Page 15 of The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
Her business partner Julie was holding down the fort at Memory Lane Events. Melody was the business brain, and Julie had all the creativity. Thus, it was fine that Julie was organizing and running things while Melody was gone. Melody could still run numbers from a distance, pay bills, make orders, and stuff like that. Melody was still keeping up with everything and she didn’t want to let her partner down.
Lying back on her bed, she stared up at the ceiling now. After the accident, Melody had packed her bags and driven to the bridge several times, ready to cross over and leave. She’d forced herself to turn back, however, telling herself that Alyssa wouldn’t want her to disappear on her dad and her friends when they needed her most. On Melody’s final night in this house though, right after the funeral, her father had finally broken what had felt like an insufferable silence. They’d wordlessly sat at the dinner table like they’d been doing every night since Alyssa’s death. Then he’d looked up at her. For a moment, she’d thought he was going to offer some words of comfort. She was grieving too after all.
“Why Alyssa? There were four of you in the car, but she was the one taken. Why her?”
Melody had interpreted that question asWhy not you?
They had been on their way to prom. It was senior prom for Melody, Bri, and Liz. And junior prom for Alyssa. They’d decided to go stag because what could be better than attending prom with your very best friends? Well, okay, Alyssa had wanted to go with Christopher, but he’d turned her down. Melody couldn’t figure out why. Her sister had been beautiful, so sweet, and hilarious. Who wouldn’t love her?
“Forget him anyway,” Melody had said in the car ride on the way to prom, bumping her shoulder against Alyssa’s.
Alyssa’s smile, stained with fiery red lipstick, had lifted at the corners, but Melody caught the brief flicker of sadness in her eyes. “We’re going to have the best time tonight.” Alyssa was the optimist of the group with Liz being a second runner-up.
“You bet we are!” Liz called from the driver’s seat. “Everyone’s buckled up, right?”
“Yes, Mom,” Bri said sarcastically, sitting in the front passenger seat.
Liz sighed dramatically. “Is it really a crime for me to want us to make it to prom in one piece?”
“You sound like my dad.” Alyssa laughed quietly.
“You sound like my grandma,” Bri added, making them all laugh harder—even Liz.
“Okay, let’s make a bet,” Melody finally said. “We’re going stag, but I bet Bri is going to be the first one to hit the dance floor with a guy.”
“Nu-uh. My money is on Alyssa back there.” Bri glanced over her shoulder to look in the back seat. Bri looked beautiful tonight without a single dab of make-up on. It was a small miracle that Bri had even worn a dress. “The guys are going to go nuts when they see Alyssa walk in. She looks like a Hollywood actress.”
Bri wasn’t wrong. Alyssa was the most outwardly beautiful.
“Well, it definitely won’t be me.” Liz kept her eyes on the road and her hands at two and nine. She was a responsible driver—the only one of them to never have gotten a ticket. “I bet it’s Alyssa too,” Liz said. “She’s going to ditch us first.”
Alyssa shook her head. “I think you guyswantme to ditch you. I’m Melody’s younger sister and I’m not supposed to be here. Three’s a charm and four is a crowd.”
Melody jabbed her elbow into Alyssa’s side again, harder this time. “You’re only one year younger. And youaresupposed to be here. You’re one of us.”
“Agreed.” Liz looked away from the road momentarily to meet Melody’s gaze in the rearview.
“For sure,” Bri said. “Three’s a charm and four is the whole dang charm bracelet.”
Alyssa grinned, rubbing the spot where Melody had jabbed her with her elbow. “Well, I plan on dancing with you all tonight. No guys.”
“What if Christopher asks you to dance?” Melody asked in a teasing tone.
Alyssa’s cheeks flushed darker than the blush she’d put on for the occasion. “Doubtful?”
“Okay, new rule,” Bri said, taking hold of the conversation. “We all dance with each other,butwe each get one exception.”
“What kind of exception?” Melody asked.
“Like, my grandparents are committed to one another, but they have some agreement that if they run into their favorite movie star, they get a free pass to . . . you know.”
“Your grandparents have a free pass agreement?” Liz asked in shock, her jaw dropping.
Bri shrugged. “They talk about it all the time. They don’t think I know what a free pass is.”
“You’re suggesting that we get a free pass dance?” Melody clarified. “Just a dance?”
Bri rolled her eyes. “None of us are getting laid tonight, okay?”
