Chapter Four

I’d never attended a last-minute picnic that was so put together.  There were about thirty adults in attendance, ranging from early thirties to late sixties.  I tried not to look obvious as I searched the crowd for someone my age. I also did my best to hide my disappointment when I found no one.

“I’m so sorry, Missy,” Lila said as she sauntered up next to me as I filled my plate with delicious smelling baked beans, barbequed ribs, potato salad, and ambrosia.  “I was told that Michael Jefferson’s two boys would be here. Their cousin is visiting, and they were supposed to bring her along.”

I shrugged my shoulders while trying to act nonchalant. “It’s fine.  I don’t mind.”  Since I was never happy when the attention was on me, I quickly changed the subject. “This food is great.  How’d you manage to pull it off on such short notice?”

“Truth?” she asked with a sly grin.  When I nodded she moved closer and whispered, “I had it catered.”

I looked at the table that was covered with a hodgepodge of dishes filled with the delicious food.  There wasn’t a take-out container in sight. “Did you transfer it into these dishes?” I asked.

“I did,” she said, “but don’t tell anyone, please.  You have no idea how tough it is for someone my age to keep up with these women.”

“You compete?” I asked with surprise.

She shrugged. “I guess so… no… maybe.  I don’t know. It’s just that I always feel so inadequate around them.  They seem so put together and capable and I feel like I’m struggling every day.”

“That’s crazy,” I said as I shoveled an enormous amount of beans into my mouth.

“No, it’s true. Take your mother, for instance,” Lila said. “The woman has been through hell and back, yet she’s got it so together. I haven’t gone through half of what your family has. I should be in better shape than you, not worse.”

Their home was modest, but it was well tended and tastefully decorated.  More than once, I’d noticed how fastidious and up to date Lila and Bruce always looked. They both had respectable jobs that they went to each day.  From where I stood, she looked completely together. I saw no signs of what she spoke of.  

I shrugged. “I think it’s all in your mind, Lila. First of all, I love my mom, but, believe me, she struggles just like the rest of us to keep it together. If you’d seen her last year, you wouldn’t have her on such a high pedestal.  As for the other women. Screw ‘em.  If you have to compete to fit in, then do you really want to fit in?” I could see she was growing uncomfortable by my words of wisdom, so I decided to exit her company before it got worse. “Speaking of mom.  I forgot to tell her about something that needs to be taken care of back home. I’d better do it now before I forget again.  Catch you later, okay?”

She nodded in silence as I scooted off in my mother’s direction. 

“Are you enjoying yourself, honey?” mom asked.

“The food’s pretty tasty,” I said as I gnawed on a rib.

She leaned closer and whispered. “I think it’s catered.  Not that I mind, but it’s so delicious that I’d like to know who catered it, so we could enjoy at home.”

I giggled, but, since Lila had told me in confidence, I didn’t think it was right to confirm my mother’s suspicions to her.  I just made a mental note to ask Lila at a later date where she got the food.

Feeling overly stuffed -as I rightfully should have after making several trips to the food table without any worry or regard as to how it might look to the other picnickers- I decided to go for a short walk. Since the sun was setting, I promised my mother that I’d stay away from the woods and simply walk around the fields.  After the horrific wolf dreams, I’d been plagued with the night before, I wasn’t eager to venture into the trees anytime soon, anyway.

The moon was only a day or two away from being full.  It shone so brilliantly that I didn’t even need to use the flashlight I’d borrowed from Lila and Bruce to appease my mother.

My legs were the strongest part of my five-fee-eight-inch body.  I craved any type of activity that would challenge the muscles in my thighs and calves.  Walking through a field was one of those perfect exercises.  The uneven ground forced me to work muscles that would barely come to life on a smooth, flat sidewalk.

I was so engrossed in enjoying the beauty of my surroundings in the moonlight that I’d reached the tree line at the top of the field before I’d realized I’d walked that far.   I looked back at the Masterson’s house and then off to the right where the roof of my own house peeked over the edge of the rolling field.  The walk hadn’t been long enough to completely ease my stomach’s suffering from the food abuse I’d put it through and I just knew that my legs wouldn’t feel sufficiently exercised if I turned around and rejoined the picnic.   I decided to walk along the tree line until I was behind my house.  Then, I’d cut through the field to my home and take the road back to the picnic.  That should be a sufficient enough stretch for my legs.

I’d gotten to our property and was about to head towards my house when I saw the silhouette of a male off in the distance emerging from the tree line.  Had the moon not been so illuminating, I’d have missed him.  As it was, I made out his shape quite easily.

It was clear that he was walking toward me.

My first instinct was to run home as fast as I could. In fact, I coiled my muscles in preparation to do just that.  I changed my mind at the last minute when he acknowledged me by waving his arm. It was too dark to see his features, but my mind instantly rationalized that he was probably one of the picnickers walking off an overstuff stomach like I was. True, he was a stranger and I was taught not to speak to strangers, but, since I was new to the area, everyone was basically a stranger. So, I waited for him to reach me.

The closer he got to me, the easier it was for me to see that he wasn’t one of Lila’s guests.  If he’d been at the picnic, I would have never left!

 Even with only the glow of the moon to illuminate our surroundings, I could see that he was a handsome and sexy young man in his early to mid- twenties.  He was about my height and lean, but I could see muscles beneath his form fitting tee shirt.  He had dark hair pulled back in a sleek, sexy que. It was in stark contrast to my dirty blonde mass of waves that I’d pulled back into a loose ponytail hour earlier and had neglected ever since.  He was in a tee shirt and jeans, but they looked fresh and new; not worn out and threadbare like the ones I had on.

I was grateful for the moonlight.  I felt soiled and unkempt next to him in lighting that barely allowed him visibility enough to see me. I would have had to crawl into the nearest hole had he produced a flashlight.

“Hey,” he said as he stopped just feet in front of me.  “You’re a surprise.”

“I was walking off dinner,” I explained nervously; while hoping I didn’t sound stupid.

He chuckled. “I was doing the same.  My name is Kenton.”

Having never encountered such a name, I asked, “Is that your first name or your last?”

“First, I’m afraid,” he sighed.  “One of those family tradition things.”

“And your last name?”

“Walters.  Kenton Walters.”

“I’m Missy Cramby,” I said in return.

“Cramby.  Are you the family that moved into the old Westinghouse estate?”  he asked.

“It belonged to my great grandmother.  She left it to my mother.”

“Didn’t I see you riding a beautiful black horse through the woods yesterday?  It was about dusk,” he said as he struck a sexy pose by sliding one hand into his pocket and putting his weight on one leg. He completed the look by reaching down and grabbing a thick blade of grass and popping it into the corner of his mouth.

“Where were you?”

“I was too far away to hail you down. Besides, you looked to be in a hurry.  Not that I blame you.  The woods can seem creepy at night if you don’t know your way around.”

“Didn’t I just see you come out of there?” I asked suspiciously.

“You did,” he said with a nod. “I grew up in those woods, so to speak. I know them like I know my own body.  I often walk at night. I find it peaceful.”

“It’s state land, isn’t it?” I asked upon hearing that he’d grown up there.  He could have meant that he grew up enjoying them as I’d done since we moved there, but, for some reason, I took his statement literally.

From what I could tell in the moonlight, his face looked sad as he spoke. “It used to belong to my family. It was donated to the state as a game reserve about five years ago to appease a tax liability or something like that. My home borders it on the other side.”

“Is that the farm that looks abandoned?” I asked with excitement. After pondering over who that place belonged to so much that I’d almost become obsessed with it, it would be nice to finally solve the mystery.

“No, that’s the Jefferson place. I live southeast of here but my land borders theirs,” he said.

“Michael Jefferson?” I asked with interest.

“Do you know him?” he asked with surprise.

I shrugged. “He was invited to the picnic.”

“By you?” he asked.

I laughed at the obvious sound of jealous angst in his voice. “I’ve never met him. Apparently he has some sons around my age.  Lila Masterson just wanted me to meet some people my own age.”

“Well, you’ve met me now,” he said with a smile that made my knees go weak. “The picnic you were at was put on by the Mastersons, right?”

I nodded.

He tossed the blade of grass he’d been gnawing on to the ground.  “I should have come.”

“You were invited?” I said with surprise.

“I made up some lame excuse because I thought it would be full of uninteresting people,” he said.  “Had I known a pretty girl was going to be there, I’d have definitely gone.”

I could feel my face blushing. Before I could say anything in response to his complement, a wolf howled in the distance.

“Sounds like the wolves are on the prowl.  I’d better head home before they come this way,” he said, hurriedly.  “It was nice to meet you, Missy.  I’ll catch you later.  The wolves rarely venture into the fields, but I’d hurry home all the same.  The moon tends to bring out a side of them that you normally wouldn’t see.”

After the nightmares I’d had the night before, I didn’t need to be told twice.  I quickly said goodbye and darted across the field toward my house.  I was thankful that there were no deep ruts or woodchuck holes in my path and that I made it home in one piece.

A wolf howled in the distance again just as I reached the patio. I pulled my cell phone from my back pocket and called my mother to tell her that I didn’t feel safe walking back to the picnic.  Since they’d heard the howls as well, she was eager to have me stay put.