Daddy Dearest

Chapter Sixty-Two

Alex

I've thought about killing Ben Davenport since bribing him probably wouldn't work. For a dirty, old pervert, he was an oddly principled man. But I needed to him to stay away from Melody. Now that she was going to live with his family, there were more opportunities for him to manipulate and mold her into the woman he wanted.

Specifically Melody's mother. Melody had told me he was obsessed with her mother while she was alive, even though she was married to his best friend, Harry Plum. I'd seen pictures of the late Mrs. Harry Plum and could definitively say that Melody was her spitting image. That had to be why Old Ben was crackers about her now.

"Chambers, what are you thinking about?" Melody asked while she moved around her food items on the tray. They were a cup of fruit-flavored gelatin, a sealed container of apple juice, and a plate with a desiccated piece of chicken, a lump of mashed potatoes that resembled a child's paste cup, and over-cooked, seemingly dehydrated broccoli and carrots.

"I'm thinking of canceling my trip to England," I told her. It had been on my mind for the last couple of days. Nancy was incapacitated, so Melody needed me since she herself was injured.

"What? Are you crazy? You're the main act for the entire show!"

Over Thanksgiving, I was scheduled to go to England to perform in Oxford's music conservatory in front of hundreds of people. It used to be one of my biggest goals in life, but it had since lost its appeal since it meant leaving Melody.

"Look, I was only doing it because it looked good on my CV, but now that I've been admitted to Cambridge, it's not that big a deal anymore," I said with a shrug. It wasn't entirely true. Aside from being with Melody, one of the things that made me feel alive was playing my violin in front of a large audience.

"Chambers, I don't want you neglecting what you love because of me," she said, taking my hand. "I don't want you to regret anything."

"You are what I love," I insisted, kissing her hand.

She met my gaze and seemed to search my eyes for something. "I can't be the only one that makes you happy, Alex. That puts a lot of pressure on me. I'm afraid I'd mess up and let you down."

"What are you saying, Melody?" My heart tripped up, and my eardrums thrummed with my pulse. I didn't like the expression on her face. She looked like she was about to tell me something bad.

"If I'm holding you back, then that means I'm no good for you. I don't want to affect your future negatively," she said solemnly, pushing her food tray away.

"You are my future," I told her, leaning over her.

She gave me an exasperated look. "We're in high school, Alex. It's not like we're going to get married after we graduate."

"How do you know that? We can be a young married couple at Cambridge."

Her expression turned even darker. "Alex, that's ridiculous. We're too young. There are too many things we haven't experienced yet. We can't settle down at eighteen!"

As I leaned over her, she pressed herself closer to the bed as if trying to escape. "Melody, what is going on? Why are you saying these things?"

She pushed on my shoulders. "While I was kidnapped, I did a lot of thinking. I realized I want to travel and experience many things while I'm still young. Life is short, Alex."

Was she breaking up with me? Her words reverberated in my head. I had to stand back and look at her to make sure she was serious. "Are you breaking up with me?" I almost choked on my words.