But no matter the differences between two months ago and now, this was Rachel. The woman who’d saved his life on that cargo ship.
“Melody? Why is he calling you Rachel?” the man asked again, moving so he was standing slightly in front of her, as if protecting her from Mustang.
Mustang wanted to snort. Like this surfer dude could get the drop on him. Wasn’t happening. But he wasn’t there to scare Rachel…or whatever her name was.
“Scott?” Rachel whispered.
“Yeah. It’s me,” he told her.
Then she was moving toward him, pushing past the man next to her. Practically throwing herself into his arms.
Mustang let out a small oof as she hit his chest, taking a step back to keep them both upright. Putting his arms around her and holding her tight had never felt so right.
“All-righty then, guess you do know him,” said the man she’d been walking with.
“I do,” Rachel mumbled, nodding.
“You good then? You still want me to give you a ride home?” he asked.
“I can take the bus,” Rachel answered, not picking her head up from Mustang’s chest.
“I’ll take her home,” Mustang told the other man.
“I’m Kaikilaonāoneko‘olau,” the man said, holding out his hand. Then grinned at the look of consternation on Mustang’s face. “But I go by Kai.”
Mustang chuckled and lifted a hand from Rachel’s back to take Kai’s outstretched palm into his own. “Mustang. Also known as Scott.”
“It’s good to meet you. Melody hasn’t talked about much since she started working with us. Nice to know she’s got some friends.” He nodded his head, indicating something behind Mustang.
He glanced back and saw Midas and Aleck walking down the dock toward them.
“She does,” Mustang agreed.
“Aloha, Melody. See you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Kai,” she said, finally pulling away from Mustang.
He tightened his hold on her, not ready to let her go yet.
The second Kai was out of hearing range, Mustang asked, “Melody?”
He felt more than heard the woman in his arms sigh. “My name isn’t Rachel.”
“Is it Melody?”
She shook her head slightly but wouldn’t look up at him.
Mustang moved slowly, putting a finger under her chin and lifting her head so she had to look him in the eye. “What’s your name?”
“Elodie Winters.”
Mustang had no idea if she was telling the truth, but figured she was. A name like Elodie wasn’t exactly common, and if she was going to make up a fake name, he figured she’d use something more commonplace.
“It’s smart to use something close to your own name. Melody, Elodie…they’re very similar.”
“I learned my lesson. As you saw before, and now, I forgot to respond to Rachel more often than not.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Mustang told her with a smile.
“But you can’t call me Elodie in public,” she said softly.
“I have a million questions for you, but they’ll have to wait,” he told her.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Elodie told him.
“I think that’s my line,” Mustang said with a smile.
“Hey, Rachel, it’s good to see you again!” Midas said as he approached.
“Damn, Mustang was right. It is you!” Aleck said in amazement.
“Guys, I’d like you to meet Elodie Winters,” Mustang said quietly. “Elodie, you remember Midas and Aleck, right?”
“Scott…I thought we just agreed—”
He interrupted her. “We did. But these are my teammates. They’re going to help me…you, us…figure out what’s going on and fix it.”
“I’m not sure it can be fixed,” Elodie said softly.
“Elodie. That’s unusual,” Midas said.
“It’s French. Over there, it’s pronounced with the emphasis on the O, but my parents said it like Melody without the M,” Elodie said, as if she’d explained her name many times in the past.
“We all thought Mustang was losing his mind when he said he saw you,” Aleck told her. “But we should’ve known. There’s a reason he’s our team leader. He’s pretty damn sharp.”
“We’re glad you showed up. He’s been checking his phone like a squirrel waiting for a bird feeder to be re-filled,” Midas said.
“What?” Aleck said, staring at his friend as if he had horns growing out of his head. “What kind of an analogy was that?”
“You know, the little buggers get used to stealing food from a bird feeder, then get impatient when it’s empty,” Midas said.
“Good Lord, you’re a dork,” Aleck said, shaking his head.
Elodie giggled, and Mustang’s heart felt as if it grew two sizes. It was a sound he hadn’t heard from her before, and he wanted to hear more of it. She sounded happy. Carefree. Whatever trouble she was running from hadn’t completely diminished her ability to laugh. “What’s your schedule for the rest of the day?” Mustang asked her.
She looked up at him, and even though she was smiling, he could still see the shadows in her eyes. He’d noticed them back on the cargo ship and had hoped maybe her troubles were behind her, but with her still using a fake name, it was likely they weren’t.
“I’m off for the rest of the day,” she told him.
“I came with Aleck. How about he takes us back to my place, where I can change, then I’ll take you back to your place so you can do the same, and maybe we can have dinner somewhere together and talk?”
She stared up at him for a long moment, and Mustang felt as if he were seventeen again and waiting on his crush’s response to his invitation to prom.
“Okay,” she finally said.
“Okay,” he agreed. He didn’t like that she sounded a bit reluctant, but she’d said yes.
When the rest of the team caught up to them on the dock, he reintroduced everyone once more.
“This is Elodie…previously known as Rachel and, for now, Melody, when we’re around others.”
“Hey,” Jag said.
“Good to see you again,” Pid added.
Slate merely gave her a chin lift in greeting.
“I…were you guys really fishing today?” she asked a little hesitatingly.
“Yup,” Pid told her. “Things have been fairly intense at work and we needed a little downtime.”
“Did you catch anything?” she asked.
“Yeah. A big-ass marlin. Aleck’s friend was the pilot, and he sliced us each a big filet and he’s keeping the rest,” Pid said.
“Cool,” Elodie said.
“You like fish?” Mustang asked her.
“Hate it,” she answered immediately.
Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then Slate said, “But you work on a charter fishing boat.”
“I do,” Elodie agreed with a small smile. “I couldn’t afford to be picky when I was looking for a job. And there’s no requirement I have to eat what the clients catch. I have no problem being around the fish, helping to bring them onboard and things like that, but I don’t think I’ll ever grow into liking to eat anything that comes from the ocean.”