Page 73 of Grit
Abby swung her head toward Cary. “Hey, adult.”
“Hey, kid.”
Abby smiled. “Why do you call Mom Missy? You’re the only one who does that. Uncle Ox and Grandma call her Lissa sometimes, but you call her Missy.”
Cary smiled. “Do you really want to know?”
Melissa said, “Oh Cary, don’t.”
“What?” He grinned. “It’s cute.”
“It’s embarrassing.” She covered her face.
Abby was bouncing in her seat. “What is it? You have to tell me now. You have to.”
“It was funny and adorable.” Cary turned to Abby. “So when your mom was a little older than you, she was riding over by our house.”
Abby turned to Melissa. “Were you riding Sky?”
“I was,” Melissa said. “I’d just gotten her a few months before.”
Cary smiled. “And I was… a lot older than your mom. I was in my twenties and almost done with college.”
Abby’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t know you were older than Mom.”
“Only by numbers. She’s much older than me mentally.”
“Hey!” Melissa tossed her napkin across the table.
“Can we not start a food fight to prove our youthful energy?” Joan asked. “I’m not cleaning that up.”
“If you start a food fight”—Rumi raised a spoon and narrowed her eyes—“I’m taking you all out.”
Abby giggled, but she wasn’t distracted. “What happened? Why do you call Mom Missy? You still haven’t told me.”
Cary put his arm around Abby’s chair and turned his eyes toward Melissa. “So I’d just come home from college in San Luis to work for the summer, and your mom comes riding up the road from the ranch on her horse.”
“On Sky.”
Cary nodded. “On Sky. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of years and I didn’t recognize her. And I knew I’d remember that horse. So I asked her, ‘Hey, can I help you? Are you lost?’ And you know what she said?”
Melissa covered her face. “I can’t believe you still remember this.”
“It was unforgettable.” Cary turned back to Abby. “She said, ‘I’mMissMelissa Oxford, and I always know where I am, thank you very much.’”
“I did not say thank you very much!”
Cary took a drink of his beer. “I’m pretty sure you did.”
Abby giggled. “So you called her Missy after that?”
“Yep. Every time I saw her.”
“To tease me,” Melissa said. “He was making fun of me for being so formal.”
Cary’s smile was slow and sweet. “I wasn’t making fun of you.”
She shook her head and reached for Rumi’s plate. “You done, Rumi?”
