Muffins & Moonbeams

by Maddrey, Elizabeth

  Ursula shook her head. “No. I grew up in South Carolina. I’ve been here almost five years.”

  He grinned. A tiny shred of common ground. “I almost went to college in Carolina.”

  “Me too.” She turned to go.

  Malachi chuckled. She was a tough nut. Though she didn’t seem to be bothered by his voice. She knew he was deaf, didn’t she? Seemed like everyone in town did—at least if the number of times he was greeted with, “Oh, you’re the deaf one, right?” was any indication. So surely she did, too. Though in one corner of his mind he questioned the words, they still came out. “Want to grab lunch?”

  * * *

  Malachi clicked on the star map and chose his next destination. With a few more clicks, his ship was en route. Sunday afternoon stretched out ahead of him and, though he’d had offers from his siblings for various activities, he was better off in his room where, maybe, he could shake the gloom that had settled around his shoulders.

  His chat box opened with a message from Scarlet Fire. “Whatcha’ doin’?”

  Malachi dragged the keyboard onto his lap and typed back. “Started the Zerillanskan mission. New bounties posted so I figured why not. You?”

  “Hanging out to see if my Dad has time to play this afternoon. He needed help on the Ashkoars run.”

  That was a tricky one if you were on your own. “I still think it’s fun that your dad plays.”

  “Convince my mom. She’s always managing to slip in a little dig. He doesn’t get online as much anymore. But it’s fun when he can. Do anything fun this morning?”

  Malachi sighed, Ursula’s face as she turned down his lunch offer flashing to the front of his mind. “Fun? No. Church was good, then I made a fool of myself.”

  “What happened?”

  “Asked someone out. Got turned down in no uncertain terms. Good times. At least it reminded me why I don’t bother anymore. Not sure what came over me.”

  “Must be the day for it. I got asked out by a guy after church.”

  “Take it you said no?”

  “Don’t know him. He’s good looking but...”

  Malachi frowned. “Maybe you can help out the clueless male. How do you get to know someone if you don’t do something with them?”

  The cursor mocked him, blinking at him while she made no reply. It was a reasonable question, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like he’d asked Ursula on an actual date. Just lunch. After church. Despite the fact that reading lips during a meal could be tricky. He’d been willing to take the chance to try and make a friend. Whatever. Lesson learned.

  His ship arrived at the programmed destination and he selected the computer players he wanted to accompany him. Frowning, he closed the chat box and set it to mute. Chatting during a mission was the best way to miss an objective. He did enough of that in real life.

  4

  MalRen’s question haunted Ursula into her Tuesday morning client calls. She’d logged off after he asked and missed out on meeting up with her dad, which, of course, sparked an email from him making sure everything was okay. And then there was a long phone call from Mom that was probably motivated by the same concern but had left her with a headache. She’d spent most of Monday working on the bakery website and thinking about Malachi. The website was coming together. Her thoughts about him...were not.

  With a sigh, Ursula stood and crossed to the window of the room she used as an office. Mr. Greenway was out on his porch, so at least she knew aliens hadn’t invaded. Should she have said yes? Part of her wanted to call and ask her mom. But that conversation would inevitably take the wrong turn and Mom would start knitting baby blankets. No, that was unfair. She’d only think about the blankets. Her advice, however, would be to go apologize and ask him to lunch.

  Her stomach rumbled. Lunch wasn’t a bad idea. She had to eat. Presumably Malachi ate. She’d just walk over there and...no. What was she thinking? He probably had no interest in her at all now. If there’d been anything other than friendly curiosity before. Which wasn’t a guarantee. Men said women were complicated. They clearly had no clue about their own species. She could call her dad and ask...which would be worse than talking to Mom.

  MalRen. He was a man. Well, okay, there was no actual guarantee there. Online you could be anything you wanted to be, but if he wasn’t actually a guy then Ursula would give it all up and consider becoming a nun. Except for the whole becoming Catholic thing. Not that that was bad. She was just happy enough as a protestant. But she liked...procrastinating. Obviously.

  Before she could talk herself out of it, Ursula was back in her chair and logged into Orion’s Quest. There wasn’t even a guarantee he’d be on. It was the middle of the workday. But she’d run into him enough times during the day, especially lately, that it was a distinct possibility. She scrolled through the player list and smiled when she spotted his name. With a quick prayer that this wasn’t a huge miscalculation, Ursula typed out a chat message.

  “Question for you—if I’m rethinking that whole Sunday lunch thing, do I go apologize and ask him to a meal, or will he take that the wrong way?” Ursula re-read the message and hit send.

  Would he even answer? She’d disappeared abruptly on Sunday. She held her breath and let it out with a whoosh when he replied.

  “Depends.”

  She winced. He was mad. And she didn’t blame him. “I’m sorry I logged off on Sunday. Your question was valid and...that’s why I’m trying to figure out how to fix things.”

  “Okay. Still depends.”

  Gah. Was he punishing her? Maybe he was multitasking. Benefit of the doubt. Better to give him that and play along. “Okay. On what?”

  “What do you want? From him, I mean.”

  “To get to know him, I guess. You were right, okay? You can’t get to know someone if you don’t spend time with them.” Not that she had high hopes that he’d still want to know her once they did that. But the pastor’s sermon had been about letting go of past hurts. And maybe it was time to try to do that. Again. Even if it meant racking up a whole pile of new hurts.

  “Then yes. That seems like a good, straightforward way to go.”

  Straightforward. Was she not supposed to be that way? It’s who she was. She’d never been good at games. “Too blunt?”

  “No. It’s good. No games. Games are for the online world.”

  She chuckled. On that score, she and MalRen agreed. “Okay. Then...I guess I’m gonna take a walk. Mission tonight, maybe?”

  “Sure.”

  Ursula frowned. Not a delighted reaction, but hadn’t said no. Maybe she hadn’t messed up this friendship yet after all. “See you then.”

  She logged out and grabbed her purse and keys. Should she drive in case he actually was free for lunch? They could probably still hit Sunrise Cafe. The Jukebox, if they missed it. And those were both far enough from the bakery that it was worth taking the car.

  * * *

  The bells above the door jingled. Ursula inhaled deeply. How could you work here and not eat everything that came out of the oven?

  “Hi there. Ursula, right?” The man behind the counter smiled and set aside his cell phone. “What can I get you?”

  “Hi. Micah, right?”

  He grinned. “Got it in one.”

  “I was wondering if Malachi was in?” Ursula fought the urge to clear her throat and tucked her hands in the pockets of her shorts to keep from twisting her fingers together.

  Micah’s eyebrows shot up. “Sure. He’s in the office. In the back. I’ll take you through.”

  He gestured for her to come around the side of the display case and pushed open the door to the kitchen. The smell intensified as she stepped through. As did the heat. The other brother—Jonah? That sounded right. It was one of those Old Testament books anyway.—was up to his elbows in dough at a counter that ran the length of the space.

  Micah pointed to the closed door at the back of the room. “Office is right there.”

  “Thanks.” She managed a weak smile,
along with a wave to Jonah, as she crossed the kitchen. Was she really doing this? She was. It was the right thing to do. She tapped on the door and listened. Nothing. Maybe he hadn’t heard her knock.

  “Just go in.”

  She jumped a little and turned.

  Jonah smiled. “Seriously, it’s okay.”

  “Okay.” She breathed out the word and pushed open the door. “Malachi?”

  Nothing. Ursula frowned. What was he...was that a computer game? She stepped more fully into the office and tapped his shoulder.

  He jolted, minimized his screen, and pulled off his headphones as he swiveled his chair. He blinked, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Hi. Didn’t expect to see you today. Is the website done?”

  She shook her head. “No, not yet. Though I’m making some progress—I don’t have it set up for outside access yet, but I can log you in and you can look at it if you want?”

  Malachi shrugged. “That’s okay. But...what brings you here?”

  She took a deep breath. “I wanted to apologize. For Sunday. I...it probably doesn’t matter why, but I’m sorry. And I wanted to see if the offer to get lunch together was still open?”

  He studied her before nodding. “Sure.”

  “Are you free today? Have you eaten yet?”

  He shook his head and rolled away from the computer. “I could eat.”

  5

  “You seem awfully chipper.” Corban stomped his feet on the mat outside the kitchen door of the farm house before stepping inside. “You get a spreadsheet balanced or something?”

  Malachi snorted and finished spreading mayonnaise on a piece of bread. Lunch with Ursula had been fun. And he suspected part of that was owed to her being Scarlet Fire. Unless he missed his guess. He flipped the bread onto the rest of the sandwich he was building and sliced it neatly in half.

  “He had a hot lunch date.” Jonah piped up from the kitchen table where he sat with a steaming bowl of soup.

  “It wasn’t a date.” Malachi signed before picking up his plate to join his brother. He frowned at the soup. Who ate soup in July?

  Corban pulled out a chair. “I missed that.”

  Jonah spooned up noodles and broth and blew across it. “He said it wasn’t a date.”

  “It wasn’t. It was lunch.” Malachi spoke as he signed. Corban was practically family. And he was trying to learn to sign.

  Corban smiled and grabbed an apple from the bowl in the middle of the table. “Who was your not-a-date with?”

  “The web designer.” Jonah smirked at his brother. “They’re two peas in a pod. Both happier working with computers than people.”

  Malachi shook his head. Jonah had no idea. His brothers would tease him relentlessly if they ever found out Ursula was Scarlet Fire. The odds of meeting the one woman who was perfect for him in real life were astronomical. And okay, fine, he had a crush on her online persona. Tiny. Barely even a crush. Really more just a “Hey, she makes a great friend” vibe. And when his brothers first figured that out, it had been months before they’d let it go. Still came up occasionally if he made the mistake of talking about the game. There was no way he was cluing them in and starting it all up again—which they’d probably do in front of her.

  “Wasn’t she at church on Sunday?” Corban bit the apple and chewed. “Tall and blonde?”

  Malachi nodded. He hadn’t classified her as tall, but they were, roughly, eye to eye.

  “Nice.” Corban punched Malachi’s arm.

  “Thanks.” Malachi signed. Corban ought to know that one. If he didn’t, well, he wasn’t trying.

  “You’re welcome.” Corban spoke and signed, eyes sparkling. “See? I know a little. I’ll get there.”

  Jonah blew across his soup again. “Not sure why you bother. He reads lips well enough I don’t even sign at him all the time.”

  “Just seems polite, I guess.” Corban lifted a shoulder and stood. “I’ll let Ruth know you two won’t be at dinner.”

  “I texted her.” Malachi lifted his phone.

  Jonah hunched his shoulders. “I was gonna let her know.”

  “Like I said, polite.” Corban’s shoulders shook. Probably chuckling at Jonah’s obvious discomfort. Malachi grinned. Ruth had chosen well. Corban fit right in with their family. Would Ursula?

  * * *

  As they fought their way through dark caves where groups of angry aliens hid, trying to keep them from returning a crystal to the generator used by the rebel factions to power shields around their cities, Malachi used his speech-to-text program to chat. And to fish. Just a little.

  “How’d lunch go?”

  Scarlet Fire’s avatar executed a flying kick into the face of an alien warrior, and she followed up with a laser blast to his torso. “Good. Appreciate the advice.”

  “Sure thing.” Malachi skirted around a clearly visible tripwire and sidled along the cave wall. Was there any way to ask for more detail without being obvious that he was fishing? “Think you’ll do it again?”

  She slid along the wall behind him, her laser rifle aimed behind them in case they missed anyone. “If he asks, I’ll say yes. But it’s his turn now, isn’t it?”

  Aha. Good to know. And that kind of made sense. Malachi was pretty traditional at heart but had been surprisingly unbothered when she’d asked him out this afternoon. “I guess. Nothing stopping you from asking, is there?”

  Using the keyboard, Malachi made his character hunch to avoid the rapidly lowering ceiling. How deep were they going to have to go to make it to the generator? Or had they missed a turn somewhere? No. There, finally, was a light up ahead. They had to be close.

  “Trap!” Scarlet Fire’s laser blasted past his shoulder just as the boulder in front of them uncurled to reveal an enormous alien that looked like a cross between a troll and a squid.

  Malachi switched weapons. His blaster was out of charge and he was down to the tiny pistol that you got when you first created your character. That and—he checked his inventory—six grenades. If they died they’d have to start the whole mission over. He groaned and considered. There. Yes. He tossed a grenade up onto a skinny shelf carved into the roof of the cave. “Look out!”

  He turned and ducked behind a rock as the ceiling caved in, trapping the troll-squid-thing beneath it. Scarlet Fire emptied her blaster into the creature’s inert form. “Nice. Let’s see if we can get this crystal seated and get out.”

  She didn’t seem to be in a hurry to answer his question. It was okay. If it was his turn...well, maybe he’d go ahead and take it.

  6

  Ursula sighed and shut down her computer. Malachi hadn’t called. Had their lunch not gone as well as she’d thought? Or had she completely misread his invitation in the first place? Maybe it had been simple friendliness. What if he wasn’t attracted to her at all? That’d be pretty much par for the course. Which left her free on Friday night. Again.

  She needed to get out of the house. She hadn’t left since she got back from lunch on Tuesday. Well, unless walking out to the mailbox counted. She was pretty sure it didn’t. Her mother’s voice echoed in her head, urging her to get out and make friends. Church. She’d gone to Grace Fellowship on Sunday and hadn’t there been something about a movie at the park?

  Ursula found her Bible and flipped until she saw where she’d stuffed the bulletin. There it was on the back. Founders Park, just across from the church, at six. That would work. Her stomach sank but she ignored it. She could do this. Maybe even make a friend. Okay, that might be pushing it. But she could get out there and try.

  The dinner was ten dollars. She hadn’t sent in an RSVP, but surely they’d have extras. And if not, they were close enough to Main that she could grab something from a nearby restaurant. No more excuses. She was going. Tucking her phone into her purse, she stepped out into the warm evening. She’d walk. It was a little farther than she usually trekked, but given how little she’d exercised this week, she needed it.

  She gave Mr. Greenway a ja
unty wave as she walked by his house. He looked startled to see her out. She needed to get better about exercise. At least get out of the house and enjoy nature when the weather was good. Her parents had always been big after dinner walkers. They’d dragged her along until high school when she put her foot down. Maybe she should resurrect the habit. That would tickle her mom no end.

  As she neared the park, a trickle of walkers joined her. Cars were filling the parking lot at the church and families laughed as they gathered picnic baskets and blankets from their trunks. A blanket would’ve been a good idea. But she’d sat on grass before and could do it again. Especially now that she knew Mom’s secret grass-stain removal formula.

  A rotund woman manned a table near the start of the food line. “Hi there. You’re joining us to eat?”

  Ursula nodded. “I’d like to. I didn’t call...”

  “Oh, that’s no problem. We always get walk-ins. Plan for them now.” She dimpled and took the ten Ursula offered, giving her a wristband in exchange. “That’ll get you your food and a soda. Ice cream too, once they bring that out. Enjoy yourself.”

  “Thank you.” Ursula fumbled with the wristband, trying to wrap it and get the sticky part to adhere to the band, not her arm hair.

  “Can I help you with that?” Malachi appeared at her side, his own wrist adorned with the same bright yellow band.

  Her heart gave a funny little jump and she held out her arm. “Please. I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

  He gave a one shouldered shrug and jerked his chin at the food line. “We donated the rolls. Jonah and Micah were making rolls all day on top of their usual bread orders. Since all my siblings are here, they sort of roped me into staying. I was ready to give it my best shot at pouting until I spotted you.”

  “So you’re a pouter? That’s good to know. I wouldn’t have pegged you that way.”