Authors: Wendy Potocki
His palms were sweating, his brow becoming moist. Old feelings surged up from the soul holding his sanity like fragile glass. His eyes already tearing up with regrets, he wondered if there was a promise of a future. While he was interested in hearing her explanation, what he really wanted was for her to change her mind.
He was being a fool. His friends and family had told him that over and over again. Even with drumming it into his head, all his chances to be happy were let go like grains of sand from a hand opening on a beach. He didn’t want to be with anyone else. It wouldn’t be fair to pretend someone else was her.
Easing down on the brake, the final stop was up ahead. Pulling to the side of road, he parked, waiting for the inevitable. Withdrawing from the car like a cobra from a basket, he wrapped his arms over his chest, beating his arms slightly for warmth. Hopping from leg to leg, the bus came to a halt. His eyes level with the passenger that emerged, he finally saw her.
“Barbara!” he screamed, the sound covered by the loud rumble of the bus resuming its rounds.
Spinning her head around, she met his eyes. Her face taking on an expression of fright mixed with determination, she took off for the woods. Her high boots easily cutting through the deep snow, his legs had trouble lifting, but he nonetheless tried to follow the footsteps that carved out a trail.
“Barbara, please stop! I only want to talk to you!” he pleaded, “You owe me that much!”
Arms flailing from a slip, he recaptured his balance. The lip of the woods ahead, Barbara was surprisingly fleet of foot. Only a few feet ahead of him, with a tremendous effort, he shifted into a higher gear. His legs pumping forward, his arms aided in him catching up with his elusive muse.
At the foot of the path leading into the forest was where he caught her. His hand groping forward, he snatched a hold of the synthetic white material, not letting go. His other hand joined in, gaining even a better hold on her wrist. Spinning her around, he stared in horror. Unable to speak, he broke the silence with a scream.
Chapter Forty-five
“What do you think, Melissa?”
Grant held the blue spruce by the lower branches. It was the only way he could since the tree was too thickly populated by prickly limbs to take by the trunk. A great characteristic for a Christmas tree, those furry arms were just begging for decoration.
Joan’s shoulder touched Melissa’s as the two women viewed all angles. The males in her household had long figured out that they carried the curse of having no taste in anything other than women. Having reached that conclusion, they deferred all decision making in endeavors even remotely bordering on aesthetics to the matriarch of the family.
“Hmmmm, I don’t know,” she debated as if the freedom of the Western world depended on her making the proper choice.
“Well, take your time,” Todd spurred teasingly. “My arms only went numb about an hour ago.”
Like a tin soldier, he held the two other finalists in each hand. Grant gently nudged the third into a makeshift ragged chorus line to make selection easier.
“You’ll stand there until we’re good and ready!” Joan fired back. “If you don’t, I’ll take you with me the next time I go shopping at the mall. You know what those shoe sales can be like.”
“Uh, oh! You’d better listen to her, son! The last time I went along on one of those free-for-alls, I came home looking like the losing end of a cat fight. Doc had to infuse me with three pints of blood before I could even lift a finger.”
“Yes, but I’ve got the badge, Dad. I’ll pull rank.”
“Not with those hellions, you won’t. Cut their teeth on sheriff badges when they were in the nest with the other vipers. You dragging it out won’t make ‘em bat an eye. You’ve been warned.”
“If you two don’t stop the chatter, we won’t ever be able to choose.”
“She’s right,” Melissa said. In a show of support, she backed up the spurious claim. “You both talk with your hands.” That dispensed with, she turned her head towards Joan, whispering, “I think I narrowed it down to between the Douglas and Noble Fir.”
“I think you’re right, honey. The Blue Spruce’s top is a little crooked. If we put our star on that, it’d be …” Tilting, she comically demonstrated the effect.
Melissa laughed, her
expulsion of air visible as soft vapor.
“Then we’re dispensing with this one?” Grant asked, his ears perking at the possible elimination.
“Yes, dear.”
Dutifully disposing of it, he took the Noble Fir from Todd, letting his son rest at least one arm.
“Thanks, Dad. I’m sure the circulation will come back one day.”
“Hope it’s not your gun arm,” he quipped.
“Yeah, like there’s a call for that in this town. Force would be better off giving us paint balls.”
“Good idea, son. ‘Orange’ the goddamned suspect. Then we’ll know who to stay away from.”
“You’re doing it again!” Joan warned, shaking her arms like quivering jelly.
“Sorry, dear,” Grant apologized. “It’s the key to a good marriage, Todd. You just ‘yes’ the old battleax to death.”
Snickering in spite of herself, Missy was loving being part of the family dynamics, knowing that underneath the jabs, there was a real sense of love.
“You will pay for that, Grant. Remember the bathroom needs regrouting, and I might insist you do it rather than watch that stupid game coming up on Sunday!”
“Oh, come on, peachy pie, buttercup! You’re talking about the play-offs!”
The women went back to scrutinizing the final two. Joan gave Melissa a wide smile.
“I’m likin’ the Noble, what about you?”
“I think you’re right. It’s a perfect tree!” Melissa agreed.
“The Noble it is!” Grant said, high-fiving his son. “Now where is that guy? Probably died from old age. Oh, there he is!”
Handing off the tree to his son, he called out to the busy seller who was making a killing this season. A good year for trees, it was an even better one for his pocketbook.
After transporting the tree home, Melissa helped the family trim the centerpiece of the upcoming holiday season. Her guarded exterior melted like one of the mini-marshmallows in the steaming hot chocolate that Joan served. This was the family she’d always wanted. Wondering if her involvement could ever become a permanent situation, she halted the thought in its tracks. Something would go wrong … something always did.
Grant took a handful of freshly made popcorn, eyeing the progress.
“Looks good. Think it needs a little something right over there,” he said pointing to the lower right-hand side.
“Here?” Joan asked quizzically. “You sure?” She paused. “Melissa, honey, why don’t you go over there and take a look?”
Scampering over to Grant, he held out the decorated ceramic bowl for her to take a handful of the air-popped treat. She greedily dug in, crunching on the kernel-less pieces as she surveyed the tree. Squinting, she concentrated on the area he’d pointed out.
“Um, yeah, I think he’s right. It could use something. I wonder,” she started, stopping in mid-sentence.
“Wonder what?” Joan asked.
“Oh, just something I saw in a magazine one time. They had these big bows tied on the branches of the Christmas tree. It looked so pretty.”
“Hmmm,” Joan remarked, scooting back to gain perspective. “I think maybe we could try it. I have lots of ribbon we can play with!”
“Bought out the whole damn store,” Grant quipped to Melissa who responded by giggling.
“What was that?” Joan challenged as she made her way to the den. Chockfull of Christmas wrappings, they were waiting for presents to cover.
“Nothing, dear,” he pacified, chuckling to himself at getting away with one. “Hey, anybody up for seconds?” he said grabbing his mug that contained only chocolatey residue.
“I can do that,” Missy insisted, taking the mug from him, and collecting the rest.
“Here, let me help you,” Todd offered. Stacking them on the red and green serving tray, he followed her into the kitchen. Setting the mugs down on the granite countertop, he ran the hot water while Melissa rummaged through the cupboards for the hot chocolate mix.
“Right up there,” Todd instructed, aiding her search.
“Thanks,” she said taking it down.
“I’m glad you came along, Missy. I haven’t had a chance to talk to you.”
“I’m glad I came, too,” she remarked, measuring out the ingredients and starting to stir. “And I hope what you want to say has to do with that guy who was following me.”
He smirked, giving a little chuckle.
“You’re a tight-lipped one, aren’t you? You’re about the only person in the world that would wait this long to find out what was said.”
“I figured you’d tell me when you were ready
if
it was any of my business.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that it could have something to do with the current investigation. You know, something dark and mysterious that needs to stay under wraps.”
“I don’t know about the ‘
dark and mysterious’
stuff, but he’s Robert Mulligan, in person and alive after all these years.”
“Robert Mulligan?” she repeated, her eyebrows clenching together, as she checked on the flame. Wanting to make sure it was high enough to heat, it wouldn’t do to scald the milk.
“Barbara Moore? Remember?”
“Oh, I knew his name sounded familiar,” she said softly hitting herself on the side of her head. “I must be losing it to forget something like that.”
“I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself. It’s not like you were cramming for an SAT.”
“But what’s he doing here? Did Barbara come also?”
“No, he came because of the news about Brandi. He thought maybe her disappearance might explain what happened to Barbara because, according to him, he never married her.”
“What?” Her face turned into a snapshot of surprise. Hurrying to his side, she pressed her buttocks into the edge of the counter, settling next to him.
“Yeah, turns out the information that Barbara allegedly told her mother is wrong. She never met up with him, and left him in the lurch. He’s still busted up over it.”
“What do you mean
allegedly
? You think that Mrs. Moore was lying?”
“I think something’s terribly wrong with what she said, but …”
“But what?”
“But he doesn’t,” he stated flatly. “He thinks it was another way for Barbara to remain hidden. There was some friction between her and her mother. He believes that she lied to her mother to supply her enough of an answer to drop the search, but one that would preclude her from actually finding her.”
“Wow, that’s some reasoning!” she said folding her arms.
“It does make sense. After all, he did know both of them and was actually there. Anyway, he was following you and your friend to make sure you both stayed safe. He didn’t want you vanishing like Barbara. Course given the recent arrests, I doubt it’ll happen.”
Quieting, she mulled over what was said.
“Hey,” he said taking her arm. “I hope I didn’t spoil your good mood. I couldn’t help but notice that you were enjoying yourself. I’d never forgive myself for taking that away,” he said moving in front of her. His hand caressed her soft cheek.
His touch was enough to start a rush of heat. Attracted to him, she started to cave in.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, ever attentive to her moods and disposition.
“Nothing,” she murmured, her lips seeking out his.
He simultaneously leaned down, fulfilling an urge to become closer to the girl that remained a seductive enigma. Their lips meeting, their souls embraced in the soft tender kiss. She raised her arms up, wrapping them around his neck as if a choreographed mood. Right now she was Odette to his Siegfried. Ever hopeful that this was a true, everlasting love, she pressed her supple fame against his hard body finding the comfort and reassurance that he would always be there.
The soft hiss from the stove was enough to ruin the mood. Shyly breaking away, she tended to the needs of the sweet concoction in want of attention. Picking up the spoon, she gave the milk a quick stir, as Todd came up behind her. Placing one hand around her waist, he stroked her waist length dark hair with the other. Sweeping it to the side, he planted a quick kiss on the back of her head.
“The kiss was alright?” he asked unsurely.
It was the right thing to say. One of the things she liked about him was that he wasn’t arrogant. Not reeking of a sense of entitlement that other men displayed, perhaps he was misreading her reluctance to be involved with inadequacy on his part. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Lowering the flame to a simmer, she turned around, bringing up her arms once again. Caressing the back of his head, she brushed her fingers through his short hair.
“It was perfect,” she sighed, as she dove in for another kiss. This time the loud tattering of footsteps caused the two to separate. Grasping the spoon just as Grant burst in, Todd strolled to the table, the afterglow of the fleeting romance still plastered all over his face.