Page 31 of Only in Our Dream
Although they ran in different circles, the Cove was small enough that Blaire and Melanie knew of each other prior to the divorce. Melanie had helped deliver her daughter not long after she started working at Taylor Memorial and Blaire was the lawyer for the hospital. Not that Melanie had even met her in the latter capacity, but she had seen her at the hospital’s annual events over the years.
“Divorce sucks. It doesn’t matter if you wanted it or not, it still sucks. Closing a major chapter in our lives is never easy, and I think that’s a good thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she smiled softly. “It means you loved someone, even if you don’t anymore. And that’s not something everyone can say.”
“I guess I’ve never looked at it like that.”
“That’s why you have me.” Blaire winked, standing again. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail while her blazer and pants combo were the definition of a power suit. “Come on. I’ll buy us coffee on the way out.”
As they walked down the stairs to the first floor of the courthouse, they stopped by the coffee cart that was set up there every morning and purchased two cups of coffee. Melanie thanked Blaire, who promised to keep her updated if anything changed before their court date. With any luck, Melanie would be officially divorced before the New Year.
With a spring in her step, she headed for her car parked behind the courthouse in the parking lot. She hadn’t expected to run into Rob still chatting with his lawyer, so she just offered them a smile and a wave as she walked to her car. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rob telling his lawyer goodbye as he made a beeline for her.
“Hey, Mel,” Rob had his usual goofy grin on his face, “you got a second?”
“Um,” Melanie looked at her watch even though she knew she had hours before her shift, “yeah. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say that you look really happy. It’s good to see you that way.” He tilted his head ever so slightly. “I haven’t seen you looking that way in a while.”
Melanie felt herself blushing. “Thanks, Rob. You look happy, too.”
And they weren’t empty words either. Rob truly looked happier. Melanie wanted to comment that she hoped Janet was making him happy, but she kept that thought to herself. There was no need to bring that up when the same could be said about her and Cameron. But that wasn’t anything Rob needed to know about.
Not yet, anyway.
In reality, Melanie didn’t know how or when to even tell him about Cameron. She had mentally made a note to ask Cameron her thoughts whenever theyfinallyhad their first date. But until then, Melanie would keep the information about Cameron only to the people who needed to know.
Which so far seemed to include Isla, Vera, and Palmer. The rest would have to wait until things were more official.
God, this wait is going to kill me.
“Well, I should probably get home. I need to get some sleep before work.”
“Wait.” Rob suddenly seemed nervous as he took hold of her arm. “I just need to say one more thing. Before you hear it somewhere else.”
“Oh, my god. Is Janetpregnant?”
“What? No.” He shook his head furiously. “No. She’s not pregnant. But I moved in with her.”
“I had assumed as much,” Melanie chuckled. “I would never have pictured you as living in a hotel or crashing on someone’s couch.”
“So, you’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad? We’re getting divorced. We’re both going to be moving on with our lives.” Melanie stopped short of adding in that she was moving on as well. “Like we said before, we both deserve to be happy, right?”
“Right,” Rob sighed, seemingly relieved. “Well, I’ll let you get home. Tell Hank and Lucy I miss them.”
“I will.”
“I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Rob.”
Getting into her car, Melanie turned up her music as per usual. Rob always hated the music up loud. He said it messed with his concentration. For Melanie, it had the opposite effect. It helped her focus better than anything.
Since the meeting with the magistrate had been scheduled for eight a.m., Melanie had gone straight from work without breakfast. Her stomach growled in protest of her normal routine as she pulled into a spot in front of Carlson’s Cafe to grab something to-go.
