Jack walked into the garage as Melissa got out of the car. “Where’d you two run off to?”
“We had some business to take care of. Where’s Dean?” I asked.
“He left. He has a date tonight or some such shit,” he said, looking at Melissa as he said the damning words.
Melissa caved in on herself then; she almost crumbled. If a person could break into little pieces and fall to the ground like glass, I knew I was about to witness it.
“He has a date?” I shouted. “With who? Call him! Stop him!”
“What’s going on? Where have you guys been?” Jack narrowed his eyes.
I placed a hand on my hip, and said pointedly, “I took her to see Gran and Gramps. We needed to talk it out.”
“So, did you? Talk it out, I mean?” Jack’s gaze drifted to Melissa, and his eyes widened a little as he noticed her bloodshot eyes and reddened nose.
“She did,” I answered for her. “But we need Dean here. Right now. He can’t go on a date without hearing this first. He has to know!”
I was losing it. My control, my patience, all of it. If Dean went on this date and we allowed Melissa to sleep on everything she’d learned today, she might wake up tomorrow and decide not to ever tell him. And all this progress would be for nothing. I needed these two to finally get together. Not only because she was my best friend and he was my brother-in-law, but because they were well suited for each other and we all knew it. I wanted more than anything for them to at least try.
“So you want me to call my brother?” Jack asked, his voice filled with confusion. “And tell him to cancel his date and come back over here? Am I getting this right?”
“Forget it!” I said with frustration. “I’ll call him myself.” I reached for my phone, pressed Dean’s name, and hit the CALL button.
Nerves shot through me as I pushed Melissa into the house and pointed at the vodka. Jack shrugged his shoulders and I rolled my eyes. I grabbed a shot glass from the cabinet as Dean picked up. Slamming the glass on the granite countertop, I glared at Jack as I pointed at the vodka and then at my trembling best friend.
“Dean, hey! Thank you so much for all your help today, but you left something here. Can you come back and get it?” I had no idea why I lied, but it seemed right at the time.
“What did I leave there? I didn’t bring anything.”
I scrambled, waving my hands in the air silently begging for help, but no one moved or made a sound. “I, uh, had a gift for you. But it will go bad if you don’t come get it.” My face twisted with each lie that spilled from my mouth.
“Sis, I’m getting ready to pick up a date. I’ll be late if I come by there.”
“Listen to me right now, Dean. I’m pregnant, emotional, and out of control. If you do not get over here in the next ten minutes,” I paused for half a second to think it through before clarifying, “without your date, I will hang you by your balls the next time I see you. Understood?”
“Fine. I’m on my way.”
I ended the call without saying another word. Glancing at Melissa, I noticed the empty shot glass and smiled. “Good girl. A little liquid courage never hurts.”
“Shit, Cass,” Melissa breathed out on a moan. “What am I gonna say to him?”
Jack cleared his throat. “Is anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?”
“You’ll see,” I said with a smirk toward Jack before looking into Melissa’s bright blue eyes. “And as for you. You will tell him everything we talked about at Gran and Gramps’. Just be honest.”
Pouring myself a glass of water, I sat on one of our new barstools and waited for the sound of Dean’s Mustang to pull into the driveway. If it felt like forever to me, I could only imagine how Melissa must have felt.
The rumble of his engine alerted us to his arrival. I opened the large garage door as Dean rushed through it and into the house through another connecting door. I closed the large garage door behind him and stepped back into the kitchen where we had all gathered. His eyes scanned quickly over the three of us, all but skipping Melissa’s face.
“Okay, I’m here,” he huffed out, the smell of his cologne filling the kitchen area as I silently thanked the pregnancy gods for not making it nauseate me. Dean looked hot in his dark blue jeans. He had on a fitted black T-shirt underneath a dark blue and black button-down shirt that wasn’t buttoned. “Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?”
I waited for Melissa to speak up, move, or do something. Her fingers tapped out a noiseless tune on the rim of her glass as she stared at the floor and refused to look up.
Tired of waiting, I snapped my fingers in front of her face, forcing her to acknowledge me. When her broken eyes met mine, I wanted to take her into my arms and comfort her. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Never in all the years I’d known Melissa had I ever seen her like this before, and I wondered if it were a side of her she’d always kept to herself. She’d obviously clammed up, so I guessed it was up to me to poke her with a sharp stick.
“I called you back here, Dean, because I thought Melissa had something to tell you. But I guess I was wrong.” It was a little harsh and I knew it, but game time was over and I only wanted to help.
Dean’s gaze snapped to Melissa and I saw what looked like hope flash in his eyes. He raised his eyebrows in her direction, but neither spoke a word.