I smiled against his chest. After everything he'd done for me, I owed him at least a chance, even if he wasn't willing to take it himself.
Chapter 61
On the phone, Derek sounded nearly unhinged. "Have you lost your fucking mind?"
Wincing, I held the cell phone away from my ear. I hadn't expected him to be thrilled with the decision, but even for Derek, this was a bit much.
He'd been out of town for almost a month now, and I'd come to appreciate how nice it was tonothave him dropping by all the time.
As for Joel, he'd rented a cabin at the same campground where he'd been staying earlier, and we'd spent the last few weeks in utter bliss. We weren't living together, not exactly, but we'd had more sleepovers than I could count.
I loved him, and I was almost positive that he loved me, too – not that either one of us had said it.
On the phone, Derek was still ranting. "I miss one damn meeting, and you dothis?" His voice rose. "What the hell were you thinking?"
I didn't bother responding. Instead, I waited, letting him rage to his heart's content. If it made him feel better, that was fine by me. I was happy, even if he wasn't.
I wasn't even worried. There was nothing that Derek could do to change the decision. Once I signed the award letters, the whole thing would be official.
Even now, Claude was finalizing the paperwork for Joel and the other five recipients. Among all of the winners, Joel was by far the best. He had the talent. He had the looks. He had a certain presence that even Claude had picked up on.
True, Joel hadn't presented his work personally, but Claude had remembered him from that whole painting fiasco, when I'd stupidly confused Joel with a stripper.
On the phone, Derek was still going strong.
As I only half-listened, I wondered what he'd say when he learned the rest of it – that I was planning to offer Joel the use of my dad's studio.
No doubt, I'd be facing another tantrum. But for once, I couldn't bring myself to care.
"Hey!" Derek barked. "Melody! You still there?"
Startled, I gave a little jump. "Oh. Are you done?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you've been ranting for like ten minutes straight."
"I have not."
I glanced at my watch. "Uh, yeah. Actually, you have." I took a deep breath. "Look, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but can we can get this over with?"
"Why? You've got something better to do?"
"Gee, better than listening to someone yell at me? What doyouthink?"
In truth, I was waiting for Joel to finish oiling the hinges on the upstairs doors. I hadn't asked him to do it, but he'd insisted after some random comment I'd made about how squeaky they were.
I felt myself smile. He was always doing things like that – sweet, thoughtful things that made my life just a little bit better. And whenever I could, I tried to do the same in return.
Derek said, "You know, you're going to be a laughingstock, right?"
"Oh really? Why's that?"
"Oh come on. You gave your pretty boy an endowment."
Joelwaspretty. And masculine. And the way it sounded, everything that Derek hated.
I sighed as a sad reality hit home. Sure, Derek was away now, but eventually, he'd be back. And then what? Would I be facing fistfights on the front lawn?
