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Chapter Twelve
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Melody straightened the hem of her pink sweater and brushed her hair back over her shoulders. Upon opening the door, she could tell immediately that he was a bit frazzled, and she couldn’t blame him. Despite the fact that he had been trying to sound calm on the phone, she knew he must have been moments away from a panic attack the second he found out Michael hadn’t made it to Ms. Karen’s house. “Hi, Reid,” she said, smiling and attempting to keep her own voice cheerful. If she didn’t think it was a big deal that his son had sought her out because Michael thought she was “nice and pretty,” maybe Reid wouldn’t either.
“Melody, hi,” he said, stepping through the doorway. “It’s nice to see you again, though I didn’t expect it to be under these circumstances.”
He was smiling politely, and she giggled at his comment, hoping she didn’t sound like a
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They reached the top of the stairs, and she remembered just what a disaster she had created earlier that day. It looked even worse than it had the week before. She stopped so abruptly at the top of the stairs that he bumped into her. “Sorry,” he said, and Melody took a step forward. “It’s no problem, Melody. It’s the least I could do after how cool you’ve been about Michael just dropping by.”His hand had briefly touched her hip when he ran into her, and she knew her eyes were probably twice their regular size as she stood staring at him, inches away from her again. The scent of pine and leather filled her lungs, and it took her a moment to process what he had just said. After a lengthy pause, she said, “What are friends for?” flashed him a smile, and began to pick her way through the maze.“You’ve been busy,” he said politely, following her.&ldqu
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Melody pushed open the door to Delaney’s Delights and braced herself for the barrage of Christmas music. There was no avoiding it now; it was everywhere she went, and though she did her best to tune it out, there were times when particular songs came on that memories of her father flooded her senses, and she needed to step away or turn it off. Luckily, this afternoon, her entrance was greeted by a particularly poppy rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and there was nothing specifically remarkable about that song.Delaney was sliding a muffin across the counter on a bright red plate to a customer as Melody walked in. She looked up and smiled. “Hey, two days in a row! How did I get so lucky?”Laughing, Melody crossed the crowded room to the counter. “I was just dropping some boxes off at Mom’s shop and thought I’d come by and ask you a quick question.”&ldquo
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Reid found Mrs. Gregory in her kitchen sipping a cup of coffee with a catalogue in front of her on the island, the heavenly aroma of sugar cookies radiating out of the oven. She looked up as he walked in, and setting her cup down said, “Did you get it all patched up?”“I did,” he assured her with a smile. “I think it’s in pretty good shape, and I trimmed the tree back a bit more while I was up there so you shouldn’t have to worry about it anymore for a while.”“Oh, thank goodness,” she exclaimed with a smile. “One less thing to worry about.”“Do you mind if I use your sink?” he asked. He’d taken his work gloves off for part of the more delicate repairs and now his hands were dirty.“Not at all,” she said, hopping up to fetch him a clean towel. “You’ll sit a spell with me and have a cup of
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Bible study started at 5:30 and was over by 6:30 so that the choir—or this time of year, those who would be participating in the Christmas Festival—could get an hour’s worth of practice in before little ones needed to head off to bed. Melody had made several friends in her study group and knew others from high school, but she was so busy these days trying to keep the shop open, she rarely saw any of them outside of their Wednesday night meetings and Sunday service. This time of year, it was hard for her to focus because the lessons were always about how to be thankful and appreciate the ones you loved, the sort of themes that went along with the Christmas spirit, and since she spent most of the hour thinking about her father, she was seriously considering skipping from now until after the new year.A few of the girls in her group called her over to chat once the leader, Dan, dismissed them, but she made an excuse and headed out the clas
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As the pianist, Mrs. Agnes Watson, who couldn’t have been a day younger than ninety, began to play the opening bars of “Away in a Manger” Melody gave all of her attention to Michael. If she was looking at him, she couldn’t possibly dwell on the times her father had played that very song on the piano, and she’d sang from the bench next to him in their parlor at home. He’d join in on the harmony, and her mom would listen and applaud when they were finished.Michael was standing in the middle of the stage, beaming. He seemed to know all of the words, even though this was his first rehearsal, and as soon as the song was over, he waved at Melody, and she waved back. As Mrs. Watson began to play, “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” Melody started to wonder what Reid might be doing. It seemed strange that he wasn’t there. Why didn’t he bring Michael himself? While the voice of self-doubt in her mind worried
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Melody saw her mother standing in the back of the sanctuary, a questioning expression on her face, and when she reached her, she asked, “Why are you here? I thought you’d headed home an hour ago.”“I was going to,” Melody assured her, “but I ran into Michael on the way out, and he asked me to stay and listen to him sing. So I did.”Sarah said nothing more, but Melody could tell by the smile she was trying to hide that her mother wanted to read more into this situation than she should. She’d simply been humoring a child that she cared about. Nothing else. This night certainly had done nothing to change the way she felt about music—Christmas or otherwise.“I’ll see you at home in a little while,” Sarah said, waving at a friend across the room, and Melody nodded before taking off for the door again, hopeful that she could finally escape before anyone
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The sound of his voice sent little tingles down her spine, and she pictured him sitting in his living room on a manly-looking, plaid sofa, a fire blazing behind him, maybe a painting with hunting dogs or something else masculine in the background. “Good,” she said, still trying to sound as casual as possible. “I was just about to call you.” Why did she say that? Stick to the minimum!“Well, Michael went straight to sleep tonight, so I figured I’d give you a call before whatever magic spell he’s under breaks and he spends half the night requesting water and screaming that he needs to go to the bathroom.”He sounded a bit exhausted, as if the bedtime routine was not his favorite part of parenting, and Melody couldn’t help but chuckle. “That sounds fun,” she said sarcastically.“It’s a nightly battle of tug-of-war where he always finds
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“Mel, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Reid said rather quickly. "I can't ask you to pick Michael up from school."She paused at the shortening of her name. No one had called her that since her father passed, but she actually sort of liked the way it sounded when she heard it in his voice. Ignoring it for now, she said, “You didn’t ask. I volunteered. It’s really no trouble at all. I definitely won’t let him come home with me because then he might feel like he got his way, but picking him up and taking him to the sitter’s can’t be too time consuming, and it will give me a chance to see him for a few minutes.”“It’s actually more time consuming than you might think,” he explained. “School gets out at 3:00, but parents start getting in that parent pick up line at 2:00. I’m not even kidding.”“Seriously?” Melody aske
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Mrs. Gregory played the last chord, and Melody realized there were tears streaming down her face. The song had come straight from her heart. The words, the tune, the message was all there, engraved in her heart forever, just like the memory of her father.She smiled out at the audience, hearing their applause and knowing it wasn’t for her but for her father who had loved her on earth and her Father who loved her in Heaven still.A few moments later, after a blur of hugs and congratulations from Mrs. Gregory and whomever else happened to be backstage, she found herself making her way down the aisle to join Reid and Michael, not quite sure how she’d gotten there.Michael hugged her, and Melody scooped him up and set him on her lap, wrapping her arms around him as Reid slid his arm around her. The adult choir was about to begin their first song, but Reid leaned over and whispered into her ear, “You reall
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“I want to thank all of these wonderful children,” Mrs. Gregory was saying into the microphone as the kids left the stage to find their parents in the audience. “I want to thank all of the parents and church members for all of their support. I want to thank Mrs. Agnes Watson for her hard work in rehearsal and ask each of you to keep her in your prayers. Most of all, tonight, I want to say a special thank you to Melody Murphy who agreed to play piano for us at the last moment. Melody, if it hadn’t been for you, all would be lost. Thank you, Melody.”The room erupted in applause, and Mrs. Gregory came over, microphone still in hand. Melody stood and gave a shy wave to the crowd as Mrs. Gregory wrapped her free arm around her. “Are you ready to tackle that last obstacle, sweetheart?” she whispered into her ear.Melody pulled back and locked eyes with her, not sure if she should be upset that Mrs. G
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Finding a parking spot was not easy, and Reid insisted on dropping Melody off at the church and then going to park the truck. She didn’t want him to be late, but she knew she had to be on time, and the program would be starting in just a few moments, so he wished her good luck and she ducked inside, trying to concentrate on his proclamation at her house instead of the butterflies in her stomach.When Melody reached the sanctuary, she saw her mother seated with the rest of the adult choir members in the first few rows next to Mr. Haywood. Melody waved, and by the expression on her mother’s face, she could tell Mrs. Gregory had spoken to her. Sarah mouthed, “You look gorgeous!” and Melody silently thanked her before rushing back stage.“Oh, Melody! Thank heavens!” Mrs. Gregory said as she rounded the corner. “My goodness! Look at that dress. You look like an angel.”“
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The hustle through the crowd back to Reid’s truck and the short drive to her house was a blur, though Melody was aware that all the way home he was holding her hand, his thumb tracing calming circles near her thumb, and before she knew it, she was standing in front of her closet peering inside, wondering what to do.She knew she had an appropriate dress hanging in the back of her closet. She’d shoved it back there exactly two years ago when she’d been so disgusted by it she’d never wanted to see it again. Her father had picked it out for her. It was white with silver rhinestones, and though it was a little fancier than anything she’d worn for the festival before, it went perfectly with the song he’d written for her to sing that night. There were other garments she could have worn, but standing in front of the closet, she realized, if she was going to face her fears, she may as well face them completely.
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The Christmas Festival was an all day event that started the morning of Christmas Eve with a craft fair, as well as various baking, art, and craft contests, activities for the children, and of course, the Christmas concert at the church. Most of the events were outside or in different buildings around the downtown area, but the concert would be held in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church like it was every year.Reid picked Melody up mid-morning and they spent most of the day walking around visiting the booths and checking out the contest winners, including Mrs. Gregory’s sugar cookies. Soft Christmas music played over the downtown PA system, and even when a familiar song came on, Melody realized it wasn’t bothering her as much as it had before. Somehow in the past few weeks, she’d learned to associate ideas other than memories of her father with the songs that used to make her heart ache.Michael particularly lik
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Melody exited the assembly area of the church where the ladies had put together another nice luncheon for those who would be staying for festival rehearsal and made her way into the sanctuary. She’d sat with her mother and Mr. Haywood this time, along with Michael and the Gregorys, and the more she’d gotten to know Curtis, the more she could see why her mother was attracted to him. He was certainly a successful, respectable man, and Melody felt foolish for ever having tried to convince her mother not to follow her heart.Michael hadn’t mentioned his father at all—not even once—the entire time Melody had sat right next to him. She found that peculiar but didn’t nudge him because she wasn’t sure how he felt about Reid not being there. Whether or not he had made up an excuse or just told Michael he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, she was certain it would still be difficult for the little boy to stand on
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Reid looked at Melody's lips and then back to her eyes before clearing his throat and scooting away from her just a bit, and Melody was certain he was having the same thought she was. “Of course, I know we still need to take our time and not rush into anything. It’s only been a few weeks, after all.”“Right,” Melody agreed quickly, wondering how her face could feel so warm when she was sitting outside in the cold. “I guess we don’t need to wonder how Michael will feel about it.”Reid laughed. “No, I think his reaction might be a little different than yours when you found out about your mom dating again.”Melody felt the urge to elbow him in the ribs but didn’t do so. She realized now she’d been acting selfishly, and she owed her mother an apology. In fact, she wanted to make sure she was home when her mother got back from her date so she could spea
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Melody dropped to her knees. Even though that is what she had suspected, actually hearing him say it was still a shock. Trying to keep her expression nonchalant, she asked, “You did?” Michael nodded sharply. “What did he say?”“He said he’d see what he could do, but that was a tough one this close to Christmas,” Michael said with a shrug, his face showing disappointment.“I’m sure that would be difficult, Michael,” Melody agreed, stroking his hair again.“But, Miss Melody. I didn’t ask for just any old mom.”“You didn’t?” she asked, confused.“No,” he replied, his little face quite serious. “I asked for you to be my mom.”Melody felt all of the color drain out of her face as she fumbled for a response. Luckily, Reid came up behind her just then and
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Just as it had the night before, the feel of Reid's hand in hers gave Melody the sensation of warmth and safety. Melody felt herself relax and decided to concentrate on enjoying the moment, and as they continued to slowly make their way to the front of the line, they began a discussion of popular Christmas movies which completely took her mind off of her mom, her dad, music, everything except for Reid and his uncanny ability to quote holiday films.When there were only a few other families in front of them, Michael looked up and said something to his friend before trotting over to join them. “Dad, we read Olive the Other Reindeer,” he said, slipping under the tinsel.“That sounds like a great book, buddy,” his dad said. “Did you have fun with Hailey?”“Yeah. She’s going to church tomorrow. Am I going with Mrs. Gregory?”“As far as I
