I Will Always Love You (12 page)

“Stefan and
Elke
got divorced a few months ago, Melissa,” Brigitte
interjected.

Melissa looked at her cousin and back to Stefan. “Oh, I’m sorry, Stefan.
I didn’t know.”

“It was a long time coming. I tried to hold on to something that should have
ended years ago.”

Melissa sat quietly and tried to process all of this information.
Stefan is
divorced
, she thought. Melissa felt as if her heart was going to beat right out
of her chest. She thought that Stefan looked so much better in person then the
picture on the back of his novel jackets. Over the years, she read every book
that Stefan wrote. She loved the mystery stories that he wrote and was so
proud of the success he achieved.

“Rolf, I love this song. Come and dance with me.” Brigitte stood up and
waited for her husband.

Rolf looked at Melissa. “Is this okay?”

Melissa smiled at her cousin-in-law. “Yes. I’ll be fine.”

She watched them make their way to the crowded dance floor, than
Melissa turned to Stefan. She was so nervous and wasn’t sure what to say to
him. “I don’t know what to say to you.”

“What about a debate on the Beatles versus Pink Floyd?”

Melissa smiled at the memory of that night so very long ago. “Why should
I start the debate again when I won?”

“Won? I thought we called a truce?”

“I just let you think we called a truce. But I really won.”

Stefan laughed and took Melissa’s hand in his own. She looked into his
eyes and was unsure of what she saw there.

“Melissa, would you go for a walk with me?”

Melissa hesitated and swallowed audibly. “Yes.”

Chapter 20

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Finally Stefan said, “I think my
English must be a lot worse than I thought.”

Melissa looked over at Stefan. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I thought we made plans. But then I found out that was not the
truth.”

Melissa quickly looked down as she once again berated herself for writing
the letter to Stefan. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry that I wrote that letter to you all those years ago.”

“You only wrote the truth,” he declared.

“No, I didn’t. It was all lies.”

“Why would you write the letter if it was full of lies?” Stefan asked as they
walked into the town park and sat down on a bench.

Melissa turned and looked at the man that she was still in love with.
“Because my mother and my sister told me that our relationship would never
work. My mother said that I could never be happy living in a small town in
Germany. She said that I would have a difficult time living here because my
German is very limited. After hearing all of those things for several weeks, I
began to believe them. So, I wrote you that letter and told you to forget all
about me.”

“What?” He stared at Melissa. “You took it upon yourself to throw our
relationship away just because it would be difficult for us to be together.”

“Yes,” Melissa whispered as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

Stefan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Did you not think that I
would be hurt by that letter?”

“Yes, I knew that you would be hurt. But I also knew that you would get
over it and move on. And that’s exactly what you did. I may have hurt you for
a few weeks or a few months, but I hurt myself for a lifetime. Writing that
letter to you was the biggest mistake of my life.”

“What do you mean?” Stefan looked intently at Melissa.

She looked Stefan in the eye and took a deep breath. “I mean that I’m still
in love with you.”

“You are?”

Nodding her head, she said, “Yes. I never stopped loving you. I’ve thought
about you almost
every day
for the past ten years. Some days were harder
than
others. Your birthday and Christmas were difficult days for me. And every
New Year’s Eve, I would pray to God to keep you safe and happy for another
year.”

“I had no idea that you still felt that way about me.”

“Now you do.” She hesitated for a minute to let Stefan process this. “How
do you feel about me?”

“I love you still as I loved you then.”

Tears sprang to Melissa’s eyes. Stefan said what she only hoped he would.
“I never stopped loving you. I’ve spent the last ten years wondering how you
were and if you were safe and happy. I spent all those years questioning what
my life would have been like if I hadn’t written that letter to you. My life
would have been full of love and happiness. There would not have been so
much pain and anguish.”

“Was your life really that bad?”

“Yes,” Melissa said as she looked down at her hands. “I never should have
married Jack.” She looked back at Stefan. “My marriage was the second
biggest mistake I ever made.”

“Why was your marriage so unhappy?”

“Jack was an alcoholic and sometimes he could be very mean.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jack was abusive to me.”

“Do you mean that he hit you?”

“Yes, among other things.”

“What other things?”

“There was also emotional and sexual abuse.”

Stefan muttered, “
Der
Tyrann
.”
The bastard
.
“You must have loved him
very much in order to stay with him through all of that.”

“I never loved Jack,” Melissa proclaimed.

“Then why would you stay with him?”

“Because I couldn’t have you,” she blurted out. “When I realized that you
were in love with
Elke
, I knew that I could never get you back. That’s when
I decided to marry the first man that came along. That man just happened to
be Jack.”

“I am sorry that your marriage was so unhappy.”

Melissa shrugged her shoulders. “I survived it. And I think I’m a stronger
person because of it. Besides, I got a wonderful daughter out of the marriage.”

“How old is your daughter?”

Melissa smiled at the mention of Stefanie. “She’s five years old.”

“Did she come to Germany with you?”

“No. She’s home with my parents.”

Stefan nodded his head. “Do you have a picture of her with you?”

“Of course I do.” Melissa gave him a big smile. She was more than happy
to show off her precious daughter. She pulled out three pictures of Stefanie
and handed them to Stefan.

Stefan studied the pictures. “She is beautiful. She looks just like you.”

“Thank you,” Melissa whispered as she blushed slightly.

Stefan glanced up at Melissa, smiled at her then turned his attention back
to the pictures. “What is her name?” he asked as he looked on the back of one
of the pictures.

Stefan lifted his eyes to meet Melissa’s startled gaze. “You named your
daughter Stefanie?”

Melissa hesitated slightly. “Yes.”

“This is not how Stefanie is spelled in America, is it?”

“No,” she slowly responded.

Understanding dawned on Stefan’s face. “Did you name your daughter
after me?”

“Yes. It was my way of having a part of you with me forever, even if it was
only your name.” She hesitated, than asked, “Are you angry?”

“Angry? How could I be angry? I am very flattered.”

“Good.”

Stefan handed the pictures back to Melissa. “How long are you here in
Germany?”

“Only for six more days.”

“Do you have a boyfriend waiting for you in America?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “No. I haven’t been in a relationship
since Jack died.”

“Why not?”

“Because no man could ever measure up to you,” she said candidly.

“Oh.” Stefan wasn’t sure how to respond to that statement. “Would it be
all right
if I were to see you in those six days?”

Melissa was feeling bold. “How often do you want to see me?”

Stefan felt as if ten years just magically vanished. “Every minute of every
day.”

Melissa grinned at the man she was still in love with. “I think I can handle
that.”

Chapter 21

True to his word, Stefan spent every waking moment of every day with
Melissa. They went sightseeing, shopping, and had lunch in small cafes.
They spent the evenings with Brigitte and Rolf and other friends. On
Melissa’s last night in Germany, Stefan made her dinner at his new home in
Knauppshausen.

As she sat in Stefan’s kitchen, Melissa watched the love of her life take the
lasagna out of the oven. She smiled and thought wistfully that she could get
used to this every day for the rest of her life.

Seeing the smile on Melissa’s face, Stefan asked, “What are you thinking
about?”

“Oh, I was just thinking how happy these last few days have been.”

“I have been very happy, too.” He carried the food to the table and turned
back to Melissa. “Come and eat.”

They spent the next hour eating a leisurely dinner and talking and
laughing about everything. When the dishes were done, Stefan took their
wine glasses into the living room. Melissa followed, sat down next to him on
the couch and pulled her legs under her and got comfortable. She looked
around the room and became sad.

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing,” she lied as she picked up her wine glass and tried to put a smile
on her face.

“I do not believe you.”

“Let’s not spoil the short time we have left.” She tried to change the
subject. “Dinner was delicious.”

“I am glad that you liked it.” Stefan looked intently at Melissa.

She gave him a nervous smile. “What?”

“I was just thinking, like I have thought so many times before, what it
would be like to make love to you.”

“Oh.” Melissa looked down at her wine glass in her hand and blushed.

“Have you ever thought about the same thing?”

She looked up at the blue eyes that still made her heart do a flip flop. “Of
course I have. In fact, I used to berate myself for not making love with you ten
years ago. I thought that if I had gotten pregnant than my parents would have
no other choice but to allow me to come back to Germany and marry you.”

Stefan smiled a sad smile. “I was devastated when I read your letter. I
could not figure out what I did to make you write those things.”

“Oh, Stefan, I’m so sorry,” Melissa cried. “I wish I could undo the last ten
years, but I can’t.”

“I know. At least I have you here now.” Stefan moved closer to Melissa.
He took the wine glass out of her hand and sat it on the coffee table and took
her in his arms. He held her for a few moments then kissed her deeply.

Melissa felt as if the past ten years just fell away.

Stefan lifted his head to gaze into her eyes. “Do you want to go to my
bedroom?” he asked huskily.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Stefan took her by the hand and led her to his bedroom. When he closed
the door, Melissa couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Stefan saw the look on her face. “We do not have to do this if you do not
want to.”

Melissa smiled shyly. “I do want to. It’s just that I’m nervous.”

“You do not have to be nervous with me. You are safe with me.”

Melissa immediately felt relieved as Stefan took her in his arms. He kissed
her tenderly as he pulled her closer to him. Melissa wrapped her arms around
his neck as the kiss
deepened. Stefan’s hands caressed her back and buttocks
as Melissa took a sudden intake of breath.