The Heir Affair. Cat Schield
it didn’t enable Kyle to celebrate all he’d achieved in his baseball career or convey to Melody how he felt about their relationship.
“And you’re going to be a great mother.”
She blew out a huge breath. “I hope so. It would’ve been better if it happened later rather than sooner.”
“What’s done is done. What do you need from me?” He saw her answer coming and spoke quickly to head it off. “And don’t say nothing.”
From her frown he knew he’d struck the truth. She’d grown up watching her father and brother butt heads and depending on the situation, tended to either retreat or take on the role of peacekeeper whenever she caught a whiff of conflict.
“I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.” Her voice came across as tentative as if she half expected him to refuse.
“What time?”
“Three o’clock.”
Excitement trickled into his awareness, diluting his dismay. She was pregnant with his child. It wasn’t great timing, nor was becoming a father something he’d imagined happening any time soon, but he’d watched Trent with Dylan and was pretty sure he’d never seen his friend this happy. Maybe there was something to being a family that made the big problems smaller.
“Where do you want me to pick you up?” he asked.
“You don’t need to come.”
“Oh, I’m not missing this.”
Trent and Savannah had overcome bigger obstacles to find their way back to each other. Surely Kyle and Melody could get past what stood between them. Of course, he was assuming she wanted to. What if she didn’t love him anymore? She might not have cheated on him with Hunter, but he’d treated her as if she had.
He’d broken her trust, lodged unfair accusations at her. The person in the wrong hadn’t been her, but him. Just that morning he’d been all set to forgive her. It had never occurred to Kyle that the one in need of pardoning would be him.
“Thank you,” Melody said, but the words were perfunctory as if her thoughts had traveled elsewhere. “I appreciate your willingness to be involved.”
“I’m going to be there for you every way I can.”
* * *
Melody sat in the small, utilitarian lobby of Ugly Trout Records and stared out the front window toward the parking lot. For the fifth time in ten minutes, she checked the time on her phone. Kyle had three more minutes before he could be considered late. Since last night, she’d regretted caving in to his offer to take her to the doctor’s appointment. Unlike Hunter, Kyle counted punctuality as one of his virtues. He’d never left her waiting and wondering if he was going to call or show up. He’d always been very clear about his intentions and then followed through.
So why was she working herself into such a frantic mess? Practicing patience, Melody smoothed her sweaty palms down the legs of her skinny jeans. Thank goodness the denim had some stretch to it. Thanks to the severity of her morning sickness these last few weeks, she’d lost weight, but today her baby bump seemed more pronounced than the week before.
This change—more than the pregnancy test, her constant nausea and fatigue—had made her all too aware that she had a baby inside her. Sweat broke out. Most days she was happy about her impending motherhood. The timing could be better. She was on the verge of dropping her first album and the stress wasn’t good for her or the baby. But now that she’d broken the news to Kyle, more than just her and her baby’s future weighed on her mind.
“Hey, Melody, what are you doing up here?”
She turned at the sound of her name and smiled at the man who was detouring toward her. Craig Jameson was one of the top sound engineers working at the label. He’d been involved in eighty percent of Melody’s recording sessions and been instrumental in helping her produce most of her songs. He had a knack for knowing exactly what each song needed.
They’d spent hours together in the studio, talking about music and the industry. He had great stories about various artists that had come to Ugly Trout to record. Many had involved some pretty outrageous behavior—drunken jam sessions, a party with strippers and several fistfights.
“I’m waiting for Kyle to pick me up.” Although her relationship with Kyle was pretty well-known around the studio thanks to their public personas, Craig knew more details due to all the time he and Melody had spent together.
“It’s a little late for lunch.”
“Actually, we are heading to...” She’d held off mentioning her pregnancy around the studio until she told Kyle, but now that he knew there was no reason to keep the secret any longer. “The doctor.”
“You okay?” Craig’s concern touched Melody.
“Fine. Actually more than fine.” She forced bright happiness into her tone. “I’m pregnant.”
“That’s great news. Then things between you and Kyle are better?”
During a particularly low point, she’d confided in Craig. At the time she hadn’t considered that Craig was a work colleague. A few days earlier, he’d told her that he’d just broken off with his girlfriend of a year. She hadn’t hesitated to offer him a sympathetic shoulder. Maybe it had crossed a line, but Craig was a decent guy who’d needed a friend.
“We’re working on it.” She smiled, but there wasn’t a lot of joy in it.
“He’d be a fool to let you go.”
“That’s sweet of you to say.” Tears surged to her eyes but Melody blinked them away. It seemed as if everything set her off these days. Hormones. They were driving her crazy. She’d never been moody, but since becoming pregnant, her emotions were all over the place. “There’s Kyle now. I should be back in an hour or so. Would you have some time later to sit down with me? Nate wants me to get my album done and I could use some help narrowing down the songs.”
“I’d be honored to help.”
“Let me know what time you’re free.” She headed toward the front door and paused with her hand on it. When she looked over her shoulder, Craig was still watching her. “And thanks.”
“For what?”
“Everything.” Feeling a little as if she’d said too much, Melody pushed the door and blinked in the bright sunlight.
Kyle had parked his car and was heading toward her along the front walk. His long legs ate up the distance between them, demonstrating his upbeat mood. Today he wore a pair of khaki slacks and navy V-neck sweater over a white button-down shirt. His thick brown hair had an artfully disheveled look she loved. With a long, square face, firm chin and well-shaped lips, Kyle had the sort of good looks favored by fashion designers looking for sexy, rugged models.
When Melody saw his unguarded smile, a weight lifted off her shoulders. For a second she was catapulted back in time to when they’d first been living together in LA. It had been a heady, exciting, romantic three months. Kyle had been super supportive of her career and interested in learning her process for writing music.
His fascination had drawn Melody out of her shell. When it came to songwriting, she’d learned to be exceptionally protective. Back when she was still in school, her father had belittled her talent and broken down her confidence. He’d wanted her to pursue classical violin and made her attend Juilliard. When she’d quit halfway through her third year, choosing instead to pursue the contemporary popular music she loved, Siggy had pretty much disowned her.
“You ready?” he asked as he neared.
It seemed the most natural thing in the world for him to wrap his arms around her and drop a kiss on her cheek. Although she longed for a proper kiss, the affection in the gesture sent warmth rushing through her.
“I’m ready,” she countered. “Are you?”
Kyle’s