After a few painful moments, he stood up and leaned against his car. The cold rain did little to cool his nerves. He stared at the red car while he took a few more deep breaths and gathered himself. Then he opened his door and picked up the phone.
He tried to turn on the power, hoping for the slightest bit of power to make another phone call, but the screen lit up for just a second or two before powering down again. He tossed the phone back into the car.
Seth rubbed his hands together to get warm, but it did little against the persistent downpour of cold rain. The darkness of the night combined with the fury of the storm had him craving a drink. A road he couldn’t afford to go down again. He instinctively looked in the back seat, as if expecting to find a partial bottle that had been rolling around on the floor, but they had all been removed the day he checked himself into rehab. A day he’d never forget. The first day of the longest journey of his life. And the day he had lost everything. He rubbed a tattoo of flames on the back of his left hand.
The sky flashed, and rumbling thunder followed. Seth turned back to the red car. I shouldn’t be here right now, he thought. Instead he should be on a plane, on his way back to Faith. His little girl. Then he thought about the young woman in the car. Injured. Possibly dying. She was someone’s little girl, too, he thought. And now she’s trapped in that car. In this storm. Alone.
He headed back to the red car. He peeked inside the window to see if anything had changed, trying to avoid seeing the wood protruding from her side. But she was still in the same position. He opened the door slowly. The dome light came back on. He knelt down closer, looking for any signs of life. He listened for breathing, but the rain and wind created too much noise. He pressed two fingers gently against her neck, feeling for a pulse. Nothing. He checked again, pressing harder, and this time he felt something. A faint pulse beat beneath his fingertips.
Seth pushed a few strands of dark hair from the woman’s face. Her porcelain skin felt cold to the touch. He stood up and removed his jacket, placing it gently around her shoulders, careful not to disturb her too much. He looked down the road, hoping to see flashing lights.
“Come on, guys,” he murmured. “Get here.”
“Who are you?”
Seth turned back and found the young woman’s large blue eyes open and staring at him. “I’m Seth,” he said. “What’s your name?”
“Melanie,” she said. She tried to sit up and winced from the pain. “Why can’t I sit up?”
Seth took a look at the wood on her other side and then crouched down in front of her, placing his hand on her back. “You’ve been in an accident, Melanie. Do you remember any of that?”
She nodded. “I thought I saw a dog or something run out in front of me, so I swerved and lost control. I tried to straighten the car, but I ended up in this ditch.”
Tears welled in her eyes and slid down the side of her face.
Seth rubbed her back. “It’s okay now. I’ve called 9-1-1, and help is on the way.”
“Thank you.” Her shaky voice rose just above a whisper. “Will you stay with me?”
Will you stay with me?
The same question Faith had asked him just before she went on stage to perform at her first concert. A question that had broken his heart then, just as it did now.
He nodded and grabbed her hand. “Of course I will, Melanie. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
A faint smile formed on her face, and she closed her eyes. “Melanie. Melanie!” Seth didn’t know much about first aid, but he knew if she had a concussion, it’d be better if she stayed awake. He squeezed her hand, and her eyes opened again. “You should stay awake.”
“I’m so tired,” she whispered.
“I know. But help is on the way. It’ll be here before you know it.”
She nodded and looked up at his face. “You’re wet.”
He no longer felt the rain that continued to drench him. He ran a hand through his soaked hair. “Yeah, not much I can do about that now.”
“You look familiar.” She studied his face.
“I get that a lot,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t figure out who he was, or worse yet, who he used to be.
“Are you a singer?”
He let out a sigh. “I used to be.”
Melanie’s eyes trailed down and settled on his necklace. “That’s beautiful,” she said.
“You like it?” He took it off and held up the gold guitar pick pendant. He ran his thumb over the words, remembering the day his wife had given it to him. The same day he had decided to give up on his lifelong dreams of making it in the music industry.
“What does it say?” she asked.
Seth read the inscription aloud. “To have a dream is good. To chase one is better.”
Melanie smiled. “I like that.”
Seth reached down and opened Melanie’s hand, placing the necklace inside.
“What are you doing? I can’t accept this.”
“I made you a promise, and I kept it. I’m still here.” He closed her fingers around the necklace. “Now I need you to make me a promise. I need you to stay here with me. I need you to get better, and then someday you can return it to me. Can you do that?”
Her hand squeezed the necklace, tears welling in her eyes. “I will. I promise.”
Seth placed his hand gingerly on her back. A flash of light reflecting off the metal of her car caught his eye. He stood and turned around. An ambulance and a couple of police cars were heading their way. Relief filled his tense muscles, and his jaw tightened as he bit back tears.
“Can you see that, Melanie? Soon you’ll be out of here.”
But she didn’t respond, and her eyes were closed. “Melanie, did you hear me? You’re getting out of here.” He fell to his knees and placed his hand on her back. “Melanie!”
Her eyes opened, but something was missing. The light within her blue eyes was all but gone now. The large pit returned to Seth’s stomach, and he wanted to throw up again. He had to do something. She had to make it. He couldn’t let her down. Not her, too. Not now. “Melanie! Stay with me. You promised.”
Her eyes shut and then opened again. He wanted to scream. He wanted to run. He wanted to do something, anything to get her back. “Hold on!” he shouted. Then the golden guitar pick fell from her hand and swung from the chain still wrapped around her fingers. Tears ran down his cheeks and washed away with the rain. “Melanie! Hold on!”
Chapter 2
Seth
January 7th
Gray clouds blocked all traces of the sun. Trees barren of leaves stood as proof that winter had definitely arrived. Seth strolled up the small hill with a bouquet of white roses wrapped in red paper. Lexi’s favorite.
He reached the top of the hill and stopped in front of a large, gray stone set beneath a maple tree. Seth bent down, brushing leaves from the stone. He set the flowers on the ground in front of it and ran his hand across the engraved letters. LEXI STORM. It had been a year since her death. A year since he had last been here.
“I really messed up this time, Lex.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I wish you were here right now. You always knew what to do.” He picked up a small pebble and bounced it in his hand a few times before letting it fall between his fingers. “I just don’t know how we got here, baby. I mean, we had it all, didn’t we? The record was taking off. We had a gorgeous baby girl with your hazel eyes and my love for music. Hell, we even had that house with the white picket fence in the country you always wanted.” He remembered the first time Lexi had seen that house. For a man who tended to get more wrong than right, Seth had definitely gotten it right that day.
It had been a particularly wet spring that year. It seemed the rain would never stop. After finally seeing some real sunlight one afternoon, Seth had grabbed his keys and headed for the country roads outside of Music City, looking for some inspiration for his next song. Instead, he found something even better. Something that caused him to stop and park his car on the side of the road. He had stared at the old farmhouse for at least ten minutes, imagining the three of them living there. It was the type of house that Lexi would go crazy over. Seth removed his sunglasses and walked up the long gravel driveway.
The wooden steps leading to the oversized porch creaked beneath his feet. The old man who answered the door told him that the house wasn’t for sale. But when Seth told him what he’d be willing to pay, he thought for sure the old man was going to throw in his old lady as part of the deal. They shook hands, and that was that.
Four weeks went by, and Seth kept quiet. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. Once the older couple had moved out, Seth arranged for a date night with Lexi.
He drove Lexi to Salvatori’s downtown. It was a place that normally required months on a waiting list to get in, but not for Seth Storm, an up-and-coming country star. They pulled into the parking lot, and an attendant walked up, waiting for them to get out.
Seth couldn’t stand it any longer. He turned to Lexi and pulled out a blindfold. “Put this on,” he said. His hands trembled with anticipation.
She shot him a strange look. “Why? We’re already here.”
“Change of plans,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t press him further. She looked at the blindfold and then into his eyes. “Trust me.”
Lexi smiled, grabbed the blindfold, and tied it around her head.
Seth didn’t say a word as they drove off, and neither did Lexi. For twenty-five minutes, the two drove in complete silence. Butterflies tickled Seth’s stomach as he prepared himself for her reaction. Although he was considered the spontaneous one in the relationship, he hadn’t done anything as crazy as buying a house without first consulting Lexi, and he wasn’t exactly sure how she’d react to that.
He finally pulled the car over in front of the old farmhouse.
“Are we here?”
“Yes, we’re here.” He took a deep breath and then shut off his car. “Wait right here.” He climbed out of the car and walked over to the passenger side before carefully helping her out. Then he removed her blindfold and waited for her eyes to adjust. “It’s all ours,” he said, unable to hide the pride in his voice.
Lexi didn’t say a word. Seconds passed as she stared. Then she walked over to the white picket fence that bordered the front and back yards and placed a hand on the gate before slowly opening it. She stared at it as if expecting something to happen.
“Do you like it?”
She shook her head, and for a moment Seth thought that he had blown it. But then she turned to him with tears running down her cheeks and said, “I love it.”
They spent the next hour going through each room as she went on and on about the things she couldn’t wait to do to the place. Seth didn’t say much as he listened. All he could think about was how happy she was.
They held hands as they walked out onto the porch on their way back to the car. He felt her stop. “Is everything okay?”
She looked up at the house and then back at Seth. “I don’t want to leave.”
“Well, we kind of have this little girl who’s expectin’ us home.”
“I know,” she said, letting out a sigh. “Thank you. I love this place.”
Seth placed his hands on her waist. “Are you sure you love it?”
She wrapped her arms around him, interlacing her fingers behind his neck. “I do.”
“I love it when you say those two words.”
She leaned in closer, brushing her lips against his ear, and whispered, “I do.”
They danced on that old wooden porch with nothing but the moonlight shining down on them. It was the first and last time they danced on that porch.
A cool breeze sent leaves floating across Lexi’s stone, bringing Seth back to the cemetery. “I should’ve danced with you every day on that porch, Lex.” A lump formed at the back of his throat. “I should’ve done a lot of things differently. If I had…you’d still be here. And our little girl would have her mother.” His jaw tightened as he forced back the tears, but it was no use. They rolled down his cold cheeks and fell onto the white roses.
The sun began its descent, and he knew it was time to go. He placed a hand on Lexi’s stone. “I’ve messed up. I still don’t know exactly what I’m doing. But I will make things right, Lex. No matter what it takes, I will get our daughter back.”
He turned and headed back down the small hill. He thought about Faith and wondered how often she thought of him. And if those thoughts were of disappointment. After missing his flight a few weeks ago, Seth thought for sure that he had lost Faith for good, but his attorney, an old family friend from Fort Wayne, had pulled a few strings and gotten him another hearing. A second chance. And Seth wasn’t about to mess it up this time.
He continued walking toward the entrance of the cemetery. The long walk had given him time to prepare for his visit, but after looking at the gray clouds above, he hoped it hadn’t been a mistake. As the main entrance came into view, he spotted a large white tow truck loading up his Mustang.
“Hey!” he shouted. A man wearing a white ball cap turned around and looked at Seth. He smiled and then climbed into his truck.
Seth ran after the truck. “Stop! That’s my car.” The truck slowed and then came to a stop. The man inside held out his hand and gave Seth the finger before taking off again and vanishing down the road.
Seth continued running, not knowing what else to do. His car was about the only thing he had left, and he needed it. He ran until he had nothing left. Finally, he doubled over and grabbed his side. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to catch his breath. Then he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the one person who could help him.
“Hello?”
“Max,” Seth said, still trying to catch his breath. “You know who this is?”
“Seth, buddy. How’s it goin’?”
“Oh, pretty good. Be better if I had my car.” Anger surged through Seth’s veins as he tried not to yell.
“What? Where’s your car?”
“The last I saw, she was strapped to the back of a tow truck, heading down the road.” He heard Max let out a sigh and imagined him massaging his temples the way he often did when Seth sat across from him in his office. “Yeah, Max, I’m not happy about it myself.”
“Seth, listen. I’m sorry about your car. But we’ve had this conversation before.”