Part 27 (1/2)
Steven glanced to one side, spotted the probable owner of the Bonneville over by the cooler, evidently shopping for beer. The guy was young-maybe under the legal drinking age-and n.o.body he recognized, but that didn't mean much. After all, Steven was new in Stone Creek; there were still a lot of people he didn't know, small as the place was.
He said h.e.l.lo to Martine, who smiled at him as she returned the greeting, and ran his debit card through the machine to make advance payment for whatever a full tank of gas wound up costing.
”Well,” Martine responded, ”welcome to Stone Creek. It's nice to see somebody moving into this town instead of out. Seems like there was a ma.s.s exodus after the mill closed down.”
”Thanks for the welcome,” he said. He knew she'd read his name off the credit card, but he offered it up just the same, since that was the polite thing to do.
”You got a wife, Mr. Creed?” she asked.
Steven wasn't exactly pressed for time, so he lingered longer than he might have done otherwise. ”No, ma'am,” he said. ”It's just me and my son, Matt.”
Martine tilted her head to one side and studied him, a mischievous light dancing in her clear-as-creek-water eyes. It crossed Steven's mind that she might know all about his rendezvous with Melissa, that being typical of a small town like Stone Creek.
”We can always use another eligible bachelor,” she said finally. ”Not that you'll be on the market long, a good-lookin' cowboy like you.”
The remark made Steven feel uncharacteristically shy. ”Thanks,” he said, for the second time, feeling his earlobes burn a little. Now, he fled.
”I've got a daughter!” Martine called after him. ”Her name is Jessica Lynn and she's going to be a full-fledged dental a.s.sistant in another six weeks!”
Steven pretended not to hear the pitch, but he couldn't help chuckling as he took the nozzle off the fuel pump and stuck it into the tank's opening.
He'd been so busy trying to figure out Melissa O'Ballivan, it hadn't even occurred to him that he might be the subject of some matchmaking. How many other mamas, besides Jessica Lynn's, were eyeing him through the matrimonial crosshairs, right at that very moment?
Since the tank was nearly empty, it took a while to fill it. Steven washed the winds.h.i.+eld, checked the tire pressure and wiped a few bugs off the grillwork.
When the gas pump shut down, he went back inside to sign the credit slip and get his receipt.
Martine had acquired some more customers by then, and she was too busy at the register, ringing up jugs of milk, lottery tickets and cigarettes to try to sell him on Jessica Lynn again.
Thinking ahead to that evening's dance at the Grange Hall, which would probably be attended by just about everybody in Stone Creek and maybe Indian Rock, too, he couldn't help wondering just what he might be letting himself in for.
He grinned to himself as he drove away.
Maybe he'd attract enough attention to make Melissa a little jealous.
Wouldn't that that be something? be something?
MELISSA STOOD IN FRONT of the mirror on her closet door, scowling at herself. Now that zero hour was approaching, she didn't like the aqua dress half as much as she had before. of the mirror on her closet door, scowling at herself. Now that zero hour was approaching, she didn't like the aqua dress half as much as she had before.
She sucked in her stomach. ”There they are,” she said, pointing at her reflected backside. ”The two pounds I gained eating your your food.” food.”
Ashley, sitting on the bed and holding Katie on her lap, smiled and shook her head. ”Please. You could gain ten more more pounds and still fit into every pair of jeans you own.” pounds and still fit into every pair of jeans you own.”
”As if I'm going to let that that happen,” Melissa said, with a little sniff. happen,” Melissa said, with a little sniff.
Ashley laughed softly. Her eyes shone with contentment and good humor. Once upon a time, she'd been pretty tense herself, but since Jack's arrival in her life, and then Katie's, she'd mellowed considerably.
Which was sometimes annoying.
”Are you planning on spending the night with him?” Ashley asked.
Melissa turned and made a big deal of cupping her hands loosely over Katie's little pink ears. ”What a thing to say in front of a child, child,” she said.
Ashley rolled her twinkly blue eyes. ”Katie is two, two,” she reminded her sister. ”And anyway, you're just trying to stall.”
Melissa uncovered Katie's ears, sighed. ”I don't know,” she said.
More twinkling. Happiness looked wonderful on Ashley, just as it did on Olivia and Meg. ”You don't know if you're stalling?” she teased.
”I don't know if I'm going to-” Melissa glanced down at Katie, who was holding Ashley's long, golden braid in both hands and gazing at it in wonder, and lowered her voice, ”sleep with him.”
”What's the holdup?” Ashley asked.
Melissa plunked her hands on her hips and mimicked, ”'What's the holdup?' Easy for you you to ask, Ashley O'Ballivan McKenzie, when you have the whole rest of your to ask, Ashley O'Ballivan McKenzie, when you have the whole rest of your life life laid out like a path between two rose gardens!” laid out like a path between two rose gardens!”
”Stalling,” Ashley repeated, singing the word.
Katie giggled and sang her own version.
Melissa stumbled over her answer. ”It's just-well-we hadn't known each other very long when-”
”Maybe,” Ashley reasoned, ”it's a matter of knowing each other well well enough, instead of enough, instead of long long enough.” enough.”
Melissa arched an eyebrow, her hands still resting on her hips. Which felt slightly wider under her knuckles, though that was probably an illusion brought on by concern over consumption of her sister's incomparable lasagna. ”Whose side are you on, anyway?” she asked.
”There are sides? sides?” Ashley countered, raising her own eyebrows. ”Who knew?”
Melissa let out a big breath and sat down beside her sister on the bed. ”I'm trying to be sensible, here,” she said.
”Love isn't sensible,” Ashley informed her.
”Who said anything about love?” Melissa countered. ”This is a case of l.u.s.t. If I were in love love with Steven Creed, don't you think I would have noticed?” with Steven Creed, don't you think I would have noticed?”
”Not necessarily,” Ashley chimed. ”For such a smart woman, you can be pretty obtuse when it comes to men.”
”Obtuse?” She took a slow, deliberate breath, in a bid for patience. ”Just because you're married now, Ash, you're suddenly an expert on men?” She took a slow, deliberate breath, in a bid for patience. ”Just because you're married now, Ash, you're suddenly an expert on men?”
”I'm an expert on one particular man, one particular man,” Ashley responded, a little smugly. ”That's all I need to be.”
Melissa studied her twin in silence for a long moment. Then her shoulders slumped slightly. ”Don't you ever get scared?” she asked, very softly.
Ashley took her hand, squeezed lightly. A slight furrow appeared in her forehead. ”Scared?”
”Caring so much,” Melissa murmured. ”It's, well-it's dangerous. dangerous.”
Ashley's entire countenance softened, along with her face. ”Oh, honey,” she said. ”Is this about the breakup with Dan? That's why you think it's dangerous to care too much? I know you were hurt, but honestly, what are the odds of something like that happening twice in one person's lifetime?”