Just Can't Forget You: Oakland Hills Short Story 2 (Oakland Hills #3.5)(6)

He took it out of her hands, gazing at her over the fronds. “Love it.”

Her mouth went as dry as the Mojave in late summer. “Don’t worry if it disappears between seasons,” she said. Focus, Mel, focus. “It goes dormant without water.”

“I’ve never been much of a worrier.”

She remembered that about him. Even in grief, he’d been steady, cool, unflappable. So unlike herself. “Lucky you,” she said.

Holding her gaze, he held out the fern. “I’ve been especially lucky lately.”

Her pulse accelerated. Was he flirting with her? Or was he just glad they’d reconnected in a platonic and botanical sort of way?

Emotions churning, she averted her gaze. But then, at the sight of a man and a woman standing amid the dinner-plate dahlias, her pounding heart came to a full stop.

It couldn’t be. She knew her old friend Jody lived in Oakland—and Melissa really should have told her by now that she’d moved to the area—but Simon…

Jesus. Knock me over with a crowbar.

It was Simon Brodie.

“Are you all right?” Eduardo asked.

She looked at the sexy, bearded man who had been giving her unwanted erotic daydreams all morning. Now all she could see was a boy from her unpleasant past, the same one that contained Simon Brodie. “I’m fine.” She turned back to the couple.

While she watched in horror, Simon leaned over and kissed Jody on the lips. Jody, stretching up against him, slipped her fingers into his blond hair and drew him closer.

Eduardo’s low voice in her ear knocked her out of her daze. “People you know?”

She nodded, not looking away. When they were teenagers, she’d always suspected Jody had a thing for Simon. Melissa had been wild for him herself, even dating him in the weeks leading up to her suicide attempt—

God, now the two of them were just standing there, gazing into each other’s eyes, holding hands.


They were in love.

At that moment Jody glanced away from Simon and saw Melissa staring. As recognition flashed in her old friend’s eyes, Melissa prayed the Hayward fault in the earth’s crust beneath their feet would crack open and consume her.

She spun to face Eduardo, who was watching her with both eyebrows raised.

“Old friends,” she managed to say.

“Ah.”

“I haven’t seen them in a long time,” she added.

He nodded, but didn’t lower his eyebrows.

“All right. I used to date the guy.” Her breath caught in her throat as memories rose up in her mind. It was too embarrassing. The last time they’d seen each other…

She wasn’t ready to see him. Especially not here in a plant nursery where she got paid by the hour. Back in high school, before her suicidal sabbatical, she’d been top of the class, in line for valedictorian, the Ivy League, unlimited greatness.

“Something’s come up,” she said, mapping a path to the rear exit. “I have to go.”

Eduardo put a hand on her arm. “Are you sure?”

She’d call Jody later and explain, but right now she had to get out of there. She felt in her pocket for her car keys.

Then she froze. If she bolted, Simon and Jody might think she was as emotionally unstable as she’d been at seventeen—and that was the last thing she wanted. It wasn’t even true.

“Melissa?” Eduardo’s voice sliced through her frenzied thoughts.

She looked at him. He’d moved closer, so close she could smell his cologne. Or maybe that was the testosterone. She drew the scent into her lungs, enjoying the distraction.

Leaving would be worse than facing the music. If only Eduardo were some hot boy toy of hers, there to caress and worship her among the perennials, facing Simon again wouldn’t have the same embarrassing potential.

If only…

“Eduardo?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“That’s… ” She trailed off. Would he remember? They’d shared a lot of secrets at the Center, but would he remember the details of her teenage angst so many years later? Heart pounding, she put a hand on his arm—and left it there. “That’s Simon.”

He stared at her for a long, hot second before finally lifting his hand to her face, brushing a strand of hair off her cheek with the back of his fingers, his knuckles like a kiss.

“Then we should go say hello,” he said.





6


RELIEVED MELISSA HADN’T BOLTED, EDUARDO seized the excuse to get closer to her. Capturing her hand in his, he turned to greet the infamous ex-boyfriend, the one who’d bailed on her when the going got tough.

The man was blond, good-looking in a yuppie surfer kind of way, and was obviously infatuated with the glowing, equally infatuated woman at his side. Eduardo didn’t try to hide his dislike. From what he remembered, Simon had avoided her completely after the suicide attempt. He hadn’t returned her calls, her emails, nothing.

“Melissa?” the woman asked, eyes wide. She was taller than Melissa, also with generous curves, and wore her long sandy-brown hair in a ponytail.

“Eduardo,” Melissa said, “this is Jody and Simon, old friends of mine.”

Jody shook his hand, giving him a curious smile, but quickly turned back to Melissa. “Hi.”