Devil Moon (32 page)

At that moment the piano struck up a chord and all eyes moved to the corner where Reba and Randy began a duet of patriotic tunes. Pretty soon the whole room joined in singing
God Bless America, My County 'Tis of Thee
, and
America the Beautiful.

Maddie and her folks finished eating their food and took places behind the serving line. Brent had everyone well organized: Beau carved the turkey, Mother Bailey dished out green beans, Maddie served yams, and Amanda plopped mashed potatoes and gravy. (Maddie had put Brent up to that.) Maddie and Beau exchanged amused glances as they watched the cultured Bostonian matron attending her task with grim determination.

Maddie was having a good time. She'd decided to rise above her personal heartache over Phil and enjoy her friends and family. No sense in being a simp. Besides, she'd half convinced herself that she'd be able to find some happy middle ground with Phil. Hopefully, they'd be able to resume their teasing friendship. She couldn't bear the thought of losing his bulldozing personality from her life.

The afternoon crowd became so busy; she barely had time to look up from her spoon. Whenever her dish emptied, she dashed back to the kitchen for a full one. She exchanged quick quips with each diner as they passed by. She didn't realize Phil, Melissa, and Pam were next in line until she had dished golden yams on his plate.

Automatically, she smiled and said "Happy Thanksgiving" as she looked up. Her smile drooped. "Phil…"

With an expression set in stone, he said, "Madeleine," as if he were speaking to a passing acquaintance. A passing acquaintance he had never much cared for.

Her spoon dropped, clanging to the floor as the power of his cool reply hit her. He'd called her "Madeleine." He'd vowed to never call her by that stiff, formal nomenclature.

She knew in that moment that their relationship was irreparably damaged. There would be no teasing banter, no casual resumption of a meaningful friendship. She was being cut off at the knees.

She grabbed a clean spoon and forced herself to mechanically fill Melissa and Pam's plates. For one second she nearly flung yams and marshmallows in Pam's smug face.

Her gaze followed Phil's wide back. He drifted away from her, as surely as Tom Hanks lost his ball buddy in
Castaway
. Maddie wanted to yell at Phil as desperately as Tom had cried, "I'm sorry, Wilson!" Phil was bobbing away from her in a sea of Beaver Cove's humanity.

She turned to Brent and said, "I need a break."

Maddie left her post and exited out of the cafeteria toward the girls' bathroom. She sat on a stool several minutes, trying to compose herself. She couldn't, absolutely wouldn't spin out of control again. But she was close, really close.
Breathe, Maddie, breathe
. Then she heard someone come into the room and figured she should get out before somebody came looking for her. She opened the stall door to find Melissa standing wide legged, hands on hips.

Maddie made her way to the sink groaning, "Why am I always getting trapped in bathrooms with Wilcox women?"

She turned and faced Melissa. The girl was obviously working up the nerve to say something.

Melissa's brown eyes reflected Phil's stubborn genes. "Do you love my dad?"

Maddie took a deep breath. Now she was getting the third degree from the daughter. "I don't think this is an appropriate subject for us to be discussing."

Melissa took an aggressive step toward Maddie. "Bull. He's my dad and if you love him, then I need to know."

Maddie sighed. She was just too tired to lie. "Yes, Melissa, I love your father very much."

Nodding her head, Melissa came to some kind of decision. "Then I think you should fight for him."

Had she heard right? "What?"

"I know all about my mom's threats to take me out of state and turn me against Dad. That's just a bunch of crap. I heard everything she said to you the other night. She doesn't have the money to go to the next county, let alone another state. Besides, I could always just call Dad and tell him where we're at. And she can't make me hate him any more. I'm not a little kid. I know what's going on. She needs to get a life, and it's not going to be with Dad."

Maddie leaned against the cool sink. "I know how important you are to your father. I don't want to be a hindrance to your relationship."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Chill out, Miss Harris. Everybody I know has step mothers, brothers, or sisters. And despite what Mom says, I don't think you're a bitch at all. So, if you want Dad, I think you should go for it." Then she gave Maddie a shy little grin. "I'd kinda like to be a big sister."

This sudden change of circumstances brought tears to Maddie's eyes. Phil's daughter had just bestowed her blessings. Hope surged through Maddie. She opened her arms and crushed Melissa against her chest. "Oh, sweetie, you've made me very happy."

"Hey! Cool it, I can't breathe." Melissa gently pushed away. "Just don't tell Mom that you heard anything from me. And I'm going to have to pretend I hate you around her for a while or she'll make my life hell."

"I understand. Your dad is right. You are a great kid." Maddie sniffed back welling emotion.

"Thanks. I better be getting back." Melissa edged to the door. "Say, did you know a baby robin eats fourteen feet of earthworms a day?"

Maddie smiled. "That's fascinating."

"Well, see ya."

"See ya." Maddie turned to the mirror as Melissa disappeared into the hall. She dried her eyes, squared her shoulders and said, "Okay, Grammy, I'm going to go defend the honor of all Harris womenfolk."

* * *

Phil and Pam sat across from each other at the end of a table near the dessert area. Melissa occupied the chair next to Pam, while Doug McCall was on Phil's right. Maddie gulped as she approached her target. It was now or never.

Maddie took a position at the end of the table and looked Pam square in the eye. "Pam, I think you're a mean, nasty, sorry excuse for a woman. You're cruel, selfish, have abysmal taste in clothes and extremely poor grammar. You're not nearly good enough for a man like Phil. I hate to say this to anyone, but I think you're a slut."

Phil spewed a gulp of his apple cider over his plate.

Pam's eyes bugged and she choked down a wad of turkey. "Ooo, you are
so
going to pay for that."

"And furthermore," Maddie continued, "I don't intend to let you have him."

Phil growled, "What the hell is going on here?"

Pointing at Pam with disgust, Maddie said, "This woman threatened to take Melissa out of state and completely ruin your relationship with her if I didn't bow out of the picture."

Pam stood up in fury. "Liar!"

Just as Pam was about to bitch slap the tar out of Maddie, a whipped-cream topped pumpkin pie mysteriously rose off the dessert table and flew right into Pam's face.

Several people heard Grammy's raspy voice say, "Take that, you hussy."

Pam wiped the goop from her eyes and nose, grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes and screeched, "I'll teach you!" Her arm arced back and she pitched a ball of glop at Maddie, who ducked. Becky Malone's big bosom received the splat on her one-of-a-kind decorated shirt.

Becky gasped, then marched forward with the power of a Mack truck saying, "Pam Wilcox, I've hated you ever since I caught you kissing my boyfriend in the tenth grade. You
are
a slut!" And with that she reached down into an available plate, brought up cranberry Jello and smashed it in Pam's kisser.

Recognizing a good thing when he saw it, George Finn stood on top of a table and yelled, "FOOD FIGHT!"

Wherein, Vince did his brotherly duty and shot a good portion of yams onto George's forehead.

Well, that was it. Pandemonium broke out as all the junior high boys heeded the call, sending Thanksgiving specialties flying wily-nily. Amanda yelped when peas and pie landed in her perfectly coiffured hairstyle. Brent shielded Mother Bailey with his body and took most of the hits that came their way. Beau joined the fray and flung handfuls of yams in retaliation. Miss Green leaned into Mr. Manchester and moaned when she saw her carefully arranged centerpieces torn apart for ammunition.

Randy was soundly pelted as he took the mike begging, "Okay everybody, please settle down!"

Doug McCall found himself tangled in an embarrassing jumble of big boobs and thighs as he tried to separate Pam and Becky, now engaged in a full-fledged catfight.

"I'll rip out every strand of your ugly, mall hair!" Becky bellowed, twisting Pam's arm.

"You and who else, fat ass?" Pam replied, as she tried to scratch Becky's face.

Doug groaned when gouged by both combatants.

Phil calmly remained in his seat, as all hell broke loose around him. He gazed across the table at Melissa, who appeared to be the only other person in the room not involved in food flinging. She shrugged, grinned, and then quickly ducked under the table to avoid a faceful of mincemeat pie. Maddie had somehow disappeared after starting all the chaos.

He sighed and raised his iron body out of the chair. Leading with his shoulder, he knocked down George and Vince, as if mowing through the defensive line. He motioned to his scattered football players, who took his lead and began tackling wayward food warriors.

He moved through the room and barked orders. "Cut it out…That's enough…No more, buddy."

Soon, cowering mothers rose and took charge of their battling families (although more than a few women had gotten into the spirit of things) and the tide turned.

Phil stood by an exit and surveyed the room. No one appeared mortally wounded, but all needed a bath. Pam came sniffling and limping toward him on the arm of Doug McCall.

Phil put a hand out and stopped her. "Hey, is what Maddie said true? Did you threaten to keep Melissa away from me if Maddie didn't back out of my life?"

Pam wiped her drippy nose with the back of her potato-encrusted hand. "I was trying to save you from her! You and I belong together. You know we do."

Phil grabbed her shoulders, resisting the urge to shake her senseless. "Listen to me and listen to me good. You and I are
never
getting back together. I am not responsible for your life or your happiness. You've got to move on. The past is over and done. We'll always have Melissa tying us together, but beyond that, there is nothing. Zip. Zilch. Can I make myself any clearer?"

Pam's lip twisted. "You're just hot for that school bitch. It's all her fault."

Jeez, talking to this woman was like slamming into a brick wall of illogic, but he felt a need to set her straight. "And another thing. Don't you ever try to use Melissa against me again. She and I have come to a good understanding. I won't allow you to use her as a tool of your hatred. If I have to, I will go back to court for custody and this time I think I'll win. So, let's just manage a working relationship and cut the rest of the crap. You get me?"

Sniveling in defeat, Pam muttered, "You can be a real asshole."

Phil shook his head and stepped back. Pathetic. "Take her home, will you, Doug?"

McCall tugged her out of the room. "Sure. Come on, Pam. I'll bet you'll feel a lot better when you get all that pie and mascara off your face."

Phil looked for Maddie among the recovering crowd. A honey blond head rose slowly from under a table and he watched her emerge from her hiding place unscathed by food missiles. Smart girl. He'd have been really pissed if she'd put their baby at risk in a stupid food fight. Their gazes met across the room and he read the uncertainty in her face as she walked toward him.

He stood, arms crossed, face expressionless as she stopped before him. "What have you got to say for yourself, Miss Harris?"

She took a deep breath. "I know I made you angry and hurt your feelings, but I didn't want to ruin your relationship with Melissa."

He considered her impassively. "So?"

She bit her lip. "You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

"Nope."

"Do you want me to beg? Grovel?"

"Groveling is good."

As much as she loved him, begging and groveling was too humbling and downright irritating. "You can be the most arrogant, bull-headed…"

"That doesn't sound like groveling."

Her eyes flashed. "Well, I won't grovel, but I will tell you this. I think you're a wonderful person. You have integrity, a caring heart, and you take responsibility for your actions. I admire you very much."

"That sounds like a job recommendation. How do you
feel
about me, Maddie?"

This was it. True confession time. She reached out and held his hands, giving in to the need to touch him. "I love you, Phil. I love your wonderful, broad chest and your big, strong arms. Just looking at you, makes me warm all over. I love the way you tease me and tear through my defenses. I feel like you're my missing half. You make me a complete woman. If you don't marry me, I'm afraid I'll turn into a spindly, mean, old maid."