So Melanie was the childhood sweetheart Lance had grown up with at the group home.
My head snapped up. I wanted to ask him what it meant that Melanie had moved in right next door to us, but he looked away from me.
Before I could even shake off the shock, the director sighed again.
"Ah, such a shame the two of you broke up in the end."
"I even had the gift envelopes ready back then. I was just waiting to drink at your wedding."
The words hit me like a thunderclap.
Melanie wasn't just his childhood sweetheart. She was his ex-girlfriend too?
No wonder that whenever I used to press him about his ex, his face went cold and he refused to say a word.
I'd always thought he just didn't like dredging up the past. Only now did I understand. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it. He'd never let her go at all.
Lance finally turned his head, frowned at me for a second, then said to the director,
"Director, don't joke around. My girlfriend's right here."
Melanie looked at me and blinked, all innocence.
"So what? Frances wouldn't be that petty."
"Right, Frances?"
I drew in a breath, wedged myself between the two of them, and locked my arm tight around Lance's, staking my claim.
"I am exactly that petty."
"Miss Cobb, Lance is my boyfriend. I don't like him helping other women behind my back, especially not his ex-girlfriend."
The air froze in an instant.
Several seconds passed before the director scrambled to smooth it over.
"Oh dear, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Frances, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I spoke out of turn. Please don't take it to heart."
Melanie's eyes reddened. She bit her lip.
"I'm sorry, Frances. I'll move out today. I won't trouble the two of you anymore."
Lance's face darkened at once, and without a moment's hesitation he pulled his arm free of mine.
"Frances, what are you trying to do?"
"There's nothing between Melanie and me. We just came to the group home together to visit, that's all."
"I just don't want you keeping in contact with your ex-girlfriend," I said. "Is that wrong of me?"
That set his temper off completely. He gave a cold laugh, unlocked his phone, and shoved it into my hands.
"Fine. Then I'll delete every woman's contact off my phone right now and keep only you. Happy?"
I held that burning-hot phone and felt the cold seep through my whole body.
I only wanted to know where I stood in his heart. I wanted him to give me a little sense of safety. I wanted him to stand on my side.
So why did it end with me being the one making an unreasonable scene?
Melanie let out a soft sigh and coaxed them in a gentle, tender voice.
"All right, all right, everyone calm down. Stop fighting."
As she said it, she looped her arm through Lance's, easy as anything.
"Cool off, Lance. Let's go see the kids first."
Half tugging, half pulling, she drew Lance forward, then glanced back at me, her eyes brimming with a victor's smugness.
"Frances, don't overthink it. Let's take care of what we came for first."
Lance didn't push her off. He only swept a cold look over me and walked on beside her.
I stood rooted there, watching the two of them leave side by side, the last of the sunset stretching their shadows out long, the pair of them looking so well matched.
I didn't chase after them, didn't fight or make another scene. I just stood there quietly for a while, then turned and, step by step, walked out the gate of the group home in the opposite direction from theirs.
