Page 3 of A Family Affair: The Ring
“You own my heart.”Will pushed past the lump in his throat, shared the truth.“You always will.”He pulled her close, kissed her with all the promise and hope of a man in love.If he hadn’t been so distracted with the kiss, he would have heard the elevator ding and the door slide open twenty feet away.But he didn’t because nothing else mattered but that kiss.
The muffled sound a few seconds later told him they weren’t alone.Will broke the kiss and glanced toward the elevator door where he spotted a couple in their late forties.The man’s hands framed the woman’s face as he kissed her.And not just any kiss, but a desperate, I-want-you-now kind of kiss.There was something about the man’s dark hair and tall build that seemed familiar, and the woman?Where had he seen that purple sweater before?
The man broke the kiss and eased away from the woman just as Melanie turned.“Mom?”Her voice wobbled in confusion.“Mr.Callahan?What are you doing here?”
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Will clutched Melanie’s hand, held tight as their parents approached them.Melanie’s mother kept her head bent, dabbed at her eyes, while Will’s father maintained a stone-faced expression, blue eyes homed in on Will.
“Mom?”Melanie spoke again, the wobble in her voice escalating.“What… What are you doing here with Mr.Callahan?”
Her mother’s usually serene face crumpled for the briefest second as though she were about to cry, and then, she smiled: bright, bold, confident.“Well, I suppose I can let you in on the secret.I’m thinking of bringing your father here and I wanted a man’s perspective, so—” she gestured toward Will’s father “—I asked Mr.Callahan to take a look.”A sigh and the softest “Your father’s been having such a hard time lately and I thought this would be the perfect Christmas gift.”Another sigh, a dab at her eyes.“He just hasn’t been the same since he was let go, but maybe it will help to get him out of the house, away from the routines that can grow tedious and lackluster.”
Maybe making him feel special would help, but it seemed sort of weird to have Will’s father weighing in on family problems.Melanie’s dad didn’t even want to talk about the situation withher, and she was his daughter.Joe Callahan was an acquaintance because he was Will’s dad, but no doubt they’d share more now that Will and Melanie were engaged.Still, something felt off.“So, why did you visit the third floor?Wasn’t there anything on the main level?”
Her mother’s smile covered her as she spoke with a self-assurance Melanie wished she possessed.“We had no choice.Apparently, the other rooms were either occupied or having work done to them.And I believe two of them didn’t have a jacuzzi tub.”Those hazel eyes narrowed on Melanie.“But perhaps the bigger question at the moment is what were the two of you doing here?”A raised brow and an accusatory “Did finals finish earlier than expected, or did you plan a break between school and home?”
“I...we were just...”Melanie cleared her throat, shifted from one foot to the other, fought the heat rushing to her face.“We finished yesterday.”
“I see.”Those two words fell from Susannah Russell’s lips, shifting the questionsandthe attention to Will and Melanie.
“We just wanted a little time alone together.”Was the pathetic voice buried in apology really hers?“We were on our way home when we saw you.”
“Well, isn’t that disappointing?”Her mother sniffed, her eyes bright.“My own daughter lying to me.”Another sniff.“I never thought this would happen and—”
“Stop!”
“Will?”Melanie eyed her fiancé.“What...what are you doing?”
“She’s lying, Melanie.They weren’t looking at this place for a special getaway…at least not for your dad.”Disgust shot through his words as he eyed his father.
Joe Callahan was an older version of his son; tall, lean, blue-eyed, dark hair peppered with silver.Melanie used to study him to see what Will would look like as he grew older.The man was quiet, stern, with a perpetual frown and a “dark” mood that was nothing like his son’s easygoing manner.She clasped Will’s arm, tried to calm him.“Why else would they be here?I think it’s very kind that your father agreed to help.”The man didn’t go out of his way to help anybody, at least that’s what Will had always told her, but maybe he’d done it for his son because he realized the Russells would one day be family.
“Kind?”Will stared at her, anger shimmering in his voice.“Isawthem kissing, and I’m not talking about a peck on the cheek.”
“No, that can’t be true.”She darted a glance at their parents, tried to process his words.“It can’t be.”
“It’s a lie!”This from her mother followed by “Why would you say such a vile thing?”
His father still hadn’t spoken, but the scowl deepened, the pinched brows grew more furrowed, the blue eyes narrowed to slits.Word in town was nobody disrespected Joe Callahan, especially not his son.But Will didn’t seem to notice as he homed in on Melanie’s mother.“Guess you really will have to buy a getaway package now, won’t you?”
“That’s enough.”Joe Callahan burned his son with a look.“You will not disrespect Mrs.Russell.”
The laugh fell out, cold, harsh.“But it’s okay foryouto disrespectMom?”Will stepped forward, fists clenched.“Again.”
“Again?”Melanie’s mother uttered the word as though she didn’t have enough oxygen to get it out, and when she looked at Mr.Callahan, her bottom lip quivered, her eyes filled with tears.
Will’s father lifted a hand as though to touch her, but then he dropped it.“Susannah…”
“Again?”She repeated, her voice a mix of pain and disbelief.“What does that mean?”
Joe Callahan’s jaw twitched, the veins in his neck pulsing.“I’ll explain, but not here.Not with our children watching us.”He cleared his throat, pointed to his son.“You’reout of line, and we’ll discuss this when I get home.”
“Are you for real?”Will muttered a curse under his breath, spat out, “You’re sleeping with my fiancée’s mother and that’s all you can say?”
“Fiancée?”His father darted a glance at Melanie’s left hand.“What the hell are you talking about?You’re too young to get married.”
“You’re going to lecture me on marriage?”
