“I accidentally left it in Lee’s office.”
Tessa’s eyebrows scrunched together. “How did that happen?”
Melina told Tessa all about how her powers acted up and how she couldn’t control them, and in desperation to not be seen by Lee, she had teleported out of his office and back to her apartment. “The whole ordeal completely drained me, and I passed out here on the couch.”
“Wow,” Tessa said as she stared at her friend. “Well, that explains why we didn’t hear you come back. And why you looked so worn out. I was actually really worried about you, but Gwen convinced me to let you rest.”
“Thanks,” said Melina. She stared down at the floor as she took another sip of her drink.
“So I take it you’re scared about why your powers acted up like that?”
Melina looked back at Tessa. “A little. I know I shouldn’t be, but—”
“But what? Melina, you’re too hard on yourself, as usual. If your situation was happening to someone else, I guarantee she would be constantly scared out of her mind and crying all the time. I haven’t even seen you cry once.” Tessa paused as she reached over and grabbed her friend's hand. “You know, it’s okay for you to be scared.”
Melina nodded. “I know. It’s just…” She shrugged. “I guess it feels like I’m giving up hope for myself or that I’ve failed, if I let my fear get the best of me.”
Tessa shook her head. “You’re nowhere close to failing. You’re being very persistent with Lee. Have you made any progress with him?”
“I’ve gotten him to open up to me a little more, but we’ll see if he’ll talk to me now after I disappeared on him yesterday.” Melina took a long drink of her hot cocoa. “Oh, and that reminds me. Can you take me by his store so I can pick up my Jeep?”
“And your coat?” Tessa asked.
Melina groaned. “Yes, and my coat.” She wasn’t sure if she was prepared to see Lee just yet, but she did need to get her coat back.
“Let’s go,” said Tessa as they both stood up from the couch.
Melina locked up her apartment and they made their way down the stairs and out the back door. She locked that door as well before hopping into Tessa’s car. As they pulled out onto the street, she couldn’t help but worry about what she was going to say to Lee.
Maybe he wouldn’t even ask her about her little disappearing act. Or, more than likely, maybe he would. Would he be mad at her? She let out a long sigh as she gazed out the window. She would soon find out.
Chapter Seventeen
Tessa pulled up in front of Lee’s store and stopped the car. “Where’s your Jeep?”
“At the end of the block,” Melina said as she pointed up the street.
“Do you want me to go in with you to get your coat?”
Melina thought about her friend's proposal for a moment. Having Tessa with her might help, especially if Lee was mad. But then again, what if he was still willing to talk but wouldn't because of Tessa’s presence.
Melina shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay. Thanks for the offer, though.”
“I guess I’ll see you sometime later today then?”
“Yeah,” Melina replied. “I don’t expect it to take too long.” She stepped out of the car and gave Tessa a quick wave as she slammed the door shut.
After watching Tessa drive off, she turned toward the store. It had only opened about ten minutes earlier. She let out a small sigh of relief. There probably weren’t too many people here yet, if there were any at all, so blocking out a bunch of people’s thoughts was one less thing she had to worry about.
She entered the store and carefully looked around for someone. There were two younger-looking male employees carrying boxes to the back, one middle-aged female employee setting up a new display, and no other customers besides her. It was somewhat strange to see the store in an almost empty state. Melina took a moment to gaze around at the store and then made her way over to the woman working with the display.
The woman had long red hair, pulled half back behind her head. Melina approached her slowly and said in a low voice, “Excuse me.”
A bit startled, the redhead spun around and then smiled, her light brown eyes twinkling at Melina. “Well good morning, miss,” she said in a deep southern accent. “How may I help you?”
“Hi,” Melina said, returning her smile. “I was here yesterday visiting with the owner, Lee Atwood, and I accidentally left my coat behind. Is he here?”
“Oh, are you Miss Rowe?” the lady asked.
“Um, yes, I am,” Melina said, a bit taken aback.
“Mr. Atwood left it with me in case you stopped by sometime today.” She walked around to the back of the front desk and retrieved Melina’s coat.
Melina thanked her as she took her coat and slipped it on. “So did you say if Lee was here or not?”
“Um…” The lady began to bite her lip. “I don’t think he’s in just yet.”
Melina looked at the woman suspiciously. A second later she heard her rambling thoughts.
I hate lying. Why did he ask me to say he wasn’t in? He knows I’m a terrible liar. And this young gal seems sweet. Pretty too. I wonder if they’re romantically involved? That might explain why he seemed to be upset when he was telling me about the coat. Maybe they had a little tiff.
The woman met her eyes and smiled.
So he was in. He was just avoiding her. Hmm… Melina needed to find a way to distract the woman so she could sneak upstairs. That was going to be difficult, though, since they were the only two in the store right now. Maybe she could ask about an item that would have to be looked for in the back.
“Okay,” she said to the lady. “I’m just going to take a quick look around then.” She turned and walked away before the redhead could say anything.
Her eyes searched around for a display case that might have a missing item or two that she could ask about, but she couldn’t find any. The store appeared to be fully stocked with their merchandise. A low groan escaped her as she realized her plan wasn’t going to work. She needed to think of something else. Or maybe she should just leave? Lee didn't want to talk to her.
No, she needed to talk to him. He had to know that she didn’t run out on him on purpose. But how was she going to get up to his office?
She looked up from a display case and gazed around the store. The redhead was watching her. Why did it have to be so difficult?
This is ridiculous. I know he’s here. I’m going to tell her that I know he’s here and that I want to talk to him. Simple as that.
She turned toward the woman, who was now looking the other way, and headed straight in her direction. Just as she was getting closer, though, one of the male employees emerged from the back with an open box. He walked over to the redhead.
“Carla, where did you want these again?” he asked.
She peeked into the box. “Those go in the front display case. Here, follow me.”
They both stepped out from behind the desk and started to walk toward the front. Melina seized the opportunity.
She tiptoed over behind the counter, slipped into the doorway in the corner, and then took the stairs up two at a time. Once she reached the landing, she took a minute to slow down and catch her breath. She peered down the hallway and noticed that all of the office doors were closed. These other offices probably belonged to various department managers, and she hoped that meant they weren’t in yet. That would be just great to have one of them suddenly open his door and see her. She hoped for the best and tiptoed down to the end of the hallway.
She stopped in front of Lee’s door and held her breath momentarily while she listened. He was talking to someone, but Melina didn’t hear anyone respond to him. He must be on the phone. She waited for him to hang up and then knocked on the door.
Lee didn’t immediately answer, as if he was surprised that someone was knocking on his door. A few seconds later, he cleared his throat and said, “Come in.”
Melina turned the knob and sl
owly pushed in the door. She stepped inside, and as their eyes met, the pain in her head returned as she immediately started to hear his thoughts. Her hand flew up to her head as it took her by surprise.
I knew she would want to talk to me. That’s why I told Carla to tell her I wasn’t in. I’ll have to have a chat with her.
Melina briefly pinched the bridge of her nose and batted her eyes a couple of times before looking back at Lee. “Carla told me you weren’t in yet,” she said, coming to the redhead’s defense. “She’s just not a very good liar.”
Lee gave Melina a curious look and then turned his gaze down to his desk as he started to shuffle some papers around. “So you decided to sneak up here?”
“I guess you could say that.” Melina let out a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood, but Lee wasn’t biting.
He stood up from his chair and walked over to a filing cabinet behind his desk.
“Look,” Melina said. “I want to apologize for the way I left yesterday. I didn’t mean to not say good-bye but… well, it was sort of an emergency.”
“That explains why you left without your coat.”
She nodded. “Please don’t be mad. I really wanted to stay and chat with you. It was just bad timing, I guess. You had left and I couldn’t wait until you returned. I had to go.”
Lee closed the filing cabinet and walked back to his desk and sat down in his chair. “So what was the emergency?” he asked, finally looking back up at her.
She hesitated, thinking of how to respond, then finally said, “It’s a personal matter.”
Lee smirked as his thoughts fired up in her mind again, causing the throbbing sensation in her head to intensify.
She wants me to open up to her about personal things, but she can’t do the same with me.
Oh no. She didn’t want him to think that. Now he was probably going to clam up and not talk to her anymore. But then she heard his thoughts continue.
I guess it was stupid of me to think she might… No, it’s not the time to let my feelings get in the way. And she’s right, I shouldn’t be mad. If she had to leave, she had to leave. But it’s still not fair that she expects me to talk about personal matters when she won’t.
Melina rubbed at her temple as she stared at him, wondering if she had just heard him correctly. He didn’t want to let his feelings get in the way? It was stupid for him to think that she might, what? Return his feelings? Whoa.
She tried not to look surprised as she mulled everything over. Of course she thought he was attractive, and she did admit yesterday that she cared about him a little bit, but she had never thought of him in that way. Had she? No, her sole interest was to help him so her powers wouldn't kill her. Right? Yes, of course. She couldn’t let her feelings get in the way.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you or don’t want to share things with you,” she said, “but I need someone else’s consent before I can say anything about it.”
Lee nodded. “I understand.”
Melina eyed him skeptically. Did he understand? He wasn’t thinking anything, so she couldn’t tell exactly how he was feeling.
Suddenly he cleared his throat and said, “You know, I’d invite you to have a seat so we could continue to chat, but I have to prepare for a meeting.” He looked back down at his desk and started gathering papers together.
“Okay. I can stop by later. Maybe we could have a late lunch together or—”
“I’m leaving to go out of town after the meeting is over,” Lee said abruptly, not looking up. “I won’t be back until Friday.”
“Okay,” she said again, sounding slightly hurt. He still seems to be angry.
Lee slid his papers into his briefcase and stood up from his chair. “I’m sorry,” he said as he looked over at her. “I just… Let me walk you out.” He walked over to her and placed his hand on her arm.
Melina flinched and tried to take a step back, but it was too late. Another vision of Lee flashed into her mind.
Lee was standing in somebody’s kitchen, yelling at someone who was hidden behind the wall. She took a few steps forward and saw a young woman, who didn’t look much older than Lee, screaming back at him. The woman’s hair was darker than Lee’s, but it still had a hint of that distinct tawny hue. Suddenly, she remembered that Lee had mentioned an older sister. Claire? Was that her? If so, what was he fighting with her about?
All of her visions were silent, so she couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other. She looked around the room to see if she could spot any clues, and that’s when she saw the calendar hanging on the wall. It was open to the month of October, and all the days were crossed off up until the thirty-first. The thirty-first was this coming Friday. Melina looked up at the top of the calendar and confirmed that it was the same year. Holy cow. She actually knew the date. But what time was it going to happen?
There were plates with remnants of sandwiches and chips on them, but that meant it could be lunch or dinner. She looked out the window above the sink and saw that the sun was high up in the sky. They must’ve just had lunch.
What was she supposed to do with the information, though? Was she supposed to stop it? Or maybe she was supposed to witness it. Maybe what they were fighting about was the key to Lee’s real problem. Her eyes darted around the room again as she desperately tried to find anything that might tell her if the woman was indeed Lee’s sister and if they were in her house. But before she even had much of a chance, she was pulled out of the vision and thrown back into the present.
“Are you all right?” Lee asked.
She rocked back onto her foot to balance herself. “Yeah,” she said, wincing at the pain in her head.
“Okay, well, maybe we could meet up for dinner Friday night?”
Melina jerked her head toward him, surprised by his suggestion. He was always turning her down and now he wanted to have dinner with her? Suddenly she recalled his thoughts from earlier and how he had been thinking about his feelings for her. Was a dinner date his way of exploring that possibility? Whatever the case, Melina didn’t care. The more time she had with him, the more opportunities she had to figure out what his main problem was and how to help him with it.
“Sure,” she replied. “That would be nice. But don’t you have any plans for Halloween?”
“You know, I actually forgot that Halloween was this weekend. I don’t even have any candy for the trick-or-treaters.” He chuckled a little at himself as he walked her back downstairs. “So…” he said as they approached the front door. “Can I call you when I get back into town on Friday?”
Again, she was taken by surprise. “Um, sure, yeah. Here,” she said as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small card. “I always carry around a few business cards just in case. I’ll write down my cell phone number on the back.”
Lee retrieved the pen from his shirt’s breast pocket and handed it to her.
After jotting down her number, she handed the card and pen over to him. “So why are you going out of town?”
“To visit family.”
“That should be nice,” Melina said as she smiled at him.
Lee shrugged. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
“Oh.” Melina gave him a quizzical look, unsure of how to respond to that.
“Well then,” Lee said, breaking the silence. “I guess I’ll see you Friday.” He gave her a bashful grin but didn’t look away.
“Friday,” she said, nodding her head. “See you then.”
She spun around and walked out the front door and headed over to her Jeep. That was an interesting turn of events. A pleasant and positive turn of events yet certainly not how she had expected the morning to go. But, as she'd said earlier, if it meant spending more time with him to figure out his problem then she was up for anything. The only thing she needed to do before then was find out where his sister lived. If that really was Claire in her vision then she had a feeling she needed to be there when the events from the vision unraveled.
Chapte
r Eighteen
As Melina was driving home, she decided to stop by Nina’s to pick up lunch for Tessa, Gwen, and herself. That ended up being a horrible mistake, though, as the lunch crowd’s unceasing thoughts only made the throbbing pain in her head worse. Now that the pain was back, she was even more confused as to why it had temporarily disappeared.
She let out a low groan. Everything was so confusing now. She wondered how long it would take before Walter had any luck with the elders. If they were all in on it together then they would definitely all work together to continue to keep it a secret. And then Walter would surely not receive any answers.
She groaned again as she pulled into the parking lot behind the bookstore. “I’d better get inside before the soup gets cold,” she said out loud to herself. She grabbed the bag of food and made her way into the store where she found Tessa and Gwen organizing a book display.
“Hey there,” Tessa said as she looked up at Melina.
“Hi, ladies. I brought soup and sandwiches from Nina’s.” Melina held the bag up in front of her.
“Sounds great! I’m starving,” Tessa exclaimed.
They all made their way into the break room and chatted over turkey sandwiches and vegetable soup. Tessa and Gwen came to the conclusion that Melina needed to do a little research on Claire Atwood. With any luck, she might find her address and maybe even her picture.
After they finished eating, Melina joined in with helping to finish organize the store. It took the rest of the afternoon, and when Tessa and Gwen finally left, Melina ordered herself a pizza. She took her dinner and her laptop and sat down at her kitchen table to do some research on Claire.
After a couple of hours, Melina finally found a current address for his sister but no picture. That proved to be a more difficult task, which she knew it would be. She decided to retire for the evening and try again in the morning. Before she traveled almost two hours away to Lee’s sister’s house to try to witness the confrontation from her vision, she had to be sure that the woman Lee was fighting with was indeed Claire.