Reclaiming Melanie Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Other Works Available

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  More From Jody A. Kessler

  On the Back Cover

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Other Works Available

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  More From Jody A. Kessler

  On the Back Cover

  Granite Lake Romance

  Book 3

  Jody A. Kessler

  Copyright

  © 2018 by Jody A. Kessler

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator.”

  Please visit:

  www.JodyAKessler.com

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  ASIN: B0795BSS95

  ISBN: 978-1983600210

  Edited by

  Marianne Hull at mariannehull.com

  Proofread by

  Angela Campbell

  Cover Art & Design by

  Sommer Stein

  Perfect Pear Creative Covers

  Ebooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement of the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Granite Lake Romance

  Unwrapping Treasure #1

  Chasing Treasure #2

  Reclaiming Melanie #3

  Divining Elise #4 - coming soon

  Dedication

  To our first loves.

  And to all the furry friends who make life more interesting.

  One

  “TWEENY’S NOT COMING WITH US,” Melanie said again for the third time. She struggled to make Sienna’s suitcases fit in the trunk of the car along with jumper cables, a tool kit, and miscellaneous detritus that belonged in the garage.

  “Tweeny is coming to the airport with us,” Sienna yelled over the car stereo.

  Melanie’s daughter had thoughtfully turned on the stereo before they had even started the engine. No doubt the move was to torment her. She made a mental note to keep her keys in her pocket and out of reach of the tween-ager.

  “Turn it down,” she called over Sienna’s music. “Tweeny will be stuck in the car by herself for too long. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive to the airport. She’s staying home.”

  “But she has to come,” Sienna said.

  “This argument is over. Say goodbye and put her inside the house,” she yelled through the trunk lid.

  “You hate me, don’t you?” Sienna spat.

  Melanie breathed deep and didn’t respond. “Please stop arguing and do what I ask. We’re going to be late if you keep this up.”

  “Good. I don’t even want to go to Dad’s.” Sienna released Tweeny from her lap. The dog sprang out of the car and onto the driveway.

  Sienna left the volume turned up and stepped out of the car. She walked around to the trunk, crossed her arms, and glared.

  “Did you remember to pack your toothbrush, hairbrush, and the extra EpiPen?”

  “Yes,” she said with the accustomed tone that implied her mother was bothering her. “You already asked me.”

  “I like to double check everything.” Melanie rested her hand on the trunk and stared at the luggage that didn’t fit in the back of her small sedan.

  “This sucks,” Sienna said as if Melanie hadn’t already heard the complaint a hundred times.

  “It’s two months, sweetheart. If you don’t go see him, we’ll be violating the custody agreement.”

  “I don’t care about the stupid court rules. He should respect that I want to stay with you. And it’s nine weeks. That’s longer than two months. I’m going to fall behind in swim team. Do you really want that to happen?”

  Melanie matched Sienna’s stubborn glare. Her daughter’s clear blue eyes were the same color as her own, but Melanie couldn’t match the haughtiness or the attitude in her ten-year-old’s irises. Thoughts and doubts pinged through her mind. Was Sienna saying this because she meant it, or was this a ploy to add another layer of mommy guilt?

  This summer would mark the first time Melanie would be separated from Sienna since she was born. While the divorce had been inevitable and a long time coming, there was no mental or emotional preparation for living across the country from her daughter.

  “Your father and his wife will take you to practice. He says they have an amazing swim center and you’re going to love it.”

  “Blah, blah, blah. You’re just repeating yourself.”

  “Umm… Hate to tell you this, but so are you.” They had been having the same argument since before Melanie booked the flight.

  “Nice, Mom. Real nice. I’m trying to tell you how I feel and you just keep giving me the standard answer.”

  “That’s because it’s the only answer I can give. You have to visit your dad and I’m not happy about it either. He loves you and you should be excited to see his new house,” Melanie said.

  “But his new house isn’t anywhere near my old friends. It’s going to suck balls.”

  “Hey! You can’t say things like that. That is offensive on so many levels.”

  “Whatever,” she said with an expert eye roll.

  “It’s time to go, Sienna. Put Tweeny in the house.”

  Sometime around Sienna’s last birthday, Melanie discovered she had noise cancelling headphones built inside her ears. Remembering to use them was another challenge, but at times like now she plugged them in and missed the next thing that came out of her daughter’s mouth.

  Melanie gave up on the suitcases and began removing excess junk from the trunk. She hauled the unnecessary items to the garage that she used as her workshop and dumped everything on her workbench. Her missing sunglasses, the pair she’d blamed Sienna for borrowing unasked, sat on her workbench. She slid them on and stepped back outside, embracing the cloudless sky and warm weather. She welcomed the spring sunshine after the long, hard winter.

  The luggage fit inside the trunk with
out any more problems and she closed the hatch with a snappy click. Tweeny’s unmistakable yap echoed from the far side of the house. The small white dog was barking again. Melanie walked across the driveway to look for them. Her and Sienna needed to leave or risk missing the flight.

  At the edge of her backyard, Granite Lake shimmered midnight-blue with golden highlights beneath the late morning sun. The mountain town and the lake were the two biggest draws to move into her grandparents’ vacation home, but she also moved to Granite Lake for a smaller, safer community, with less drama and a more peaceful atmosphere. There were over two thousand other reasons—mainly the number of miles between her and her ex-husband—for moving back to California, but she believed the move would be better for them both in the long run. Melanie thought she made the right choice most days, but there wasn’t any less tween-aged drama here versus Ohio. The past two years of divorce, her mother’s cancer, and moving across the country had been a test she wasn’t entirely sure she’d passed, but she was still alive and healthy and so was Sienna. That had to count for something.

  Sienna bent down and scooped up her dog. Tweeny continued to bark while wriggling for her freedom. Melanie honestly didn’t know which was worse, the barking or the destruction Tweeny was prone to cause. Since adopting the West Highland Terrier mixed-breed dog, her backyard had turned into a mine field of pits, holes, and tunnels. And when Tweeny was locked inside the house, Melanie magically transformed into a tyrannical guardian of all trashcans, socks, shoes, and undergarments. The dog had an insatiable need to shred and eat inappropriate items, like cardboard and clothes. Melanie sighed at the reminder of being solely responsible for Tweeny all summer while Sienna visited her father.

  Melanie walked back to the car, her mind checking off everything they needed for the day and for Sienna’s first solo trip to Ohio. Glancing over, she saw her daughter open the front door and place Tweeny safely inside. Sienna looked adorable in her shorts with her print leggings and ankle boots. The beanie on top of her shiny hair sat slightly askew. The simple domestic scene reminded Melanie of the years where she believed her daughter was the sweetest angel she had ever met. Deep down, she still thought it was true, but it was buried pretty deep. If only she would outgrow this horrible selfish stage, then Melanie could have her daughter back.

  “Excuse me?”

  Melanie spun around and got slapped in the face with her past. Her jaw dropped and she was struck speechless by the man standing next to her car. Instantly self-aware of her hasty hairdo, consisting of a bandanna tied around her head, lack of makeup, and varnish and paint-stained jeans, she found herself capable of doing, well, nothing. Deer-in-the-headlights syndrome much?

  Braden Keehn smiled with a bad boy grin he didn’t possess eleven years earlier. His jeans were slung low over his hips and the abundance of ripped muscles beneath his thin cotton V-neck shirt screamed of hours spent working out in the gym. There was no subtlety or humility behind the gleam in his eye, and she somehow knew he’d checked out her package before turning around. The differences about his demeanor from when she knew him before were subtle, yet somehow glaringly obvious. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Melanie shook herself and tried to gain some composure. She was certain she looked different than she had in high school, too.

  “Hi there.” He stuck his hand out.

  Her eyebrows rose in surprise, or shock. He doesn’t recognize me. They spent nearly a year together when they were teenagers. How could he not know her? They were each other’s first love. Melanie would never forget that time in her life.

  “I’m your new neighbor.” He dropped his hand as she still hadn’t recovered her ability to function.

  He said something else, but she missed it because Sienna’s music switched songs and blared out of the car speakers.

  “Sorry. I didn’t hear you.” She gestured toward the open passenger side door. “Hold on. Let me turn this down.”

  Melanie forced herself to move around the side of the car, lean inside, and turn down the volume. Her heart thudded more obnoxiously than the bass beats in the song. Melanie turned the stereo knob, but her hand shook so violently she accidentally turned it up a few clicks before turning it down. The nerves in her body jumped at having her ears assaulted and her heart gave an extra thump in protest. For goodness sake. Braden Keehn bought the house next door! Braden Keehn, the boy who broke her heart so completely it sent her on the path that led to teenaged pregnancy, dropping out of college, and a marriage she may not have otherwise chosen. The emotional mess Braden’s desertion gave her wasn’t a pretty picture of her past. It had been bleak and probably the worst time of her life, that is until the previous two years of her life.

  Melanie steeled her resolve to turn around and face him. If she continued to hide in the car, what was he going to think? Then she wondered if the pants she wore were the ones with paint stains on the ass. Is he even looking at my ass? Backing out of the car, she swallowed hard and turned around, ready to be her charming divorcée single mom self. He’s the one who disappeared all those years ago with no notice, no goodbye, and no explanation of what happened. He’s the one who should be self-conscious, not her. The back of her head crashed into the door frame. She may have shrieked, but couldn’t remember as the jolt of pain tangled with the bandana falling over her forehead, and her sunglasses going askew.

  After haphazardly fixing the mess covering her face, Melanie heard Braden speaking and saw him with a cell phone to his ear.

  He winked at her and mouthed, “Sorry. I have to take this.” He placed his hand over the bottom of the phone and said, “Have a good day.” Braden shifted his focus to the call. His gaze left hers as if she was any other stranger who happened to live next door.

  Braden Keehn strutted across the yard to the old Nichols' place next door and didn’t look back.

  Melanie blinked a few times, wondering if the sun or the excess hours inside the shop with all the paint and stain fumes this morning had gotten to her. Did she eat lead paint chips without realizing it?

  “Who was that?” Sienna asked.

  Mommy duties brought her back to earth in an instant. Sienna had first priority even if the world turned upside down and back again in the span of two minutes.

  “He bought the house next door,” she said, focusing on her daughter’s face.

  “Wow! I thought that place was condemned or something. It’s a wreck.”

  “It is, but its bones are good and worth saving. I think,” she added as she didn’t really know the condition of the house. It had been empty for years, and in all honesty, she had daydreamed on many occasions about buying it and fixing it up herself. It was a shame the gorgeous old place has been empty and neglected for so long.

  “I didn’t know it was for sale,” Sienna said.

  Melanie took another deep breath and exhaled it out as she moved to the driver’s side. “I didn’t know either. Get in. We’re running late.”

  Inside the car, Sienna reached to turn her music back up. Melanie placed a hand on her forearm. “Leave it down for now, okay? We need to talk.”

  Her daughter’s lip curled slightly, but she dropped her hand to her lap.

  “Why are you shaking? Are you all right?” Sienna asked.

  Melanie focused on the road instead of meeting the penetrating stare from the passenger seat. “I’m fine,” she said, feeling doubly shocked that one, Sienna noticed, and two, she actually said something that wasn’t all about her. “I think I had too much tea.”

  “You shouldn’t drink so much, you know. It’s really bad for you.”

  “Well, when you get back from your dad’s you can give up soda and I’ll take a break from tea. How does that sound?”

  Sienna stuck her tongue out as an answer.

  Melanie kept her eyes on the road. “I think it’s an excellent idea. We can both clean up our diet a little before the next school year starts.”

  “Sure, and if I catch you drinking tea, then I get a whole case o
f whatever soda I choose.”

  “I doubt that’s going to happen. I only let you have soda occasionally because you can’t have so many other foods,” she said.

  “Blah, blah, I've heard it so many times. I can’t eat all the normal stuff every other kid gets to eat. Soda is my special drink as long as it doesn’t have any corn syrup in it. But we really need to talk about your caffeine addiction, Mom. I’m worried about you,” she said, acting smart and pretending to be the adult in the car.

  “Ha, ha. Let's be clear about this. My morning cup of tea is not a caffeine addiction,” Melanie said and considered how to begin the conversation she wanted to have with her daughter. “I want you to know something, Sienna,” she began.

  “Oh, crap, this sounds like one of your talks.” Sienna turned to the window so Melanie couldn’t see her daughter’s face.

  “It is,” Melanie admitted. “And part of what I have to say is about your language.”

  “I never cuss in front of my teachers, so you don’t have to worry.”

  “I am worried. You know it’s not acceptable and yet you say it anyway. It’s disrespectful to me and to yourself, Sienna.”

  “I don’t care about any of that. The words you hate don’t bother me, Mom. It’s okay for us to have a difference of opinion. We’re all individuals and you don’t have to like everything I say and do.”

  Melanie held in the groan at her daughter’s choice of words. Sienna now used the exact words Melanie had taught her regarding a different situation. “You’re right. I don’t. However, you still have to respect me and my rules and you won’t use curse words when you speak to me. Got it?”

  “Sure. Whatever. I’m expressing myself, and you’re trying to change me. I totally get it.”

  Arguing with Sienna felt like a beating to the head with a brick. Melanie decided she was still winning because her daughter used another one of her all-important mommy lessons against her again, which meant that Sienna had listened and remembered. Melanie tucked this small token of accomplishment away to savor later and moved on.