Something Borrowed

Chapter 20

Melissa

"What a wonderful night," she sighed, hooking her arm through Amelia's as they strode out onto the street. At some point during the dance, mother nature had dusted the ground with a fresh coat of powdery snow, and it glowed orange beneath the street light outside the town hall.

Amelia laughed, tugging her closer. "It was, wasn't it?" she turned, craning to see over her shoulder. "Are you coming, Josh?"

"Right behind you."

What a perfect night. Melissa sagged with exhaustion, her muscles worn to quivering uselessness. There wasn't a man in town she wanted to settle down and have babies with, but she damn sure didn't hate dancing with them. It made her feel alive, moving her body with the music, surrounded by the heat and noise of dozens of people. What must it be like to dance surrounded by the heat and noise of hundreds?

She was so overheated, the frigid air felt good against her skin. She kept her jacket unbuttoned as they moved out onto the street, treading through pristine snow. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness beyond the street lamp, and once they did she tipped her head back. Overhead, the sky was clear. Whatever clouds had brought this snow had moved on swiftly. Millions of stars blinked and twinkled at her, the broad swath of the Milky Way extraordinarily bright in the moonless sky.

"Did you know that in the orient, it's called the Silver River?" she asked no-one.

"What?" Amelia asked, laughter in her voice.

"She's talking about the stars," Josh answered for her, drawing even with them and pointing out the object of her ramblings. "Melissa almost as obsessed with astronomy as she is with medicine... almost."

"Forgive me for wanting to learn things," Melissa huffed, smiling up at the stars.

"You can't really see the stars in the city," Amelia said thoughtfully, tipping her head back as they walked, and Melissa shuddered at the thought. "There's street lights on every corner. I guess the light probably drowns them out."

"That's sad," Melissa said, and heard her brother hum in agreement. Something tickled her nose and she stopped walking, drawing Amelia to a halt with her. Josh took two more steps before stopping and turning.

"You okay?"

"Do you smell that?" she asked, raising her nose to the air. "It smells like smoke."

"It always smells like smoke," Amelia said, frowning at her. "It's winter. Everyone has a fire going."

"This is different," Josh said, shaking head as he turned a slow circle. Melissa and Amelia followed his gaze until he landed on a thick plume of smoke that blotted out the stars. Melissa couldn't see the source, hidden as it was behind buildings that loomed ominous and dark in the night, but she pulled up a mental map of the town and...

"Vivian's..." she gasped, just as Josh cursed, grabbing Amelia's hand. She stumbled along with her friend as Josh dragged them both back toward the town hall.

"I'm going to leave you two with Paul," Josh told his wife. "He'll take you back to the hotel. I need to--"

Oh, hell no. Heck no. Whatever.

"I'm going with you," Melissa said, unwinding her arm from Amelia's and stopping in the middle of the empty street, hands planted on her hips. Josh stopped, glaring at her over his shoulder.

"The hell you--"

"Josh, spare me. I'm coming. Those girls are my friends. What if they're hurt?"