Fire in the Night by Linda Byler

Author:Linda Byler
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781480411036
Publisher: Good Books
Published: 2013-05-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

COUSIN MELVIN PICKED SARAH UP early Saturday evening. She wore the customary black. She also wore sneakers, as volleyball became a bit competitive on Saturday night, although she knew she’d play barefoot most of the evening.

In addition to her traditional garb, Sarah wore an air of disquiet. Her eyes seemed haunted from lack of sleep, and a certain unhappiness, a subdued quality, hovered just below the surface.

Melvin greeted her with the usual, “Hey, Cuz!”

“Stop calling me that.”

“I wish you weren’t my cousin. I’d marry you right off the bat.”

“I know you would.”

“Seriously, there aren’t many girls like you.”

“Yeah. Well…”

Sarah stopped, turned her head, and blinked back the hated wetness that rose too easily to her eyes.

“Well, what?”

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“Nothing, I said. It’s nice if you think I’d be okay to marry. Nobody else does, evidently.”

“Ah-hah! I knew something was wrong. Your eyes were too flat when you climbed into the buggy.”

“Too flat! What does that mean? Duh!”

“You know, Sarah, I’m going to stop right up there at the Tastee Freez, and we’re going to eat ice cream and talk. I have a hunch that you and I are in the same boat, paddling like crazy with one oar in opposite directions, and we’re so hopeless. Whoa, Buster!”

The light stayed red for too long, so Buster pranced and bucked and tossed his head, rattling his bit. But Melvin said not to worry. It was all harmless, and Buster just did it for fancy.

They pulled up to the hitching rail beneath a spreading crepe myrtle that was blooming profusely and humming with honeybees. Melvin declared it completely unsafe. He made her get back in the buggy and waited through the red light again with Buster acting as crazy as before. Melvin tied him to a tree on the opposite side of the street.

“Give me your hand to cross the street. People will think we’re a couple,” he said, grinning at her.

Who could be unhappy in Melvin’s company?

He ordered a banana split with two spoons, and they sat outside in the waning summer light. The ice cream melted and dripped while he went back for napkins. He met a friend and talked so long that Sarah had to keep scraping the melting ice cream into her mouth.

When he finally sat down again, Melvin paused for a long moment of indecision about which side would be his, the strawberry or the chocolate, and wondered which one she liked best. He didn’t include the vanilla with the chocolate syrup as he hoped he could eat that all by himself. He finally reached the conclusion that she could have the strawberry side; it was girlish.

“You know, like Strawberry Shortcake. That coloring book and doll character. It’s for girls, so you have the strawberry.”

“You know what? I wouldn’t tell just anyone this, but I love strawberry ice cream. Mommy buys it all the time from the Turkey Hill down the street. Their ice cream is the best—better than Schwan’s.”

Clapping a hand to his forehead, Melvin squinted and rocked from side to side with pain in his eyes.

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