Once in a Blue Moon (8 page)

Jeremy shrugged. “I
didn’t say that.”

Her gaze sharpened.
“Then what are you saying?”

“Well, if you were
listening last night, you’d remember I told you I memorized the
blue moons since 1850 for extra credit. Of course you didn’t want
to hear about it then, so you probably won’t now.”

The old man raised his
hand, but Melissa ignored him. “Tell me. Tell me about 1887.”

“I have to go through
the whole list from the beginning or I might forget.” Jeremy
stretched. “Do you want to hear it now, or are you too busy?”

Melissa’s jaw ached
from gritting her teeth. “Jeremy, please will you recite the blue
moon schedule that you memorized?”

Jeremy smiled. “Sure.
Okay, here it goes...July, 1852. May, 1855. December, 1857...”

Melissa listened to his
singsong cadence and by the time Jeremy got to July, 1882, she was
ready to scream.

“January, 1885. March,
1885. July, 1887,” he paused.

Melissa stilled. “
What! When? When
is the next one
?”

He grinned, apparently
having received the reaction he was looking for. “October
thirty-first, 1887. Halloween night. Cool, huh?”

Melissa could barely
breathe. “Three months?” she whispered. “The next blue moon is in
three months? We can’t go home today?”

Horror engulfed her.
How could she possibly stay in this dirty, nasty place for three
months? “It’s just not possible.”

Jeremy smiled. “Could
be worse. Could be for a lot longer.”

Yes. She needed to
focus on that. At least it wasn’t a life sentence. Or even a
two-and-a-half or three year sentence. She looked at the cabin and
the surrounding area.

Could she do this for
three months and keep her sanity? What choice did she have?

They’d need money of
course. With a pang she realized she’d have to sell her wedding
ring. She didn’t know if she could force herself to part with it.
But it was worth a fortune and could easily...

Melissa looked down at
her ring finger. Her empty ring finger. A tight, sick feeling
enveloped her. She tried to suck in air.

She’d taken her ring
off.

For the first time in
fourteen years she’d taken her ring off. It was on the bureau at
home. She glanced at the bracelet on her wrist, felt her earrings,
and her heart sank. Trendy costume jewelry. There would be no
money.

Barely able to breathe,
Melissa glanced around wildly. “Could there be another way back?
There’s got to be another way back. The moon is practically full
for a week. Why can’t we go home tonight?”

Jeremy shrugged.
“That’s not how blue moons work, Mom. There’s only one.”

“You don’t know that!
Richard?”

Jessica started to
sniffle, and Richard shook his head and shrugged.

Tears burned her
eyes.

The old man raised his
hand again. “You could ride out to Smithfield and catch a train if
you need to get somewhere.”

“
Will you just shut up!”

The old man crossed his
arms and murmured about bossy, pig-headed, nekkid women.

Pushing a fist to her
mouth, she turned, walked a few feet away and took a deep breath.
She needed to look at this logically. At least she wasn’t stuck
here permanently. She’d liken the experience to her apprenticeship
with Xavier. That had been horrible and she’d gotten through it.
Heck, she’d survived and come out on top. If she could do that, she
could do anything, including living in this backward hole.
Everything would be just fine.

She choked on her
tears.

So if that were true,
why did she have the sinking feeling that her apprenticeship was
going to look like a walk in the park compared to this?

Richard rose and walked
toward Melissa. She obviously needed comfort. Even as he thought
it, he felt a stab of guilt as he admitted to himself he was glad
to have the opportunity to console her. Melissa was always in
control, and seeing her so uncertain actually made him feel useful.
He was good at fixing things, right? He placed gentle hands on her
shoulders. “Melissa?”

She jerked away.

Hurt bit into him and
he let his hands drop to his sides. “Do you want to talk about
it?”

“No.” She walked
off.

He nodded and clenched
his teeth hard. So much for being good at fixing things.

“Dad?” Jessica tugged
on his sleeve. “We’re going to be all right, aren’t we?”

He gazed into his
daughter’s big blue eyes. Sometimes she seemed so grown up, and at
other times, like now, he still saw so much of the child in her. He
reached out and touched her blonde hair. “Yes, Pumpkin. We’ll be
fine.”

“Okay.” She smiled and
ran off with Jeremy.

He’d told her the
truth. They would be fine. He’d make sure of it. He glanced back at
Melissa, wondering how to help her, and wishing that comforting her
was as simple. Money would be her number one concern, and the least
he could do was alleviate that worry.

Richard turned and saw
Sully, still sitting on the log, and realized the blue moon
conversation must have seemed very strange to him. “We must seem,
um, different to you.”

Sully eyed him. “That’s
to be expected, you being city folk and all.”

Richard rubbed his
neck. “Do I need to explain anything?”

“Don’t want no details.
Folks’s business is their own.”

At his innocent tone,
Richard suppressed a smile. If Sully truly believed that, he
wouldn’t be sitting where he was at that precise moment. But
Richard was glad he had no explaining to do and decided to change
the subject.

Richard glanced at the
cabin again. “So, you built this all on your own?”

“Pretty much. I used to
live in town. I still have a house there, but Louisa died and my
son took off, so...” Sully shrugged. “I like it out here. Now all I
gots to do is finish up a few things.”

Richard could see pride
in his gaze. Richard would love nothing more than to stay here for
the next three months, help Sully with the finish work on his cabin
and talk to him about his life. But he knew that wasn’t feasible.
“I don’t suppose you know of anyone hiring? I need a job.”

Sully nodded and looked
relieved. No doubt he wasn’t excited about the way they’d descended
on him and was hoping they’d leave soon. “I had you figured for the
type of man who pulls his own load. The MacPhersons might be
hiring.”

“Doing what?”

“Ranch work. It’s a
cattle ranch. The property starts about three miles from here. “You
got experience?”

Richard didn’t. He
didn’t know anything about cattle, but somehow doubted there was
much demand for a restoration expert in the area.

Sudden excitement built in his chest as the lyrics to the
Toby Keith song, ‘
Should’ve Been A
Cowboy
,’ started to run through his head.
His grin widened. “I can learn fast.”

“Hmm.” Sully looked
doubtful. “Tell you what. You and yours can sleep at my place ‘til
you get settled. I’m glad of the comp’ny. You’ll have to clean out
the loft first. After you’re done, head on down the road and ask
for a job. The Widow MacPherson owes me a favor. Tell her I sent
you and you’ll get the job.”

Richard grinned.
“Thanks.”

The two of them headed
back to the cabin and Richard mentally adjusted a cowboy hat atop
his head. Yep, this was going to work out just fine.

* * *

Melissa hauled the fourth and last blanket up the ladder and
set it on top of the others at the edge of the loft floor. Three
rungs up, she peered into the dark interior of the loft. Were they
really supposed to
sleep
in there? Granted, Richard had cleaned it
thoroughly before he’d left, but still, new spiders were probably
creeping through the sod roof and setting up house at that very
moment.

She glanced at her
wrist out of habit, and wished again she’d worn a watch. She also
noticed her ring finger was bare and her heart clenched
unexpectedly. She glanced back toward the door.

Richard had been gone forever. He just
had
to get the job. Maybe they could
even leave tonight and wouldn’t have to sleep here at all. She
searched the dark interior once more, positive she saw movement
crawling within.

“You sure you don’t
want the bed?”

Melissa closed her eyes
as Sully’s raspy voice interrupted her thoughts. The guy was a
broken record. She leaned down so she could see him where he sat at
the table, and pasted on a fake smile. “Yes, I’m still quite
sure.”

She’d sleep beside
Richard and the kids on the hard plank floor. She had more faith in
the cleanliness of the loft than she did in Sully’s bedcovers. Or
the rest of the cabin for that matter. As much pride as the old guy
took in his place, she’d have thought he’d clean it once in a
while.

She fingered a blanket.
At least the quilts seemed clean. And they actually smelled good
too; like cedar. She could only hope they weren’t full of bugs.
Sully had retrieved them from a trunk in the corner, mumbling
something about his wife, who must have made them.

She ran her hand over
the material and, even in the weak light, was impressed in spite of
herself. The design was exquisite; collector quality. It was the
type of quilt you’d find in a ritzy upscale shop on Rodeo Drive.
She traced the pattern with one finger. Off-white blocks, green
holly, red berries and rosebuds, a continuous red vine with yellow
grapes and leaves running around the border. The stitching was
beautiful, and obviously the work of an exceptionally talented
needleworker.

A whining sound from
below reminded her that Zeke waited. Ever since she’d put the
miserable mutt in its place, he’d followed her around, slobbering
on her whenever it had the chance. Her trendy white outfit had the
stains to prove it. She’d just stay perched a while longer, like
she was in a safety zone. She didn’t want to go up, but she didn’t
want to go down either.

Laughter erupted at the
table where the twins sat with the old man. He seemed to be
teaching them how to gamble and they were fascinated. She ought to
put a stop to Sully’s corruption of her children, but they seemed
to be having fun, and they weren’t bothering her, so she let them
be. Besides, with four of them inside the cabin, the quarters
seemed even smaller. Claustrophobic. So at least the kids were
sitting still.

She inhaled, caught a
whiff of stew and her stomach rumbled. Sully had fed the children
stew for dinner, and it actually smelled good. But she could wait a
while longer, especially if it meant she could avoid accepting food
from a man who had no soap to wash his hands with.

The kids laughed again
and Melissa blinked moisture from her eyes. No one but her seemed
to care they weren’t home. The horror of the place was lost on
them; even the outhouse hadn’t fazed the kids. Jessica had actually
joked about it. Melissa’s stomach lurched as she thought of the
horrible experience she’d gone through. Twice.

Sully’s chair scraped
across the floor as he tried to get a look at her face. “You sure
you don’t want to join us? I could teach you to gamble too.”

Teach her? Huh. She was
an expert, but had no intention of sharing that information. A
nagging pain started in her temples. Would the guy shut up already?
She supposed he was trying to be a good host, but she just wanted
to be left alone. “No, thank you.” Her voice was singsong
sweet.

“If you’re worried
because you got no money, then you could use that there bracelet to
wager with.”

Melissa glanced at the
gold and silver bracelet dangling on her wrist. It wasn’t her Oscar
de la Renta original, but over her dead body would he get his grimy
paws on it. “I’m fine.”

“Well, would you want
to trade for it?”

“No.” What did he want
her bracelet for? Did he have a lady friend? The thought made her
shudder.

“Well, what if--”

”No, no, no! I don’t
want to gamble, I don’t want to trade! I just want to stand here
and pretend I’m clean!”

Sully was silent for a
moment, and Melissa was relieved. Good. He’d finally got the
point.

“But what if--”

Melissa clenched her
teeth just as a knock sounded on the door. Richard! She climbed
down the three rungs, but wasn’t fast enough.

Sully had already
reached the door, opened it, gone outside, and shut the door with a
scrape of wood.

What was that about?
She tried the door, but it didn’t open. She pounded on the wood.
“Richard? The door is stuck. Can you get it open?”

No response.

She pounded again.

Suddenly, the door
opened so fast that she almost fell.

Sully stuck his head
inside. “My neighbor is here. You cain’t come outside in your
unmentionables.”

A large face appeared
in the dirty window, and Melissa jumped back, startled. She quickly
straightened her spine. Maybe the neighbor could help them out of
this horrible situation. Networking was something she understood.
The more people you knew, the more potential for opportunities.
Surely that would be true even in this backward century? She pulled
on the door-latch, but Sully held firm.

“Open this door!”

It opened and he stuck
his head in the room again. “Put on the dress and you can come
outside.”

“
I am not wearing that
dress
!”

“Then you ain’t coming
outside. Do you want to shame yer husband with yer loose ways?”

He slammed the door
shut again.

The kids laughed, then
quickly smothered the sounds when Melissa rounded on them with a
glare.

She
stomped over to the chest, retrieved the orange dress laying on
top, pulled it over her head, buttoned the top button in the back,
and stomped back to the door and knocked. “
I’m decent
!”