Gran held a hand in the air to stop him, then asked Melissa, “You’re scared, aren’t you, dear?”
Gramps nodded. “It’s so obvious.”
My head swiveled back and forth as Melissa’s tears fell. “What is? What’s obvious?” I asked, completely confused.
“She’s afraid it won’t work. That they won’t last,” Gran said softly as she watched Melissa.
Gramps smacked the kitchen counter with his hand. “Kitten, what’s wrong with your girl?”
“She’s just scared. That’s all this is. Pure fear,” Gran said.
“Seriously?” I asked Melissa. “But you’re like the most fearless person I know. You’re always telling people what they should be doing. Always encouraging and always telling them to take risks.”
“It’s easy to tell other people what to do,” she admitted. “It’s a lot harder to apply your advice to your own life, especially when you don’t see it as clearly.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.
Melissa sighed. “I knew that you and Jack were meant to be together. I could see it, you know? I always told you that. So it’s easy for me to push you to go for something that’s so obvious to me and everyone else around you. But I don’t see myself or my situation with the same kind of clarity.”
“Really?” I said with a snort. “Why don’t I believe you?”
She nodded. “It’s true. I can tell you what I think you should do, but I never know what I should.”
“Well, we all know what you should do! You should do Dean! Um …” I stopped, feeling the heat on my cheeks rise. “I mean, we all know you and Dean belong together, so what aren’t you telling me? Spit it out,” I insisted.
Melissa sucked in a deep breath and blurted out, “Fine! I like Dean. I really do. But if something happens between us and we don’t work out, I’m the one who loses, not him. You’re my best friend,” she reminded me, glancing in my direction. “But he’s your husband’s brother. If we hook up and it ends badly, one of us loses you guys.”
Her eyes pleaded with me for understanding. “And it sure as shit isn’t going to be Dean. I’m pretty sure he can’t stop being Jack’s brother. But I can stop being your best friend.” Tears spilled freely down her face, and she reached up to swipe them away. “I don’t want to stop being your best friend. I don’t want to be the one who loses everything.”
My heart aching for her, I stood up and walked over to Melissa, then wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. “I’ll never stop being your best friend. No matter what happens between you and Dean.”
She shook her head. “You say that now, but you don’t know that. You can’t be sure, if you had to choose. I mean, if you were forced to choose. There’s no way you could choose me over Dean. He’s family now.”
“But you’ve always been my family, too.” I caught Melissa’s gaze, trying to show her how sincere I was, but she shook her head.
Gramps added, “I can guarantee you that Dean isn’t thinking about everything he’s going to lose if you guys break up. He probably isn’t thinking that you guys will break up at all. Why are you?”
“Yes, hon, why are you so convinced that you two won’t last?” Gran added.
“Seriously, Melissa, you’re the one person in the world who pushed for me to not give up on Jack. Even after everything we went through, you still said he was the one for me.”
“Well, he was. I was right,” she snapped.
“And so am I. You and Dean are meant to be together too. You’re the only one who doesn’t see it.”
Her head lowered as she whispered, “I feel it.”
“Listen, Melissa.” Gran reached over and took my friend’s hand in hers. “Love is the one thing in this world worth taking a risk for. When you’re older and you look back on the life you lived, you won’t regret the fact that you took the chance to love someone. But you will regret the chances on love you didn’t take. Especially the ones rooted in fear. They’re only scary because you have the most to lose. You feel the most for them. Don’t let the fear of losing love stop you from having the experience altogether.”
“She’s right, you know.” Gramps smiled warmly. “She usually is, though, so that’s not surprising. But if you walk away, you will regret this, darlin’. Maybe not right now or not a few years down the road. But eventually you will regret this moment. And every other moment you had with our grandson that could have led to more. Life is filled with many things. You don’t want regrets to be one of them.”