075:

True to his word, Steve did keep Hannah the next day. He had her all over the place, in the water, up on the deck, he and Megan changed her, kept her in sunscreen, and floaties. He nonchalantly kept her fed and diapered without saying hardly anything to anybody about it, thereby leaving Melia free to quietly sit on deck, with Abby and nurse and watch the proceedings. She didn't feel like participating, but she did manage to stay out of the sun and enjoy the outdoors.

She helped with meals, stayed away from Ryan, and cued in to couple's private time. She was quiet, keeping to herself today. She was grateful to Steve and Megan for taking care of Hannah, it was such a relief to only have one baby in her arms and not be chasing after the eleven month old toddler. She felt relaxed. In the late afternoon, Hannah had gone down for a nap and Steve and Megan had joined her, so the rest of the group did likewise.

Melia was on the sun deck on top in the shade, her lap top on her lap as she hummed quietly, enjoying the shade and the heat. The sound of the lapping of water against the side of the houseboat. She'd gone on a lot of houseboat trips as a child, her parents owned a houseboat. She assumed they would all own them someday. This was a tradition. She was writing in her journal about that, getting some of her feelings out as she hadn't for many months when a dark figure came up the ladder, skipping the last rungs and hauling himself athletically over the top. His dark sun glassed eyes turned toward her, and she thought he'd see her and leave. This particular man had made it clear she wasn't his favorite person.

She didn't move. Maybe if he saw her and she didn't acknowledge him he'd just go away.

But he did see her. He took off the glasses and came out of the hot sun to join her in the shade. In fact Kell moved the padded ice chest over to sit directly and uncomfortably in front of her, practically touching her legs. She pulled away instantly, aware of his dislike for her, and wondering if she would be defending herself once again. Her heart started it's frantic rhythm, and she geared herself up for a fight.

Kell sucked in his lips, pulling them under and making them disappear in his goatee and stache. He nodded to himself as if coming to a conclusion in a conversation she couldn't hear, and she just knew he was about to lecture her. She didn't know him well, but knew enough to know that he was very strongly opinionated and that he had felt antipathy for her since before they'd ever even met.

He rubbed his chin loftily, glancing at the baby seat with its precious sleeping cargo, nodded again and then leaned forward into her space. Melia stared at him in ever increasing wariness.

"Melia." He said her name and it was not a voice she'd ever heard from him. It was soft and apologetic and gentle. She shivered uncontrollably. Now what? What was the game this time?

But he didn't repeat it. He sat there rubbing his chin, leaning forward, and she felt puzzled. Was this an act? A prelude to the lecture?

"I owe you... an... apology." His voice was husky, his eyes when they rose to meet hers were sincere.

"Excuse me?" she didn't know what else to say. This wasn't what she'd expected.

"I said I owe you an apology. Are you going to make me say it again for good measure?" This time a little rough. She let out her breath, pursing her own lips thoughtfully.

"No." She answered. "But I don't..."

He held up a hand. "It's not your fault." He said contritely. "It has been brought to my attention that I have wronged you and I am here to offer you my heartfelt apology. When I'm wrong, I confess I'm wrong and I will make it up to you."

Melia was shaking her head slowly. "I don't understand."

"I listened to gossip, the worst form of betrayal I have ever engaged in." He shook his head at himself, leaning even further into her space. His darkly tanned upper body a lot more buff than she'd realized working with him on set for a month, all covered in costuming. He went on. "I hate gossip, I hate the whole speculation hype that goes on in tabloids. I hate the way the paparazzi uses people, uses their idiosyncrasies, their tragedy's, their loves, to smear their faces and their lives all over the place. I hate it when it's done to me, and I doubly hate it when it's done to those I care about. But more than both of those, I hate it the most to find out that I've engaged in it myself."

Melia felt a lump in her throat coalescing into a congealed mass of hurt. He really was apologizing.

"Melia, I have been a jerk to you."

She shook with sudden remembrance of all the times he'd ignored her, or cut her down in front of others. She'd really thought he just had a total antagonism for her, and she had tried to stay away from him, dismayed to find that he was Maille's choice of husband. She didn't know what to think at all. And she certainly had nothing to say.

"I have not come to this realization alone." Kell said pointedly. "Your new brother-in-law, Steve, has given me a heads up. He clued me in to a few issues that you and I might be able to resolve, and I have decided that I am willing to resolve them if you are, so that we can come to an understanding."

Melia's hand rose to cover her trembling lips, and she turned and stared out at the brilliant gray blue shimmering water. She swallowed the lump once more. "I would like to come to an understanding, Kell." She managed to get out, but couldn't look at him. This seemed a lot harder in the light of day than it had last night when cousin Stevie had confronted her about it. She felt a bit startled that Steve had gone and initiated a conversation with Kell about her. She wondered if he had made good on his promise to take it up with Ryan as well.

"Fine. Is now a good time? Steve and Megan have the little one? You're not too tied up?" He nodded, folding his arms over his chest and staring at her intently.

"What do you want me to do? Bare my soul to you? I doubt...."

He chuckled. "We haven't got the rapport for that. No. But tell me this. You and Ryan-- together?" He touched the tips of both of his index fingers together and raised his brows at her in question.

Melia shook her head in dismay. That question. She wished it didn't make a difference. She wished it wasn't a part of the mix. If he could like her despite what Ryan was saying and doing it would be better. She took a deep breath and blew it out. "Ryan and I were together before."

"Before what? I don't know this family history. I'd rather hear it from you though, so tell on. Take as long as you need. I have all afternoon. I am available, and interested, please feel free."

She felt a weird sensation of being drawn in, and wasn't sure what to make of it. He did seem sincere in wanting to know. "Ryan was my first love, my first boyfriend."

"Ah... first love. Yes. I know it well. You Mann girls, you were very sheltered, no?"

She laughed. "I guess you could say that. We attended school on our own property in Montana and there were other kids, but we considered them cousins, like Steve, so we didn't really have opportunities for boyfriends. There are a lot of us... my siblings that is. A lot of us, and we aren't perfect. My parents aren't perfect, but they're good parents. They have tried really hard to give us good upbringings, but yeah, I think they've sheltered us. Not on purpose, but maybe..."

"On purpose." He smiled into her eyes and when Melia caught that smile she was drawn in for good. Kell's eyes were like chocolate pools from Willy Wonka. Warm and comforting. She'd never ever noticed that before.

She cocked her brows in acknowledgement. "I wanted to be an actress, I went to school for it. But the band was a big thing too, and it included three of us. We did very well for awhile, but it takes a lot out of you. I was doing both when I met Ryan. He was the co-star in my first film. It was Christmas time, I got the part, but there was to be romance in it, and I was concerned about it, since I'd never even been kissed, so my dad brought Ryan up to Montana so I could get to know him. We met, we fell in love over night and it was wonderful."

"First love is always wonderful, and always heart breaking." Kell said softly, and nudged her knee with his own. It was the first time he'd willingly touched her, and she felt the enormity of his apology right then. It was very real, for him to have done that.

"So, we made plans to be together a lot. We spent a lot of time courting and he joined the church and we decided he should serve a mission, because I wanted to marry a returned missionary."

"You had spoken of marriage?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"So there was that kind of commitment between you? And he served this mission for you?"

"Well, I would have hoped he did it for God. But I don't know why he did it now. He didn't complete it, there were too many issues and he came home early. I have no idea if he even believes in the church anymore. He is pretty angry with me."

Kell rubbed his thumb over his lips contemplatively. "And then you witnessed the murder of Jerry A. Very sad. I know. You were put into witness protection and then abducted by Ryan's own brother, a secret service agent: Jared Patrick, uniquely qualified to take care of you, at Ryan's own bequest, since he could deal with your ...handicap."

She nodded succinctly. "He rescued me from a rogue agent named Liv Sinclair who had been working both sides. He kept me safe, and isolated for almost five months. During that time we... got to know one another."

"Quite well I would wager." Kell returned, glancing at the baby at his side.

She laughed. "I wish you could have known him, Kell. He loved adventure like you do. He was amazing. I really loved him. I want you to know that. It was wrong; maybe, wrong to hurt Ryan like that."

"Melia." Kell said and leaned forward to take her hand. His were warm and slender, and surprising that he would touch her again. He stroked her fingers gently as if thinking how to say something he really wanted to say. "I need to interject something here." He said and still stared at her fingers as he stroked them, and Melia was caught so off guard she couldn't even reply at all. "I am uniquely qualified to help you with this issue."

"You?" He'd used those words again, words both Ryan and Jared had used to describe Jared....

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