Three hours had passed since Alicia had stormed out of Melanie’s house, yet Melanie was still beside herself. She was livid, and she had a mind to call and let Alicia have it once and for all. They’d been the best of friends for years, but Melanie wasn’t about to let Alicia judge her and tell her what to do when Alicia had done all kinds of unspeakable dirt. She’d married Phillip and had treated him like nothing. He’d been the best husband any woman could hope for, but Alicia had nearly ruined his credit and slept with a drug dealer. She’d even gone so far as falling in love with Levi, and the only reason she’d stopped seeing him was because he’d gone to prison. Melanie also wondered whether Alicia was telling the truth about not having any contact with Levi since he’d been released. Because it wasn’t like Alicia had been the one to tell her Levi was out. Brad had heard about it from Phillip, and when Melanie had asked her why she hadn’t told her, Alicia had shrugged it off like it was no big deal. She’d claimed that Levi was the least of her worries, and that this was the reason she’d forgotten to mention it. Melanie had wanted to believe her, but she still hadn’t forgotten the night of her father’s surgery when it had taken hours for Alicia to return any of their calls.
There was no way Alicia would make the same mistake twice, though. She was selfish and a little spoiled, but not even she would sleep with the same man who’d broken up her marriage the first time. She wouldn’t do something that crazy.
Alicia had, however, brought her behind over to Melanie’s and accused her of being mentally ill. Unlike Brad and Melanie’s dad, Alicia hadn’t used the word anorexic, but she had thrown out the term eating disorder, which was the same thing. What incensed Melanie more was the fact that Alicia and Brad had clearly been discussing her behind her back. What kind of best friend did that? Melanie had always thought she could trust Alicia with everything. Alicia was her sister, BFF, ride-or-die chick, and confidante to the end. Or so she’d thought, but now Melanie was rethinking their friendship. She’d also thought she could trust her own husband, but he’d turned against her as well. He was the reason her dad and Alicia had confronted her in the first place.
“How dare he,” she said, picking up the phone and dialing Brad. It rang multiple times until she heard his outgoing voice message.
“Hi, this is Brad Richardson. Unfortunately, I can’t take your call right now. But please leave a detailed message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks so much, and have a great day.”
“Brad, I know you’re probably ignoring my call on purpose, but thank you for telling all those lies about me to my dad and Alicia. You’ve got a lot of nerve, and you can bet this conversation isn’t over. And when are you bringin’ your lowdown behind home, anyway? I can’t believe you did this to me. You’re such a liar, and you can’t be trusted. Actually, instead of coming home, why don’t you find somewhere else to stay tonight, because I don’t wanna see you. Bye.”
Melanie ended the call and dropped the phone on the island. Brad made her sick. But that was okay, because Melanie wouldn’t let anyone—not Brad, Alicia, or her dad—impede her progress. She’d lost twenty whole pounds, and in no time, she’d be down to 140.
Melanie got on the treadmill, power walking at top speed for an hour, and then thought about her dad. So after drinking a full bottle of water and allowing her heart rate to return to normal, she called him on his cell phone.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Hi, sweetheart. What’s up?”
“Something’s been bothering me, and I wanted to talk to you about it. But not in front of Mom, though.”
“She’s gone, so go ahead.”
“Is it true that you and Mom are struggling to pay bills? She seemed really upset yesterday, and that worries me.”
“Honey, we are having a bit of a time, but don’t you think twice about it. Once I go back to work, we’ll be fine.”
“But we don’t know when that’ll be. You could be off for another month or longer.”
“I’m sorry your mother burdened you with this. She never should’ve talked about our finances in front of you.”
“No, but I’m glad she did. I don’t want you going back to work before you have to, so just come by my office on Monday. That way Mom won’t have to know anything.”
“Why?”
“I’m giving you a check.”
“You really don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I want to.”
“What will I tell your mother once she sees that all the bills are paid?”
“I don’t know. Tell her whatever you want, but you can’t afford to be stressing over money. Not with your heart condition.”
“You’re such a good daughter. Especially with the way we treated you.”
“You’re still my parents, Dad, and you don’t have to keep apologizing for that.”
“I feel like I do. I sit here day in and day out, thinking about everything I said. All the mistakes your mother and I made.”
“It’s in the past.”
“Bless you.”
“Just call me Monday when you’re on your way, and I’ll meet you out in the parking lot. I hope ten thousand will be enough.”
“No, no, no, that’s way too much. We don’t need all that.”
“You never know how long you’ll be off, so I want you to take it.”
“I sure do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I’m going to get off of here, but I’ll see you at church tomorrow.”
“See you then, and I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Melanie felt good about helping her dad, but after a few minutes she thought about Brad and the way he’d betrayed her, and her joy turned to rage.
She picked up her phone and called him again. It rang until his voice mail answered again. She had a mind to drive over to his office so she could make him talk to her. She knew that was his place of business, but she didn’t care about that. She’d long been tired of Brad’s legal cases taking priority over their marriage, anyway, so maybe showing up unannounced was the best way to handle things. Maybe confronting him at work, especially if some of his partners were there, would get his attention.
Melanie dialed him one more time, and when he didn’t answer she ran up the stairs to shower and change clothes. If she hurried, she could be at Brad’s office within an hour. But as she walked into her bedroom, the doorbell rang. She frowned when she realized it might be Alicia. She sort of hoped it was, because if Alicia was planning to harass her about her weight again, Melanie wouldn’t hold back this time.
She went down the stairs, through the long corridor, and peeked out the window. Melanie wondered why two police officers were standing there.
She opened the door. “Yes?”
“Are you Melanie Richardson?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Ma’am, we’re sorry to have to tell you this, but your husband was in a pretty bad car accident. He’s been taken to Mitchell Memorial, and you should get there as soon as possible. If you’d like, we can drive you.”
Melanie heard every word the officer was saying, but she couldn’t respond to him. She couldn’t move or think because her body went numb.