know.”

Laughing, Melody turned the tables on him. “So do you usually bring Michael with you on dates?”

“Are you kidding? He’s my wing man. I get dates because of Michael. Who do you think sent him over to you in the hardware store?”

At first Melody wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but then she realized he had to be and started giggling. “It was a really good plan, but you sure waited long enough to ask me out.”

“Yeah, well, I had to make sure you didn’t have any weird habits I didn’t know about—like snorting when you laugh or whistling through your nose.”

“There’s nothing wrong with either of those two things so long as the person is happy enough to be laughing,” she said, defending snorters and wheezers everywhere.

“Are you a secret snorter?” he asked. “Come on—be honest.”

“No, I’m not. You’d probably know it by now.”

“True.” He was quiet again for a moment, and Melody searched for something to say before he hung up. “Actually, Mel, I haven’t even been on a date since before Michael was born. And I haven’t been on a date with anyone other than my ex-wife since high school. So I’m probably not very good at it.”

Melody was shocked. She stumbled for the right words and eventually managed, “I’m really surprised to hear that.”

“Why? Because on our not-a-dates I’ve been so polished and charming?”

She was glad to hear the playful attitude back in his voice. “While yes, you have been absolutely charming and as polished as a pewter candlestick, I meant I’m surprised that you haven’t been on any other dates. Surely you’ve had lots of women fawning all over you.”

“You mean like Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Gregory? True—but I’m hardly going to date someone old enough to be my grandmother, and Mrs. Gregory’s husband could probably beat me up if he wanted to. I mean, if he didn’t have pneumonia or tuberculosis or whatever it is that has left him hacking up a lung.”

There were so many comments flooding her mind, Melody didn’t even know where to start. Eventually, she settled on, “I know the older ladies love you, but that’s not quite the crowd I had in mind.”

He was quiet again. It was almost as if when he didn’t have an opportunity to say something witty to throw her off, he wasn’t quite sure what to say at all. “There have been opportunities, I guess,” the serious tone back, “but I have to be very careful because of Michael. Not too many women understand what can happen to a little boy who starts to think about having someone in his life long term and then suddenly having that ripped away.”

Of course, Melody already knew all of that. She’d given it a lot of thought herself. “I know that you have Michael’s best interest in mind—always—and I hope you can trust that I do, too. We are both mature adults, and I think we can agree that we certainly make good friends. So whatever happens, I hope you’ll allow me to be a part of Michael’s life in some capacity.”

“I hope that you will always want to be—that you won’t get so aggravated at me you’ll want to stay as far away from both of us as possible.”

She wondered if he was hinting at whatever happened with Michael’s mom, but she didn’t dare broach the subject now. Rather, she thought it might be time to lighten the mood again, so taking a trick from his own playbook she asked, “Reid, do you honestly think you haven’t already aggravated me beyond any hope of repair?”

He laughed, and she was glad her tactic had worked. “That’s true. If you’ve put up with me this long, chances are you might be able to stand me a little bit longer anyway.”

She giggled. “You know I was joking.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he admitted. He was silent again, and Melody wondered if he was secretly smiling at her the way she was beaming at him. “I should probably let you go. It’s getting late.”

The clock on her night stand said it wasn’t even 10:00 yet, but she knew he probably had to get up early for work tomorrow whereas she could sleep in a bit if she wanted to. “All right.”

As if he had just remembered, he said, “Oh, I meant to tell you. You won’t need to pick Michael up from school tomorrow. His class Christmas party is tomorrow afternoon, so I decided not to schedule anything so I could go.”

Disappointment melted the smile from her face. “Okay,” she managed to say. “That’s good that you get to go spend some time with him.” She really did think it was wonderful that he was going to go; she was just disappointed that she wouldn’t get to pick Michael up from school or see him until the parade.

“You sound sad. I thought you’d be happy that you won’t have to mess with parent pick up or dropping him off at Karen’s.”

“I don’t mind any of that,” she said, her voice sincere. “In fact, I was going to ask you what you thought about him not riding the bus anymore at all, after he’s allowed to again.”

“You mean you want to keep picking him up and taking him to Karen’s every afternoon?”

“No,” Melody continued, “I mean I want to pick him up and bring him here.”