Once in a Blue Moon by Diane Darcy Page A

waved her hand toward a blonde, very
young, shy-looking lady at her side. “This is Emma Rogers,” and she
indicated a third lady, a brunette, with a half-mocking smile on
her other side. “And this is Amanda Dade.”
    Sarah smiled widely.
“We’re your neighbors and we’d like to welcome you.” The ladies all
wore the style of the day, but their dresses were prettier and much
more presentable than what Melissa had on.
    Melissa’s cheeks
heated. She absolutely hated being the worst dressed. Her chin went
up, but to please Richard, she decided to be agreeable. “How
nice.”
    The ladies exchanged a
quick look.
    What? Had she been too
abrupt?
    Sarah bumped the shy
Emma with her elbow.
    Emma met Melissa’s gaze
briefly, then lifted a basket.
    “We brought you some
cookies,” she said with a southern twang, her voice barely audible.
She held out a basket of raisin cookies, large and
delicious-looking. The scent of nutmeg drifted up.
    Melissa didn’t eat
cookies. And even if she did, she’d already had enough carbs to
last her a while, so it ticked her off that the cookies looked
tempting. Where was her will power today? “No thank you, we don’t
need--”
    ”Cookies!” Jeremy
exclaimed, pushing past Melissa. “Jessica, get in here!” Jeremy
snatched the basket of cookies, a look of wonder on his face. He
glanced from the cookies to the ladies. “Thank you!” He grinned his
‘I’m so charming grin’, and immediately shoved a cookie in his
mouth. “Ohhhhmmmm. This is so good!”
    Jessica came in and
smiled at the ladies. “Hi.” She looked at the cookies. “Oh! These
look great!” She dug in too.
    Did they have to look
like they were starving to death? Good grief, they’d just barely
finished eating.
    “These are fantastic!”
said Jeremy.
    “The best! Thank you!”
said Jessica.
    Melissa’s mouth
watered, killing what was left of her good mood.
    The three women smiled.
“You’re welcome,” said Sarah.
    As one, the women all
stared at Melissa again. There was an uncomfortable silence.
    Melissa wondered if she
ought to invite them inside, but decided against it. What would she
offer them? Tin flavored water?
    Amanda cleared her
throat. “Our husbands work together.”
    The mention of work
captured Melissa’s attention. “Do any of you work?”
    Sarah sucked in a
breath of air and her chest puffed out to tremendous proportions.
“I beg your pardon?”
    Melissa’s brows rose.
What had she said? Hadn’t she been specific enough? “Do you know if
there is any available work in town?” she said succinctly.
    Amanda gave her a
curious stare. She shook her head. “What for?”
    Melissa stared at her
blankly. “For employment.”
    Emma, the youngest of
the three, gave her a tentative smile.
    “Mrs. MacPherson is a
wonderful employer. I’m sure your husband will do well here. You
don’t need to worry.”
    The other two
nodded.
    Melissa didn’t have
their confidence, but that was beside the point. These ladies just
weren’t getting it. “Look, I need a job. I can’t just spend all my
time doing menial labor. I’m an experienced fashion designer.”
    They looked at her
blankly.
    “A seamstress. Do you
know of a...er...dress shop in town that might be hiring?”
    Three incredulous gazes
dropped to examine her wretched, ill-fitting, hand-me-down, orange
dress. Amanda lifted one brow. Heat burned Melissa’s face, but
there was no way she was explaining to these three that she didn’t
make the dress.
    “How far is it to town?
Is it still called Garden City?”
    Sarah crossed her arms
and set her mouth stubbornly and didn’t say a word.
    Melissa’s brows drew
together. Now what had she done?
    Emma finally spoke up.
“It’s Garden City, yes. And it’s two miles away. A long walk,” she
said timidly.
    “Two miles? Well it
could be worse--” she glanced at the kids. They’d eaten almost
every cookie. “Hey, watch yourselves! Do you want to get fat?”
    A growling noise
erupted from