fine.” But she appeared anything but okay. She seemed as shell-shocked as he was. “I’m sure we’re both overwhelmed at the idea of becoming parents. At least we have six months to get used to the idea.”
“Have you started to think about what you’re going to do?” he asked.
“What do you mean ‘do’?”
“For where you’re going to live.” Where did he figure in her plans? “Are you staying here?”
“In Las Vegas?” Melody looked like a cornered rabbit. “I don’t know. Nate is here. And Mia. Trent, Savannah and Dylan will be coming back as soon as she’s done filming the movie.”
“It doesn’t much sound like you plan on coming back to LA.”
Or back to Kyle. His home was in LA. Although, at the moment he was renting a place outside Vegas for the next few months. He’d offered to take over as temporary manager of Club T’s for two reasons. To be closer to Melody while she finished her album and to free up Trent to live in LA and take care of his son while Savannah worked.
“I feel as if I have a really good support system here.” The subtext was clear. She didn’t think he was going to be there for her. Was this opinion recently acquired or something that had occurred to her over a period of time?
“How do you figure? Trent and Savannah are in LA at the moment.”
“They’ll be coming back as soon as Savannah is done with her movie. And you’re here.”
Something loosened in his chest. “So you do want me around.”
“Of course. I want us to be a family.” Nothing sounded better, but in his peripheral vision a dozen red roses stood like a stop sign on her dining room table.
Then she shook her head. “Is that possible? Can we get back to where we were before the tour?”
“I’m not sure we can.” Although Kyle doubted it was the sort of answer a pregnant woman wanted to hear from the father of her child, he had to be honest with her. “Go backward, I mean. I’m sorry. All this has caught me by surprise. I never imagined myself a dad.”
“We never talked about it. I was a bit afraid to, knowing how you and your father get along.”
“You mean don’t get along.”
She gave a little shrug. “You aren’t him. You’re going to be a great dad.”
He wanted some time to assimilate all he’d learned, but she was staring at him like she needed him to fix everything. He just had no idea how to begin.
He considered her remark about his relationship with his father.
Suck it up, kid.
Be a man.
No one’s going to help you unless you help yourself.
The clichés went on and on. Maybe if Brent Tailor hadn’t been such a successful businessman and dedicated philanthropist, his opinions would’ve been easier to ignore. Instead, he was someone Kyle looked up to professionally. And much of what his father drilled into him had enabled his success as a major league pitcher.
The downside to what his dad had drilled into him all his life was that it didn’t enable Kyle to celebrate all he’d achieved in his baseball career or convey to Melody how he felt about their relationship.
“And you’re going to be a great mother.”
She blew out a huge breath. “I hope so. It would’ve been better if it happened later rather than sooner.”
“What’s done is done. What do you need from me?” He saw her answer coming and spoke quickly to head it off. “And don’t say nothing.”
From her frown he knew he’d struck the truth. She’d grown up watching her father and brother butt heads and depending on the situation, tended to either retreat or take on the role of peacekeeper whenever she caught a whiff of conflict.
“I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.” Her voice came across as tentative as if she half expected him to refuse.
“What time?”
“Three o’clock.”
Excitement trickled into his awareness, diluting his dismay. She was pregnant with his child. It wasn’t great timing, nor was becoming a father something he’d imagined happening any time soon, but he’d watched Trent with Dylan and was pretty sure he’d never seen his friend this happy. Maybe there was something to being a family that made the big problems smaller.
“Where do you want me to pick you up?” he asked.
“You don’t need to come.”
“Oh, I’m not missing this.”
Trent and Savannah had overcome bigger obstacles to find their way back to each other. Surely Kyle and Melody could get past what stood between them. Of course, he was assuming she wanted to. What if she didn’t love him anymore? She might not have cheated on him with Hunter, but he’d treated her as if she had.
He’d broken her trust, lodged unfair accusations at her. The person in the wrong hadn’t been her, but him. Just that morning he’d been all set to forgive her. It had never occurred to Kyle that the one in need of pardoning would be him.
“Thank you,” Melody said, but the words were perfunctory as if her thoughts had traveled elsewhere. “I appreciate your willingness to be involved.”
“I’m going to be there for you every way I can.”
* * *
Melody sat in the small, utilitarian lobby of Ugly Trout Records and stared out the front window toward the parking lot. For the fifth time in ten minutes, she checked the time on her phone. Kyle had three more minutes before he could be considered late. Since last night, she’d regretted caving in to his offer to take her to the doctor’s appointment. Unlike Hunter, Kyle counted punctuality as one of his virtues. He’d never left her waiting and wondering if he was going to call or show up. He’d always been very clear about his intentions and then followed through.
So why was she working herself into such a frantic mess? Practicing patience, Melody smoothed her sweaty palms down the legs of her skinny jeans. Thank goodness the denim had some stretch to it. Thanks to the severity of her morning sickness these last few weeks, she’d lost weight, but today her baby bump seemed more pronounced than the week before.
This change—more than the pregnancy test, her constant nausea and fatigue—had made her all too aware that she had a baby inside her. Sweat broke out. Most days she was happy about her impending motherhood. The timing could be better. She was on the verge of dropping her first album and the stress wasn’t good for her or the baby. But now that she’d broken the news to Kyle, more than just her and her baby’s future weighed on her mind.
“Hey, Melody, what are you doing up here?”
She turned at the sound of her name and smiled at the man who was detouring toward her. Craig Jameson was one of the top sound engineers working
