Peterson’s Hardware had been in the same little building across the street and down about a block almost as long as Murphy’s Antiques and Collectibles had been around. If anyone could explain to her how to fix the door knob, it was Mr. Peterson. She stopped at her car to get her purse and then began the short walk to the store.
On her way, she passed her friend Delaney’s bakery—aptly named Delaney’s Delights. She could see her inside behind the counter, chatting to a customer, a huge smile on her face. Any other time, Melody would stop and talk to her good friend, but not right now. She needed to hurry before the hardware store closed. Delaney also had long brown hair, and in school, everyone joked that they could be twins. Now, with that broad smile and her carefree attitude, Melody thought they probably looked nothing alike at all.
Melody’s father had taught her to find the music in everything, and as she walked along, the sounds of the cars passing, people calling to each other, and the swish of her coat all sounded like a disjointed song. She wished she could push those thoughts out of her head. The idea of music without her father was like a song with no melody. Even the bell above the hardware store reminded her of the music her father had taught her to love, music she could no longer enjoy.
The lights in the hardware store were bright, she imagined so that people could more easily search for just the right nut or bolt, and she squinted a bit as she made her way inside. Behind the counter, she saw a disinterested high-school-aged girl with shoulder length blonde hair, peering down behind the counter intently, one hand twirling her hair while the other likely held a cell phone she wasn’t supposed to be using at work.
“Hi, Rylee,” Melody called as she approached. “Is your dad here?”
Rylee looked up, startled. “Oh, hi, Miss Murphy. No, he’s not here right now. I have after school shift all week.”
“Oh,” Melody said with a sigh. “Okay, thanks.”
“Is there something I can help you with?” Rylee asked, though her tone implied she hoped the answer was no.
Melody glanced around the shop and saw a few other customers. She was pretty certain the door knobs and accessories were in the back. “I think I’ll just have a look around.”
“Okay,” Rylee shrugged, and as Melody made her way down the nearest aisle, she heard a vibrating sound that could only be the buzz of a secret cell phone.
The door knobs were in the back as she expected, but upon closer inspection, she had no idea exactly what she needed. There were kits that said they contained complete assemblies, some for indoor, some for outdoor. There were also various parts. Melody picked up a few of the packages and looked them over, but they all appeared to be very complicated. Even if she chose the right one, would she have any idea how to put the door knob on?
“Hi.”
A high pitched, squeaky voice took her by surprise, and Melody jumped. She looked around, and at first saw no one, but then she realized she was looking too high. Standing next to her, below waist height, was the cutest little cherub-faced blond boy she’d ever seen. “Hi,” she said, smiling.
“Whatcha doing?” he asked, looking up at her with big blue eyes. He wore a dark blue winter coat, his mittens hanging from strings through each sleeve, his hood flapping behind him.
“I’m looking at door knobs,” she said, trying not to let her irritation filter down to the little inquisitor.
“Michael?” she heard a male voice call, and Melody looked up to see a matching pair of bright blue eyes. The man wore a dark brown work coat over a shirt almost the same color as those eyes, and with his sandy blond hair and athletic build, Melody caught herself staring and quickly closed her mouth.
“Hi, Dad,” the little boy—Michael—called. “I was just looking at door knobs.”
“Door knobs?” the man repeated. “I told you to stay with me.”
“Sorry,” he shrugged and then turned to Melody and flashed a smile.
The man was talking to her now, and Melody tried to focus on what he was saying instead of continuing to stare. “I’m so sorry. He’s a bit… precocious.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” she stammered. “He’s adorable.”
“Thank you,” Michael grinned up at her.
His dad looked at him for a moment and shook his head before he added, “Yes, thank you. Come on, Michael, let’s leave this lady alone.” He took his son gently by the shoulder and pulled him back a step.
“But Dad,” Michael protested, “she needs our help.”
Melody had attempted to return her attention to the two door knob kits she was holding, looking back and forth between them as if she had any idea what she was even looking for. “Oh, yeah. No, it’s okay,” she stammered. “I mean… how hard can it be to pick out a door knob?” Then, under her breath, she muttered, “Unless you’re a door knob yourself.”
He was standing next to her now, and if he had heard her last comment, he didn’t say anything in response. Looking at what she had in her hands, he asked, “Well, what kind of door knob was your old one?”
She glanced up and caught his eyes. They were a shade of blue she couldn’t remember ever seeing before, reminding her of the sky on a clear day. “Oh, uh, well, it’s…” she fumbled with the two kits and ended up setting them down on top of a stack of door knob parts. “It’s this one.” She pulled the old door knob out of her purse.
Taking the door knob from her, he turned it over in his hands. “Do you have the other half?” he asked.
“Yes,” Melody assured him. “It’s at home. In the attic. That’s where we usually keep it—only it’s usually attached to this part.”
He laughed, a rich chuckle, and Melody realized that Michael was also giggling, likely because his dad was. “Well, if you have the complete door knob, you should probably just repair it.” He turned it over again, inspecting it closely, before handing it back to her. “I assume you live in an older home, and if that’s the original door knob, you should probably keep it.”
“This is Charles Town,” Melody smiled. “Everyone lives in an older home.”
“True,” he nodded.
His smile was a bit crooked, pulling up at one side of his handsome face slightly more than the other. Melody realized she was staring again. “Well, I would like to keep it, I guess,” she admitted. “I just have no idea how to fix it. I mean, I doubt I’ll be able to figure out how to install a new one either, but I figured that would at least come with directions.”
“It’s really not that difficult,” he replied. “You probably just need one of these,” he said handing her a little package that seemed to contain a few screws and a plate of some sort.
Melody looked at the little package and then back up at him. “Okay…” she said. “But what do I do?”
“You can fix it, Dad,” Michael chimed in, tugging on his father’s coat sleeve. Then to Melody, he added, “My dad can fix anything.”
She could tell by the man’s expression that he wished his son hadn’t volunteered his services, the hesitation showing in the deep breath he held in and then the sigh he slowly released. “Oh, that’s okay,” Melody began, “I don’t want to be any trouble. I should probably just call a handyman. I just… things have been tight. Anyway, maybe between my mom and I, we can figure it out.”
“No, I can do it,” he offered, giving his son a narrowed look. “It’s really not any trouble at all,” he added, flashing Melody a meager smile.
“Clearly, you’re busy. I live over on Washington Avenue. I’d hate to make you drive all the way over there.”
“It’s really no trouble,” he assured her, “and that’s not even that far.”
“And the house is a mess….”
He laughed again. “If you really don’t want me to fix it, I understand, but it will only take a few minutes, and I really don’t mind.”
She glanced down at Michael, whose smile lit the room more brightly than the fluorescent overhead lights. “Okay,” she agreed, with a smile. “I’m Melody, by the way,” she said, fumbling the door knob and the repair kit into her left hand so she could offer her right.
“Reid,” he said, taking her hand.
Melody felt her heartbeat quicken as tingles spread up her arm. She realized she was staring again, and if it weren’t for a tug on her jacket, she may have continued to gaze into his eyes for an even more embarrassing amount of time.
“I’m Michael,” the smallest voice said, and Melody let go of Reid’s hand to pat him on the head.
“I know,” she said. “It’s very nice to meet you.” Glancing back up at his dad, she added, “Both of you.”
Melody gave them her address and then went up front to pay, hearing Reid say something to Michael about grabbing a hinge. A few minutes later, she had the repair kit in her hand and was back on the street, happy that the fresh December air seemed to take away the heat from her face. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly released it, and squaring her shoulders, she headed back to her car, reminding herself he was only coming over to fix her door knob—not to sweep her off of her feet. “Besides,” she muttered under her breath, “he’s probably married. He has a son. He’s got to be married.” I wish they had a simple repair kit for broken people.
“Where does Miss Melody live?” Michael asked from the back seat of Reid’s red Sierra.Glancing in the mirror, he could see that his son had broken into Mrs. Gregory’s cookies and a smear of yellow frosting streaked across his cheek. “Not too far from us, down the street from Ms. Karen’s house,” he replied.“I like Miss Melody,” the little boy added between chomps of the star-shaped cookie. “She’s pretty.” Reid said nothing, keeping his thoughts to himself, until Michael insisted, “You think she’s pretty, too, don’t you, Daddy?”“Yes, I guess she is pretty,” Reid said with a shrug. “Careful not to get crumbs all over your booster seat.”“I know, Dad,” he said, sounding a little more like a tweenager than Reid would have liked. He was getting so big already. How could he po
“You like that train?” Melody asked, pulling her eyes away from Reid’s retreating form and focusing instead on the little boy looking longingly at the toy sticking up from the top of the cardboard box.“Yes,” Michael nodded. “Could I take it out?”Even though she knew the train was both very old and worth quite a bit of money, Melody didn’t hesitate to pull it out of the box. Made of tin and consisting of an engine, two cars, and a caboose, the black lacquer was a bit worn and one of the buckles that held two of the cars together stuck a bit, but other than that, it was in good shape.Michael’s eyes lit up as he took the train out of her hands. “Wow—it’s so cool!”“There isn’t much room to play with it up here, but would you like to go downstairs to the living room and play with it there?”
Melody sat at the counter at Delaney’s Delight’s, sipping a cup of her friend’s award winning hot cocoa and puzzling over whether or not to say anything to Delaney about her new friend—should the opportunity even arise. The bakery was busy today, and every time Delaney came over to speak to her, she was quickly whisked away by a new customer or someone wanting a refill.It had been nearly a week since she’d bumped into Michael and Reid at the hardware store, and even though she hadn’t seen either of them since, she just couldn’t get them out of her mind. Of course, Michael’s cuteness and outgoing personality resonated with her because he was just so sweet, but it was the curious blue eyes of his father that kept her up at night.She’d considered creating a reason to get his number from Mrs. Gregory and calling him. A clogged toilet, maybe a broken window, those would be great reasons
Michael Perry climbed aboard bus 312 on a mission. The bus driver, Big Max, as he was known, smiled and greeted him with a, “How’s my favorite kindergartner today?”“Good,” Michael smiled, hoping his dimple was especially adorable this afternoon. “I have a note from my dad. I’m supposed to go to his friend Miss Melody’s house today instead of Ms. Karen’s.” He held out the carefully typewritten note he’d taken most of the evening before to create, hoping it sounded like something a grown up might write, and waited.“Is that a fact?” Big Max asked, taking the note from his mittened hand. “Let’s see here.” He read over the note and then looked at Michael, who was doing his best to look innocent. “Well, okay then. That’s on my route. Take a seat, kiddo.”Michael nodded and made his way to his usual seat next to
Melody was upstairs in the hallway shuffling some boxes around so that she could get the antique school desk to the stairs when she heard the front door open. Thinking it odd that her mother would be home so early, she put the box of collectibles she had in her hands down carefully on the ground and slid her way through the mess to the stairs. “Mom?” she shouted from the top of the stairs.She wasn’t expecting the sound she heard next.“Hi, Miss Melody! It’s me—Michael!” came a familiar high-pitched voice, and Melody’s eyes doubled in size.“Michael?” she shouted, hurrying down the stairs. She saw him standing next to the front door about the time she made it halfway down the stairs. He was still wearing his backpack, and since Reid didn’t appear to be with him, she was completely confused. “What are you doing here? Where’s your dad?”
Reid finished tightening a loose spindle near the top of the steep stairwell when he realized his cell phone was ringing. It was about time for Michael to get to Ms. Karen’s house, so he decided he better check and make sure everything was okay. Pulling it out of his pocket and glancing at the display, he saw that it was the sitter calling and answered the phone immediately.“Hello?” he said, and the panic in Ms. Karen’s voice when she responded lit every one of his nerves on fire.“Reid, it’s Karen. Do you have Michael with you today?”“No, he’s not there?” Reid asked, dropping his tools and rising to his full height.“No, the school bus came by, but it didn’t stop. I called the school, and Michael’s teacher said that he got on the bus like he always does. They’re trying to get ahold of the bus driver, but… Rei
Michael was sprawled across from her on her father’s favorite oriental rug, studying the checkerboard with the scrutiny of a general poring over his battle plans. She’d called her mother to let her know Michael’s dad was on his way so she wouldn’t worry. Now, Melody couldn’t help but smile watching Michael stick his tongue out of the side of his mouth in concentration as if that would help him to decide which move to make next.“I think you’re stalling,” she said with a wink. It had been a long time since she’d played checkers, and while she intended to let him win, she at least wanted to make it a challenge.“I’m not stalling,” he replied, looking up at her with those big blue eyes. “I’m thinkin’.” He finally made a move, and Melody began to contemplate what she should do next to set him up for subtler success. “Do you really think San
Melody straightened the hem of her pink sweater and brushed her hair back over her shoulders. Upon opening the door, she could tell immediately that he was a bit frazzled, and she couldn’t blame him. Despite the fact that he had been trying to sound calm on the phone, she knew he must have been moments away from a panic attack the second he found out Michael hadn’t made it to Ms. Karen’s house. “Hi, Reid,” she said, smiling and attempting to keep her own voice cheerful. If she didn’t think it was a big deal that his son had sought her out because Michael thought she was “nice and pretty,” maybe Reid wouldn’t either.“Melody, hi,” he said, stepping through the doorway. “It’s nice to see you again, though I didn’t expect it to be under these circumstances.”He was smiling politely, and she giggled at his comment, hoping she didn’t sound like a