Page 20 of The Scent of Salt & Sand

The vision was gone, leaving Melody awash in joy and heartbreak. “I can’t do what you do.”

Don’t let them take him.

Backed by another’s, her voice was stronger, more confident. “I’m not a monster!”

She tore away from Harmony and dizzily stumbled down the hall to the safety of her room.

A part of her knew that woman. Felt the deep love and the unbreakable connection only attached to a parent. Melody had that devotion to her mom. And now she ached the same way for this ghost of a woman.

She flipped on the bathroom light and filled the sink with cool water. She splashed handfuls on her face before picking up a neatly folded washcloth. She dipped a corner of the cloth in the basin and wiped away the thick layers of makeup suffocating her face. With each pass of the cloth, her skin peeked through, pink with freedom. Her breath caught in her throat as she wiped away the last remaining lines of color. Her fingers traced the smooth, taut skin around her eyes and lips, as she stared into the frightened emerald irises looking back at her.

“What’s happening to me?”

Chapter Eight

Dean tried to hurry after Melody, but the sand seemed to have a life of its own, trapping his feet and sending him to his knees. “I’m fucking soaked again, and again she got away from me,” he muttered to himself. Streetlights shaped like upside-down teardrops cast enough light that he could track Melody’s progress as she sprinted through Aquatic Park. He shuffled to shore and ineffectively wiped at the sand coating his soaked pant legs. When he looked up, she was jogging across Beach Street, and then disappearing into Ghirardelli Square. “Well, at least this time I know where she lives and where she works.” Determinedly, he bent to pick up both her shoes and his own, and began to follow Melody.

What the hell had happened? Had he been too forceful with her? He hadn’t meant to be pushy, but she’d felt so damn good in his arms. And she’d seemed to be enjoying herself. He sighed and shook his head. Maybe it was time he gave in, and listened to what he’d been told all these years—to stop trying to understand women.

“Women,” he huffed. “It’s like they’re a completely different species.”

He continued slogging through Aquatic Park, mulling over the knowledge his Nana worked to instill in him. “Find The One, mio bambino, and spend your life trying your best to love her.” Nana said that was all any man could do. He’d told her that was an old-fashioned way to look at women, but she’d smiled that foxlike grin of hers and said, “Old fashion or old wisdom? Ah, you will see when you finally fall in love.”

Dean stopped in the middle of the park like he’d hit a glass wall.

Jesus Christ, am I in love?

Dumbfounded, Dean just stood there, staring at the cream-colored lights that spelled out GHIRARDELLI SQUARE.

“No, not possible. I’ve only known her for a day.” He brushed a sandy hand through his hair. “We’ve only been out once. Sure it was amazing, and also a little confusing, but it was only one date. It can’t happen that fast, can it?”

But there it was—the knot in his gut that he’d never had before. Not when he’d thought he’d fallen in love with Kristi in high school. Not when he’d almost gotten engaged to Adrienne just before he’d graduated from the police academy. Not ever before in his life. The truth was that no woman had ever made him feel the things Melody was making him feel, but whether that meant love or lust, or both, he wasn’t sure.

“Well, I’m going to find out.”

He kicked into a jog, hurrying to Beach Street, and fidgeted anxiously while a line of empty tour buses crawled past. He cursed, sure that Melody had already reached the Fairmont, and rushed across the street. He was halfway up the stairs that led to the heart of the square and the posh Fairmont Residences when the huge clock tower began to chime…and chime…and chime.

Midnight wasn’t actually late for a date, but this date was unusual because they’d been together since early afternoon. First dates never lasted that long! Dean slowed, looking up at the exclusive condos for the rich and famous—and Melody’s large extended family. There were some lights on—even some fire pits still burning on private balconies—but what did he think he was going to do, throw rocks at windows hoping to find her?

“Oh, yeah, that’d definitely impress her,” he said to himself. No, if he was going to see Melody again, and he was absolutely going to see Melody again, he needed a plan. A great one. Heading back to his nearby condo, confidence swelled within him as he pulled out his phone and pressed Nana.

“Buonasera, mio bambino!” Nana’s voice, rich in years and love, answered before there were two rings.

“Hi, Nana,” Dean said. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Of course not. You know I’m a night owl. I don’t trust anyone who goes to bed before midnight. What is it, bambino?”

“I need advice,” Dean said.

“Financial or female?”

“The latter.”

“Fantastico! I’ll chill the limoncello glasses. See you in a moment?”

“I’ll be there before the glasses are cold.”

• • •