Once in a Blue Moon (34 page)

“You know I didn’t mean
that.”

She met his concerned
gaze and sighed. She did know. She shook her head. “I’m just overly
touchy today.” But he was right. She did need to get this over
with. Xavier liked her to grovel when he thought she’d done
something wrong. So she’d grovel. Not a big deal. She knew the
routine.

But should she
apologize when she hadn’t done anything wrong? She’d made Hannah a
dress. Taken Hannah to a social event. Introduced Hannah to a guy
who was smitten with her. Been a friend to Hannah. So why was she
feeling guilty?

She threw the cloth in
the water and without another word, headed out the door. She just
needed to get this over with. She’d play it by ear once she got
there.

A few minutes later,
she stood in front of the ranch house door and took a moment to
wipe her palms down the front of her skirt. She took a deep breath,
and knocked.

Almost immediately the
widow answered the door, a haughty, forbidding expression on her
face. “What do you want?”

Melissa tried a small
smile. “I’d like to talk to Hannah.”

The widow crossed her
arms over her chest. “Absolutely not.”

Melissa pressed her
lips together. She remembered her vow to grovel if necessary and
took a deep breath. “I feel very bad about what--”

”Do you even realize
what a selfish, thoughtless, manipulative person you are?”

Melissa’s mouth parted as hurt tightened her chest. No, not
hurt; she felt picked on, that was all. Because, really, what had
she done? She’d simply tried to be a friend. Why should she be
criticized? Why should she
let
herself be criticized? “Look, all I did was make
Hannah a--”

“I warned you, didn’t
I? I told you not to hurt Hannah. I told you to stay away from
her.” The widow filled the doorway, rage making her seem even
taller than ususal. “I told you she was easily wounded. But did you
listen? You think your opinion is the only one that matters--”

“All I tried to do
was--”

“–and that you know
everything. Well let me tell you...”

Melissa pressed her
lips together. The widow’s tirade wasn’t unexpected. Anyway,
Melissa always got yelled at. It was a daily occurrence with
Xavier, so why did it hurt so much now? Melissa let her rant
uninterrupted a few more minutes and tried to block out the
words.

Finally the widow ran
out of steam.

Now it was Melissa’s
turn. Melissa swallowed the lump in her throat. “What did I do that
was so bad? I simply--”

”I refuse to listen to
your excuses. Just stay away from Hannah. You are not welcome
here.” The widow shut the door in Melissa’s face.

Melissa’s mouth fell
open, tears filled her eyes, and she stared at the door for a full
minute before turning away to start back to her cabin.

The
stupid woman! She wouldn’t even listen; wouldn’t see reality! It
was so unfair! Melissa felt hurt--no, angry! She was just
angry
about the whole
situation.

Who
wouldn’t be? The woman wouldn’t even give her the courtesy of
hearing her out. She refused to understand that Melissa was really
trying to do something
good
for Hannah. Why hadn’t the old hag been able to
see that?

Melissa wiped away
tears. Why was she crying? The past was making her soft;
vulnerable. How many times a week did Xavier ream her? How often
had she been backstabbed and gossiped about at work? And when had
she cared? Never. She’d simply exacted her revenge until she’d
reached the point where no one dared mess with her anymore. Well,
except Xavier. But she’d certainly never cried like a baby!

Revenge didn’t sound
like such a bad idea. Her anger upped a notch and her tears dried.
So Mrs. High-and-Mighty thought Melissa was such a horrible person?
Well, she’d only seen her good side so far, but that could easily
be changed. Perhaps the widow needed to find out just how horrible
Melissa could really be!

She stormed back into
the cabin.

Richard studied her
face, his expression concerned. “How did it go?”

Tears fill Melissa’s
eyes again. “It was so unfair! She wouldn’t even listen to me!”

Richard held out his
arms. “Come here.”

She hesitated, not
wanting to seem weak, then ran into his embrace and let Richard hug
her. He said, “Let’s get the kids and go over to Sully’s for a
while. It’ll do you some good to get away for the day.”

She nodded. Getting
away from this place, even to see Sully, wasn’t such a bad idea.
Besides, the long walk over would give her time to think.

The
widow would pay. Somehow Melissa would
make
her.

* * *

Richard tried to grab
her hand, but Melissa jerked it away, danced a few paces to the
side of him, and glared. “What are you doing?”

He smiled. “Walking
with my wife. Trying to hold her hand. What are you doing?”

What
she wanted to do was forget about the widow and Hannah. She wanted
to enjoy her family. Unfortunately, that wasn’t happening. She
couldn’t forget, was still upset, and did
not
want to hold Richard’s hand. She
just wanted to be mad. “I’m being angry.”

Richard chuckled.
“Okay, but could you keep the noise level down? All the heavy
sighing and stomping feet is starting to hurt my ears.”

Melissa’s mouth dropped. “I am not
stomping
! And I’m certainly not
sighing!”

Richard’s eyes widened.
“You’re not? Oh, I’m sorry. Did I mistake your heavy breathing for
sighing? Were you trying to give me a hint? Would you like to spend
some time in the bushes with me?”

Melissa rolled her eyes
and huffed in disgust, but a smile pulled at her mouth.

Again he tried to grab
her hand, and this time she let him and he intertwined their
fingers. He cocked a brow. “Well, Mrs. Kendal? Are there bushes in
our near future?”

She glanced at the
twins, exploring up ahead, having a good time. “Oh, the kids would
love that.”

Richard grinned. “Come
on. We could sneak off before they even realized.”

Melissa smiled. “And
they’d find us. And then we’d have to locate a therapist and I’m
not sure they have any here.”

“What about Sully? He’s
sort of the wise-older-man type. Maybe he could step in and fill
the role.”

Melissa laughed. “Oh
yes, can’t you just see it? Sully trying to explain the birds and
the bees? He freaked out when he thought I was in my underwear;
he’d have heart failure.”

Richard nodded. “And it
would be all your fault.”

She lifted her chin.
“How do you figure?”

“All that heavy
breathing you were doing. Tempting, very tempting, Mrs. Kendal.
What’s a guy to do?”

Melissa laughed again
and shook her head. Thankfully, the silliness had caused her anger
to fade. What did she care what the widow thought? Since when did
she care what anyone thought? She needed to get her mind off the
earlier ugliness and simply enjoy the afternoon.

She cast around in her
mind for a safe subject. “Do you realize I’ve done more walking
since we came to the past than ever before?”

“What about your
treadmill?”

“Doesn’t count.
Treadmills are for wimps.”

They smiled at each
other in perfect understanding. They’d been dumped in a hard place
and a hard time, and were getting through it; flourishing even.

She glanced at the
twins, up ahead, dislodging a small boulder on the side of the
hill. They shrieked with laughter as it tumbled down. “The kids are
thriving here.”

Richard squeezed her
hand. “So are you. You look beautiful today. But then, you always
do.”

She knew she looked
like a hag, and had for a long while, but if he didn’t realize it,
she wasn’t about to point it out. Melissa smiled and returned the
squeeze.

They never did this
anymore; held hands. She lifted their clasped fingers. “This feels
good. Like we’re happy. Happier than we’ve ever been.”

“We are.” He winked.
“Maybe in the future, we should start up a new business. We could
hold family nature retreats. We’ll supply a cabin in the middle of
nowhere with a cookstove, a few supplies, and maybe some bushes.”
Richard wiggled his eyebrows at her. “It might catch on.”

Melissa smiled at him.
“You never know.”

They veered off the
main road and climbed the hill to Sully’s place. His cabin door was
closed and although the usual assortment of animals scrounged in
the dirt, the dog wasn’t around.

The kids knocked, but
didn’t get an answer, so they ran to pet the mangy horse.

Richard indicated the
grass at the top of the hill. “Shall we sit here?”

Melissa sat facing away
from the cabin and toward the main road so she could watch for
Sully.

Richard stretched out
on his side facing her and lifted her hand to his lips for a quick
kiss. He rubbed her ring finger with his thumb. “When we get home,
I’m putting your ring back on.”

Melissa smiled at him,
her heart filling with love. “Do you remember the day you proposed?
When you placed it on my finger?”

One side of Richard’s
mouth kicked up. “Of course. On the Catalina Island Ferry. I was so
nervous I almost dropped it overboard.”

“I felt so loved that
day,” she said softly.

“I did love you.” He
kissed her hand again. “But I love you more, now.”

She leaned down and
kissed him.

When she straightened,
he grinned up at her, then laid on his back and put his arm over
his face to block the sun.

Melissa breathed in the
fresh air, soaking up the peace and quiet.

After a few minutes,
Richard grabbed a piece of grass and chewed on one end. “You know,
this could be a good spot for our dream house.”

Melissa smiled. “Ya
think?”

“No, really. What do
you say we build one here? I can just picture it now. A
wood-structure, ranch-style house with--”

”Rustic is not going to
happen. What would the neighbors think? It would bring down the
value of their property.”

“Sully wouldn’t
mind.”

“But the Davidsons’ and
the Maceys’ would; and so would I.” She patted him lightly on the
shoulder. “Sorry buddy, but you’re stuck with modern architecture
and stucco.”

Richard shrugged.
“Okay, fine. A stucco house and beautiful landscaping. A wife,
husband and two kids. Both the husband and the wife have dream jobs
in their chosen career fields. It’s a great life.”

“It sounds
enticing.”

“Oh it is.” He picked
up her hand and kissed the back. “Believe me, it is.”

Melissa sighed. So why
hadn’t she been very happy? Why did she feel more content today,
sitting in the long grass at the top of a hill?

She gripped Richard’s
fingers. “I don’t want to lose what we have,” she turned to look at
him. “What we have now, I mean. But I don’t want to stay here,
either.”

Richard stood up. “Come
on.” He pulled her up and drew out his knife; a long wicked-looking
blade.

“What are you going to
do? Sacrifice me?”

He walked down the hill
and she followed.

Richard placed her on
one side of the tree. “Stand here.”

He put the point of the
knife to the trunk and started to carve. She couldn’t see what he
was doing.

Quickly becoming bored,
she sat down and drew her knees to her chest.

After about ten
minutes, he extended a hand and pulled her to her feet.

On
the tree, he’d carved
R loves
M
, a big heart surrounding the initials.
He put his arms around her from behind, bent down and kissed her
neck.

Her hand came up to
squeeze his arm as they both studied the crude artwork.

Richard’s hold
tightened. “This is our spot in the world. This is where we’re
building a life: past, present, and future. You. Me. Our children.
We matter. We’re important enough to fight for.”

He turned her around,
gripped her by the shoulders and studied her face. “Can you feel
it? Can you feel how right this is; how right we are? Everything is
going to be fine. We’ll make it be fine.”

Her eyelids fluttered
for a moment, and fear welled up inside her. That little girl--the
undeserving one who didn’t merit having anything good, who people
looked down on and criticized–-rose up, and her emotions threatened
to choke her. But as she continued to look into Richard’s eyes,
tears welled in her own. Intense love for him filled her. This was
real. They did matter.

She nodded, touched his
face and looked into his eyes. “I do feel it. I really love you and
our children: past, present, and future,” she whispered the words
back to him.

Richard leaned down and
kissed her and it felt like a promise.

“
What in the name of tarnation did
you do that for
?”

Richard broke off their
kiss and lifted his head.

Melissa glanced over to
see Sully and Jed coming toward them. Sully looked outraged.

Richard raised a brow.
“Pardon me?”

Sully stopped a few
feet away and pointed to the tree. “I was going to use that tree
for firewood, and you’re carving love pledges on it! Now I expect I
can’t cut the blasted thing down! How am I supposed to stay warm
this winter? How am I supposed to cook my food?”

Jed nodded in a serious
manner behind Sully.

Melissa couldn’t help
it. Laughter bubbled up inside her and spilled out, a much needed
release from the tension of the afternoon. “What are you going to
do? If you cut it down now, we may end up divorced. Our fate lies
in your hands, Sully.”