Once in a Blue Moon (4 page)

Jessica snorted. “What for? If anything happens, I’ll just
mention your name. If they know you, they’ll run screaming in
terror. Besides, sometimes I think it would be a relief to you if
something
did
happen to me.”

Melissa’s mouth fell
open, surprise and hurt rushing through her. She closed her mouth,
took a breath and let her face go blank, something she’d learned to
do long ago as a child. “How can you say that?”

Jessica stared her
straight in the eyes. “Very easily.”

Melissa took a deep
breath. “Jessica, I do love you.”

Jessica nodded. “Yeah
right, Mom. Keep saying it and someone might believe it.”

Pain, strong and sharp,
speared Melissa. Jessica had no idea what a bad mother was. “What
is that supposed to mean?”

“You figure it out. Are
we done bonding yet? I’ve got things to do.”

Melissa waved a hand at
her.

Jessica stood for a
moment, staring. “Did you know you have grass in your hair?” She
turned and headed up the stairs.

Melissa put a hand to
her hair and brushed at it. Grass fell onto the floor. She watched
as Jessica ran up the stairs. What had happened to the sweet girl
who used to race to hug her when she got home from work? How could
she parent a child who pushed her away? She might not spend a lot
of time with her daughter; with Melissa’s schedule, that was
impossible. But she did try to spend quality time. Like with the
self-defense classes. But if Jessica wouldn’t go, what was she
supposed to do?

Still feeling weak,
Melissa leaned against the wall and pushed away feelings she didn’t
want, or have time, to examine. At twelve, Jessica was just at that
age and hormones were probably messing with her mind.

Perhaps Melissa would
make her another new outfit; some jeans with buckles and studs and
a Victorian blouse; maybe that would make Jessica feel better.

Melissa turned toward
the den. Right now, with life so hectic, that was about all Melissa
could be expected to do while she waited for Jessica to grow out of
the phase.

Melissa pushed herself
away from the wall and stumbled slightly. She sighed. She didn’t
have time to feel shaky. She needed to find Richard and talk to
him. He’d been angry on the phone, and if she were honest, she’d
admit it bothered her. Richard never got angry and so she was,
well, not nervous exactly, but concerned. Obviously she’d failed to
make him understand the impossible time crunch she was under at
work; how stressed out she was.

Melissa walked into the
den and saw Jeremy’s light brown hair peeking over the top of the
sofa as he lounged back, watching the news, which struck her as
strange. He never watched the news; at least not that she was aware
of. Richard was nowhere in sight.

She turned to leave,
but thought better of it. She ought to parent a bit first. With a
sigh, she walked forward, slightly wary about her reception.
“Hi.”

Jeremy glanced up. “Hi,
Mom.” His voice seemed normal and Melissa was relieved. If he’d
been upset with her earlier, it didn’t show now. At least one of
her kids wasn’t holding a grudge against her.

His gaze returned to
the television and she looked to see what fascinated him. The news.
Boring stuff for a kid: financial reports, Dow Jones, etc.
Information he’d never shown an interest in before.

“What are you
watching?”

“Shh.” Without looking
at her he lifted a hand into the air to silence her. “Here it
comes.”

Melissa glanced back at
the TV. A weatherman came on and as his cheesy grin lit up the
screen, her eyes narrowed. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was the same
man she’d seen earlier in the day.

“Okay, folks, here’s
the interview you’ve been waiting for. We’ll go to Barbara Smithy,
live, out in a field on Old Post Road where she has Abe Collins
with her, and the blue moon shining down on them. Abe has an
interesting story to tell. It seems during the last blue moon, Abe
traveled through time. But he’s back with us now and ready to tell
his story. Barbara?”

A pretty blonde, early
thirties or so, white teeth flashing, appeared onscreen. But it was
the man beside her that demanded attention. Wild-eyed and of
indeterminate age, he sported a long gray beard, and what looked
like a toga and an Indian Chief headpiece, complete with
multicolored feathers.

Melissa snorted before
she could stop herself and Jeremy laughed up at her, brown eyes
sparkling as he shared the joke.

The reporter’s smile
never wavered. “Thank you, Jay. I’m here with Abe Collins, on the
very spot from which he claims he traveled back through time. What
do you think, Abe? Any time portals about to open for us here
tonight? Tell us your story.” She placed the microphone in front of
his face.

Abe puffed out his
chest importantly. “I was here on this very spot three years ago
during the last blue moon. I got dizzy and sick, and the moon
started to call to me.” He raised both hands to the moon and
performed some sort of sign language. “It called and called and
called my name. The next thing I knew, I was two hundred years in
the past and living with a tribe of Ute Indians.”

Barbara smiled
condescendingly. “I see. And do you have any proof that this
experience occurred? Did anyone notice you’d gone missing?”

Abe looked affronted.
“Time works in mysterious ways. Another blue moon returned me to
the same day I left so no one noticed I’d been gone.”

Barbara tilted her
head. “So, you have no evidence whatsoever?”

Abe bristled. “You
don’t believe me? Well then, how do you explain this?” He quickly
ripped open his toga to reveal a series of scars across his chest.
Then, with a quick jerky motion he ripped the entire toga off and
was left wearing what looked to be a diaper. Or, if Melissa wasn’t
mistaken, a pair of adult Depends underpants.

Jeremy let out a whoop
of laughter, and even Melissa couldn’t hold back a chuckle,
especially when she got a good look at Barbara’s panicky, mortified
face.

Melissa smirked. “When
news reports go bad.”

Jeremy laughed. “Yeah,
big time.”

Barbara’s slack lips
firmed on screen. “I see. Uh, well, can you tell us anything else?”
She was obviously trying to rally.

Abe’s eyes narrowed as
he looked directly into the camera. “Yes. Living in the past isn’t
for everyone. Only the strongest can survive. So beware! Beware!
Lock your loved ones up and keep yourselves safe! Stay out of the
moonlight! The vibrations are very powerful tonight!” With that, he
slapped Barbara on the butt, grinned when she squealed and jumped,
then he ran a few feet away and started doing what looked to be an
intricate dance while looking up at the blue moon and screaming,
“Take me! Take me back! Here I am! Come and get me!”

The camera swung back
to Barbara who looked positively sick through her not-so-flashy
smile. “Uh--”

Abe appeared behind her
on camera again, waving his arms wildly. “Hey look at me! I’m out
standing in my field! Get it? Outstanding in my field? Whooo
hoooo!” He ran off camera once more.

Barbara motioned
frantically to the camera man and when the camera zoomed in on her
face, tried a smile. “Wow! Uh...well, there you have it. This is
Barbara Smithy, with KTLA weather. Back to you, Jay.”

The meteorologist
looked embarrassed and chuckled nervously before launching into the
weather report.

Melissa turned to
Jeremy. “Hmm. Very interesting. Apparently it’s amateur night on
KTLA.”

Jeremy laughed, jumped
up and disconnected a USB Cable from the digital video recorder. “I
got it all on my laptop. I’m going to ask if we can watch it before
I give my presentation at school. Think they’ll let me?”

Melissa shrugged.
“Sure, why not?”

Jeremy expression
turned wary and he tucked his laptop under his arm and flipped some
hair away from his eyes. “Are you ready to see my presentation
now?”

“Outside?”

Jeremy nodded. “It’s
all set up in the backyard.”

Melissa hesitated. As
funny and weird as Abe Collins was, she couldn’t help the fear
skittering up her spine at the thought of going outside and into
the moonlight. “I really have a lot of work to do tonight--”

”But
your mother will be glad to do her work
after
she watches your presentation.
Right, Melissa?”

As Richard’s deep voice
trailed off, Melissa turned to see Richard standing in the doorway,
arms crossed, legs braced apart, chin thrust forward, his brown
gaze zeroing in on her.

Warmth rushed through
her, leaving her feeling uncomfortably vulnerable. Despite his
All-American cowboy attire and belligerent stance, he was still the
most attractive man she’d ever met, and that was saying something
since she worked with male models daily.

He was tanned from
years of working outside, tall, dark-haired, lean and big-boned,
with a mouth that was firm and full-lipped and dark lashes thick
enough to tangle in the corners.

Still feeling shaky and
unsure, all she wanted to do was rush into his strong arms for
comfort; but she didn’t. She didn’t want or need to feel weak, so
all she did was nod and turn back to Jeremy. “Sure.”

But Jeremy had caught
the hesitation. “Whatever.” He glared at her on his way out of the
room.

Richard moved aside to let him pass before shutting the door.
“Can’t you at least
act
interested?”

“It’s not that, it’s--”
She hesitated, wondering how to explain her experience on the front
lawn; how to explain her fear. “It’s--” She threw her hands up into
the air and turned away. She was acting irrational. There was
nothing to fear. She wasn’t going to behave like that crazy man on
TV, and she didn’t need Richard questioning her sanity.

“What?” Richard’s gaze was frustrated as he studied her. When
she shook her head, he growled deeply in his throat, his anger
flipping up a notch. “Melissa, why do you have to be so
complicated? Is this family important to you at all? Am
I
important? What is it
you want?” Turning away in agitation, he rubbed a hand on the back
of his neck, then turned and met her gaze. “Do you want a
divorce?”

Shock gripped Melissa
and she didn’t answer, couldn’t as her chest tightened painfully;
Richard had never mentioned divorce before. Her lip trembled, then
anger rushed through her. Here she was, upset, confused and shaky,
and did he even notice? “Why is it I’m the one in this family whose
needs are constantly overlooked? Don’t I deserve some kind of
consideration also?”

He sliced an arm
through the air. “What are you talking about? Don’t be stupid!
You’re the most high maintenance person I know!”

With
a nod, she acknowledged the truth of that. “You knew that when you
married me. You knew when I agreed to have a child.
One
child. Now suddenly
you’re talking divorce because I’m high maintenance?”

She paced across the
room and swallowed against the tightness in her throat. The anger
slowly fizzled out of her and she rubbed her forehead. Hadn’t she
been thinking that very thing earlier; that all this might be too
much for her? “Maybe you’re right.”

“That’s a first. What
am I right about?”

She shot him a dirty
look. “Maybe a divorce would be for the best. Maybe you’re right
and I’m just not cut out for this kind of life.”

Richard’s fists
clenched and he took a step toward her. “That’s a cop out.”

She tugged off her
heirloom wedding ring and set it on Richard’s desk. She felt an
immediate sense of loss, but refused to show it. “You’re the one
who mentioned divorce.”

Richard sucked in a breath, then turned away and paced back
toward the door before swinging around to face her. “Look. I should
never have said that. I’m sorry. It’s just that I get so sick and
tired of you hurting the kids. Open your eyes! They love you. They
want you in their lives, and you keep pushing them away to further
your career. You need to wake up and see what’s important
here.
Who
is
important.”

He walked forward and
grabbed her by her upper arms, pulling her forward slightly. “I
love you, Melissa. And I can’t just stand by and watch you throw
away the most important part of your life.”

Pain was blossoming
inside as she jerked away from him and turned her back. She loved
Richard, and she loved her kids. But perhaps she had enough stress
in her life with her career. Maybe she couldn’t be the wife and
mother they needed. Maybe she just wasn’t capable of it. Instead of
this continual pain of never being enough, perhaps she should just
admit defeat in her family life so she could concentrate on what
was important to her. Her career.

She faced him. “Maybe
we do need to think about a divorce.” Richard studied her face for
a moment, and she saw the hurt in his eyes before his face
tightened and he turned and left the room, slamming the door after
him.

She winced, glared at
the door and considered going after him; calling him back and
apologizing. But he was the one who’d brought it up. And maybe she
just didn’t belong here anymore. Maybe she never had. Perhaps there
was too much of her mother in her.

She glanced at the
desk, at the beautiful antique ring, and resisted the urge to
replace it on her finger. She loved the ring; loved everything
about it, from the memory of the way Richard had placed it on her
finger, to the story behind the ring itself.

Won in a poker match by
one of Richard’s ancestors, gambled away by a rich man who’d lost
his true love to another.

Melissa’s lip curled
and she turned away. The idiotic woman should have gone for
security instead of love. It lasted longer. She walked to the door
and wrenched it open. She didn’t have time for any of this right
now. She had a ton of work to do and she’d better go outside and
watch the stupid science presentation first. Then she could immerse
herself in work and forget about the ache in her chest.