The men who had just sat down at the table stood at her presence. Kai stood and motioned toward a seat at his left. 

     Tugging on the ends of her sleeves, she walked around the room to the chair. 

     “Thank you,” she told him as she sat down. 

     She watched them as they began to eat and looked up at Kai when she noticed he was sitting quietly. He gave her a warm smile, and she cleared her throat and looked away. 

     “I hope you don’t mind that I made you a plate,” he told her. 

     “It’s okay,” she replied. “I appreciate it.” 

     She looked down at the large pile of eggs, scrambled as well as fried. To the side was bacon and sausage links. There were two buttermilk biscuits and toast, as well. 

     “I don’t really eat this much, though,” she told him. “Would you like to have some?” 

     The men watched as she started to slide some of the eggs and meat onto his plate. 

     Kai laughed and pushed her plate away. 

     “Eat what you want and leave what you can’t finish. I’m sorry,” he chuckled again. “You ate everything I gave you for dinner, so I thought you had a healthy appetite.” 

     She smiled and started to pick up some of the food on her fork. 

     “I hadn’t eaten yet when you all arrived,” she told him and the others. “After that, I didn’t eat until you brought food up. I haven’t had much of an appetite since I’ve been here, but the smell from the kitchen was so good.” 

     She started to eat while they watched, their curiosity about her growing. 

     “Mateo did the ribs,” Blane told her. “Neal and I did the rest.” 

     She chewed and swallowed before replying. “It was all delicious. Thank you for sharing it. Thank you for inviting me to have breakfast with you, too.” 

     She glanced around the table and then looked back at Kai. He looked at his men, who looked briefly from him to her, then back to their food again. 

     “We weren’t going to let you starve,” he smiled. 

     She smiled in return and ate a few more bites. 

     “I’m sorry about the deer,” blurted Neal. “I wouldn’t have shot her.” 

     He looked around at the others and back at her, nervous over his guilt. 

     “I was only joking when I made the remark about doe season,” Jack added. “It was a bad joke. I’m sorry it upset you.” 

     Melody took a deep breath and set down her fork to wipe her mouth. 

     “You don’t have to apologize,” she told them. “You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me, either. It wasn’t something I wanted to see happen, but not just because of what I went through.

     The people who used to live here raised her and fed her like a pet. I’ve been feeding her since I arrived. I guess it would be like shooting the neighbor’s dog. 

     And … and yes, seeing something like that probably wouldn’t have been good for me.” 

     She cleared her throat and drank some of the juice from a glass beside her plate. 

     “Can I ask you a question?” Paul asked from across the table. 

     She noticed Kai staring at him and the others looking around as though they knew what he was about to say and were worried. 

     “Not about the case,” Paul told Kai. “I just wanted to ask about what she said earlier, about her degrees.” 

     The team all seemed to relax and Kai looked over at Melody to see what she would say. 

     She smiled and started to pull at the crust on her toast. 

     “Not about the case but to find out how much I can help you with these people,” she determined. 

     She wasn’t angry at what may have been a roundabout way of asking for her help. She wanted to do what she could. She was hesitant earlier but being around these men and with Kai beside her, she started to feel her survival really could be the kind of help she’d hoped. 

     Paul glanced at Kai and back down to his food. 

     “It’s okay,” she said with a soft laugh. “I don’t mind. After nothing I said in my statement helped find my attacker, I felt useless. I felt like surviving didn’t mean anything. Now that it looks like he might be involved with those people you’re watching, I may actually be able to help after all.” 

     She took a deep breath and pushed away her plate since she was done. She took another sip of orange juice and sat straight in her chair to answer their questions.