Daddy Dearest

Chapter Forty-Three

MELODY

If Ben hadn’t gotten me out of the way, I would have died. I’m just numb all over right now. I can hear people talking, but it’s like I’m underwater and everything they’re saying sounds like “who-who-who,” like the grownups in the Peanuts cartoons.

Harry loved Peanuts. We used to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special together every year before he died. I miss him. I resent my father for a lot of things, but right now, I just wish he was here. This seems like the kind of situation where a dad takes over and says something like, “No one messes with my little girl” with an all-business look on his face.

I’m a little pissed that Nancy ditched me for her Ken doll. Sure, she deserves her own life and happiness, but right now, I need a parent to comfort me.

Alex has been great as always. That guy will go to war for me, if needed. I feel safe in his arms, though he has a tendency to treat me like a butterfly made out of spun sugar.

That’s how every guy in my life treats me. Ben, Charlie, Alex… they all treat me like I’m this delicate, fragile creature who’ll shatter into a million pieces if they raise their voice at me. Do I emit some “save me” princess-vibe that compels men to feel like they have to protect me?

“My sister is very fond of you, Miss Plum,” Detective Green tells me. “Tracy says you’re a bright, kind girl. I will do everything in my power to make sure this bastard is caught.” He pats my shoulder.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Detective, may I have a word with you?” Ben asks, appearing behind Noriko.

My eyes meet his and I tremble deep inside. His handsome face is a blank mask and I can’t tell what he’s thinking. He could have been hit by that falling light instead of me. He could have died.

Just the thought of him getting hurt or killed made my stomach hurt. Ben has been such a solid figure in my life for so long that I wouldn’t know what to do without him.

After the homecoming dance, he’s going to be moving on to that college in Thousand Oaks. What would it be like not to see him every day? I lived for the moments when I would catch a glimpse of him throughout the school.

But it was better for him to move away because of everything that’s happened. The less I see of him, the quicker I can get over him. I know he has feelings for me, so I have to be careful because I don’t want to complicate things for him and his family.

I look away from him before he can see anything in my eyes. Ugh, my arm is killing me. The light hit me right on top of my shoulder before it skidded halfway down my arm and fell to the ground. One of the screws scratched me pretty bad and my blood stained the top of my gown. My seventy-five-hundred-dollar gown that Alex bought for me.

The EMT patched me up and gave me an injection for the pain. It wasn’t morphine, though, but lidocaine. Just a local anesthetic. The guy said it’ll kick in soon, maybe ten minutes. Meanwhile, my arm is swelling up.

“Melody, we should get going,” Alex says, putting his arm around my waist. “I bet you’re exhausted.”

“Yes. I want to get out of here,” I assure him while he pulls out his mobile so he could arrange a ride for us to the hotel.

Detective Green offered to have a police car drive us there, but I don’t fancy riding in the back of a squad car like some criminal all the way to Beverly Hills. I was looking forward to the end of this evening. I love being with Alex and enjoy being alone with him, but this incident has put me out of sorts.