Once in a Blue Moon (35 page)

Sully looked worried,
which set Melissa off into giggles again. She was glad she’d
come.

Zeke
bounded over and jumped up on Melissa, trying to lick her face. She
arched her neck back and pushed the animal down. “Get off me.
Down.
Get down
!”

The dog settled beside
her, tail wagging furiously as he stared up adoringly.

Jed stepped forward, a
hopeful expression on his face. “Is Hannah with you?”

Oh dear. Melissa shook
her head.

Jed took off his hat
and twisted the brim. “I’m thinking of heading over to her place to
call on her. Is she home this afternoon?”

Melissa exchanged a
glance with Richard.

Richard shook his head.
“I think it would be best if you waited a few days to call on
Hannah.”

Jed turned to Melissa
as if for confirmation.

She nodded. “Yes, that
would be for the best.”

Jed looked crushed.
“Fine. I’m going home.” Looking sad and upset, he turned and
left.

Melissa watched him go
before glancing up at Richard. “Maybe we should have just told him
straight out that it isn’t likely to work out. As it is, he’ll just
hope for the best now.”

“It’ll be fine.”

Melissa’s gaze followed
Jed’s progress and her brow furrowed. Hannah wasn’t likely to thank
Melissa if Jed showed up now. And the widow–she’d eat poor Jed for
dinner. “How do you know that?”

“Because--”

”Well, come on.” Sully
cut him off. “It’s bad enough you ruined my tree and chased off my
friend. Let’s go inside.”

They followed Sully up
over the hill and into his cabin. Melissa knew how much Richard
wanted this opportunity to visit with Sully and was glad he had the
chance.

Sully’s cabin was
dirty, of course, and it smelled a bit. But apparently she was
getting used to filth because she didn’t seem to mind as much
anymore.

Zeke whined for
attention and Melissa patted his head. She glance up to see Sully
studying her, eyeing the dress she wore.

He glanced away. “My
wife was a good woman. I carved her name in a tree back by the
house in town. My son carved his initials in the same tree. I wish
I knew where he was.” Sully paused and looked down. “He’s probably
dead too.”

Richard and Melissa
exchanged a look. It would be nice to be able to reassure
Sully.

“Your son is fine,”
said Richard.

Sully shrugged. “Hope
so.”

“Don’t worry, he’s
fine,” Richard repeated. “So you were in the Civil War?” Richard
asked, changing the subject.

Melissa walked over to
study the books on the shelf above Sully’s unmade bed. She’d
forgotten Sully had books. Surely he’d loan her one? She could use
an escape from reality for a while. Anyway, it would give her
something to do while Richard visited with his grandpa. She studied
the titles. “Sully, can I borrow one of your books? Pride and
Prejudice?”

“No. That book belonged
to my wife.”

Melissa was surprised
by his response and a little miffed. “I’d take good care of
it.”

He shook his head.
“Nothin’ doing. Those books were her treasures. You might damage
one; get one dirty. They are irreplaceable to me.”

Melissa scoffed. “Get
it dirty? You’ve got to be kidding me! All you have to do is pick
one up to get it dirty. Let me borrow one. I promise to take care
of it.”

“No.” Sully stuck out
his jaw. “Stories are precious and hard to come by.”

She couldn’t believe he
wouldn’t loan her one measly book. “Is that so? Well, for your
information, I could tell you stories you’ve never even heard
before.”

“Doubt that. Heard it
all by my age.” But he’d perked up and looked interested.

“If I tell you a good
story, will you loan me a book?”

“It’d have to be a
really good one.”

Melissa nodded. “Oh, it
is. Better than any you’ve heard before. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal. But I’ll be the
judge of what’s good and what’s not.”

Melissa nodded. She
cleared her throat, smiled at Richard, and took a deep breath.
“These are the voyages of the star ship enterprise...”

Richard laughed.

Sully looked
interested.

As a former trekkie,
she was well aware the guy didn’t stand a chance.

* * *

Melissa checked on the
kids. Worn out from the day, they were sound asleep in the
loft.

She stepped down the
ladder and ran across the cold floor to jump on the bed. The candle
on the bedside crate flickered madly and she giggled.

Getting comfortable, she straightened her tangled nightgown,
leaned against the wooden headboard, and picked up the newly
acquired copy of
Pride and
Prejudice
from off the crate.

She cracked it open to
the first page, a huge grin on her face.

Richard blew out the
kerosene lantern on the kitchen table, came in, took off his shirt
and folded it neatly on top of the trunk. He closed the curtain,
stripped down to his newly-sewn draw-string boxers and climbed into
bed beside her to lean against the headboard too.

Ignoring him, she
turned the first page.

Richard cleared his
throat. “Are you going to read all night?”

Melissa waved a hand,
well aware that he wasn’t ready to go to sleep. “Shhh. I’m savoring
my triumph.”

He chuckled. “Yeah,
Sully did love the story.” He chuckled again. “The look on his face
when the Captain Kirk’s crew landed on a planet inhabited by
monsters was priceless.” Pausing, he leaned over to study her
face.

She couldn’t help it;
her grin widened.

“Are you gloating?”

She looked up from the
book. “Of course not!” she said primly. “I’m simply pleased to know
that all my early years watching television weren’t wasted.” She
dropped her gaze to read again, grin back in place.

Richard fell back
against the headboard. “Do you know what I think? I think you’re in
love with James T. Kirk.”

The surly, vexed tone,
made Melissa giggle. “That’s Captain to you. And he is pretty cute;
very manly and handsome.”

Richard crossed his
arms across his chest. “He always seemed short to me. And he
squinted a lot. Without his crew he would have been just a pretty
face.”

With a grin, Melissa
looked pointedly at Richard. “I like pretty faces.”

He smiled at the
compliment. “You know Sully’s going to want to hear more stories
now.”

Melissa shrugged. “When
I finish this book, I’ll tell him another. But I’m going to read
slowly; make it last for a while.”

Richard stared up at
the ceiling. “Sully’s a good guy, isn’t he?”

She nodded. “You come
from good stock; a little filthy, but still, good stock.”

Richard chuckled. “I
guess I do.”

After a few minutes,
Melissa turned the next page. The candlelight flickered and she
giggled.

“Good book?”

She nodded. “Um hmm.
And the candlelight makes reading it so much more romantic.”

“You want romance?”
Richard inserted smoothly. “I’ll give you some romance. Come here,
sweetheart.”

She looked at Richard,
at his bare chest and open arms, and breathed in deeply. She
shivered a bit at the seductive way he was looking at her.
Actually, he’d been looking at her that way most of the day.

Well,
she
was
getting
pretty tired.

And
the book
wouldn’t
last forever.

And
she
did
want to
savor it.

Slowly.

She shut the book, set
it on the crate and blew out the candle. Reading could wait until
morning.

She was sitting in
dirt. Again.

Melissa finished
stripping the tomatoes off the plant and placed the produce in the
overflowing bucket. She ripped the vegetation out of the soil and
threw it toward the compost heap before moving on to the next
plant.

A few rows away,
Jessica and her friend giggled.

Apparently garden
detail was reserved for children and anyone else who got in the
way. The ladies had tried to make it sound like bottling was a
difficult skill to learn. Like she was the lucky one who got to go
outside with the kids. But Melissa knew they were just getting rid
of her.

She snorted. As if
bottling were rocket science or something. As if she really wanted
to do it anyway. Not her. Not when she could be sitting in
dirt.

Her back kinked and she
stretched her arms up in the air, and at the same time noticed
Hannah approaching.

Hannah quickly traded
an empty bucket for Melissa’s full one without once looking up.

Melissa shrugged off a
stab of hurt and tried a friendly grin. “Hi.”

Hannah mumbled a
response, ducked her head even further, and headed back to Sarah’s
kitchen.

With a sigh, Melissa
reached for another tomato and set it in the now empty bucket. In
the several weeks since the picnic fiasco, Hannah had pretty much
gone back to her old ways of slinking around and keeping to
herself. And since her friendship with Hannah had stalled out,
Melissa found she missed the challenge. Hannah’s transformation had
given her a goal; something to focus her energies on. And okay,
she’d thought they were really becoming friends.

Melissa glanced around
the depleted garden and sighed again. Chores, chores, and more
chores. Laundry day, ironing day, cleaning, cooking, clearing out
the garden.

Even Richard’s second
payday hadn’t been as big a thrill as the first one. She’d managed
to buy some material, but again, the rest of the money went mostly
for supplies. She could sew, but what was the point? Once she
started it would soon be over. If she didn’t begin, then she still
had something to look forward to.

At least things were
going well in their family. Richard and Jeremy were having the time
of their lives playing cowboy. In fact, she suspected they could
live here forever with no problems. Even Jessica wasn’t completely
bored. She had a friend to play with, and she babysat the younger
kids and really seemed to enjoy it.

But Melissa was slowly
going out of her mind. Her stress levels were so nonexistent that
most days it felt as if someone needed to check her pulse.

Granted, there was a
little bit of conflict between her and the widow still, but nothing
to get too excited about. The old bat just avoided her when she
could and treated her like dirt when she couldn’t.

Of
course, she still had
Pride and
Prejudice
, but she was reading it very
slowly. As much out of lack of time as the desire to savor it.
Still, the ending was coming up much too quickly.

Melissa contemplated a
ripe tomato. If she finished the book, she could go over to Sully’s
and get a new one. Then at least she’d have someone new to talk to.
Someone who didn’t want to discuss babies, husbands, children or
chores. But Sully? Ouch.

She just needed to
remember that she’d be going home soon. She should be planning the
winter line for work. And starting to think about the spring line
too.

She straightened up,
sighed and reached for another tomato. On days like this, she
really wanted to go home.

* * *

Hours
later, fingers tracing the last words of the story, a big smile on
her face, Melissa finished reading
Pride
and Prejudice
. She sighed, and relaxed
against the tree behind her. The story was wonderful, but
unfortunately, she now had nothing good to read. She idly turned
the last page, hoping for more.

A folded piece of
paper, lightly stuck to the backing of the book, resided there.
Melissa straightened, wondering how she could have failed to
noticed the missive in the past few weeks.

Bit by bit, she
carefully peeled the page off the back of the book, and cautiously
opened it. The paper crinkled and she didn’t dare open it all the
way for fear of cracking the paper.

It
was a letter addressed to
My Dear
Louisa
. Obviously a personal letter. A
love letter? A twinge of guilt darted through her. She shouldn’t be
reading it. She glanced down at the signature. Andrew Sullivan.
Sully. A letter from Sully to his wife. She couldn’t help herself;
she was curious. Besides, she’d replace it and Sully wouldn’t even
have to know. Anyway, he’d obviously forgotten the letter was there
or he’d have taken it out before loaning her the book. So no harm
done. She started to read.

September 10, 1864--
Fort Goodwin- Arizona Territory

My Dear Louisa,

Your
sweet + welcome letter of the 14
^th
came
Friday. It has been a long time since I have had the occasion of
writing to you, and I gladly avail myself of the present
opportunity to let you know that I am among the living.

The Indians have been
giving us problems, and Stewart Allen of Kentucky died of a wound
to his abdomen. One man was shot on picket a few nights since and
will not be able for duty for some time. I was wounded in the arm
and quite ill for three or four days but please do not worry for
me. I have entirely recovered. We’ll have our revenge soon
enough.

Colonel Carleton has
been promoted to Brigadier General and most feel he deserves it.
The boys all like him well + think him a considerate man.

I hope all is well.
What kind of weather have you? We have the most disagreeable
weather here I ever saw. The wind blows terrible at night + it’s so
hot during the day.

Im tired of eating
salt pork + hardtack and long for your home cooking.