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“I bet you do,” she says. “Pretty convenient timing, don’t you think?”
“I don't know what that means.”
“You leave him alone. I’m not going to watch you blow through town and ruin him again. I’ll kick your scrawny ass, little girl. Bet on it.”
“That’s not…that’s not what I’m trying to do,” I say. “Stella, why are you so mad at me? I don’t understand.”
“Stay away from him, Mel,” she says. “I mean it.”
Then, she slams the door in my face.
“Stella!” I shout, pounding on the door again. “Stella, can I just come in?”
She never answers, and after about five minutes, I give up and walk back to the car, defeated. I look back one last time before getting into the vehicle and see one of the twins peeking through the curtains.
I smile and give her a wave before she pulls them shut.
Defeated, I idle in the driveway for a minute, then decide I'll come by later and look for his truck. I throw the car into reverse and head to the A-frame cabin on the other side of the neighborhood.
When Eileen opens the door and confusion crosses her face, a part of me fears a repeat of what happened with Stella.
“Hey,” I say. “It’s um…Amelia Walker. I don’t know if you remember me, but I was wondering if Lisa was around?”
“You don’t know if I remember you? Of course, I remember you!” she says, throwing her arms around me before ushering me inside. “Come in, come in.”
“Thank you.”
“Lisa!” she shouts. “Look who’s here to see you!”
“Is it Steven?” she calls from upstairs, and an involuntary smile spreads across my face upon hearing her voice. I missed it; I didn’t realize how much I missed it. “He’s ear…ly.”
Her face falls; tears well in my eyes when I see it. She’s not happy to see me. She doesn’t want me here.
“Hi, Lisa,” I say, willing my voice not to crack as I blink back the tears. I want to crawl into a hole and die. I feel my cheeks flush red, both from embarrassment and anger. I’m angry at the dead girl for making me think this was a good idea, for crawling out of her coffin when she did.
“Mel…” she says, slowly descending the staircase. “What are you doing here?”
“I um…I’m in town for a couple of days and…I didn’t have your phone number, but I wanted to see you. I guess I um,” I pause, feigning a laugh. “It looks like you’re busy. I’m just going to go.”
I turn back toward the door and bite my lower lip hard to stifle a sob as the tears roll down my cheeks.
“Well…wait,” she says, and I freeze. “I am…busy. I have a Christmas party to go to right now, but…I’m free later.”
“Really?” I ask, wiping my eyes as I turn back to her. “You don’t have to if you don’t—”
“Yes!” she says, wrapping me in a hug. “Absolutely—I want to. I can meet you downtown in a few hours…let’s say…around seven at The Red Fox?”
“Yeah, okay,” I tell her. “That works. I…have some Christmas shopping to do and so…that’s perfect. I’ll see you then.”
“Okay, great,” she says.
I flash her a smile and turn to leave.
“Mel?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m so glad you came over. I’m really happy to see you. I missed you every day.”
