Home to a house that was supposed to signify the start of her life with James.
Home to a house filled with nothing but memories of him.
* * *
MELANIE
Past
James smiled across the table at her as her Pop and Mac went at it about some engine part.
“Pop, love ya, man, but you own a grocery store,” Mac growled, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You saying I don’t know shit?” Pop challenged.
James choked around the bite of food in his mouth, trying to contain his laughter.
“Yeah, I am.” She shook her head. Mac was the only one that would talk to their Pop like that. Both she and Margaret would be shaking in their boots from the glare that Pop was giving him, but not Mac.
Secretly, she thought that Mac just liked to rile him.
“Boy! Where the hell do you think you learned it all from?” Pop tossed his napkin on the table and stood.
“Pop, you never did step foot in that garage.”
Mac was right. Pop hated cars.
“Well, I…” They kept going, and James gave her a look while jerking his head toward the front door, silently telling her to meet him out on their front porch.
They both quietly excused themselves, neither Pop nor Mac seeming to notice they were gone as James shut the door behind them.
Even through the closed door, you could still hear them going at it.
“Well, I think that was a successful first time hosting dinner,” James said with a laugh as they walked to the far corner of the porch where it looked out over the field and hills.
It was her favorite spot to sit at night and about a month ago, James had splurged and bought her a pair of nice wooden chairs for them.
But she was too antsy to sit, so she stood at the railing.
She didn’t want to sit because that meant the night was coming to an end.
“Yeah,” she said quietly with a forced smile, as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.
“Dinner was really good, sweetheart.” She nodded, not answering. James wasn’t a good judge of her food. She could burn it to a crisp, and he would still sing her praises, but she had to admit that the pasta bake had turned out pretty good.
But that wasn’t what was on her mind.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered, knowing something was on her mind.
“I know. I’m just going to miss you,” she voiced as her heart clenched.
They had always been together. Ever since high school, she could count the number of days they had spent apart on one hand.
What if, once they were apart, he found out he liked it better?
She didn’t admit that fear, but James had always been able to read her like a book. He turned her, pinning her against their porch railing as he slid up to her. Pressing his body into hers, he grabbed her chin, bringing her gaze up to his.
“I’ve loved you since I first saw you, Melanie sweetheart, and I’ll love you till the day I die.” Tears tipped over the edges of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.