Melinda paused for a breath seeing her family in the stands and their happiness for her, her accomplishments. “Personally, I have to thank the most amazing family for their support over the last six or more years. I went from being an only child of a runaway parent who relied only on my ability to hedge the truth now and then and a wicked game of pool to being surrounded by so many people who only wanted the best for me. Tate, thank you for sticking by me through thick and thin, rainy ballrooms and all. Jordan, I love you and you were right, I love the path we’ve chosen and can’t wait to see what’s next. Arthur, thankyou for teaching me the game of pool and for letting me beat you that first time to build my confidence. My sisters Nicole, Alana, and Susan, you are the best girlfriends I’ve ever had, and I love every minute we spend together. The Turner boys, Jake and Grant, I know you will always have my back, no matter what or where, but I still plan on collecting my winnings from the last game we played.”
The laughs from some of the crowd, especially those that knew about her bet with Devon were loud enough to have her pausing again. “Ford and Gabrielle, thank you for showing me over and over what parents were supposed to do for their children; you will never know how much your acceptance of me truly meant. And to the newest members of my family, I thought I was good having two brothers and Tate but finding you three, well, you’re kind of stuck me with now and I love that. Lori, gaining an adult stepdaughter wasn’t in your plans but you’ve embraced me so much that I can’t think of you as anything other than my mom already. Dwight, there are too many things for me to say to you and not enough words or time to do it in, so the simplest thing is, thank you. You pushed me when I thought I’d reached my limits and made me find new ways to think and create. Finding out you’re my father is one of the best things that’s ever happened, ranking right up beside my Tate and my Jordan. I love you and I know now more than ever that I can handle any storm that gets tossed my way. We all know or have an idea of what we what or where we want to be, now, in five years, or ten and I sincerely hope everyone reaches their goals and finds their dreams. Congratulations everyone, now let’s make some beautiful sites.”
Mel hugged Dwight again before she took her seat and let the rest of the ceremony slip by quickly. When they were finished she zipped over to the business school graduation and sat down to go through it all again. She was happy that she wasn’t thespeaker for this one because she didn’t think she could manage it again. She was too happy for words.
When the dean got to her name, he laughed a bit before announcing it, “Mrs. Melinda Turner, also known by her fellow students as Melinda Holmes, and to our esteemed colleague Dwight Myers as Melinda Taube Myers Turner or more simply, his daughter.”
She smiled brightly as she accepted her accolades and went back to her seat. As soon as the ceremony was over, she was bombarded with questions from her classmates, and it took forever to detangle herself from them. She was making her way towards her family when Devon waylaid her.
“Mel, a couple of us wanted to take a picture in front of the construction site to hang next to the ones of us from the bet, come with me?” he asked and she reluctantly gave in despite wanting to just get home.
When they reached the site, she didn’t see anyone else, and she turned to him with a question in her eyes. “What’s going on Devon?”
“I’m really sorry about this Mel,” he said before he reached out and covered her mouth with his hand. She instantly fought back but there was something on the cloth in his hand and she blacked out, slinking to the ground as he caught her and lifted her into his arms before taking her to the waiting van.
“Nice work bro,” Kevin said with a smile as he pulled out a rope and quickly tied her hands together.
“You said you weren’t going to hurt her,” he argued.
“We’re not but you know what the Turners did to Dad. You may not have lived with him but when he lost his job your mom lost her support too.”
“I don’t think this is the way to go about it Kev. Come on, what’s the point? She didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Dad. We’ve already blown up her Jeep.”
“Don’t tell me you’re getting soft on the girl. You know what? When we get the money and get out of this place you can take her with you, show her what a real man’s like,” Kevin laughed sliding into the front seat. “You do remember that you didn’t really graduate today, sure it looks that way but that’s only because we hacked into the computers. You back out on me, and you’ll be looking at a jail cell. You’re the one who kidnapped her not me Devon.”
“Let’s just go before someone sees us,” Devon said glancing back at Mel with regret. He wished he’d never listened to his stupid brother. Mel didn’t deserve this, but he’d make sure she didn’t get hurt.
∞∞∞
“Where’s Mel?” Tate asked scanning the area that was slowly clearing.
“She was right over there talking with some of the girls from her ethics class,” Jordan said pointing towards the two women who were still talking. He didn’t see Mel anywhere and quickly headed towards them. “Did you see where Mel went?”
“She said she was heading over to you all,” Anna told him. “Why?”
“The last time I saw her she was talking with you all.”
“I thought I saw Devon stop her,” Gail admitted as they scanned the area again. “I don’t see them though.”
“Dwight,” Jordan called out getting his and Arthur’s attention. “Do you see Mel anywhere?”
They looked around noting the worry in his voice and shook their heads coming up empty.
“Dammit,” he stated.
“Jordan what’s going on?” his mom asked as they crossed over to him.
“We can’t find Mel. She was talking with Anna and Gail and told them she was going to come over to us, but she never made it. They said they saw Devon stop her.”
“Mel wouldn’t leave with him,” Tate stated.
“No she wouldn’t but there’s something about the guy I just don’t trust. I can’t explain it and it’s not because he’s interested in her, or not just because of that,” he said heading to the far side of the grounds where Gail said she saw them. He was about to head back towards the stage area when he heard his name being called out loudly.
“Mr. Holmes…Tate.”
Tate turned seeing Todd rushing towards them and tensed.
“What are you doing here Todd?” he asked the kid who’d been one who’d leered at Mel at the beginning of the year.
