Free Mendoza's Return by Susan Crosby

kindling of need stored inside her.
    Can you go home again? she wondered, pulling back, touching her fingers to her lips, then briefly to his, seeing hunger in his dark eyes.
    She felt the hunger, too, the need she was afraid to show. But deep inside, her heart spoke to his again. If only his would answer.
    â€œYes, I remember that about you,” she said softly, then she turned and walked away, knowing he was watching her, wanting him, and knowing she couldn’t take that chance again. She’d grieved for him before. A second time would be even harder maybe even impossible to survive.

Chapter Six
    Y ears of practice kept Melina from slamming her foot against the floorboard while her grandfather was driving down Sycamore Avenue the next morning. He was scheduled to renew his driver’s license in two weeks—if she gave the go-ahead.
    â€œNext week, I want to drive my truck, not your dinky car,” he said.
    â€œI think that’s a good idea, except how do you propose to do that since you can’t get into the driver’s seat without a stepladder? And then what do you do with it?”
    â€œI’ll figure out something. I’m eighty-six, missy, not a hundred and six. I still have a working brain. And I live by myself just fine.”
    â€œYou know they can make you take a road test if they think it’s necessary.”
    â€œSo you’ve said. More than once.”
    â€œBecause you seem to forget.”
    â€œI don’t forget anything.”
    He wasn’t an easy person most days, but he was more belligerent than usual today. Although she’d spent a lot of time at her grandparents’ house as a teenager, she hadn’t really gotten to know him well until the year she spent living with him and Grandma Rose after her stroke, caring for her. The year that had forever changed Melina’s life.
    The year she’d decided not to go back to Michigan but become an occupational therapist.
    The year she’d lost Rafe because of her decisions. Although maybe it would have happened anyway.
    â€œSeen Rafe lately?” her grandfather asked.
    â€œYes. He’s been helping me with some issues regarding one of my kids.” She scanned the street looking for potential hazards. “Thank you for talking to him at Angie’s wedding, by the way. I think Mom and Dad ignored him.”
    He snorted. “I was a captive audience, wasn’t I, stuck in the wheelchair for the day, as I was. Couldn’t avoid him.”
    â€œYou were more comfortable in the chair, and you know it. How come you’re so ornery today?”
    She grabbed the dashboard as he made a left turn in front of an oncoming car, the driver honking several times.
    â€œGuess I should’ve waited a bit longer,” he muttered.
    â€œNo ‘guess’ about it. What’s going on?”
    He didn’t answer right away, then finally said, “Got up on the wrong side of the bed. My empty bed.”
    Ah. “Do you ever think about dating?” She tossed the idea out casually, although she’d given it a lot of thought. “You’d be prime real estate in the senior market.”
    He sort of laughed. “Real estate, huh?”
    â€œAll it would take is a little renovation, and you’d be good as new.”
    â€œYou don’t miss a chance, do you? I’m too old for surgery, and too old for dating folderol. I’ve had my share of casseroles delivered since your grandma died. None of them held a candle to her tamale pie.”
    His voice shook enough that Melina took her eyes off the road to study him. He was wearing his usual Western gear but looked fragile. “You’re lonely.”
    â€œHell, yes, I’m lonely. Any fool who says otherwise in the same circumstances is lying. She was the fresh air I breathed for fifty-two years. It’s been like inhaling smog since she died. It hurts.” He gave her a quick glance. “No more talk