Once in a Blue Moon (10 page)

They climbed the steps
and stood on the porch that ran the length of the front of the
house. She gripped the rough-hewn railing that had weathered to the
color of muslin and noticed a single potted geranium that sat on a
table between two chairs.

Richard knocked on the
impressively carved front door, then turned to grin at her. “Here
we go.”

Again, Melissa felt
embarrassed about the way they were arriving. She knew better than
anyone how important first impressions were.

She glanced around
quickly. People still stared. The cowhands had stopped working and
leaned against the fence, and another woman joined the gawkers. The
horrid orange dress and clunky shoes made her feel a fool. She
straightened her shoulders just as the door opened.

A tall woman,
mid-fifties or so, stood before them. She wore a navy dress, not
very different in style from Melissa’s, but the material was
obviously rich and not so worn. Her light blue eyes seemed to take
them all in, every detail. She didn’t smile. “Hello. We’ve been
expecting you.”

Her voice was low,
smooth and cultured. The woman had wonderful bone structure: sharp
cheekbones, and a prominent jaw line. She was probably very
photogenic and Melissa realized the woman must have been extremely
pretty once; runway-model pretty before age and the sun had tanned
her face and wrinkled the skin around her large, perfectly-spaced
eyes.

Richard nodded. “We’re
excited to be here.” He turned toward Melissa. “Mrs. MacPherson,
this is my wife Melissa, and my children Jessica and Jeremy.” He
gestured toward the lady. “Melissa, Mrs. MacPherson, my new
employer.”

Melissa nodded. If
anyone was expecting a curtsy, they were out of luck. “How do you
do?”

The lady stared for a
long moment at Melissa’s dress and an uncomfortable silence sprang
up and hovered in the air. Finally, the woman met Melissa’s gaze,
her eyes arctic. Surprised and stung, Melissa returned the cold
look, wishing she weren’t dressed in a dead woman’s ugly clothes.
What had she done to deserve instant ire? Usually it took Melissa
at least five minutes to offend someone to this level.

The widow nodded at
Melissa, then turned to Richard once more. “Just so you understand,
I would never have hired you if not for Sully.”

Richard laughed
sheepishly, his good-looking face all charm. “Well, however I got
the job, I thank you for it.”

The widow’s expression
didn’t soften, and the old witch’s whole attitude irritated
Melissa. And did Richard have to be so subservient?

The widow raised a hand
to the door frame. “I’m not sure I made myself clear yesterday. You
are here on trial only. If you don’t work out, I’ll have to let you
go.”

Melissa’s mouth parted as shock coursed through her.
What did the witch mean, trial
only
? Her stomach twisted, and dizzy
again, she met Richard’s gaze. He was clearly just as surprised as
she was by this development.

Now what were they
supposed to do? Richard certainly wasn’t a cowboy, and he’d be
fired immediately; probably today. Then what? Live in a bush? Go
back to Sully’s? That just wasn’t going to happen.

She wasn’t putting up
with this treatment. Richard had a verbal agreement with the snooty
crone, and Melissa would hold her to it.

She understood nuances.
Apparently Sully had something on the harpy or Richard wouldn’t
have been offered the job in the first place.

Richard looked worried.
“Ma’am, I didn’t realize--”

Melissa took a step
forward. “Perhaps Sully wouldn’t like it if you fired Richard.”

“Melissa, don’t!”
Richard’s tone was agonized.

She shot him a glare,
and he widened his eyes at her, obviously trying to convey his
displeasure.

Well, what was she
supposed to do? He should stick up for himself if he didn’t want
her to step in. She turned back to the old woman. Their gazes
locked. The widow’s eyes were glacier cold and Melissa returned her
stare without so much as a flinch.

“I’m sorry, my
wife--”

The widow didn’t take
her gaze from Melissa. “Are you threatening me?”

Melissa smiled, a
well-practiced, not nice, smile. “Certainly not. Simply reminding
you of your agreement with my husband.”

“I see.”

Melissa certainly hoped
so.

The widow studied
Melissa a long moment, then turned. “Hannah?”

A stout, red-faced
woman of indeterminate age came to the door. She looked nervous,
and had probably heard every word. “Yes?”

“Take the Kendals to
their cabin and help them settle in.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“My housekeeper has
stocked the place for your arrival.”

Richard nodded. “Thank
you. You won’t be sorry you hired me.”

“I already am.” The
widow once again met Melissa’s gaze, and just like that, officially
declared war.

Melissa lifted her chin
and with an inward smile, and a feeling of elation, she realized
that a small piece of her world had just returned to normal.
Yippie-ki-ay.

Anger didn’t even begin
to describe the emotion coursing through Richard. Heat burned his
face and flared through his body as his fists clenched and
unclenched. Taking a deep breath, he deliberately tried to calm
down. Losing his temper in front of their new neighbors would not
be a good idea.

He took up the rear as
his family followed the housekeeper across the grass and dirt yard
and past an apple orchard. He carefully avoided looking at Melissa.
There was nothing he could do right now about what she’d said to
his new boss, except prove himself.

He’d get his family
settled in as fast as possible, then get to work. He’d quickly show
Mrs. MacPherson she didn’t need to regret hiring him.

Why
couldn’t Melissa just believe in him for once? Trust him to take
care of their family for once? Keep her
stupid mouth shut
for once? Did she
have to try and emasculate him by making it look as if he were
hiding behind her skirts?

They passed a cabin and
a chubby young woman waved and called out a greeting from the
doorway. Melissa ignored her.

Richard’s teeth
clenched so tightly it was a wonder he didn’t crack a tooth. He
forced a smile, lifted his hand in greeting and had to swallow in
order to choke out, “Howdy.”

Both his kids waved at
the woman.

Richard lengthened his
stride and closed the distance to Melissa. He didn’t look at her.
He couldn’t, if he wanted to keep control of his temper. “Do you
realize that if you screw this up for us, we might not have a place
to sleep tonight?” His voice shook slightly.

Melissa stared at him.
“What on earth are you talking about? I’m not screwing anything
up.”

The fact that she
really had no idea upped his temper a notch if that were
possible.

Hannah stopped in front
of the fifth cabin, the furthest from the ranch house. “This is it.
Follow me, please.” Melissa made a sound of disdain.

Richard sucked in a deep breath. He would
not
lose his temper. He could
almost
feel
curious eyes watching them.

Instead he concentrated on their new, hopefully
permanent
home. His
restorations hat firmly in place, he studied the structure to give
himself time to calm down. Rectangular, and about twelve by
eighteen feet, the cabin had a stone foundation and a shake shingle
roof.

It was a little bigger
than Sully’s, and a heck of a lot more presentable in terms of
style. Rather than square joints, the cabin had double dove-tail
joints for a tidier look and more stability. Fresh plaster filled
any cracks, and the side window was wide and would let a lot of
sunlight in. That was unusual for the time period, especially since
the cabin looked to be at least ten years old, but very nice for
them.

Hannah went up the
stairs, opened the door and went inside, the kids close behind
her.

“Can you believe this
place?” Melissa’s condescending tone had his temper flaring once
more.

The minute the kids
disappeared inside, he grabbed hold of Melissa’s elbow and stopped
her.

“Shape up, Melissa,” he
growled the words between clenched teeth.

Her expression was
incredulous. “What are you talking about?”

Richard lowered his head and kept his voice low. “I’m talking
about the rude way you treated my new boss and almost got us kicked
off this ranch. I’m talking about the impolite way you’ve ignored
every person who’s tried to be friendly toward you, and I’m talking
about the look on your face that says you’re
too good
for this place!”

He
made an impatient sound in his throat. “It’s one thing for you to
do your prima donna act when it’s just me. Sometimes your imperial
princess routine is even funny. But when you start doing it around
others, when you hurt people’s feelings, when you almost get
me
fired
from a
job I haven’t even started yet, it’s not that funny
anymore.”

Melissa’s mouth had
fallen open. She obviously didn’t accept a word he’d said. She took
a breath, her mouth forming a hot denial.

He let go of her arm
and stepped back. “Not now. If we don’t watch it, we’re going to
get kicked out of here yet.”

Outrage colored her
face. “I very much doubt that. You don’t know everything you think
you know. If it weren’t for me--”

”
Not now
!”
He hissed the words through clenched teeth. “You don’t even know
how to keep your voice down.”

Hannah poked her head
out of the doorway and Richard saw the anxious look she shot his
way. She probably hadn’t overheard his words, but he could see his
tone had frightened her. She didn’t meet his gaze. “Uh, if you
could come inside?”

Melissa marched toward
the cabin, her look of disdain firmly in place.

Richard glared after
her, then mounted the stairs. It took a second to adjust to the
darker interior after the brilliant sunlight, but his eyes quickly
adapted to reveal two small rooms and a loft. The room he’d walked
into was the larger one and had a squat, cast-iron stove, curtained
shelves, a table with a lantern sitting on it, four chairs, and the
window.

Through the doorway, he
could see sunlight spilling across a bed and the chest at its base.
The loft above the smaller room had a couple of mattresses poking
over the edge.

The place was cozy.
Nice. Better than he’d expected. The widow MacPherson obviously
took good care of her employees.

The kids were grinning.
Jessica quickly climbed the ladder to the loft, with Jeremy right
behind her. “This one’s mine!”

“No fair!” said
Jeremy.

Hannah smiled at the
kids, and it made her seem much younger, almost pretty. She turned
to Melissa. “There are supplies on these shelves.”

She walked to one wall
and pulled back one side of a pink curtain to reveal three long
shelves with canned goods, cooking pots, dishes and various living
essentials.

She pointed to a
corner. “There’s wood for the stove, and bedding on the beds. How
does everything look?” She smiled shyly, expectantly at the two of
them.

Melissa arched a brow
at Richard, but she pasted a fake smile on. “Fine.” Her tone said
otherwise.

Anger simmering,
Richard smiled widely, trying to make up for Melissa’s lack of
courtesy. “Everything is great. Really great. Thank you.”

Hannah looked at
Melissa uncertainly. “There are two mattress for the children. They
won’t even have to share.”

Melissa snorted.

Richard’s smile was
frozen in place. “That’s great.”

Hannah shot Melissa a
confused look. “Is everything all right then? Some of the wives
cleaned up the cabin last night when they heard you were coming. I
hope that--”

”The windows are
streaked with dirt and the curtains are ugly. And what is this on
the floor?”

Richard froze, unable
to believe his ears.

With a confused look,
Hannah looked at the floor. “Linoleum?”

“I see. Antique
flooring. How quaint. Well--”

”Melissa?” He choked
out her name.

She looked at him.

Stop
it!
He mouthed the words at her and
glared.

“It’s fine.” Melissa
said stiffly.

Jeremy and Jessica
looked down from the loft. “I’m hungry.” said Jeremy.

“Me too.” said
Jessica.

With a look of relief,
Hannah turned to the children. “Oh you poor little lambs. Come down
here.” She went to the table and flipped back a towel from off a
loaf of bread. “I made this fresh this morning. And there’s butter
and jam too.” There was pride in her voice. She cut two thick
slices of bread and slathered them liberally. “Uh, Mrs. Kendal,
you’ll be in charge of helping in the garden. Everyone pitches in.”
She handed Jeremy his slice of bread.

“What?” said Melissa,
her tone incredulous.

Hannah jerked and
dropped the piece of bread. She looked at Richard, startled, then
lowered her gaze to the bread, an expression of horror on her round
face.

Jeremy quickly snatched
up the bread, which luckily, had landed right side up. “Ten second
rule!”

Hannah looked at him,
blankly.

Jeremy smiled and took
a bite. “If it’s on the floor for less than ten seconds, it’s still
clean.”

Hannah smiled at him,
reached out as if to touch his head, then dropped her hand and
turned to Melissa, but didn’t meet her gaze.

“We all help and we all
share.” She sounded very close to tears, and she quickly headed for
the door. “Well, if you have everything you need?”