The mall was two levels, and after nothing caught her interest on the first floor, she decided to explore the lower level. A small store that specialized in engraving was the first place she saw as she made her way down the stairs. She didn’t know why that particular store was intriguing to her, but she decided to check it out.
As she entered, Melina saw that there were no other customers and only one employee, a woman, standing up by the cash register. She was pleased that she could focus on finding a gift rather than focus on blocking out thoughts or trying not to touch someone.
When she scanned the shelves lining the walls and the various displays around the room, most of what she saw appeared to be more fitting for bridal party gifts. She headed toward the front of the store, which she had been avoiding so she wouldn’t hear the cashier’s thoughts, and saw a small display setting with shiny metal squares on it. A closer look showed the little squares to be business card holders. She frowned and turned around to leave when inspiration finally hit her. A business card holder might not be such a bad idea after all.
Thirty minutes later, Melina pulled out of the mall’s parking lot and headed back in the direction of Lee’s jewelry store. The engraving had taken a little longer than she had hoped, and now she was a bit nervous. She wanted to arrive at Lee’s store as early as possible, hoping that the lack of customers would make him more prone to stepping out with her. Now she was worried that he’d be too busy.
She glanced down at the clock on her radio and saw that it was almost eleven thirty. Maybe she could convince him to go for an early lunch. She tried to think if there were any restaurants nearby, but nothing came to mind. It was a nice day out, though. Not too cold. Maybe he’d want to go for a walk with her instead.
Melina continued to think of different options, and before she knew it, she was in front of Lee’s store. She almost had to drive to the end of the block before she found a parking space. Apparently the store was pretty busy. Great. Just what she was worried about. Time was of the essence, though, and she needed to try to talk to him, busy store or not.
She made her way up to the front door and quickly saw why the place was booming with so many people. They were having a huge sale on every item in the store. None of the signs said anything about it being a closeout sale, but the high price cuts being advertised certainly hinted at it. As a business owner herself, she couldn’t help but wonder.
Melina grabbed the door handle, but before she opened it, she prepared herself for the wave of thoughts about to crash into her mind. She pulled the door open and immediately closed her eyes. Blocking out that many thoughts all at once required more concentration than a smaller group of people did… at least at first. She was getting quicker at it with the more practice she had.
Once she had dulled down the thoughts to a tolerable volume, she opened her eyes and looked around the store. Rows of glistening glass countertops displaying an array of sparkling jewelry lined each pearl-white wall and filled the open floor with intricate square formations. There was one employee stationed in the center of each one of the squares, and two employees behind every wall case. They were all dressed in white, long-sleeved shirts. The men wore black slacks and loafers, and the women wore black skirts and heels. The store was beautiful and classy, just how she had remembered it.
She took a moment to admire the place and then searched around the store once more for Lee. He wasn’t anywhere in sight. The store was a decent size, though, so maybe she had missed him.
Being careful not to touch anyone, she weaved her way in and out of the crowd, scanning the store as she went, her head turning from side to side. She made her way around one of the counters and over to the other side of the store, but she still didn’t see him anywhere. Maybe he was in the back.
She started off in that direction, and she was almost there when she heard a woman’s voice behind her. “Is there something I can help you find, miss?”
Teetering back on her left foot, Melina swiveled around and came face to face with a petite young woman with short blond hair. She looked into her light brown eyes and said, “Actually, yes.”
The woman perked up, eager to make a sale. Melina smiled at her, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
“I’m not looking for some
thing
, though,” Melina said as she motioned toward the case in front of her. “I’m actually looking for some
one
.”
“Oh,” the woman replied. Her excitement vanished.
Another no-sale customer.
Melina looked at the woman carefully after hearing her thoughts and took note of how upset she appeared. Maybe the store was in some sort of financial trouble.
“Who is it you’re trying to find?”
The woman’s voice snapped Melina out of her thoughts. “Oh yes, I need to speak to the owner, Lee Atwood. Is he here?”
“No, I’m sorry. He stepped out awhile ago to run a few errands.” She glanced up at a large clock hanging on the back wall. “He should be back soon, though. Would you like to leave a message for him?”
“No,” said Melina. “Thank you for your help.” She turned around and headed back to the entrance, carefully making her way through the throng of people once more.
Once she was back outside, she noticed that her head felt like it had been relieved of a substantial amount of pressure. She sighed, both in relief and in frustration. What was she to do? She needed to see him today. Maybe she should wait for him in her car.
Melina turned to her right to walk back to her Jeep and slammed into someone coming from the other direction. She didn’t even have time to see the person before she was sucked into a vision.
She was standing at the back of a room where she saw two men sitting across from each other. The man facing her was an older gentleman, his wavy, white hair combed over with care, his gray suit looked crisp and clean. The other man, whose back was to her, appeared to be younger. He was dressed more casually in a white linen shirt and dark khakis. The man in the suit laid some papers out on his big wooden desk and then gazed up at the younger man, a sympathetic look on his face.
She saw the young man lean over to read the papers. After scanning them over, he slumped back into his chair and lowered his face into his hand. The man started to shake, and Melina wondered if he was crying. She stepped closer to investigate, but just as she did, she was filled with an overwhelming sense of failure and despair. The feeling was so intense that she felt like crying herself.
Melina closed her eyes for a moment and then looked back over at the young man. For the first time she noticed the distinct copper hue in his hair. She took another step toward him, but before she could see his face, she was jolted back to reality.
“I’m so sorry, excuse me,” she heard the man say.
Holding her now aching head, she took a step back and looked up at him. It was Lee.
Chapter Fifteen
“Melina?”
“Lee.” She lowered her hand from her head and stared up at him. He was wearing a light gray, button-up dress shirt and black slacks under his black dress coat, not the white linen shirt and khakis she'd seen him wearing in the vision. She hoped that meant the vision wasn’t of any time in the near future.
He looked over at her, a worried expression on his face. “Are you all right? You look like you’re about to cry.”
She lowered her head as she wiped at her eyes, muttering a quick “I’m fine,” before raising her eyes back up to meet his.
He continued to stare at her as if he wasn’t sure if he believed her. Finally, his face relaxed a little. “So what brings you by here?”
“Well, you didn’t exactly say no when I suggested we go out for a cup of coffee or lunch sometime. Oh, and I got you a little something that might help cheer you up.” She dug a small black box out of her coat pocket and held it out for him.
He took the box from her and examined it in his hand and then gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, but I’m really not in the mood to eat right now.”
“Oh. Well, we could go for a walk then,” Melina said as she looked at him expectantly.
“I’m sorry,” he said again as he glanced back down at the box and then back at her. “I need to get back inside, but you can come up to my office to chat for a bit.”
“Sure. Lead the way,” she said as she gestured toward the door.
Lee opened the door for Melina and then led her toward the back of the store. They made their way behind one of the glass display cases and turned into a doorway in the corner, which led to a flight of stairs. After climbing the steps up to the second floor, they arrived at a long hallway with several offices lined along both sides. They walked all the way to the end of the corridor before reaching Lee’s office.
He pulled his keys out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and then pushed it open for her as he motioned inside. “After you.”
Melina stepped across the threshold and wasn’t surprised to see that his office was as elegant as the jewelry store downstairs. A beautiful glass chandelier hung from the middle of the ceiling, the light sparkling off of it dancing around the room. The two sidewalls were lined with a couple of cabinets and intricate paintings of various musical instruments, one in which Lee himself was pictured playing a guitar, and the back wall was consumed by an enormous window that granted a spectacular view of the city.
She turned and saw that behind her, on each side of the doorway, were two massive mahogany bookcases filled with a variety of books that ranged from Charles Dickens to Stephen King. Melina looked around the roomy office again, clearly impressed, and then finally took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his matching mahogany desk.
Lee closed the door behind him and hung his coat on a hook by the door. He walked toward Melina and held out his hand. “Would you like me to take your coat for you?”
“Sure. Thank you,” Melina replied as she shimmied out of her peacoat.
Lee took the coat from her and then nodded toward her scarf. “I can hang that up with it.”
“No, that’s okay,” she said, holding one hand up to her neck to guard the scarf and the other one out in front of her to block Lee.
He shot her a strange glance.
Melina relaxed and put her hands in her lap. “I like to keep my scarves on.” She shrugged and gave him an awkward grin.
Lee shrugged back at her and gave her a look as if to say,
As you wish,
before turning around to hang her coat next to his. He then made his way back over to her and sat down in the chair next to hers. His eyes immediately went down to the box again.
“Open it, please,” said Melina.
Without looking at her, he did as he was told and lifted off the lid. He unfolded the small piece of tissue and revealed the thin, shiny silver rectangle inside. His thumb gently ran over his engraved name on the front, and then he dug it out of the box.
“It’s a business card holder.”
Lee nodded but remained quiet.
“I thought it might help you have a little more respect for them.” Melina braced herself, waiting for an angry or defensive come-back. But instead, she received more of an explanation.
“Thank you,” Lee replied. He gave her a faint smile and then turned his eyes back down to the gift as he turned it back and forth in his hands. “It was very thoughtful of you to think of me. I am learning to respect the cards, actually. I know that I should take pride in my position, but… it’s just so hard when I didn’t see it coming.”
Suddenly he stood up from his chair and made his way over to the window. He stared down at the city below, still passing the cardholder from hand to hand.
Melina expected to hear his thoughts soon, but after waiting a few seconds, she heard none. She decided to ask the obvious, hoping that he would continue to talk. “It’s a family-owned business. How could you not know that your father was probably expecting you to take it over?”
Lee turned and looked at her. “Couldn’t I ask you the same thing?”
Melina paused for a moment and then said, “I knew my parents wanted me to take over the store.”
“You told me that you were studying to be an English teacher but then suddenly switched your major to Business when your parents died. That doesn’t sound like you knew they wanted you to take over the family bookstore.”
“Let me rephrase. I knew they wanted me to
eventually
take over the store. I thought I would have at least ten to fifteen years to teach before they decided to retire and hand the reins over to me.”
“Hmm,” Lee replied as he turned to look out the window again. “Well, I never thought my father would leave the store to me. I always thought he would leave it to my sister, Claire, or even to one of my cousins.”
Melina’s forehead creased. “Why’s that?”
Lee shrugged, still staring out the window. “I never showed any interest in the store, never really helped out with it. He should’ve left it to Claire.”
Melina pondered what he'd said and was about to ask him another question when she suddenly heard his voice in her head.
Great. Now she’s going to ask me a bunch of questions about why I never helped with the store or why I think my dad should’ve given it to Claire. It’s nobody’s business.
He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed.
I need to get back to work. I’ll just tell her that and ask her to leave.
Before he could say anything, though, Melina sprung up from her chair. “No, Lee. Please don’t shut me out.”
He turned from the window, a quizzical look in his eyes.
Melina swallowed as she stared back at Lee. Oh no. Her kneejerk reaction now had Lee wondering how she knew what he was going to say to her. How was she going to explain that to him? She couldn’t just tell him the truth. Could she? Walter never told her if she could tell Lee the truth or not.
No. She couldn’t tell him. He would probably think she was crazy and not want to see her again.
She fumbled around in her head for an answer and then finally sputtered out, “You stopped talking. I just wanted you to continue to open up to me. I think it’s healthy for you. Talking to someone really helped me.”