Mistletoe Melody by Stacey Weeks

Author:Stacey Weeks [Weeks, Stacey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Fiction
Publisher: Pelican Book Group
Published: 2018-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

8

The floorboard creaked beneath Quentin’s feet, and he froze. He didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but before he could round the corner and join the women, he’d heard enough to know their conversation was private, so he stopped. Then, Mrs. Staff left the kitchen, leaving him stuck. He couldn’t turn around and return the way he had come, or he would meet Carol on the staircase, and she would know that he’d heard them. He couldn’t go into the kitchen, or Melody would know and feel betrayed, and any second she would round the corner to investigate the origins of the creaking sound.

Quentin did what any other man would do in his position. He bent down and poked the cat.

Hard.

Daisy sprung up meowing her displeasure. She cast a glare of annoyance at him and then wandered around the corner into the kitchen.

Quentin sagged against the wall.

The minute Mrs. Staff ascended the staircase, Quentin skulked away to his room. Why was the Staff family really here? What didn’t Melody want him to know? And how was cold weather a trigger? A trigger for what?

Just the word trigger brought back a flood of memories. Responsibility had triggered Ashley. Whenever life became overwhelming, she’d ingested whatever drugs she could find. It started back in high school when her parents pressured her too much to excel at everything she did. Ashley cracked under pressure and pulled Quentin down with her. He had been bucking his parent’s conservative faith and was looking for a way to rebel.

They’d partied hard through their final year of high school, and nothing either of their parents said or did could stop them. By the grace of God, Quentin never used the drugs that flowed freely at their gatherings, but to his shame, he never stopped Ashley from participating, and he never resisted her aggressive physical advances, which a high produced. Predictably, Ashley became pregnant. Her parents threw her out of the house when she wavered on the idea of aborting the baby that, according to her parents, would destroy whatever life she had left.

He thanked the Lord every day that Ashley had confided in him, that his family had welcomed her without judgment and helped her get clean, and that Ashley had carried Janie to term. Despite everything that happened to them after Janie was born, despite Ashley abandoning them and returning to her old party life, he would always be grateful for those months of sobriety when she carried Janie. He couldn’t imagine life without his daughter, or without the God he found during that difficult stretch of being forced to grow up quickly.

Quentin sank onto his bed, and the springs groaned under his weight. Melody said earlier that she starts over nearly every single day. Ashley used to say something similar after she finally got clean. She had to choose it every day. Could Melody’s family have brought her here to get sober?

He dragged his hand down over his stubbly chin. Melody didn’t appear strung out, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t.

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