Page 63 of Melt With You

‘You made sure of that, Dori. You saved his instruments, and he went on to tie for first in that competition.’

‘And Gael?’ She was curious about the fact that the yuppy bar was no longer next to the theater. That the café remained.

‘You told Bette to talk to him. And she did. She told him about the sting in the works.’

‘But it happened correctly?’ Dori wanted to know everything. ‘Did the van catch fire?’

‘Of course. Chelsea saw to that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She was the one who started the fire in the first place, Dori. It wasn’t an accident, and it wasn’t Dameron. She didn’t want him to go, to leave her. Then with the drugs gone, the sting didn’t work. But the fear of being caught did. Gael gave up that sideline business. Did rehab. Focused on his café. He and Bette settled down and he helped her to buy the beauty store. It’s Bette’s Beauty Box now, or BBB. And Violet took your advice. She went to the Rhode Island School of Design on a scholarship. She’s known for her queer-positive art, because, you know, she and Janie hooked up. They’ve been a couple for fifteen years. And Violet even designed Van’s latest album cover.’

Dori’s head was spinning. ‘Did she know the plan?’ she asked him. ‘Did Violet know?’

Rowan looked sheepish. ‘I told her I wanted to win you back. I didn’t tell her everything that meant. Just the bare bones of the plans.’

‘What did Violet say about it?’ Dori asked.

‘She said to get you this jacket, and to make sure you told her to go the RISD. You did that naturally. I didn’t even have to put the idea in your mind.’

‘Seriously? And Dameron?’ She was asking questions quickly, even as her brain worked hard to process his answers.

Rowan shrugged. ‘Prison.’

Dori said, ‘But I told him. I begged him …’ She thought of their conversation in the café – hours and years before. Why had she believed that what she’d said would make a difference? Simply because she’d hoped so

‘He didn’t go to the gig, Dori. They had to grab another drummer at the last minute. But he straightened up. He went to college. Not a lot of good that did him. He became a white-collar criminal, taking money from the rich to give to himself. He and Chelsea have a son, of course. But they’ve split for good. She’s with Luke Robertson now, and from what Luke told me the last time he was in town, she cracks a mean whip.’

‘Guess there is something to that destiny garbage that my mom’s always going on about after all …’ Dori murmured.

‘One more thing,’ he said, leading her through the stone entrance and out the side to the alley. The graffiti was there. God, it was all there. And right in the center was a heart, DM + RG = TLA. Dori’s heart beat so fast when she saw the letters. She reached out to trace them, her fingertips running over the spray-painted lines.

Who says PDAs are only for teenagers?

Can’t thirty-somethings feel sexy too?

Rowan put his arms around her waist, and Dori turned to face him. She kissed him once more, her heart in her throat, hearing their song playing in her head. ‘I’ll Stop the World and Melt with You’. They had done it. They’d stopped time.

And now – now she was more than ready to start it up once more.

Roll the credits, Dori thought. And let the curtain down.