Once in a Blue Moon (18 page)

Melissa ignored
him.

Sully filled the pot
halfway with water.

Henry nudged Jed in the
arm and Jed cleared his throat. “Uh, ma’am, I reckon you know that
divorce is pretty easy to come by in these here parts. Some men
wouldn’t make you cook if’n you didn’t want to.”

Melissa refrained from
rolling her eyes. Apparently the town needed a dating service. No
doubt if she batted her lashes and showed any interest, these
bachelors would be terrified. “I’m very happily married, thank you.
And I want to learn to cook.”

Henry stepped forward.
“Well, you got any friends lookin’ to marry up?”

She looked down. “I
don’t have any friends,” she said softly.

Jed hit Henry in the
chest, almost knocking the thinner man down.

Henry
regained his balance and slugged Jed in the arm.
“
How was I to know
?” he whispered loudly.

They all went inside
the cabin and the dog, finished with its impromptu dinner, sat
beside Melissa, its tail thumping in the dirt.

Sully set the pot on
the moderately heated side burner and glanced down. “That there dog
is a good judge of character.” He didn’t meet her gaze. “Don’t you
worry none. You’ll find some friends.”

Melissa turned away,
embarrassed. The last thing she needed was Sully feeling sorry for
her. Her eyes landed on a photo on the wall and she took a step
closer. “Who is this?”

Sully’s glanced at the
photo, then away. “Louisa and Andy.”

Melissa studied the
faces in the black and white photo, Standing next to a picket
fence, Louisa, dark hair scraped back, spine ramrod straight, stood
with her hand on the shoulder of a beautiful blonde boy of about
twelve. Their faces weren’t really very clear, because the photo
was taken outdoors. Melissa’s eyes widened. “Sully, who’s house is
this in the photo?”

“Mine.”

Tingling excitement
raced through Melissa. “For some reason I thought you’d always
lived in this cabin.”

“No. That’s the house
in town where Louisa and I raised our son. After Louisa died and
Andy left, I didn’t want to stay there anymore.”

“But why? It’s much
nicer than this cabin. Who lives there now?”

“No one. I’m savin’ it
for Andy.”

For Andy and all his
posterity. Melissa would recognize that house anywhere. Richard had
grown up there and spent five years restoring the outside. Carol
Kendal still lived in it and was convinced treasure resided within
the walls. Valuable treasure.

“Sully, is there any
treasure hidden in your home?”

Sully stared at her as
if she’d lost her mind. “Treasure? No, can’t say that there is.
Just furniture and such. Why would you ask?”

Feeling deflated she
shrugged. “Are you sure? It looks like the kind of place that might
house a treasure.”

“I built that place my
self. I think I’d know if I’d hidden valuables inside.”

Melissa sighed. Well it
had been worth a try. She sure could have used some of that
mythical wealth right about now. But it was nice to have finally
proved Carol wrong. The next time she called Melissa about the
treasure, she’d let her know it didn’t exist. If they ever got
back.

Sully turned away.
“Okay, now I got a treat for you. We’re making rabbit stew with
dumplings!” Sully fished around in the bag he’d brought home and
proudly held up a dead rabbit, which had been shot in the head.

Melissa blanched.

Sully glanced at her,
then at the rabbit, a worried expression on his face. “Is it all
right?”

Melissa hurriedly
pasted on a smile. She needed to know how to cook, and no doubt
rabbit stew was a favorite among the customers at the restaurant in
town. “Of course!”

Sully set the rabbit on
a flat pan, and started to skin and gut it.

Melissa gulped. She
glanced away, then back again, then away.

Sully looked up. “Maybe
I should let you do this?”

Melissa waved one hand,
swallowing convulsively. “Oh, no. It’s okay. I’ll just watch this
first time.” Her stomach heaved. Possibly cooking was a craft that
had to be learned in slow increments.

The skinning and
gutting complete, Sully cut up the rabbit, and motioned to the
pieces. “Put these in the pot.”

With finger and thumb
Melissa reached out and picked up a cool, slimy piece of rabbit.
She shuddered, but placed the pieces in the pot one at a time.

Amused, Sully held out
a bowl. “Just sprinkle some of this salt on top.”

Taking a small amount
with her clean fingers of her other hand, Melissa sprinkled
granules into the pot.

Sully nodded. “Perfect.
Now we just have to let it cook for a while.”

Melissa headed out the
doorway.

The men quickly
scrambled after her.

She washed her hands
again, then handed the soap to Sully.

He grunted, but
washed.

They returned to the
cabin and the men were suddenly all smiles. Henry held out a chair.
“While we’re waiting, why don’t we teach you to gamble?”

“I already know how to
gamble. When I was a kid--” Well, she didn’t want to think about
that, and she wasn’t interested in gambling. In her opinion, it was
a waste of time and only low-lifes wagered.

She looked at the pot
on the stove. “How long will the rabbit take to cook?”

Sully shrugged. “‘Bout
an hour. Then we’ll cut out the bones, put in the vegetables and
mix up some dumplings.”

They continued to look
at her expectantly.

She sighed. Playing
cards was better than simply staring at each other while they
waited. Perhaps just this once. “I won’t gamble for money.”

They all looked
disappointed.

Jed glanced around, his
gaze landing on a pile in the corner. “Straw?”

Melissa nodded.
“Fine.”

Sully dealt the cards,
and Jed carefully counted out twenty short lengths of straw for
each player.

Henry glanced at her.
“So, how come you don’t know how to cook?”

Melissa studied her
cards. It wasn’t a bad hand. “I’ve always had someone to cook for
me,” Melissa lied smoothly. She slid two cards to Sully and
received two in return.

“What happened to the
cook? She come with you?” asked Henry.

Melissa shook her head
and threw two pieces of straw in the center of the table. “She
decided to stay behind when we...when we moved.”

Jed traded in some
cards. “How come?”

Irritation flared.
“Just because.” Were they going to question her the entire time?
She glanced at the stove, and noticed heat wafting over the middle
burner. “Why can’t we cook on the hot burner? Wouldn’t it get done
faster?”

Sully shrugged.
“Wouldn’t be tender.”

Melissa nodded,
resigned to wait. Maybe she could ask a few questions of her own.
There was no need to let this opportunity slip by. She studied the
other players. “Tell me about the Widow MacPherson.”

“She’s a good ‘un,”
said Jed. “Doesn’t want to marry up, though.”

“How did she come to
own all that land?”

Sully laid a card down,
picked another up and threw some straw in the middle. “Married into
it. Then her husband up and died. No one thought she could make a
go of it, but she surprised folks.”

How nice for her. “Is
she well liked?”

Henry looked surprised
at the question. “Of course.”

Melissa managed not to
snort. Of course, nothing. If her experience was any indication,
the lady would be reviled in the community.

She tapped a finger on
the table and studied her cards. What could Sully have on the
widow, and how could Melissa ask subtly? Nothing came to her.
Perhaps subtle would be lost on these men anyway. She took a deep
breath. “Has she ever done anything to be ashamed of?”

They all stared at her
like she was crazy.

“Why do you want to
know?” asked Sully.

Annoyed by the implied
criticism in his tone, Melissa shrugged. “Just wondering. She said
something that got me thinking.”

“Well, wonder no more.
The woman is a saint,” said Sully.

Melissa wasn’t ready to
let it drop. “Then why--”

Jeremy and Jessica came
into the cabin, their hair wild, their faces dirt-smudged and
glowing.

Jed grinned. “Howdy,
young ‘uns.”

“Hi,” said Jeremy. He
came to a stop beside Melissa’s chair and looked at the three men.
“I have a good joke. If you see an elephant out in your wagon, what
time is it?”

Sully shook his head.
“Don’t know. What time?”

Jeremy grinned. “Time
to get a new wagon.”

Sully, Jed, and Henry
laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Jessica
giggled.

Melissa shook her head
and rolled her eyes.

“Here’s another one,”
Jeremy grinned. “What grows down when it grows up?”

They all shook their
heads.

“A
goose
!”

If possible, the men
laughed even harder, wheezing and slapping the table.

These guys were idiots.
Melissa smiled at their antics, unable to help herself.

“Why
do chickens lay eggs?” Jeremy was lapping it up. “Because if
you
drop
them,
they break!”

After the new bout of
laughter subsided, Jed pointed to the door. “I’m tired of your
jokes, you young coyote. Run over yonder and fetch me that there
henway by the door.”

Jeremy turned his head
to look. “What’s a henway?”

“‘
Bout three
pounds
! Har, har, har!”

Jed threw back his
head, laughing open-mouthed. All three men were laughing hard, were
red-faced and looked close to heart failure. Jessica and Jeremy
were hanging on each other.

Melissa shook her head,
but couldn’t stop a big smile from stretching her mouth. She
chuckled. “Okay, I have one. How did the blonde fashion model try
to kill her pet bird?”

Laughter died off and
everyone waited expectantly.

“She threw it off a
cliff.”

Hysteria reigned. Sully
laughed so hard he fell off his chair, Jed pounded the tabletop
causing the straw to bounce and scatter, Henry wiped tears from his
eyes, and Jeremy and Jessica fell onto Melissa and clutched at her
dress.

Taking it all in,
Melissa laughed right out loud. Once she’d started, she couldn’t
stop and she laughed until her stomach ached. She clutched at the
table top, not even trying to control herself.

Finally, minutes later,
the laughter subsided.

Sully climbed back into
his chair. “What’s a fashion model?”

Melissa wiped her eyes,
took a shuddering breath and smiled. “Never mind.” She put down her
cards. “Read ‘em and weep, boys.”

All three men groaned
at the full house she laid out on the table. At their pained
expressions, Melissa laughed again.

Sully dealt another
hand.

The kids left the cabin
and Melissa relaxed back in her chair. She couldn’t remember the
last time she’d felt so...happy? Yes, that was it. For the first
time since she’d been in the past, she was relaxed and having a
good time. Absently, she considered that thought. If she were
honest, it was the first time in a long, long while that she could
remember having fun.

Her smile faded as she
lifted her gaze and took in her present company. She was having a
good time with dirty, nasty, icky losers? In squalid surroundings?
Playing poker?

Just
like when she’d been a kid
.

Her heart started to
pound. The hair rose on the back of her neck and her throat seemed
to close over as her body stiffened and she sat up straight. All
thoughts of relaxation fled.

Everything she’d done since she’d been about fourteen had
been actively geared toward getting away from this lifestyle, and
here she was, not only sitting with losers, but
enjoying it.
Was this who she really
was then? Deep down, would she always be trailer trash? Didn’t it
matter what she’d done in the intervening years? Would she always
be that skinny little girl, that pathetic loser, who wanted more,
wanted to
be
more, but never could?

She
shouldn’t be comfortable here. She shouldn’t be enjoying their
company, she should be
enduring
it.

Looking into their
faces, she saw their kindness and goodwill. Their acceptance of
her.

She didn’t want it. She
wanted to be different from them. Better.

Stumbling to her feet,
her cards scattered. She had to get away. “I have to go now. I need
to get back to my cabin and...and I have to go.”

Everyone stared in
stunned silence.

Finally Sully spoke.
“But we’re not finished with the stew!”

Melissa nodded and
headed for the door. “I have to go. Goodbye. Goodbye!” She
practically ran through the doorway.

Flipping back the ugly
pink curtain, Melissa looked out the side window. She could see
past the cabins, all the way to the ranch house, but still no
Richard.

“Why can’t we just go
outside until Dad gets home?” asked Jeremy plaintively.

Melissa twitched the curtain back into place. “This isn’t
our
home
. Stay
put.” She turned to face the kids, sitting at the table. They were
washed, tidy and combed, and staying that way.

Jessica crossed her
arms. “How come we have to wait? I’m hungry right now.”

The whining didn’t even
phase Melissa. “We’re eating as a family tonight.” Richard would be
so surprised that dinner was ready when he came home. Thrilled
even. She couldn’t wait to see his face.

She walked over to the
stove and gave the vegetable stew another stir. It seemed a little
watery, but didn’t look too bad. Perhaps some meat would have
helped, but after the dead rabbit episode, Melissa was considering
a vegetarian lifestyle.