“This is all over Tabitha?” Clay barked at her. “What the hell? Why do you care? You don’t even know her.”
“You should have known she wouldn’t leave him without a good reason.” Melody lost the battle with tears as they welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “You were her friend. Her first friend.”
Clay paled. “Who told you that?”
“You did!”
“No, I didn’t.” Clay shook his head. “Who was the crisis call for?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Melody jerked the blanket off the bed, and Clay didn’t stop her. He was just sitting in there staring at her, his eyes wide in horror. She left him like that and stomped out of the bedroom, with the blanket dragging behind her.
She was busy situating herself on the couch and wiping at her cheeks when Clay came into the living room in nothing but his boxer shorts, making him look dark and intimidating with those powerful arms folded over his chest.
“Who was the call for, Melody?” He sounded dangerous in a way she had never heard before.
Melody rolled over, showing Clay her back rather than answer.
“You said it was a rape call.” Clay’s voice cracked, the emotion breaking through his steely control. “Was Tabitha raped? Did something besides that fight with Wyatt make her leave?”
Melody looked over her shoulder, seeing that Clay’s dark eyes were glassy. She knew she wasn’t supposed to say anything, but she just couldn’t let the injustice go this time. “You shouldn’t be mad at her.”
Clay bowed his head. For one long moment Melody watched him stand there shaking as if everything he had ever believed about life had been ripped apart and thrown at his feet.
Then he lifted his head, his eyes narrowed, making tears roll down his face. “Did she say who it was?”
Melody shook her head. “I really can’t tell you that.”
“Was it Vaughn Davis?” Clay whispered.
Melody tried to make her features impassive, but she was genuinely surprised the first name Clay pulled out of the hat was the right one. It must have shown on her face, because he turned around with a growl and hit the wall, tearing through plaster easily and leaving a large hole. Melody gaped, because she couldn’t remember the last time Clay lost his temper.
“You can’t tell her I told you,” Melody whispered fearfully. “It was supposed to be a secret. I should have never—”
“I won’t tell her.” Clay still stood facing the wall, his shoulders heaving as if he was battling a terrible war with himself. “I couldn’t betray you like that. Even for something like this.”
“Do you promise?”
Clay nodded. “Yeah, I promise.”
“Why didn’t she come to you instead of Terry?” Melody asked as more tears rolled down her face. “Maybe you would’ve talked her into staying here. Y’all could’ve found a way to tell Wyatt together and—”
“She probably knew I’d hunt Vaughn down and bury him before Wyatt got a chance.”
“But you wouldn’t—”
Clay turned around, giving her a look that forced the denial to die in the back of her throat. He was serious.
“She was like a sister to me, Mel,” Clay whispered, the words still heavy with emotion. “She was the only one who understood my life growing up. She wasn’t just my first friend when I was a kid. She was my only friend. When she left, it killed me too. I know I never told you any of that, because talking ’bout it hurts too damn much.”
“This is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard in my whole dang life, and I’ve heard a lot of terrible things.” Melody wiped at her eyes when she realized she was crying. “I’m so sorry, Clay. I’m sorry for all of you. I want to fix it, but I dunno how. I told her to tell Wyatt. Maybe—”
Clay made a choking sound of horror. “She can’t tell Wyatt!”
“She has to!” Melody countered. “It’s the only way. Otherwise he will never know why she left him, and Jules will go on hating her and—”
“Wyatt will come unglued if he finds this out.” Clay’s voice was suddenly wild and frantic. “He will kill Vaughn Davis, and that ain’t even a lie. He will kill that motherfucker dead, and then he’ll do something stupid like turn himself in after the deed is done. You think shit is bad now, wait and see what happens if Wyatt finds out. Tabitha was right to leave, and I owe her a huge apology for being mad at her for it.”
“This is unfair to her!” Melody shouted. “It’s horribly unfair, and y’all need to get over your stupid man crap and recognize that! She’s done sacrificing herself for everyone, and if you can’t pull yourself together enough to make Wyatt understand that, then I will!”
“You cannot tell Wyatt,” Clay repeated as if he hadn’t heard a word she said. “No one can.”
“And what’s gonna happen to Tabitha?” Melody raised her eyebrows pointedly. “Y’all are just gonna go on hating her and thinking—”
“I’m gonna fix things with Tabitha,” Clay said solemnly. “I ain’t really sure how, but I’m gonna try. You’re yelling at me like you’re the only one in her corner, but you ain’t. I don’t want her to hurt any more than you do.”
Melody paused, because that made her feel moderately better. She of all people knew Clay was a good man to have in her corner. She wiped at her eyes again and asked, “H-how are you gonna make things better?”
“I have no idea.” Clay walked over to her and fell down to his knees on the couch. He hugged Melody before he leaned down and buried his face in her long hair. “I promise, Mel. I’ll make sure she knows I’m not mad at her.”
“She’ll know I told you.”
“Then, oh well.” Clay sighed. “But you’re right. It’s not fair to her. I can hardly breathe with how unfair it is, and I hate that I was part of it. We’ll fix it.”
Melody wrapped her arms him and whispered, “Okay.”
Chapter Thirty
The talk with Melody helped.
Tabitha was feeling almost human again instead of a shaky, nervous wreck who saw Vaughn’s face every time she closed her eyes. She made Wyatt dinner despite not being hungry herself because she enjoyed the task. It always brought her comfort. It reminded her of those lost days of her youth when having food in the fridge meant everything was going to be okay—until it wasn’t.
“Hey, pretty girl,” Wyatt said when he walked into the kitchen. He leaned over, giving her a kiss, and looked at the stove, where she had beef stroganoff in one pot, pasta in the other, and broccoli in the third. “You feeding an army?”
Tabitha grinned. “Just about. You eat more than any fella I ever met.”
“Yeah, you should see Clay put away food sometime.” Wyatt laughed. “Or Jules’s brother-in-law. Jesus, that boy is always eating.”
Tabitha turned back to the stove and tried to keep her voice even as she asked, “How’s Jules?”
“Bat shit over being stuck on bed rest.”
Tabitha giggled. “I reckon that’d make anyone stir crazy. How much longer?”
“Five days.” Wyatt wrapped his arms around her. “Can’t come fast enough far as I’m concerned.”
“Then you’ll be an uncle.”
“Yup.” A smile sounded in Wyatt’s voice. “You gonna come to the hospital with us?”
“Nah.” Tabitha shook her head. “I don’t wanna ruin y’all’s special day.”
“You never ruin my day,” Wyatt argued, sounding earnest. “You make my days better. I love you, Tabby. I want you there with me.”
“We’ll see what happens.” Tabitha gestured to the cabinet. “Get the plates.”