Owen smiled and hurried over to meet them, towing Caitlyn behind him by one hand.
“Here for the paternity test?” Owen asked.
“Why else?” Gabe replied.
“You
look queasy,” he said to Gabe. “Lindsey had to give blood, but they just rubbed the inside of my cheek with a cotton swab.”
“That’s a relief,” Gabe said, though he didn’t look any less queasy. “Has everyone else already tested?”
“Tex was here earlier, and I’ll let Kellen know later.”
“Avoiding him is not going to solve your problem,” Caitlyn said, giving Melanie a pointed look that she didn’t understand.
Owen continued as if Caitlyn hadn’t spoken. “I still can’t get ahold of Jacob, and Adam’s supposed to get his sample taken up in Dallas.”
“How’s your brother?” Gabe asked, and Melanie’s heart twisted.
“Conscious,” Owen said, but he didn’t elaborate.
A nurse peeked out the door that led to the back of the office, and called Gabe’s name. Melanie started to rise with him, but he pressed her back into the seat. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Melanie watched Gabe follow the nurse, wondering why he didn’t want her to go with him.
“Is there a bathroom around here?” Caitlyn asked.
Owen pointed toward the far corner of the room, and Caitlyn grabbed Melanie’s wrist.
“Come with me,” Caitlyn said. Girl code for I need to talk to you without my man listening.
Melanie excused herself and followed Caitlyn to the single unisex bathroom. Sharing it was not the least bit suspicious. Right . . .
Caitlyn switched on the light, and they both entered the fairly large bathroom. Melanie frowned at the exposed toilet while Caitlyn locked the door.
“I’m so glad I ran into you,” Caitlyn said. “I don’t have your number.”
“What’s this about?” Melanie asked. She scarcely knew Caitlyn and wasn’t sure why Caitlyn wanted to talk to her.
“These men have made an absolute mess of their lives. Dawn and I are trying to figure out how to get them all back together. We were thinking of throwing a party, but don’t think Jacob and Adam will come. What about Gabe? Is he as pissed off at them all as Owen is?”
Melanie scowled. “I don’t think he’s pissed at all. A bit lost and not sure what to do, but not angry. Well, maybe a little mad at Jacob, but we saw Adam yesterday and they got along just fine.”
“You saw Adam?” Caitlyn sounded disbelieving, as if Melanie had said she’d met the pope.
“He’s in Dallas with Madison. The poor woman is stuck in a plaster cast from her waist to her wrist. I guess that horse really messed up her shoulder.”
“Has Adam made up with Jacob?”
Melanie snorted. “He said he’d talk to Jacob, but I honestly don’t see that happening.”
“The guys have to get this band back together. Or we have to get this band back together.” Caitlyn waved one hand back and forth between them.
Melanie rather liked having Gabe all to herself and was in no rush to send him back on the road with all his fangirls trying to get a piece of her pie. She scratched her nose, trying to decide how best to explain her position to Caitlyn.
“Is that an engagement ring?” Caitlyn sputtered, grabbing Melanie’s hand and staring down at her new rock.
“Oh. Yeah. Gabe proposed.”
“That’s it!” Caitlyn shouted, making Melanie’s heart thump in surprise. “We’ll throw an engagement party for you two. Kellen, Jacob, and Adam will have to come.”
“Well, to be fair, you’d better throw one for Madison and Adam as well. He also popped the question.”
Caitlyn’s eyes went wide. “Shut up!”
Melanie pressed her lips together and drew her chin back. “Excuse me?”
“Here.” Caitlyn handed her cellphone to Melanie. “We don’t have time to sort this out right now. Give me your number. I’ll hash out some details with Dawn and keep you in the loop.”
“I’m not sure what you want from me.” But Melanie obediently added her number to Caitlyn’s contacts.
The door handle jiggled, and Caitlyn called out, “Occupied!” To Melanie, she said, “I’ll explain better when we have more time to talk.”
Still not sure what the woman was up to, Melanie returned Caitlyn’s phone and followed her out of the bathroom. The woman waiting to use the facilities gave them an odd look but didn’t say anything about the two of them hanging out in a unisex bathroom designed for one occupant.
Owen had taken a seat and was staring down at his phone, a troubled crease in his brow.
Caitlyn sat in the chair beside him and took his hand. “Any news?”
“Chad will be stateside on Wednesday,” he said.
“That soon? That has to be good news, doesn’t it?” Caitlyn rubbed his back and nodded encouragingly.
Melanie was glad he had someone to depend on. The poor guy had been through a lot in the past week.
“I could sure use some good news,” Owen said.
“Gabe has a little,” Caitlyn said, pointing at Melanie’s left hand with an ear-to-ear grin on her face.
Owen stared at Melanie’s hand and then his eyes lifted to meet hers. “You’re getting married?”
She grinned and nodded.
Owen jumped to his feet, hugging her as if she’d just told him he’d won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. “That’s fantastic,” he said. “Does Gabe know?”
Melanie laughed. “Well, I hope so. He’s the one I’m marrying.”
Caitlyn winked repeatedly at Melanie as if she had something in her eye. “I was just telling Melanie that we should throw an engagement party for them. What do you think?”
“Will Kellen be there?” Owen asked, giving Caitlyn the evil eye, which stopped her spastic winking.
“We’d have to invite him, Owen. He’s one of Gabe’s best friends.”
“Then I’m not coming.”
Melanie tried to read Owen’s and Caitlyn’s minds, but she had no idea why Owen wouldn’t want to see his best friend. Owen and Kellen were inseparable whenever she was around them. She didn’t understand how that could have changed so quickly.
“Did Kellen . . . do something?” she asked, her curiosity sending politeness packing.
“Yeah,” Owen said, his expression dark. “He kissed me. On the fucking lips.” He pointed to his mouth as if Melanie would be able to see the evidence still there.
“Oh,” Melanie said, and then she laughed. “I had a friend—a female friend—do that to me not long ago. It is rather upsetting.”
“I’m assuming you told her to take a hike and to never speak to you again,” Owen said, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding smugly at Caitlyn.
“Well, no.” Melanie wasn’t sure how much she should reveal about Nikki’s psychological problems, so settled on telling her half of the truth. “She’s currently living with me and Gabe. She was confused and knows she crossed a line. But people make mistakes. I’d hate to lose something as precious as a friendship over something as trivial as a little kiss.”
“Thank you!” Caitlyn said emphatically, throwing her hands toward the ceiling.
“It wasn’t trivial,” Owen said between clenched teeth.
“Why?” Caitlyn said. “Because he made you feel something you aren’t prepared to admit?”
People were starting to stare. Melanie touched Owen’s arm to try to calm him—he was obviously very upset—but he pulled away. “I’m leaving,” he said. “Tell Gabe I’ll talk to him soon.” And he stalked off.
“I’ll call you,” Caitlyn said quickly to Melanie and then hurried after Owen. “Don’t walk away mad. Let’s talk about this.”
“I’ve already talked about it, but you don’t seem to understand . . .”
Melanie didn’t catch the end of his complaint as he exited through the first set of glass double doors that led outside.
Melanie smiled at the women staring at her—seeing as they could no longer stare at Owen and Caitlyn—then plopped down in the