Forever Starts Tomorrow (11 page)

‘Maybe.’ Marnie stepped in again, probably aware of his thoughts. She and Melanie seemed smitten with the boy. He knew that his sister was eager to start her own family, six years into her marriage. She’d complained to him often enough about how unexpectedly difficult it was to wait and be disappointed month after month. He didn’t really want to hear the details, but Marnie was very open about her struggles.

‘So, if I stay with you, it’s like a visit with a relative, right?’ José peeked again at Scott's phone, which was lying on the table. ‘And I could really see the robots?’

‘Sure.’ That was the territory he knew well, thank God. If José showed interest in his work, they would get along just fine. ‘I’ll give you a private tour. Maybe you can watch our research team conduct some of the tests. It could be really fun, I think.’

Half an hour later, they said their goodbyes. They'd talked over the details of José’s visit, and his grandmother seemed relieved. But the long chat had taken its toll on her, and Scott felt guilty as he observed her exhausted, sunburned face and sunken eyes. Her son would be coming soon to pick up José, and she’d get some sleep then. Tomorrow Scott would pick up the boy after work, and their week at his house would start.

‘That was one happy kid, if you ask me.’ Marnie laughed softly as they climbed into the car. Her black-brown hair picked up reddish hues in the evening sunlight. ‘I bet he’ll start packing right away.’

‘I don’t think he has too many things to pack.’ Scott sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. ‘You’ve seen the place, Mar.’

He started the car, and the engine woke up with a soft purr. He cast a quick glance at Melanie, sitting at his side. She was very quiet, lost in thought as they wove their way through traffic. He didn’t like not knowing what she was thinking. Usually, her face was like an open book, and he liked it that way, thank you very much. It was Melanie who complained that he was emotionally unavailable, not the other way around. Scott could tell what she wanted and liked just by looking into her open, soft face, whose smile was infectious in the direst of circumstances.

‘Why don’t you drop us off at a store, so we can stock up on things a kid his age might need?’ his sister suggested, and he had no good response. Damn. He’d prefer to talk to Melanie and maybe even have early dinner together, but he was needed back at work. Every minute with Melanie kept him away from a crucial phase of intensive testing. He needed to be there, his personal issues no excuse for leaving other people in limbo—even on a Sunday.

He watched the two of them walk away, the sight of Melanie’s tall, slim silhouette making his heart skip a beat, as it had from the moment he laid eyes on her in the room full of people. It hasn't changed, he thought as he drove off, his mind and heart battling again, as they had a million times before. He couldn’t let her have that kind of power over him. His long fingers tightened around the steering wheel. He’d seen what happened when people cared too much, leaving themselves vulnerable to pain and betrayal. Keeping a tight lid on his feelings about relationships had been his motto ever since he started dating in high school. The fact that Melanie managed to move him in a way he’d never even considered possible didn’t change anything. On the contrary, Scott had to watch himself even more.

EIGHT

‘Mel, anyone home?’ Impatient and annoyed, the voice sneaked into her ears as she was drifting into not-so-happy thoughts. She blinked and looked up. Sam stared at her accusingly from across the table. Her shopping for José done in an hour, she'd agreed to a last-minute invitation to dinner at one of those small, cozy restaurants that lined the streets of downtown. It was amazing how well she got along with Marnie; their teamwork was rewarding and fun—much more so than the inquisition-style meal. The arugula salad churned in her stomach. If only she was better at coming up with excuses. Scott could do it so well, his charming voice getting him out of meetings, phone calls, and other obligations if he didn’t feel like committing to them at the moment.

‘Look, you're sitting here with this sick look of a puppy who lost her owner.’ Sam sipped her white wine, her eyes disapproving. ‘I thought you and Scott were done. Now, you’re running his errands?’

Sam had seen her shopping with Marnie and was interested in the bags they dragged to the cab. Melanie didn’t really feel like sharing their purpose or content, Scott’s family situation being too private to discuss with someone who so clearly didn’t like him. She could already imagine the feast the press would have once someone leaked that his late father had left him a brother. Scott hated the limelight and any kind of attention. Still, he seemed to know that his new family situation couldn’t be swept under the rug.

‘I'm friends with Marnie, Sam.’ She sighed, reaching for her own glass. ‘We get along really well. As for Scott, I never said we were done—just trying to work out things. Is there something wrong with that?’

‘Not as long as you realize that he stood you up, darling.’ Sam never minced words, but Scott seemed to bring out the worst in her otherwise not very vindictive nature. ‘He lied and dated his super-hot ex-girlfriend, Mel. What else does he have to do for you to finally see him for what he really is?’

Served her right for sharing what happened at the restaurant. Melanie had regretted talking about it the moment the words slipped off her tongue, but she was miserable and disappointed, her usual caution thrown out the window. She needed to talk to someone who cared about her, and Sam—even with her loose mouth and dislike of Scott—was at the top of that list.

‘I haven’t forgotten anything.’ She let her fingers trace the pattern on the table, her nails scraping against the crisp tablecloth. Did Sam really think she was a total idiot? Of course, she knew that Scott was far from perfect. She wasn’t ready to just forget everything and pretend it had never happened. Still, Dolores’s visit shook her up in a way she hadn't expected. She knew it was the same for Scott. As smart and brilliant as he was, he didn’t see that one coming, and his usual façade of control and confidence slipped a little. It was just a tiny dent in his perfect armor, but she would take it without a second thought.

‘So what now?’ Melanie's friend insisted, her tone concerned. ‘Are you two getting back together? Don’t tell me he already persuaded you to move back in?’

‘No, of course not.’ She twisted a strand of her hair, a habit she'd picked up in childhood every time she was really nervous. It drove her stepdad crazy, so he convinced her mom to take her to a hairdresser and chop off her long golden locks. For a year she looked like a boy, skinny and awkward. Her hair, her best and most comforting feature, was gone, and she watched herself in the mirror in horror, the face of a stranger staring right back at her. She had sworn to herself, there and then, that when she was old enough to move out, she’d have it really long again.

‘What, then?’ Sam wasn’t giving up, as usual. Unless Melanie gave her a detail or two, she might well sit here for another hour, squirming like a worm on a fishing hook.

‘I don’t know what's going to happen, OK?’ She decided on the truth, tired of skirting around the issue. ‘I know you really care about me, Sam, but I have no answers. All I can say is that Scott isn’t at all what you think him to be.’ She finished her wine with one impatient gulp, the acerbic liquid making her grimace in displeasure. ‘He is… different. Maybe worse and maybe better in some of the aspects, but I do care about him. I don’t want to lie to you or to apologize for it, Sam. This is the man I love, and that’s all there is to it. Whether we work things out or not remains to be seen.’

‘Wow, that was some speech.’ Sam grinned. ‘Well, to each their own, I guess. I just don’t want to see you hurt, that’s all.’

They ate in silence for a moment, until Sam’s eyes widened, and she waved excitedly at someone behind Mel’s back. Melanie turned around, curious to find out the reason for her agitation. Her eyes came to rest on a tall, blond man, who was just starting to make his way toward them. His white clothes and deep tan made him look exotic and dangerous. He seemed unaware of his sinuous grace. Multiple women’s eyes paused on him a tad longer than necessary, and he paid no attention to them. Instead his eyes zeroed in on Melanie’s with instant accuracy.

‘I can’t believe it! Both my favorite women together!’ He was standing over them, his teeth insanely white in his face. ‘Melanie, it’s been way too long.’

He didn’t really wait for any kind of invitation. Instead, he grabbed a chair from another table and plopped into it with a satisfied sigh.

‘That’s better,’ he declared, his eyes on Melanie. ‘Gosh, I missed you!’

Eric. He hadn’t changed one bit in those two years he’d been away. He had the same exuberance and cheerful carelessness that had drawn her to him in the first place. They'd dated casually for a few months, their relationship cut short when he decided to take on a job in Thailand. He had never even assumed she might want to go with him. There was no question about them being an item, really. She remembered the sense of loss and confusion, as she listened to his excited explanation that he needed to go and discover himself, away from Western civilization.

‘Great to see you too.’ She waited for some sense of discomfort as she watched his handsome face, which hadn't changed a bit in those two years. She'd cared for him at one point of her life, to the degree that she began to imagine their life together. He was everything she’d never be, she thought back then—adventurous, daring, and imaginative. While her life had taught her to be prepared and grounded in reality, Eric gave her the illusion of possibilities that were out of her comfort zone. With him, she would become a different being, ready to throw caution into the wind and enjoy every moment as if it were her last. Well, the problem was it wasn’t the last, or even close to it. The somber realization hit her when she almost lost her job, her preoccupation with Eric taking its toll on the quality of her work.

“You look great.’ He was watching her carefully, his blue eyes bright with a joy that in the olden days would have been irresistibly infectious. Yet, in the time that had passed, she'd learned that his laid-back attitude didn’t translate into reliability of any kind. ‘Like a leaf in the wind’ was his motto, and she had to agree that it fit him.

‘Thanks, you’re not too shabby yourself.’ She didn’t have to lie. Eric was one of the best-looking people she’d ever seen, hands down.
Nowhere near Scott
, a voice in her head whispered, and she bit back a smile, the comparison definitely favoring the latter. Eric’s boyish charm was pale in comparison with the raw energy that emanated from Scott, regardless of whether he was at work or with her. Like a magnet, he affected the environment around him without even trying. She couldn’t imagine him floating aimlessly through life.

‘I heard that congratulations are in order. I accidentally ran into your stepdad the other day, and he told me about your plans for the future.’ He dipped his head ever so slightly. His longish blond hair was even lighter than she remembered.

He probably spent some time on the beach, she had to think, remembering his love of surfing and kayaking.

‘Getting married and all. Wow, who would have thought.’

You should have, a while ago, she felt tempted to say. Wasn’t that the idea behind any kind of dating? Yet, she couldn’t be upset with his total lack of understanding. If they hadn't broken up, she never would have met Scott. The sheer thought that she and Scott could have missed each other sent tremors down her back. That was what a real disaster would feel like. Every color and fragrance dulled as she contemplated the 'what if.' It didn’t matter that their relationship had hit rocks at the moment. Even though she had definitely exited the starry-eyed stage where she was content to just be his fiancée and had started demanding more, she couldn’t afford to lose him. She needed to have him open to her more, she thought sadly, to trust her with not only the parts he had perfectly groomed and prepared for the world to see, but also his most raw, unedited self. It wouldn’t be easy, but she was ready to fight for a relationship. She wouldn’t give up. Ever. Scott was in her life, and that was all that really counted.

‘Thank you.’ She hoped Sam would somehow understand she didn’t want her to barge in and mention anything about the breakup. It was better to keep things simple, especially since Eric would not be on her wedding-guest list anyway. He came and went, weaving his way into and out of the lives of others, never willing to settle down and stay longer. Come to think of it, she had a feeling he’d get along fabulously with Vanessa.

‘Scott Masden?’ Eric cocked his head, a playful gesture that usually melted female hearts. She was sure he knew it. ‘Moving up in the world, are we?’

‘Depending on how you see it,’ Sam piped in, saving Melanie from answering. Which was pretty good, since she was getting sick of people making it sound as if she dated Scott for his status. Especially the ones who she hoped knew her well enough to know she’d never settle for money. Her stepdad had been the first of that group, but it had expanded as time passed by.

‘I heard that he's very difficult.’ Eric’s curiosity was awakened by Sam's comment. His long fingers went to the silver necklace he was wearing, absentmindedly rolling the turquoise beads. ‘I thought you didn’t do complicated, Mel.’

‘I changed.’ She smiled wryly, refusing to get baited. There was no way on earth she’d try explaining to either of them what she saw in Scott. Some of it was a mystery, even to her. ‘Are you back for good?’ Melanie changed the topic, diverting the attention from her to him. ‘What’s next?’

‘Yeah, I’m back.’ He was oddly tight-lipped about his plans. The Eric she remembered loved nothing better than to talk about the future. ‘Got a few leads around here; we'll see how it goes. I'll probably stick around for a while, if all goes well.’

Before his departure, Eric had worked for an upstart advertising company. He had always been good with words; he'd told her so with disarming honesty that had nothing to do with bragging, the first time they went out. Working for a place that made a profit by convincing people to buy products was a no-brainer.