Page 84 of Wilde Abandon
Tanya’s eyes went wide, and she sputtered for a second, then said, “If she’ll have you!Seriously!You’re—”
“Going to do anything to convince her to make a life with me.”Fox turned away from Tanya and stared at Melody, his eyes filled with a plea.“Say yes.”
She knew he meant to going to Boston, but she wondered if he was also asking her if she was ready to make a life with him, too.The answer was surprisingly easy and the same to both those questions.“Yes.”
Fox obviously heard it in her voice, because his eyes lit with sheer joy.“Okay.Well, that means I have a lot to do.Plans to make.Things I have to say to you.”He looked around at their surroundings.“Not here.Not now.But soon.”
Tanya fell into the seat at the table near them.“Oh my God.This is not what I expected.”
“You’re everything I ever wanted.”Fox cupped Melody’s face and kissed her right there in the kitchen with the meat sauce she’d made simmering on the stove.
“You didn’t come here to help me.”Tanya’s softly spoken words echoed in the room.“You came here for her.”
Fox shook his head.“Both are true.I am here for you.But I also wanted to apologize to Melody for what I said to her all those years ago.I wanted my best friend back.And now I have her.And you and I get a chance to make some better memories than the ones I’ve carried all these years.”Fox was really trying to connect with his mom.
Too bad she didn’t feel the same.“How are we making memories when you’re off to Boston and you won’t go on a trip like I asked?”
“Because I can’t right now.”He looked from Tanya to Melody, then back again.“I just bought another company and am going to be in the middle of merging the two together over the next several months.That’s partially why I want to go back to Boston for a couple of days, and why I can’t go on a forty-five-day cruise on the Mediterranean.”
Tanya looked thoughtful for a moment.“Then I’ll go without you and be happy that my son gave me such a gift while he’s conquering the tech world.”She scrunched her lips.“That’s the right saying, right?You’re in tech?”
Fox laughed under his breath.“Yes.Programming, to be specific.”
“Right.Computers.And congratulations.It must be really amazing tobuya whole company.”
“It’s a big deal.”Fox glanced at Melody, pride in his eyes and something else.Something that looked a little sheepish, mixed with regret.
The first, Melody understood.“I’m sure the boy who grew up in foster care never dreamed he’d one day own his own company, let alone buy another one.”But the regret upset her.He should be really happy and excited.What did he have to regret about expanding his business?“While we’re on the plane tomorrow, I’d love to hear all the details, so I can better understand what you do.”
Fox’s smile leveled up.“I can do that.”
“Okay, well, I better get the lasagna done.I have some work to do at the ranch before dinner.When we get home later tonight, I’ll have to stop by my place and pack.”
Fox closed the distance between them, took her hands, and squeezed them as he looked her in the eye.“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being you.”
“I only know how to be me.”
“That’s what I love about you.”
It wasn’t lost on her that he saidlove, notlike.
Fox turned to his mom.“Come on.You said your doctor wants you to get more exercise.Let’s go for a walk.”
“It’s too cold out.”Tanya glanced at the trees blowing in the breeze outside the back windows.
“It’s not that bad.I’ll get your sweatshirt.”
Tanya rose, looking slow and a bit frail.“Fine.”
Fox walked out, leaving Melody alone with Tanya.
“I guess you get the trip and I don’t,” she grumbled.
Melody stirred the meat sauce, then pulled a long noodle from the colander and laid it out in the tin pan she’d bought at the store.“You could ask Fox about going to Boston with us.”