Once in a Blue Moon (47 page)

Joining her, Richard
put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

She
turned to him. “I can’t believe it! I’m home!
We’re home
. We actually made it
back!” She gathered in Jessica and Jeremy, held them and hugged
them tight.

Richard’s arms
encircled the three of them.

She looked at the
house, the manicured lawn, the landscaped yard, the huge oak tree,
and the science presentation set up in the corner by the trampoline
and getting wet. “What day is it?”

Jessica smiled. “According to the newspaper out on the porch,
it’s August 1
^st
. It’s the morning
after we left.”

Jeremy grinned. “Pretty
cool, huh?”

Melissa shook her head
in amazement. “Three months. We lost three months and to the rest
of the world it’s like it never even happened.”

Zeke streaked after the
neighbor’s cat, barking happily.

Melissa stared at him;
remembered clutching him. “I must have brought the dog with me.
What is Sully going to think?”

Jessica shook her head. “Ooooh. He’s going to be
so
mad at
you!”

Richard’s arms loosened
a bit. He blew out a shaky breath. “Don’t ever do that to me
again.”

Melissa turned to look
at him and realized those words were the first he’d spoken to her.
His face was tense. He was still upset; upset about almost losing
her. She took a breath and tears filled her eyes.

She
nodded, understanding very well how he was feeling. “I thought I’d
lost you too. All of you. I was kidnapped by Curly Jenkins. I had a
chance to go back, but I didn’t dare leave without you.” Her eyes
widened and she hit Richard’s chest. “You left me! I stayed for
you, and
you
left
me
!”

Richard’s mouth gaped.
He ran his hands over her back, shoulders and hips, checking her.
“Curly Jenkins kidnapped you? How? Are you hurt?” His face
darkened. “I’ll kill him!”

Melissa smiled. “Lucky
for him he’s already dead.”

Anger at Curly flushed
Richard’s face, then he inhaled, blew out a breath and slowly shook
his head. “We thought you’d gone back without us. When we woke up
an hour ago and realized you weren’t here, we tried to get back to
you. We stayed out in the moonlight, but we couldn’t return. And
then the sun came up and I thought...” His voice broke and he
looked down, cleared his throat.

She touched his
arm.

Richard laid his hand
over hers. “It was the longest hour of my life. When we heard the
dog bark, and then found you--”

Melissa opened her arms
and he pulled her close.

After a moment, Richard
leaned back. “You would really have stayed in the past to be with
us?”

Melissa nodded. “I
did
stay in the past to be with you.” Her throat
closed and she swallowed. “I would have done anything to be with
the three of you.”

She paused, then took a
breath. “I know I’ve messed up a lot over the years. I know I’ve
been selfish. That’s probably an understatement.” She looked up.
“But I want you to know that the three of you mean everything to
me. I would have stayed in the past if I’d had to so we could be
together. I’d have done anything. I love you all so much.”

She held them close,
and they hugged her back and happiness bubbled up inside of her.
She had absolutely everything she could want right here in her
arms. Everything that mattered.

The dog circled their
group, then tried to nose in and get a place.

Melissa looked up at
the moon, barely visible, but still in the sky. “Thanks,” she
whispered.

Abruptly, the smile
left her face and her eyes widened as she realized the moon was
still there. She grabbed Richard by the hand and pushed the kids
toward the house. “Come on! Hurry! Everybody get inside!”

The pancake bubbled on
the surface, and Melissa slid the spatula underneath and expertly
flipped it over. Golden brown around the edges, and with a lighter
center, it was perfect.

A car engine sounded
outside and Melissa quickly looked out the kitchen window, a buzz
of anticipation fizzing up inside, but the car passed by the house.
What was taking so long? Melissa needed to think about something
else or the wait would drive her insane.

She still couldn’t
believe they’d been back since Monday. Five whole days, and the
time had flown. The kids had been back in school since Wednesday,
and Jeremy had received an A on his blue moon project. Of
course.

Melissa had taken the
week off work to think about what she wanted to do. Xavier was in
shock since she’d never taken so much as a single day off before,
let alone a week.

He was also very
suspicious, especially since Melissa had told him where to find the
dress Kari had made and instructed him to have it worked into the
winter lineup. Very un-Melissa-like behavior.

And when she’d passed
on a very important client to him, he didn’t know what to think,
and had promptly given her a raise, which had kept Melissa smiling
all week. In addition, she still felt a warm glow inside when she
thought about the way Kari had tearfully called to thank her.

In the meantime,
Melissa had been working on some new designs, which were slightly
western in flavor. She’d been corrupted, no doubt about it. The
strange thing was, she didn’t seem to mind anymore.

She’d also been cooking
and cleaning. Claudia had received the week off with pay, and a
raise to boot. The woman had just about passed out.

Richard had worked a
few half-days, but mostly he spent time with her and the kids.

Melissa gently lifted
the pancake and set it on a plate. Richard came up behind her and
enveloped her in a hug. “Mmm, smells good.”

“Me, or the
pancakes?”

“Both.”

Melissa chuckled. She
didn’t doubt it was true. Since she’d been back, she hadn’t been
able to get enough of bubble baths or skin lotions. She handed him
the plate.

Jeremy snorted. “Watch
the mushy stuff, guys, there’s kids in the room.”

Jessica giggled, her
mouth full of pancake.

The doorbell rang.

About
time
. “I’ll get it!” Melissa slapped the
spatula down on the counter and headed for the kitchen door. A
spurt of excitement raced through her. She’d been hiding a secret
all week, and it was finally time to tell all. She couldn’t wait.
Melissa yanked open the front door.

Her mother-in-law,
Carol, smiled in greeting. Dressed in casual tan slacks and a
sweater set, her thick salt-and-pepper hair perfectly coifed, she
looked happy, calm and reasonable. Just like always.

“Hi!” Melissa gestured
wildly. “Come in, come in!”

With a look of pleased
surprise, Carol followed her back to the kitchen.

Jessica jumped up.
“Grandma!”

Both kids ran to hug
her.

Carol laughed lightly.
“My goodness. What’s going on here?”

Richard smiled warmly,
and lifted his fork in greeting. “Hi, Mom, good to see you.” He
jumped up and gave her a hug. “I didn’t know you were home
yet.”

“I just got in last
night. Melissa called this morning and asked me to come over.”
Carol sounded happy, but bewildered as she returned the hug.

Melissa didn’t blame
her for the confusion. Melissa had never initiated a phone call
before, let alone been so warm and friendly toward Carol. It was
just one more thing that would change.

Zeke ran into the
kitchen and about bowled Carol over. She grabbed at the counter for
balance and the dog sniffed at her feet, his huge body pushing
against her legs. “My goodness. Where on earth did he come
from?”

Jeremy grabbed the dog
and pulled him away. “We got a new dog. Zeke sort of adopted
us.”

Carol shot Melissa a
look of incredulity. Melissa had always been vocal about her
negative views on pets. She shrugged and her excitement escalated.
“Is everyone about done eating?”

“Can I have one more
pancake?” asked Richard.

Melissa squelched her
irritation, but she’d waited this long, she could wait a few more
minutes. “Fine. Carol, can I make you one too?” Melissa asked as
she poured batter onto the hot griddle.

Carol shook her head.
“They look wonderful, but no thank you, I’ve already eaten.” She
paused, looking confused again. “I didn’t know you cooked,
Melissa.”

Melissa shrugged.
“Actually, I’ve only recently taken it up. In fact, I’ve been
baking all week.” Melissa flipped the pancake and gestured to her
oven. “Have you noticed my wonderful, wonderful oven? Did you know
that it actually self-cleans? And watch this.” Melissa turned on
the front burner. “It’s gas, so you simply turn this switch, and
you have a flame! Isn’t that fantastic!”

Richard, Jeremy and
Jessica all groaned in unison.

Jeremy shook his head.
“Just don’t ask her about the fridge or freezer. You don’t want to
get her started.”

Jessica nodded. “Yeah.
Or the mop that squeezes out water when you push the handle. Don’t
ask about that, either.”

Melissa gave them both a superior glance, turned off the
stove and griddle and slid Richard’s pancake onto his plate. “Well,
they are
all
fantastic inventions. But if I had my way, someone would be
winning some major awards for inventing the washing
machine.”

Carol smiled. “Well,
I’m glad I was invited over today. You all seem so happy.”

Melissa was touched by
Carol’s sincerity. Carol was simply a nice person. No matter how
unkindly Melissa had treated her, she’d only shown courtesy and
understanding in return.

Richard wolfed down the
last of his food.

Melissa cleared her
throat. “All right, everyone. I have a big announcement to
make.”

Everyone stared.

“What is it?” asked
Jessica.

Melissa smiled. “Follow
me, and you’ll see.” She headed out the back door.

Everyone followed.

She lifted the two
shovels she’d left leaning against the back of the house and handed
them to the kids. “One for Jeremy, and one for Jessica.”

“This
way.” Melissa led them past the big oak in the back yard, spared a
glance and a smile for the initials
R
loves M
carved high up the trunk and still
amazingly readable.

They went up the hill,
past Sully’s place, and stopped by the back corner of the cabin.
She took a large step forward. “One.” Another step. “Two, three,
four, five, six...” She grinned at everyone, enjoying the moment.
“Seven.”

The kids exchanged
excited looks. “You buried something, didn’t you!” said
Jessica.

Richard smiled at her,
sudden excitement glowing in his eyes.

Melissa stopped. “Right
here.” She pointed to a section of untouched, long grass.

The kids jumped forward
and start digging. It took them awhile to get through the grass,
but finally they hit dirt.

For a moment, Melissa
wondered if the box was still there. What if Sully hadn’t buried it
after all? What if someone else had already found it?

Jessica’s shovel hit
metal and she squealed.

The twins exchanged an
excited glance and began digging furiously.

Melissa grinned at the
enthusiasm shining in Richard’s eyes.

Soon, the metal box was
revealed.

Richard, unable to
contain himself, sprang forward to haul the metal box out of the
dirt.

Carol put a hand to her
heart. “It’s the buried treasure, isn’t it?” Her voice was faint.
“It’s our family’s buried treasure! Melissa, how did you know? How
did you find it?”

Melissa shook her head. “No, no, this is something else
entirely. It--” Surprise widened her eyes. Could it be true? What
if it
were
the
treasure that the family stories had been told about. Could her box
and the family treasure be one and the same? “Richard?”

He grinned, shrugged
and shook his head. “It’s possible.”

Amazing.

A loud creaking had her
turning her attention back to the kids as they lifted the lid off
the top of the box.

Zeke snuffled the
contents and Jessica hauled him back.

Melissa stepped
forward. “Allow me.” She peeled back the old oilskins to reveal the
contents of the chest. A letter lay on top of a packet of papers
and under that, Melissa’s designs, all of them yellow with age.
There was also a fabric bag tied with a ribbon which she set aside.
The letter was addressed to the Kendals.

Melissa opened it
carefully and read out loud.

October 2, 1891

Dear Family,

Melissa smiled at
Richard. “Oh, that is so sweet!”

You stole my dog and
don’t think I don’t know it! All I can say is that you’d better be
taking good care of him!

I want you to know you
were right about everything. My son came home, and all is forgiven.
I know how much store you place in knowing everything about
everyone, so I’m listing information about each of the children.
They are wonderful! So is my new daughter by marriage. I have my
family back and I’m so happy. Have a wonderful life. Live long and
prosper.

Melissa laughed. “He
did love Star Trek.”

P.S. Remember, Zeke
likes bones, and he don’t care for sleeping outside.

Melissa patted Zeke on
the head and thought of the huge pillow in the family room
especially for him. He was her hero and would always be treated as
such.

“I don’t understand,”
said Carol, with a flutter of her fingers to indicate the box.

The poor woman did look
confused.