Page 65 of Road to Rosalee

‘Yeah … I hate to admit it but you’re right,’ he sighed weightily. ‘I’m sorry it’s ended like this.’

‘Me too.’ She breathed in deeply, using her exhalation to force out the rest of what she had to say. ‘I called to say I’d like a divorce. Hopefully, we can work out my share of the café and our apartment fairly and amicably.’ There was a long pause and Melody fought to control her shallow breath. ‘Please, Antonio. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.’

‘I’m sure we can sort it out.’ His words were curt.

‘Good, great.’ Melody almost punched the air. ‘I’ll be back in town in ten days and we can sort it all out then, if that’s okay with you.’

‘Yes, that suits me. You take care now.’

‘I will. You too.’

And with that, she ended the call and sat for a few long moments – a four-and-a-half-year relationship ended, just like that. She knew without a doubt that because he had Kelly there to fill the void she’d left – if the poor, unsuspecting woman could forgive him for lying to her, god help her – Antonio would be a lot more cordial. He didn’t need her to give him what he wanted anymore. The universe couldn’t have aligned things any more perfectly.

Now it was time to find the love of her life and tell him she was deeply sorry, and that she was head-over-boots in love with him, and hope to god he forgave her. She wanted to explain to Zai that even though she didn’t have all the answers right now, for the first time in her life, she didn’t need them – because she knew with absolute certainty that she couldn’t bear the thought of life without him.

Heading outside to the glowing warmth of the midday sunshine, she stifled a surprised bubble of laughter. Slim, Showbags and Tumbles were out on the back lawn of the workers’ quarters, beers at the ready – the pre-wedding celebrations had clearly begun a few days early. Showbags had a towel around his shoulders and Slim had a pair of clippers in hand. Tumbles was watching it all with a goofy look on his face. Melody almost didn’t want to look.

Crossing with long strides, she stopped short of them. ‘Hey, you lot.’

‘Howdy, Melody. You’re just in time for the show.’ With a cheeky grin, Slim lined the buzzing clippers up and went in for the kill. Scooting it up the centre, he was clearly having a hard time holding himself together. ‘I’ve made you a landing strip, Showbags.’

‘Ha, he sure did.’ Tumbles pointed then fell back on the grass, laughing.

‘You better not leave one of your groomsmen looking like a baldy, Slimbo.’ Showbags peered up. ‘Or I might just have to shave one of your eyebrows off while you’re sleeping.’

‘Ha, Sherrie would whip your arse if you did that,’ Tumbles said, following it up with a grimace.

Showbags grinned. ‘I’ll just tell her you did it, Tumbles.’

Slim laughed and continued on clipping.

Chuckling at their antics, Melody looked to the cottage, praying to god Zai had popped home for lunch today – she desperately needed to talk to him. ‘I’ll leave you boys to it, then.’

‘Yeah, righto. Catch ya, Melds.’ Tumbles gave her a wave.

Showbags pulled an oh-lord-help-me face that only she could see as she walked away.

She shook her head, still chuckling – the three guys were the brothers she’d never had. But her smile quickly faded as she reached the front door of Zai’s place – she couldn’t be more nervous if she tried.

His boots were by the welcome mat, so she had no doubt he was home. Taking a deep breath, she gave three hard raps to the front door then waited. Almost a minute passed. She knocked again, this time a little louder. Again, she was met with silence. Her heart sank even lower. Zai obviously needed time, and she wasn’t about to break the door down to get to him. But being ignored by him still hurt. So, willing herself not to burst into tears, she turned around and took one foot after the other away from where she knew Zai was, back towards the homestead, giving the chuckling group of guys a wide berth – she wouldn’t be able to hold herself together if she had to stop and talk.

Would Zai ever give her the time of day again, at least enough to be able to explain everything and to offer her heartfelt apology? Oh god, she hoped so.

* * *

Three days later, with the unconditional love of her new family and friends surrounding her – a time when she should have been on top of the world – Melody found it almost impossible not to burst into tears at the rowdy homestead dinner table. Seated as far away from her as he could possibly be, between her father and her grandad, Steve, Zai avoided looking in her direction. And he wasn’t answering her knocks at the cottage door either, even though she knew he was inside at least some of the times. She’d even tried to corner him alone in the kitchen, but he’d quickly made an escape, muttering something about needing to check in with Slim on some wedding plans. Despite Sarah telling her otherwise, Zai very clearly loathed the sight of her. She was starting to believe her chance with him was well and truly gone.

Needing to do anything but sit here with her heart in her throat, Melody quickly rose and gathered some of the empty plates. Then, disregarding her dad’s worried glance in her direction, she made a beeline for the kitchen and started to rinse the plates and cutlery off before piling them all into the dishwasher.

Following the pitter-patter of footsteps, Judy’s hand came to rest on her arm. ‘Are you okay, love?’ she said ever-so-quietly. ‘You seem a million miles away.’

Turning to look into the kindest blue-grey eyes, crinkled at the edges from years of sun and laughter, Melody blinked faster as she tried to smile. ‘I’m okay, thanks Grandma. Just really tired.’

‘Are you sleeping, love?’ Judy asked, her gentle tone concerned.

Leaning against the kitchen bench, Melody shrugged a little. ‘Not really.’

‘I see.’ Offering a look of sympathy, Judy seemed to consider what she was about to say next. ‘Does it have something to do with what’s happened between you and Zai?’ There was a deep knowingness in her gaze. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but Sarah and Georgia filled me in over a cuppa this morning when I mentioned you seemed unhappy and I was worried about you.’