Chapter 62

*Payton*

As we pulled up to Melissa’s little house, a great sense of relief filled my body. It's hard to believe that this is all over. I know I was only gone a week and can’t imagine how people can survive years of captivity, hiding, and sometimes abuse. A shiver goes through me and I chastise myself for having such thoughts. I need to put this whole experience behind me and move on.

Before leaving the car, I thank Joe and wish him all the best. He does the same. He starts to apologize again for Dean but I cut him off. He can’t be held responsible for the actions of his brother. He promises to check in on me to see how I am doing and update me on the case. My statement on what occurred has already been taken at the safe house. We are both hoping that Dean takes full responsibility for everything he has done, which will allow me to avoid having to testify. Just the thought of having to sit in a courtroom and go over everything in front of strangers makes me squeezy.

As I approach the door it flies open and Melissa is there with outstretched arms. I gratefully step into them and feel another set around me from behind. I don’t need to look to see who it is. I would recognize the arms of my two best friends anywhere. God, how I missed this when I was away at University. I don’t ever want to lose this again. Thoughts of the fact that I now have no job to support me here creep into my brain but I push them back.

“What are you guys doing here? Shouldn’t you both be at work?” I ask

“And miss welcoming you back?” Kara asks with a snigger. “Not likely.”

Just then I feel something nudging at my leg. I look down and see Rocky’s dog, Dusty or Rusty, trying to get in on the affection. Melissa laughs at this as she reaches down to scratch him behind the ears.

“Dusty, bed,” Melissa commands. The dog goes over to a dog bed in the corner of the living room, circles three times and lowers himself onto it. Well, I guess she got the dog she always wanted, I wonder did she get the man yet?

I look around the familiar surroundings as we all sit on the couch. I don’t see Rocky anywhere.

I nod my head toward the dog, “how did that happen?” I ask Melissa.

“More importantly, what happened to his brooding owner?” Kara asks. You want someone to get to the heart of the matter, Kara is your gal!

Melissa reaches for the coffee table in front of her and it is only then that I see the pitcher of Tom Collins and the three glasses. I laugh at this. “Liquor? It must be a good story.” I say.

Melissa is blushing as she responds, “I have several actually and I really need this to get through them.” Interesting.

After she hands us each a glass she begins. She fills me in on how Rocky and Dusty had stayed with her while I was gone. Rocky slept on the couch she assures us and Kara simply hums at this. Melissa tells us how she googled him and found out what had happened during his last tour, the bomb that had injuring him and Dusty. His many medals during that tour and others but nothing from after the bomb that changed his life. She was also unable to find out anything about him prior to joining the Marines. He outright refuses to talk about it but has unintentionally dropped enough little bits of information that she is sure he is the Rocky from her childhood.

When Luke called to say he was okay to leave, Dusty refused to go with him. Rocky was not impressed with his dog over this and accused her of breaking a perfectly good dog. We all laugh at this. “I made a pact with Dusty, that together we would make his daddy lighten up,” she tells us. I look towards the dog who is looking at Melissa lovingly from across the room. She really is the dog whisperer!

Melissa clears her throat then and takes a long drink. “About Luke and my mother,” she starts.

“Luke and your mother?” Kara interrupts her. I guess she didn’t tell Kara about the photos and Luke’s reaction to seeing her.

Melissa fills her in on the background and Kara sits there speechless, something that doesn’t happen very often. When she gets to the present she looks at me as well. “With what happened to you, Pay and my not knowing if I would ever see you again,” she chokes up. Kara and I both give her a squeeze. “Well, I realized once again, how short life is. You never know when someone you love or could love, may no longer be there. So, I asked Luke to come over two nights ago for dinner. I showed him what mom had left with Gram for me.”

“How did he react?” I ask. The little Melissa’s mother had told her regarding her biological father did not paint him in a good light.

“He was pissed.” Melissa says. “He insisted that he knew nothing about my existence. The first time he even questioned it was the day he helped us move in here. You remember his reaction to seeing me?” Kara and I both nod, yes.

Melissa continues. “He couldn’t believe how much I looked like my mother. He said it was like seeing a ghost. He went home that night and took out everything he had from his time with her. Apparently, they were together for two years. Two years! And she just got up and left one day. He showed the things to Jake and Mike, who both encouraged him to look into it further. Mike did some searching for him,” she pauses again.

I interupt to tell her how Jake and I had been looking into things as well, without her or Luke knowing. I apologized but she assured me it was okay. I even tell them that was what we were meeting about the night the house got broken into. That was why Jake was with me at the house. We had come to show what we had found out to Melissa. A silence fills the room as we all flash back to that dreadful night.

“Anyway," Melissa thankfully breaks the silence. "He brought a few photos with him and the dear John letter she left.” Melissa hiccups a sob when she says this but then a smile shines through. “I’m pretty sure he is my dad. I have a dad!” she says in amazement.

Kara reaches over then to squeeze her hand and speaks to her with caution. “Melissa, I know this is what you want but don’t get your hopes up. You need to look into this further.” This is the nurse coming out in her now.

“We are,” Melissa nods her head in assurance. “The next morning we went directly to a private DNA lab to get checked for paternity markers. We should know in a week or two. But I know already,” she says with a hopeful light in her eyes.

Kara’s worried gaze flicks to mine.

Melissa looks directly at me then, “I owe it all to you, Pay,” she says. I was confused at first. “If you had never met Jake, my cousin Jake,” she adds with a soft laugh. “I would have never met Luke. Speaking of Jake, what happens now?” she asks me.

God, I wish I knew.