The Game Changer (32 page)

Olivia was allowed to have her own life. Their whole lives, all Melody had wanted was for Olivia to work her way past her issues and be happy. Now that she was doing that, Melody knew she should be happy for her, not jealous because she felt neglected and abandoned. And Julian was just a friend. She had no more claim over him that she did Olivia. But he had told her he missed her. What was that about?

She shook her head, hoping to shake the thoughts free. She was over-thinking everything lately.
That’s what happens when you have too much time to think
, she told herself. If this was how her life was going to be from now on, maybe she should be like Olivia and find a bunch of new hobbies to keep her busy when she wasn’t working.

She could take up scrapbooking. Or photography, or painting, or pottery. There was a new yoga studio just down the street; maybe she could take some classes. Or any kind of class for that matter—flower arranging, cake decorating, sewing. She laughed to herself as she made her way into her bedroom and got ready for bed.

When she was all nestled down under the covers, she stared at the dark ceiling and listened to the silence of her apartment. The distant sounds of cars on the street reached her ears, but the inside of her apartment was quiet. If she strained really hard, she could hear the clock ticking in the kitchen, but that was it. She was used to spending nights here alone, but it felt different somehow. Maybe because she knew what she was missing now.

I miss you
. Julian’s words flitted through her mind, and she sighed. He told her he missed her while he was with another woman. Wasn’t that weird? But she missed him too. She didn’t want to admit how much, or what it might mean to be missing him the way she was.

Somehow, with her mind going round and round trying to avoid thoughts of Julian, Melody managed to fall asleep.

CHAPTER 16

All day Sunday, Melody felt like she was waiting for something to happen. She kept her cell with her at all times, waiting to hear from Olivia and Julian, until she realized she was like a jilted lover waiting by the phone for a call that would never come. She knew she could message them, but they were both busy and they knew she wasn’t. Deciding to be proactive and not sit around and mope, she called Angelica to see if she was free for the day, but got her voicemail instead.

By early afternoon Melody was going stir crazy. She felt like the whole world had forgotten about her, and being cooped up in her apartment wasn’t helping.

She picked up her phone and dialed her mother’s number. When Rita answered, Melody skipped the pleasantries and asked, “You too busy to hang out today?”

“I’m never too busy for my baby girl,” Rita said. “Have anything specific in mind?”

“Well, I told Ava I’d bring over the Disney version of Robin Hood someday and we could watch it together. You up for that, even though I made you watch it, like, five million times when I was a kid?”

Rita chuckled. “Considering it’s been at least fifteen years since I’ve seen it, I think I can handle it. I’ll get the popcorn ready for when you arrive.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Sure thing, honey.” There was a pause, then Rita asked, “Is everything all right?”

Melody sighed. “Technically, yes. I’ll talk to you about it when I see you, okay?” After telling her mother she’d be there soon, she hung up and went to get ready.

When she arrived at her mother’s apartment door twenty minutes later, Ava was waiting for her. Her niece’s bright smile made Melody grin uncontrollably, and all her negative thoughts faded away when Ava wrapped her arms around Melody’s waist and laid her head on her chest.

“I was watching for you,” Ava told her.

“Well, I’m glad you were, I like this greeting,” Melody said, planting a kiss on top of Ava’s head. “Hey, I brought a movie for us to watch. And I brought some catalogues to go through so you can point out stuff you like and give me ideas for your new bedroom.”

“Awesome!” Ava took the DVD and the glossy leaflets from Melody and bounded ahead of her into the living room.

“Something’s got her happy.” Rita stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel that was stuck in the waistband of her jeans. She smiled warmly at Melody, and gave her a quick, tight hug. “This is a nice surprise, I must say. Ava and I didn’t know what we were going to do with ourselves this afternoon.”

Melody laughed. “I aim to please.”

“I just put a pot of coffee on, and Ava and I baked cookies this morning, so we can have a snack in a few minutes. Let’s sit for now.”

Melody followed Rita into the living room, where Ava was sprawled across the floor on her stomach with catalogues spread around her. She murmured to herself as she flipped pages and pointed out different things. The two women sat and watched Ava in silence, enjoying seeing her so excited.

“Why didn’t you bring Olivia?” Ava asked suddenly. “Isn’t she helping with my room?”

“Umm, well…she was busy today,” Melody said slowly. “I’m sure she’ll help eventually, but for now I’m the one who will be working on it.” When Ava’s face fell slightly, Melody once again tried not to take it personally. Olivia had said she still wanted to help, but Melody didn’t want to disappoint Ava by making her wait for a time when Olivia wasn’t so wrapped up in Cameron. How did you explain that to a ten-year-old though? “I’ve made it my special project,” she added.

“Oh. Cool.” Ava smiled that beautiful angel smile of hers and turned back to her task.

Melody blinked in surprise, and looked at Rita. “Okay…”

Rita chuckled. “Welcome to the world of pre-teen girls. You either can’t get them to stop talking, or you get one- or two-word replies.” She patted Melody’s knee before rising and heading for the kitchen. When she returned, she was balancing two steaming mugs of coffee, a glass of milk, and a plate of cookies on a tray.

Ava gathered all her catalogues and scrambled up onto the couch beside Melody. For the next twenty minutes, the three of them ate cookies and went through the catalogues, which Ava had dog-eared to mark her favourite things. Melody told her she was going to pick the things herself from Ava’s suggestions, and the end result would be a surprise. “I don’t think there are enough good surprises in life,” she told Ava. “I want this to be one of them for you.”

When the phone rang a few minutes later, Ava ran to answer it, then told Melody and Rita it was a friend from school and she was going to her room to talk.

“She’s doing really well,” Melody observed.

Rita’s smile was so proud it made Melody’s lips pull into a grin of her own. She recognized that look of pride on her mother’s face—she’d seen it countless times in her life. “She is doing
really
well,” Rita agreed. “She’s making friends at school. She was even invited to a sleepover birthday party in two weeks, and she wants to go. That’s a
huge
step for a kid like her. The teachers are impressed with her work, and a few of them have even suggested advanced classes for her so she can be challenged and not get bored.”

“That’s incredible,” Melody said. “I’m really glad things are going so well. I know how worried you were at first.”

Rita nodded, turning her half-empty coffee mug around and around in her hands. “I was. There was no way of knowing what she went through before she came here. She doesn’t really talk about it, and she only ever mentions Jackie in passing. All I know is that it wasn’t good, and it’s a miracle she’s as smart and loving and…
sane
as she is.”

“I’ve often thought that myself,” Melody admitted. “Sometimes I want to ask her a million questions and find out everything that went on with Jackie, but what good would it do? I don’t want her to have to relive it. She’s got a great new life now, and people who love her and
want
her.” She let out a long breath, not wanting to tell her mother that she’d like to throttle Jackie for all she had put Ava through.

“Exactly. There’s no sense dwelling on the past.” She looked at Melody pointedly, and Melody wondered fleetingly, as she often had when she was younger, if her mother could read her mind. “Anyway…tell me what’s going on with you.”

“Oh. It’s kind of stupid, really,” Melody said, pulling one of the decorative cushions from the back of the couch and tracing the celtic knot design with her finger. “It’s not earth-shattering or life-altering, it’s just…I don’t know, regular life stuff, I guess.”

“Like what?”

“Well, first there was my break-up with Rick. Even though I was the one who ended things, it just happened so quickly. It was the right thing to do, and I
know
that, but it was a big change, and I feel like I’m still adjusting in some ways. Then Olivia finally moved back to town, and it felt like we lived together for all of two seconds when she met Cameron, and now she’s never home. We’ve talked about it a few times, but every time we seem to work things out and I think she’ll be around more, she’s not.” Melody moved her shoulders restlessly. “This feels like high school stuff, you know? ‘Woe is me, I broke up with my boyfriend and my best friend doesn’t wanna hang out with me anymore’.”

Rita chuckled softly. “Unfortunately, that’s just how life goes sometimes.” She stared off into the distance, her eyes shifting in and out of focus before returning to Melody. “Do you remember your aunt Diana?”

“Aunt Diana…” Melody shook her head.

“I didn’t think you would. She wasn’t really your aunt, but she was my best friend, so when Jackie was born we decided Jackie should call her ‘aunt’, and then same with you when you were born. Di and I met in high school, and had a relationship a lot like yours and Liv’s. We were inseparable. She was impulsive and funny and kind of wild, and I loved her like a sister. She was my maid of honour when I married your dad, and she was around a lot when you girls were little.”

Melody vaguely remembered her mother talking about Diana, and now she remembered seeing dozens of pictures of Rita and Diana through high school and beyond. She felt a knot in the pit of her stomach because she couldn’t remember what had happened to Diana, and she was afraid of where this was going.

“Anyway, we had this joke that she was going to be a crazy cat lady or your spinster aunt,” Rita continued, laughing to herself with that look people get when they’re sharing an inside joke. “She dated, but it was never anything serious, not until she met Dave. Within three weeks she had moved in with him, and they were talking about getting married. I thought it was crazy, and I told her to slow down, think things through. I was only looking out for her because I loved her, but she thought I was trying to hold her back.”

Rita paused and smiled wistfully at Melody.

“Sounds familiar,” Melody said.

Rita nodded. “Thought it might.”

“So what happened?”

“Well…Diana and I had several arguments. I think she knew I was only looking out for her, but she was determined to do things her way. I think I probably would have felt a lot like you do now if it weren’t for you girls and your dad keeping me busy and making me feel loved. I had a purpose in life, a reason for being, and that’s all Diana ever wanted. I didn’t begrudge her happiness, I just didn’t want her to get hurt.”

“Exactly,” Melody said. “Olivia’s never been in a serious relationship before, and now she’s jumped in with both feet. I’m happy for her, but I worry. I know sometimes you need to let people figure stuff out on their own, but it’s hard when I’ve always been part of her figuring stuff out.”

“I know,” Rita said, patting Melody’s cheek sympathetically. “You’ve been such a big part of each other’s lives for so long, and you’re protective of her. I get that, believe me.”

When Rita didn’t continue with her story of Diana, Melody looked at her expectantly.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Rita said, laughing ruefully. “Well, Dave got a job in New Brunswick, and asked Diana to move with him. I begged her to think about it, try the long distance thing, travel back and forth to visit him until she was sure. When she didn’t listen, I did one of the worst things a best friend can do: I gave her an ultimatum.”

Melody cringed. “What was it?”

“I told her that she was making a mistake and that if she moved all the way across the country, she was going to regret it if things didn’t work out. I told her not to come crying to me or expect me to bail her out if her impulsiveness got her in trouble.” Rita spoke slowly, as if she was reluctant to admit she’d said those things. Her cheeks were flushed, and she stared straight ahead like she was watching a movie of the past play out in her mind.

“I’m guessing she went anyway?” Melody asked.

Rita nodded, and met Melody’s gaze again. “She did. I didn’t get to see or speak to her after that day. She and Dave moved a week later, and a few months after that I got a letter from her with pictures of their wedding. She said that when she first sat down to write the letter, she wanted to rub it in my face—tell me I’d been wrong, and that she and Dave were in love and had committed to each other and she couldn’t be happier. But then she said all she really wanted to tell me was how sorry she was her best friend hadn’t been her matron of honour at her wedding, and that when she had kids, they wouldn’t have their Auntie Rita around.”