Forever and Always (36 page)

When Melanie told Lucy about the fact Katie had not only seen Sam but told him about the baby Lucy was furious with Katie. But Melanie made her promise she would say anything because she didn’t want Katie to know what had happened between her and Sam. Lucy reluctantly agreed.

“Where is Dad” Melanie asked Grace.

“He just popped down to the shop for something. Said he wouldn’t be long. Mind you that was about an hour ago”. She replied.

“Is Jamie with him” Melanie asked.

“No he is gone with Tom to deliver the button holes to the church” Grace explained and smiled. “It’s all hand on deck today”.

“We should be going” Sarah announced clapping her hands impatiently. Melanie looked at Grace and rolled her eyes.

“I thought it was meant to Bridezilla, not mother of the Bridezilla “she whispered when Sarah was out of earshot and Grace
burst
into a fit of laughter.

Melanie, Grace and Katie dutifully followed Sarah out the door and towards the car. Melanie was surprised to see Lucy getting out of Alex’s car. When her
eyes
met Lucy’s, Melanie was surprised when Lucy blushed. Immediately her curiosity was peaked. Before she could
asked
what was going on she was ushered into her Mom’s car and the rest were ordered to, as Sarah put it. “Get their useless asses in the car or there would be blood spilt”.

“You are very quiet” Grace said to Melanie as the say next to each other in front of the hairdresser’s stations”. Melanie was relieved that Sarah was placed the furthest away from her. She really didn’t know how much of her Mom she was going to be able to take before she snapped and told her in no uncertain terms where to go.

“Well it’s kind of hard to get a word in with Mom?” Melanie replied ad smiled nervously. She didn’t fancy another round of questions about her and Sam.

“True” Grace nodded in agreement. “But I don’t think it’s just that. And you know
,
I know I am not your Mom but I always thought of you as kind of my daughter too. If you need to talk I can be a good shoulder. I won’t ever judge”.

“Thanks Grace” Melanie replied, truly touched by what she said. She had never thought about her and Grace’s relationship before but it dawned on Melanie. She considered Grace one of her parents too. She wasn’t just her Dad’s wife the way Tom was her Mom’s husband. “You know you mean a lot to me too. I always thought I was lucky to have three amazing parents, not just two”.

Grace reached over and Melanie took her hand and she squeezed it and in that moment both women knew exactly what they each meant to each other.

An hour later Melanie climbed out of her Mom’s car and was greeted by Jamie who told her she looked kind of weird.

“You looked pretty on top but I don’t think the crown goes with your leggings” He explained.

“It’s called a tiara” Lucy explained and ruffled Jamie’s hair. “Wait till you see her in her dress, she will look like a princess”. Jamie scrunched up is face and ran away.

The house was a hive of activity and Melanie found it all a little over whelming. In a rare moment when Sarah wasn’t barking orders to her to do one thing or another, she quietly slipped up the stairs and into her bedroom and slumped down on the bed. God she was already exhausted and the day hadn’t even started yet. Her gaze fell on her dress which was now hanging on her wardrobe door. It was everything she had ever dreamed of but in her dreams it was always Sam that would be standing in the front of the church waiting on her.

“Here you are” Lucy said making her jump as she poked her head around the door. She stepped in and closed the door behind her quietly. She sat down on the bed next to Melanie and took her hand. “How are you doing Missus?”

“Mom is wrecking my head” Melanie laughed and sighed. “But otherwise I am good”.

“Ok” Lucy sighed and nudged Melanie with her shoulder. “Now tell me how you are really feeling”.

“I honestly don’t know how I feel” Melanie said sadly. “In my heart I really though he would have at least called. But I guess it’s really over now. He really doesn’t want me”.

“Why don’t you call him” Lucy asked.

“And say what” Melanie cried. “Hey Sam I am planning on marrying a man I don’t really love at 2 o’clock today but, I was just wondering if you had any better offers”.

“Well maybe not those exact word” Lucy laughed.
“But maybe something along those lines”.

“I need to just face it Lucy” Melanie sighed deeply. “I missed my chance. It’s too late”.

Suddenly Melanie could hear her Mom calling her name sounding almost like a woman possessed.

“Grant me patients” she groaned and shoots Lucy a big smile. “I am going to kill this woman today”.

By 1 o’clock the house was heaving with some close friends and families. Melanie was deposited away up into her room and instructed that her bridesmaid would be with here to help her get dressed.

Finally Katie and Lucy both arrived in Melanie’s room dressed in their deep purple knee length brides maid dresses with a straight cut bust line and spaghetti straps. Melanie had left them to decide on the dresses themselves and apparently after several arguments they settled on these dresses and Melanie loved them.

“Wow you both look amazing” she exclaimed as they both took turns giving her a little twirl. She produced two small velvet boxes and handed each of the girls one each. They both opened them and found a pair of diamond studs.

“Oh my God Melanie” Lucy exclaimed. “They are amazing”.

“They are real” Katie cried and threw her arms around Melanie’s neck and in that moment Melanie forgave her for what happened with Sam. She knew her friend only did what she thought was the best thing to do. “They must have cost a fortune”.

“Whatever the cost you two are worth it” Melanie replied and smiled but she could feel the tears begin to pool in her eyes. “You guys have been there for me through some pretty shit things and you never once complained. You were my two shining lights. I would have been so lost without you both”.

“Don’t start with the water works” Lucy said and brushed tears from her own eyes. “I know the makeup girl said this mascara was water proof but let’s not try it out just yet”.

The two girls finally helped Melanie into her dress and were just about finished when Sarah appeared at the door.

“Oh God” she exclaimed as her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes filled with unshed tears. “You look simple stunning”.

“Thanks Mom” Melanie replied and smile and for the first time today it was a genuine smile.

“We should leave you alone” Lucy said nudging Katie towards the door.

“Can you go and get Alex girls” Sarah said as the girls walked out the door then she turned back to Melanie again and hugged her tightly. “I can’t believe my baby has grown into such a beautiful young woman”.

“Thanks Mom” Melanie replied. “Must be good genes because you look beautiful too” Sarah was dressed in a soft green two piece suit with a beautiful cream silk top underneath.

There was a light knock on the door.

“That will be your Dad” Sarah said as she walked towards the door. “I think I will leave you two alone. She opened the door and stepped out before Alex walked into the room and stop dead when he saw Melanie.

“You are stunning” he said as he stood and looked at Melanie in awe. “I have never been prouder then I am right at this moment”. Finally he kissed Melanie’s cheek and then hugged her tightly.

“Thanks Daddy” Melanie replied. “You look pretty handsome yourself in your suit”.

“I like that” Alex replied. “It’s been too long since I last heard you call me that”.

Melanie smiled and Alex held out his arm to Melanie.

“Are you ready” he said with a smiled that Melanie really didn’t think she would see from him today.

“Yep” she replied and took a deep breath. Alex lead her from the bedroom she had spent so many nights in as a kid and down the stairs to everyone one who were all waiting patiently for their first glimpse of the bride. There was a course of oohs and aahs and an explosion of flashes as everyone tried to get a picture of her. She spent the next fifteen minute
s
posing for what seemed like a million photographs.

Then finally the crowd started to leave and make their way towards the church. The first car arrived to take Sarah, Grace, Katie, Lucy and Jamie to the church. Lucy hung back as the others made the way to the car and she turned to Melanie and smiled at her but the tears were dancing in her eyes. She hugged Melanie tightly for a few moments more then she should and when she released her the tears were freely trickling down her face.

“I love you Melanie O’Leary” Lucy sniffed. “I hope you find your happiness”.

Then she hugged her one more time before she headed out the door and left Melanie alone with her father.

“That was weird” she said as they watched the car pull away from the front of the house.

“Yeah I guess so” Alex said looking suddenly nervous. “Right now we have about a half hour before the search parties will be deployed”.

“What are you talking about” Melanie said looking at him totally confused.

“As beautiful as you look Melanie I want you to go upstairs and get that dress off you as quickly as you can” he said taking her arms and guiding her to the stairs.

“What, why?”
Melanie said looking at him like he had sprouted a second head. He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a passport and what looked like airline ticket
s
and handed them to her.

“What is this?” Melanie said looking down at the items in his hand.

“It’s your passport and a ticket” Alex said calmly looking her in the eyes. “There is a flight leaving for Boston at a quarter passed four”.

“What, Dad I can’t” she cried.

“You can and you will” he replied. “I can’t stand by and see my girl make the second biggest mistake in her life when there is still time to fix the first”.

Melanie stared at her Dad in complete disbelief.

“Lucy knew, didn’t she” Melanie said her eyes falling down to the ticket in her head.

“Yes she did” Alex replied. “And James will be here in a few minutes to take you to the airport so quick go. James has your cases in his car already. Lucy and I went over this morning and packed your things”.

Melanie threw her arms around her Dad and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you” she whispered. She had never loved him more than she did right at that moment.

When Sam woke up on that Saturday morning his head felt like the whole cast of River Dance were having rehearsals in his head. The bottle of Jack Daniels that seemed like a great idea the night before hadn’t turned out to be such a good idea after all.

His closed his eyes and the image of Melanie jumped straight into his head, just like it had a million other times over the past week. He missed her so much. He had tried so hard to push her out of his head but it was impossible. He loved her as much as he tried not to.

He thought of their huge argument the Saturday before. He remembered how heartbroken she looked before he walked out the door and the memory made his heart ache. He had lived out the argument in his head over and over again and something just wouldn’t sit right with him. He thought of everything she had said about how hurt and angry with him she was back then. But what he saw in her eyes was something else. He couldn’t quite figure it out.

Something else was bothering him too.
When he thought back to the night of her birthday.
The night he had finally got up the courage to text her after weeks of nothing, she had promised to call him back but didn’t. He had waited for days, pleading with her to talk to him but there was nothing.

He thought of what she said about how she had seen the picture of him and Carolyn and that’s what stopped her from calling and that’s what had pushed her to get rid of their baby. But the fundraiser had been nearly three weeks after her birthday so why hadn’t she called during that time. That’s what he couldn’t figure out.

He quickly pushed these thoughts out of his head and climbed out of bed and headed to his bathroom for a shower. He needed to try and put Melanie behind him and sort out his life. Lying in bed going over their argument again and again was getting him nowhere fast. First thing he needed to do was go clear out his locker in work finally.

After he left Melanie apartment the week before he rang the hospital and told them he wouldn’t be coming back then he headed straight to the airport. All he had with him was his wallet and passport and their tickets to Boston. He stood at the check in desk and just stared at Melanie’s ticket for about ten minutes. Finally he told the girl behind the desk that something had come up and he wouldn’t be catching the flight.

He booked three more flights that week but each time when he got to the check in desk, he just couldn’t. After his third attempt on the Thursday before, he found himself outside Melanie’s apartment. He had no idea how he had ended up there but when he did he knew he wanted to see her.

But as he sat in the car he saw her car pull up and watched as Melanie climbing out and heading towards her door. He was devastated just how sad Melanie looked. He wanted to jump out of the car and run to her but his legs just wouldn’t move. He had done this to her. She looked completely broken. He had promised her he would never break her heart again and that was exactly what he had done and he felt so ashamed. She deserved better and so he knew then he needed to finally let her go.