A Reason to Love (23 page)

M
elanie braced herself for the worst and knocked on her aunt’s front door. Marcia had agreed to be gone when Melanie arrived, but she had made it clear that she’d only stay gone an hour at the most. After that, she’d be back to pick up the pieces. Not exactly encouraging as to how much success she thought Melanie would have in explaining a few harsh realities to her mother.

The door finally opened.

“Why are you here?”

Melanie forced a smile. “It’s been a long time since we saw each other. I thought I’d surprise you with a visit.”

True enough, but not the real answer to the question. Her mother knew it, too. “If you were missing me all that much, you wouldn’t have been avoiding my phone calls.”

And Melanie had answered one that she should have ignored, but she wasn’t there to talk about Spence.

Her mother finally unlatched the screen door and held it open. “I’m also guessing that Marcia being conveniently absent right now isn’t just a coincidence.”

Melanie followed her mother into the living room. She was struck again by the sharp difference between her aunt and her mother. The living room in the Wolfe House was filled with museum-quality antiques, the kind that people were afraid to touch for fear of breaking something. Aunt Marcia’s home was meant to be lived in, the furniture solid and comfortable.

Melanie waited until her mother perched on the edge of the sofa before sitting down beside her. She booted up her laptop and set a stack of bank statements and other papers beside it. Her mom looked at it all as if it were a rattlesnake poised to attack her. “What’s all this?”

“I brought the most current statements on everything because I’m here to update you on the status of your finances. Our finances, really, since I’m running the company.”

“And if I had other plans for this morning?”

Before Melanie could formulate a response, the door opened again, and Marcia appeared in the doorway. “Sorry, Mel. I know I promised to stay gone, but I decided you’d both do better with me here to referee. If I’m wrong about that, I’ll apologize later.”

“It won’t be a problem, Marcia, because I’m not interested in anything Melanie has to show me. It’s all lies anyway. Edmond was a fine businessman. He wouldn’t have left things in such disarray.”

Melanie picked up the first bank statement. “We’re going to go through all of this page by page. Ask questions as you have them. I’ll explain everything as clearly and concisely as possible. When I’m done, you can decide what you want to do with the house and the company.”

Her mother jerked as if Melanie had hit her. “What are you talking about? There are no decisions to be made. The house stays in the family, and the company goes on as it always has.”

Once again Marcia joined the conversation. “Sandra, Melanie has been trying to make you see the truth for months, and you’ve refused to listen. It’s one thing to keep up appearances for the sake of Edmond’s memory, but not at the sacrifice of your daughter. Look at her. She’s driven all the way down here to talk to you in person rather than ask you to come to her at a time I’m guessing she could ill afford away from the office. She’s also put her own career on hold to step in when you needed her most.”

Sandra frowned and focused her eyes on Melanie as if really seeing her for the first time. But rather than crumple as she always had done in the past, she braced herself and sat up straighter. “Fine. I’ll listen.”

Melanie glanced at Marcia, who just shrugged. “Okay, here’s where we are.”

•   •   •

Two hours and a headache later, Melanie escaped to the backyard, leaving the two sisters alone to talk. She could count on Marcia to give her sister good practical advice, and she would have better luck making Sandra face up to the hard truths that Melanie had laid out for them.

Her mom hadn’t liked a single thing she’d said, but at least she no longer doubted what Melanie was telling her was anything but the truth. It helped that Melanie had brought along all the paperwork concerning the loans her father had taken out so that her mom could see the hard evidence for herself.

As Marcia had pointed out, accepting that Edmond Wolfe hadn’t been perfect didn’t change the fact that he’d loved Sandra and she’d loved him. The important thing now was for them to band together to do everything possible to protect the legacy of the Wolfe family. If it became necessary to sell the house to save the company, so be it.

Her mother was still mulling that part over. To give them both a break, Melanie had grabbed a cold drink from the refrigerator and headed outside. She settled into one of the chairs on the deck and drew the first easy breath she’d had all day.

She really hoped her mother would come down on the side of saving the company. Despite the headaches that came with running the place, Melanie would miss it. Besides, the idea of telling all the employees that she was going to have to put the company up for sale made her sick. Even if it did sell, that was no guarantee that would save their jobs. Someone might buy the place with the intention of stripping it of every asset before closing it down.

She sipped her diet cola and tried to shut off the constant stream of worry that kept her head pounding. No dice. There was too much she should be doing back at the office. She’d originally planned to stay overnight, but now she thought she’d head back home after she and her mother finished up their discussion.

Given a choice between sleeping at her aunt’s house and snuggling up with a handsome guy, well, there was no contest. Once she was on the way back to Snowberry Creek, she’d give Spence a call to let him know a few ideas about how they might celebrate her return.

The door behind her opened, and Marcia stepped out onto the deck with Melanie’s cell phone in her hand. “You had a call from a Mr. Lunt. I didn’t want to answer for you, and he hung up before I could get out here. I thought it might be important.”

Melanie glanced at the screen on the phone. Evidently, he’d left her a voice mail. What could he want now? Wasn’t turning her down in writing enough?

Her aunt dropped down on the next chair. “I’m guessing this isn’t good news.”

“I’m not sure. He’s the banker I was working with, trying to restructure the company’s debt load.”

She had to listen to the message, not that she wanted to, especially right now when her head was already pounding. Bracing herself for whatever bad news he had to deliver, she punched in her password and put the call on speakerphone so Marcia could hear it, too. The woman already knew everything there was to know about the Wolfe family finances. One more bit of information couldn’t make things any worse.

“Hello, Ms. Wolfe. I would appreciate greatly if you could give me a call at your earliest convenience. There has been a new development with regards to your file, one that is most promising. I’d rather not discuss the details in this message, so I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

Melanie replayed the message twice more before setting the phone aside. Marcia stared at it with her. “What do you think it means?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. His letter made it perfectly clear that they wouldn’t be able to help us.”

“Are you going to call him?”

Melanie bought herself a few seconds by finishing her drink. “I don’t have any choice if there’s a chance he really does have good news for me. If they’ve changed their mind, it will buy us some more time to decide what to do about the house.”

Just the possibility that the bank was going to toss her a lifeline left her hands shaking. On the plus side, her headache was gone.

Her aunt rose from her seat to give Melanie a quick shoulder rub. “You can do this, champ. Get in there and fight!”

Melanie laughed and patted her aunt’s hand. “Thanks, coach. It means a lot to me that you’ve been in my corner through all of this. No matter how it turns out, I’m grateful.”

She pushed the button to return the banker’s call. Mr. Lunt answered on the second ring and quickly gave her a brief overview of what had changed since they last spoke. When he was finished, she set up an appointment for the next afternoon to come in to discuss everything in more detail. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he ended the call. Melanie sat frozen, unable to think, much less speak. Not coherently, anyway.

Her aunt stared at her, her expression slowly changing from hopeful to worried. “Melanie, what did he say?”

Lurching up from the deck chair, she knocked her pop can onto the deck. With a swift kick, she sent it flying through the air to bounce off the wall behind her. “I’m going to kill that sneaky son of a bitch!”

Her aunt looked horrified. “The banker?”

If it were only that easy. “No, not him. Spencer Lang. That man is dead meat.”

With exaggerated care, she picked up the can and crushed it with her bare hands as she pretended it was Spence’s neck. “I’ll be leaving now, Aunt Marcia. I’ll let you know where things stand after I talk to the banker tomorrow.”

“Are you okay to be driving, Mel? You’re awfully upset right now.”

Faking a calm she certainly didn’t feel, she hugged her aunt. “I’m fine, and I really need to get back to town.”

Marcia held her out to arm’s length. “I’m guessing this Spencer Lang means a great deal to you.”

Yeah, he did even if she hadn’t actually admitted how much, not even to herself. Maybe it was time to put a label on the powerful jumble of feelings he’d managed to stir up deep inside her. “I love him, Aunt Marcia.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“It is when we promised to make no claims on each other. I’ve known all along that he planned to leave Snowberry Creek. And now the big jerk has gone behind my back to the bank and offered to cosign on the loan. It’s his way of telling me good-bye.”

The door behind them opened, and her mother stepped out onto the deck. “Well, are you going to let him get away with this? We don’t need money from the likes of him.”

Marcia gasped. “Sandra, your daughter is hurting, and she certainly doesn’t need your snobbery right now! If Melanie loves him, I’m sure he’s a fine young man.”

Her mother glared right back at her sister. “If he doesn’t think my daughter is worth sticking around for, he doesn’t deserve her, Marcia. I’d live in a hovel before I’d take a dime from an idiot.”

She joined the group hug, surrounding Melanie with the familiar scent of Chanel No 5. “Sell the house. Heck, sell my jewelry if that’s what it takes to keep the company afloat.”

Then, just as her sister had done, she took half a step back to give Melanie a hard look. “But only if that’s what will make you happy, Melanie. Otherwise, we’ll put the company on the market so you can be free to choose your own life. Before you meet with the banker tomorrow, decide what you want and then we’ll figure out the best way to proceed.”

“And if what I want is Spence Lang?”

Her mother blinked back some tears. “My advice? Go after him with everything you have. That’s what I did when I met your father. He was dating someone else at the time, someone his family thought was more suitable.” Her smile turned wicked. “I wasn’t Edmond’s first choice, but I made darn sure he figured out I was the right choice.”

So why hadn’t Melanie heard about that before now? As much as she’d love to hear more details, now wasn’t the time to ask. She had miles to drive and plans to make. “I’ll call you both tomorrow when I know more.”

Her mother patted her on the cheek. “Do that. And, Melanie, I know I’ve been useless to you all this time. As corny as it sounds, your father was my soul mate, and I’ve been lost without him. However, that’s no excuse for having failed you, and I promise to do better from now on. If you need me to come home, I’ll start packing right now.”

Amazing. Melanie had no doubt her mom meant every word. Better yet, it was the first spark of life she’d seen in her mother since the funeral. “I’ll keep you posted, Mom.”

She hugged her mother and her aunt one last time. “Wish me luck, ladies. When I get done with Spence, he won’t know what hit him.”

Marcia followed her through the house to the front door. “One more thing, Melanie. Before you beat him up too badly, remember that his heart was in the right place.”

“I know.” And she really did understand. “The thing is that he’s never felt as if he belonged anywhere, especially after his adoptive parents died. After he enlisted, he bounced all over the world, which hasn’t helped. I’m not sure he knows how to put down roots anywhere.”

“So if he can’t stay, what are you going to do? Does keeping the family company going mean more to you than he does? Because we both know it could come down to that choice.”

The familiar burden of all those people who depended on Wolfe Millworks for their income settled right back on Melanie’s shoulders. The image of all their faces flowed through her mind, each a reminder of how much there was at stake. “I guess I need to figure that out.”

Marcia hugged her one last time before letting Melanie walk out the door. “Like Sandra said, if you need us, we’ll be there.”

•   •   •

Three hours later, Melanie turned off the interstate onto the two-lane highway that would take her straight into Snowberry Creek. She’d been driving alone with her thoughts for over three hours and still hadn’t come to any conclusions. Maybe divine inspiration would strike the second she saw Spence, but she wasn’t counting on it. Just before she hit the city limits, her cell phone rang. In no hurry to get home, she pulled off the road to take the call.

“Hey, Callie, what’s up?”

She found herself nodding long before Callie had finished filling her in on the plan Spence’s friends had concocted. As much as she wanted Spence to stick around just for her, it wouldn’t hurt to have more people make it clear that he belonged right there in Snowberry Creek with them.

“My only input would be that the more the merrier. I know Will Cosgrove has been trying to get Spence to hire on in his place at the millworks. That old man has never shown any interest in retiring, so I’m thinking that it’s his way of trying to get Spence to stay. Your folks mean a lot to Spence, too. I’d even ask Gage Logan to put in an appearance.”