Page 44 of Wilde Abandon
Tanya nodded.“Good.”
Surprise burst in her chest.“What?”She never expected that response.
“Does it stun you to think I want my son to be happy?”
“As far as I can tell, you only care about yourself.”
Tanya shook her head, lips tight with condescension.“You don’t know me.You think you do, but that’s from a child’s perspective.You don’t know how trapped I felt.There was no escaping his father.Sometimes you have to play the hand you’re dealt.”
“That’s bullshit.When your husband went to jail, you could have divorced him.You would have been free.Instead, you welcomed the viper back into your home the second he was released.Why?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” she snapped.“Some things aren’t always what they seem.”
Melody didn’t know what to make of that.She wouldn’t have made the choices Tanya had made.But she also hadn’t been in Tanya’s shoes, so who knew what choices she’d have made to keep a roof over her head and food on the table.Tanya had chosen to work for a local house-cleaning service and as cashier at the tire store on the weekends.
Huh.Josh worked there for his father.That’s probably how she found Brian and whatever drugs she was using to dull the pain now.
Since Tanya had been expecting Fox to show up, she’d probably stashed her stash.
None of that mattered.
“Some people never change.”Melody held Tanya’s gaze.“I hope you have.For Fox’s sake.”
“He’s a little too big to let me get away with knocking him around.”
Melody fumed.“There are a lot of ways to hurt someone.”She headed for the back door.“Enjoy the donuts.”She walked to the barn, thinking about how her father had found Fox out there nearly frozen and dead the day she’d begged him to check on Fox.
No, she’d never forgive Tanya for what she’d done.She’d never forget.
And if Tanya tried to use and abuse Fox now, she’d protect Fox at all costs, even if that meant pushing him to go back to Boston to keep him away from Tanya.
Chapter twelve
FoxknockedonMelody’sdoor, hoping it wasn’t too early.She was supposed to come by his place last night.He’d tried to wait up, but fell asleep sometime around one a.m.She’d left him two text messages.The first telling him she’d knocked and to answer the door.The second saying she wasn’t going to wake the whole building pounding on his door and she was going home and to call her later.
He hated that he’d missed her after he was the one who practically begged her to come to his place again.He wanted more of what they had the night before.And he blew it.
They’d barely gotten any sleep that night, he’d worked all day on multiple projects, then he had spent dinner and most of the evening catching up on work from the office with Max.Working remotely meant he had to rely on others at the office to take up the slack his absence created, but the company was his, and he was responsible for everything, so he needed to look over all the major projects, expenses, and income still.
The door opened and everything inside him lit up with warmth and happiness.Melody stood there in a pair of flannel boxers, a black tank top, her hair a wild mass of waves, and her eyes squinting against the bright afternoon light.“Hey.”She yawned and pressed the back of her hand to her gaping mouth.
Then her eyes went wide on the to-go cup and bakery bag in his hand.She snatched both.“Please tell me these are for me.”
He chuckled.“All yours, sweetheart.”
She took a sip of the caramel macchiato and sighed.“Delish.”She opened the bag and groaned.The smell of cinnamon filled the air around them.“That is the biggest cinnamon roll I’ve ever seen.”
“I made sure it was the biggest one.”
She finally really looked at him, then narrowed her gaze.“You’re too nice to me.”
“Not possible.And I owe you an apology.”
She pulled out the cinnamon roll and took a huge bite.“Why?”
He barely understood the word, her mouth was so full, and a dollop of icing clung to the corner of her lip, distracting him.He wanted to lick it off.So he gave in to that compulsion, leaned in, and brushed the tip of his tongue over the sweetness that was her and the icing mixed together.
Her breath hitched.She set the coffee on the entry table beside her, where she’d also tossed the bakery bag, grabbed him by the front of his thermal, and pulled him inside, kicking the door shut.“How do you make me feel this way?”