Snow Angel (27 page)

Dane’s pale green eyes slitted with pain and fury, his mouth a tight line, but he nodded once, a hard jerk of his square chin.

Far from satisfied, Jacob leaned in even closer.

He said, “Good.”

Then drew back his arm and cocked the son of a bitch right in the nose.

The bone crunched beneath his fist and blood spurted as Dane howled, both of his hands now clutching his face instead of his balls. Jacob shook him once more, then tossed him back to the ground where he rolled around like a stranded turtle.

That’s better.

Turning his back on the pile of shit, Jacob stepped back to Melinda, slightly worried over what he’d find in her eyes.

He wasn’t sorry for punching the slimy scumbag.

At all.

But he didn’t want the violence raging through him to upset Melinda more than she already was, even though the bastard deserved it.

He waited, breath held.

When her eyes met his, he saw no condemnation or reproach. In fact, she looked like she might want another shot at the guy herself.

Jacob smothered the smile that wanted to crease his face. She’d been through hell, no doubt, but his Melinda was still in there.

He cupped her cheek lightly in his hand and said, “Okay?”

“Okay.”

Her smile wobbled, wan and small, but it was a smile. He’d take it.

Pulling her back into his chest with one arm securely around her back, he stepped firmly on Dane’s pant leg to hold him in place, but otherwise ignored the man rolling from side to side in agony at his feet.

Jacob pulled his cell phone out of his pocket with his free hand, speed dialing and hoping Gabe would hear his phone inside all the noise of the party.

Of the younger generation’s part of their group, Gabe was the man everyone wanted as first-responder in a crisis, and Jacob didn’t want to explain the situation to Melinda’s father over the phone in any case. Gabe had an ability to drill down to the essentials and mobilize like no one else.

Jacob sometimes wondered if Gabe had been a war general in another life.

Or a master assassin.

“Hey, where’d you disappear to?” Gabe’s humor-filled voice shouted through the phone over the raucous noise of New Year’s Eve blaring in the background. “You’re missing all the fun.”

Jacob got straight to the point. “I’m outside, on the south side of the building. I’ve got Mel. We need security out here. Now.”

“Is she all right?”

It was not a casual question. All levity had deserted Gabe’s voice. Jacob could almost see him going still and deadly quiet in the midst of the party, every cell in his body on alert. A warrior called to battle.

“Mel’s been attacked.” Jacob continued speaking over the sharp hiss of Gabe’s breath. “She’s okay, but we need to get this fucker locked up.” Glancing down at the top of Melinda’s dark head, snuggled against his chest, he added, “Get Stan and Karen. And her coat. She’s cold.” He rubbed a hand up and down her back, wishing he had his to offer, but he’d taken it off inside. “Hurry.”

The phone went dead, Gabe clicking off without acknowledging the order. Not that it mattered. The other man would find them in seconds, his mission carried out to the letter and ready to help hold—or demolish—Dane.

In the meantime, Jacob held Melinda and waited.

Sure enough, mere moments later, Gabe ran around the corner, barreling straight for them.

On his heels followed not only the security team and Melinda’s parents, but her cousins, aunt, uncle, Jacob’s own parents, Eddie’s parents, Eddie, and Wendell, every one of them prepared to slay dragons with their bare hands.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Melinda heard the rumble of friends and family approaching. It was time to release her grip on Jacob, but she clutched him tighter instead, just for another moment.

She might have taken the attacking scumbag out herself, but having Jacob arrive when he did, providing her with both his shoulder to lean on and his solid presence as backup, had been an immeasurable relief.

Though the revulsion had lessened as soon as Dane stopped touching her, her legs still trembled, and her emotions were all over the place.

The one thing she knew for certain was that she was exactly where she wanted to be. In Jacob’s strong, protective arms.

“Mel,” Jacob murmured into her hair, giving her a gentle nudge. “Your family needs to know you’re okay.”

Nodding against his chest, Melinda took a deep breath and steeled herself for the next part of the ordeal.

Resolutely avoiding looking directly at Dane, who was already handcuffed and in security’s custody, blood dripping from his smashed nose, she straightened her spine and stepped back a half-foot from the safety of Jacob’s embrace. Her knees wobbled, but she stood on her own two feet.

Strong. She was strong. And she was lucky. She’d protected herself. So many women never even got the chance, or if they did, they were unable to overcome their attackers.

And if she’d failed, her knight had shown up in the nick of time.

Melinda lifted her chin to meet her family’s gazes. She couldn’t help the flinch when she heard her mother’s and Lois’s mutual gasps as they caught sight of her face, the curses from the men. Tears ran down Nancy’s cheeks. Everyone froze in place for a heartbeat of time. Melinda’s eyes were all for her father.

Stan took one step forward, his shaking hand held out toward her, then he seemed to stumble uncertainly as he took in her condition. His face was a white mask, his eyes filled with grief, and fear, and fury for the one who had battered her, though like Melinda, he ignored the man.

Over it all hung the powerless pain of a parent whose child has been hurt.

Stumbling a bit herself as she stepped toward her father in her heelless shoe, Melinda said, “Daddy,” in a voice that broke, unable to stop the return of the tears cascading down her cheeks.

Then she was in his arms, and it was like being a child again, after suffering a hurt, seeking comfort from the first, best man in her life.

Safe, safe, safe.

With her family and friends all around her, with Jacob at her back, the last dregs of fear vanished. Her head still swam unsteadily on her shoulders, her body still shuddered, but no one could hurt her now.

Nancy stepped forward to wrap Melinda’s coat around her shoulders, and her mother’s hand landed gently on her back, stroking in a slow circle as she leaned into the embrace. Stan’s left arm encircled Karen, too, making them into a three-way hug, Melinda between them, protected inside the wider caring circle of their family and friends.

Finally, she disengaged gently from her parents’ grasp, holding both of their hands with her own and looking from one to the other, making sure they could read her eyes.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Really.”

“Your face,” Karen whispered, running a delicate finger over the bruises on Melinda’s cheeks and at the sides of her mouth. Her mother’s eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t let them fall.

“It looks worse than it is,” Melinda said, trying to reassure her mother, though her lips—and many places besides—ached and stung. “I promise.”

And she was. She was so, so lucky.

Her father’s eyes gleamed suspiciously. He sniffed himself back to composure and pressed a kiss to Melinda’s snow-covered forehead before lifting his gaze to Jacob, who stood watching just beyond their small circle, flanked by his own parents and the rest of their group. Jacob’s mother’s arms held around him, and his dad’s hand gripped his shoulder.

“You saved her,” Stan said, and his voice wavered with emotion as Melinda leaned against his side. “Thank you.”

“No,” Jacob said, his eyes meeting Melinda’s. She read pride in his gaze, and it boosted her spirits every bit as much as his words. “She saved herself. I only got my two bits in at the end.”

“Looks like more than two, if you ask me,” said Aunt Pat, ferocious satisfaction in her voice, “and thank you for it. Our girl can handle herself, make no mistake, but it doesn’t hurt to have a cleanup hitter on standby.”

After that, everyone surged forward, each one needing a hug and a word to reassure themselves Melinda was all right.

When she wound up back in Jacob’s arms at the end, no one questioned why she was there or wondered over the possessive way he held her in his arms.

The police arrived, having been contacted by security, as the midnight fireworks erupted overhead. The rest of the guests had been kept inside the lodge due to the circumstances, so the fiery lights seemed to burst solely for her family and friends.

Melinda tilted her head to the sky to watch the colors dance and fade amidst the heavy fall of snow.

She’d forgotten it was New Year’s Eve and a party raged on in the building behind them. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had walked out the lodge’s front doors, Dane unknowingly in pursuit.

Melinda shivered. They all had to be freezing, even in their coats and huddled together, but no one seemed to want to go back into the lodge. She was glad. The last thing she wanted was to give the party-goers a good look at her face.

“I’m sorry I ruined the party for everyone,” she said, raising her eyes to Jacob. She’d had quite a different night in mind for this evening.

“Don’t be stupid,” he said, frowning back at her. “You didn’t ruin anything. He did.”

Jacob jerked his chin in Dane’s direction, where the police had taken him and were deep in conversation with the security team. Her cousins and their friends, along with all four dads, formed a semi-circle around the officers, as though offering them backup.

“Indeed,” Aunt Pat sniffed, having overheard them. Nancy, Lois, and Karen joined her. “You know better than to think something so foolish, Melinda.”

“It’s not the way I wanted to start off the year,” Melinda said. “Not for any of you, either.”

“We’re not the ones who were nearly—” Nancy paused, collecting her composure. “Who were nearly—”

“But I wasn’t,” Melinda broke in, taking Nancy’s free hand while the tiny woman dabbed at her teary eyes with the other. “I wasn’t.” She squeezed Nancy’s small hand, and she made sure to meet her mother’s and her aunt’s gazes squarely. “I won’t say it was nothing, but truly, I’m fine. No serious harm done.”

“And thank the Lord for that,” her mom said, injecting a note of bright briskness into her voice. “New Year’s is just a day like any other, and a party is just a party. What matters is you’re safe.”

“Absolutely right,” Lois said. “We can celebrate tomorrow.” Looking up at the continuing fireworks, she corrected herself. “Or rather, later today. In fact—”

“Excuse me, ma’am, everyone,” one of the officers interrupted. “We need to take statements.”

“She needs a doctor,” Karen protested.

“Mom, I’m fine. Just bruised.”

“You’ll go anyway, I don’t—”

“We’ll get her to one,” the policeman interrupted, scanning Melinda. “Soon, I promise.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The rest of the night passed by in a blur. Melinda knew she’d have to give a statement. That was bad enough, but she hadn’t counted on having to go to the clinic for an exam, followed by the most humiliating photographs of her life.

The others had returned to the condo by then, except for her parents and Jacob, though Jacob and her father stayed out in the waiting room during the exam.

“I don’t think she’s concussed,” Mae, the nurse said, after they investigated the blood matting Melinda’s hair on the back of her head. Her hair was so dark that no one had noticed it until she got to the clinic. “But you’ll want to keep an eye on her.”

“Of course,” Karen murmured, rubbing Melinda’s hand between both of hers. “Of course. Should she have an MRI?”

“She’s not showing any of the signs that would indicate a need for one, but we’ll talk with the doctor to make sure.”

After the exam, and after the policewoman left, Mae treated the rest of Melinda’s injuries. They were thankfully minor, but the medical process was starting to make her feel more like a victim than she had with her back pressed against that building.

She wanted to go back to the condo and climb into bed.

A doctor came in to talk to her in his supposed-to-be-soothing voice. He prescribed pain medication. He offered anti-anxiety meds, too, in case she might need them. He gave her samples of both for the night, since the pharmacy was long closed, plus a couple of sleeping pills for good measure, tucking them into her hand. She heard his words only as indistinct noise, rumbling from far away, down a long tunnel.

God, she hated hospitals.

Although the little clinic couldn’t quite claim hospital status, it had all the same smells, and reminded her of times she’d rather forget. Multiple visits to see Gabe or members of his family after racing accidents. Jacob’s freshman year. Seth.

She sniffled. A dragging fatigue set in, so that it took an effort to keep her eyes open.

Still beside her, still holding onto her, Karen answered the doctor’s words with words of her own, equally nonsensical to Melinda. It was like listening to people talk underwater, and she wanted to stay down there in the cool, dark depths, with the muted sounds and blurred colors and soft, blunted edges.

The doctor finally left.

She sat on the edge of the exam table, dressed in an enormous pair of sweats the clinic had provided to help warm her up, and her own snow boots, retrieved by one of her cousins. She’d lost her clutch somewhere. It only had a few dollars, her ID, a lipstick, and her phone in it, but she’d have to deal with that later. And damn it, she’d really liked that little purse.

Her damaged dress and ruined shoes sat in the bottom of a trashcan. She never wanted to see them again. She’d broken six of her fingernails in her struggle with Dane, too, though she hadn’t noticed the torn and jagged edges until she’d arrived at the clinic.

Melinda stared blankly at the medicine packets in her hands.

For some reason, the state of her nails made tears want to flood back into her eyes, which in turn made her weak and trembly all over again. She didn’t want to feel weak. She’d kicked the sucker in the balls and laid him out flat. She was a victor.

Where was her strength?

Her mom wrapped her arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly. “Do you want to go home, sweetie?”

“Yes! I want to shower and go to bed.”

“No, honey, I mean
home
.”

Sniffing away the looming crying jag, Melinda leaned back to see her mother’s face. “What do you mean?”

“We don’t have to stay the rest of the week. The others can if they want, or they could come home, too. No one would blame you. And you could sleep in your own bed.” Karen brushed the hair out of Melinda’s face, then cupped her bruised cheek in her palm. “Or you could sleep with Dad and me, if you want.”

That last bit startled a small laugh from Melinda, and she was able to give her mother a genuine smile, though it wobbled at the edges. “I haven’t done that since I was little.”

“Not so little,” Karen disagreed, a slight teasing note in her voice now. Her words ended with a waver. “I think you were fourteen the last time.”

“There was a serial killer on the loose!”

“In New York,” Karen said, grinning in a way that almost reached her eyes.

“Still.”

Serious again, her mother placed both hands on Melinda’s cheeks and looked into her eyes, searching, yes, but also sending, her message of love and support strong and clear.

“Yes,” Karen said, her voice soft. “Still.”

Melinda dropped her forehead against her mother’s. They wrapped their arms around each other and stayed that way for a time, simply giving and receiving comfort, breathing the same air.

“I really am fine, you know. I promise. I’m just tired and sore, and it’s making me weepy.”

“I know, honey. That’s to be expected.”

“I don’t want to go home,” Melinda said finally.

She knew how lucky she was to have escaped a very different outcome to the night. Dane might have raped her if he’d had the chance. But she’d stopped him, and she wanted everyone to stop treating her as though something much worse had happened. The only way to make that happen was to get back to normal as quickly as possible.

But she needed, and gave thanks for, her mother’s comfort.

“Okay.” Karen brushed a hand down the length of Melinda’s hair. “As long as you’re sure. If you change your mind, just say so. Whatever you need, honey, okay?”

Melinda nodded, the gratitude for her mom—for both her parents—filling her up.

Every hurt she’d ever suffered in her life, no matter how serious or trivial, had been soothed and shared in exactly this way. Her mother’s arms were her safe haven, her refuge and her solace. Her father was her rock, her anchor, no matter how turbulent the sea. The two of them together were as constant and sure as the sun’s daily rising in the east.

And then there was Jacob.

Her friend.

Her knight.

And just maybe something more. If he could see her as a woman, not simply a friend. She wanted, so much, for him to love her back.

But she couldn’t think about that now. Not right now, with the feel of Dane’s hurting hands imprinted on her skin.

She shuddered once, hard, but pushed the almost-horror away. That was over. She’d survived, mostly intact. She needed a shower and sleep and her family and friends around her.

She needed normal.

“Will I have to come back here?” Melinda asked after a while.

“Come back?”

“F-for court.”

“Oh,” Karen said, a frown pulling at her brows. “I don’t know, sweetie. I don’t think so. As much as I’d like to string him up and have him horse-whipped, unless he’s been in trouble before, I’m sorry to say he’ll probably get a slap on the wrist without ever going to court.”

Melinda stared at the far wall. It seemed incredible that a man could attack a woman and not go to jail, but she wasn’t so naïve as to believe it wasn’t true. It happened all the time. Only, before, it had happened to other people.

The injustice of the system had horrified her, always, but she’d never really understood how it
felt
until tonight.

She sent another
thank you
out into the universe for the secure, protected world she inhabited most of the time, and a prayer of safety for those less fortunate.

Her mom brushed loose hair back from Melinda’s forehead and stroked a hand down her arm, careful to avoid the bruises.

“At the very least,” Karen said, “I can guarantee he’ll lose his job. He won’t come near you again or hurt anyone else here.”

Knowing her mom needed it as much as she herself did, Melinda put on a brave face and smiled, nodding her agreement.

“Okay,” Melinda said, and saying the word, felt braver.

She’d beaten the bastard. That mattered.

It would be all right.

“My baby girl,” Karen said, a small break in her voice. “I love you so very much.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It seemed like more than mere hours had passed, like days and days had gone by while Jacob had been sitting on the hard plastic chair next to Melinda’s father.

Waiting.

Worrying.

Talking little, but communing somehow, in their mutual concern for Melinda.

Waiting longer.

Worrying some more.

Staring, mesmerized, at the colorful Christmas twinkle lights outlining the doors up and down the drab hallway, their cheerfulness unsettling in the hospital atmosphere.

They’d watched in stony silence as Dane had been marched past, still cuffed, to have his nose tended to. Jacob was glad Melinda didn’t know the man was in the same building.

Not long after that, a representative from the resort had hustled down the hallway and escorted Stan into an office. The man had apologized profusely for “the unfortunate incident” and had comped their whole group’s entire week at the resort.

He’d obviously feared the Honeywells would sue, or at least generate some really nasty publicity. Melinda’s family would never do something like that—punish an entire company for one person’s actions—but the flustered rep didn’t know any better. He’d been alternately relieved and confused by Stan’s calm acceptance of the official apology and the refund of their week’s fees.

Since then, the clinic had remained quiet.

What was taking so long?

Dropping his head into his hands, Jacob scrubbed at his gritty eyes, trying not to think of all the reasons they could be keeping Melinda in the tiny room across the hall. A lot of people had been in and out of there over the past hours, yet he’d never managed to catch even a glimpse of her when the door swished open or closed.

Usually, in this sort of environment, he was on the other side of those doors, busy helping, taking notes, learning his future trade. His experience on this side of the doors was limited. The moments of chaos at the hospital after Seth’s accident, though horrible, had not lasted very long, as Seth had quickly succumbed to his injuries.

Prior to this trip—waiting to hear about Neta, now waiting for Melinda—Jacob had never fully appreciated just how awful it was to be the one waiting.

Beside him, Stan reached his arms over his head and stretched and groaned.

“I’m sure it won’t be much longer,” he said, raking his fingers through hair that was already standing up on end and pointing in every direction. “They probably—”

He broke off when the door across from them opened once again, and Karen stepped into view.

Jacob leapt to his feet in relief as Melinda and her mom finally exited the exam room. Karen kept a steadying arm around Melinda’s shoulders, leading her to them across the narrow hallway. He scanned Melinda’s face and had to suck back a curse, and worse, emotions that clogged his throat and made his eyes tingle at their corners.

Stan said, “Hey, sweetheart,” in a quiet voice that sounded as choked up as Jacob felt.

She looked... Well, she looked like hell.

Purple-black circles ringed her eyes, and she was far too pale, her cheeks sunken with fatigue. The dark red marks on her cheeks and around her mouth stood out harshly against her skin, like a macabre clown’s smeared face paint. The hospital-supplied sweatshirt and pants hung on her, making her seem even smaller, more fragile.

Jacob didn’t think he would ever forget, would ever get over the sight of the fingerprint-shaped bruises ringing her neck.

His heart squeezed painfully, but he caught Karen’s warning eye and straightened his shoulders. Now was not the time for coddling, her glance said, and looking Melinda over again, he silently agreed. Too much comforting right now and she’d shatter into a million tiny pieces.

Instead, he beamed the brightest smile he could manage.

“Hey, angel-food cake,” he said, hoping he hadn’t overdone the heartiness of his tone. At his side, Stan gripped his shoulder and squeezed in silent approval.

Melinda’s sad, tired gaze lightened a tiny fraction. “Shishkebab,” she said.

Her voice was rough, sandpapery, though the sudden twinkle in her too-dark eyes let him know she’d been saving that one up for a while.

And wow, it was appropriate.

More so than she could possibly know.

Shishkebab described precisely the way he felt. Skewered equally with worry and with love for her, roasted over the twin emotional flames. It was time to stick the proverbial fork in him. He was done.

Stan moved to intercept her, taking Melinda carefully in his arms, hugging her close while Karen stood by, one hand on her daughter’s back. Melinda closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to soak in her father’s love and support. Jacob rubbed his own eyes while she wasn’t looking.