Page 206 of His Reckoning

“Okay,” she says softly. “So, you’ve read it.”

I don’t respond.

Colton closes the door behind them. The click feels louder than it should.

Melissa studies me for a second, long enough to read something in my expression, and then she nods slightly.

“Yeah,” she murmurs. “That makes sense.”

“What does?” I ask.

She tilts her head. “Why you reacted the way you did.”

“You’re here to defend her?”

“No,” she says calmly. “I’m here to tell you something you should probably know.”

Something in her tone makes my stomach tense.

“What?”

She doesn’t answer right away. Just walks over to the chair across from my desk and sits.

Colton stays standing.

Melissa folds her hands loosely in her lap. “She pulled the book.”

The words land quietly.

“What?” I ask.

“She called her publisher,” Melissa continues. “Told them she’s not moving forward with it.”

I stare at her as I try to process that. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does if you know her,” Melissa says. “She didn’t want to hurt you.”

“That’s not the point.”

“I know,” she says. “But it was her decision to walk away.”

My grip tightens slightly on the book. “What do you mean?”

She gestures toward the book in my hands. “That. She walked away from it.”

The words sit heavier now.

Colton finally speaks. “Do you know what it takes for someone to do that?”

I don’t answer because I don’t.

“She didn’t argue with you,” Melissa adds. “She didn’t fight to explain herself. She just … left.”

I think back to that moment. The way she stood there quietly. She wasn’t defensive or angry.

“She said she’d stay with me for a while,” Melissa continues. “Didn’t even hesitate.”

“Her publisher’s probably dropping her,” Colton says bluntly. “She knows that.”