by C Zinnia
Mel was tall for a woman, standing at 5’7”, but this man was a head taller than her. He was handsome, with warm dark brown skin and a bright smile. His eyes shined in the sunlight, matching the color of melted chocolate with specks of bright gold. His hair was short and he was clean-shaven.
“Sorry for spooking you,” he said. “I just got back from work myself and was in my car. I saw you coming up the driveway and figured I’d help. I’m Daren Adkins.” He offered his hand. “I promise I’m not a creeper or anything. My parents run this place.” Mel enjoyed listening to his Southern accent. It was thicker that what she normally heard in the city.
Before their hands touched, Mel could feel Daren’s energy from his large hand. It wasn’t forceful or demanding. Once they shook, she knew he was a good man. He definitely wasn’t one of the people from the Hummer. Even with that, Daren’s energy was wild in a way she wasn’t accustomed to. Maybe it was a cultural thing in the country.
Isn’t there a stereotype that Appalachian people are different than people from the city? But the person at Ferrum Minute Market didn’t have a feral energy, Mel thought. She brushed off her ponderings. She was just over-analyzing everything because of her experience with the Hummer couple. Let’s not look for oddities, Mel. You’re here to relax. Allow yourself to enjoy your vacation instead of trying to create complications.
She noted Daren’s hand was calloused from hard work.
“I’m Mel,” she replied. “No worries about the scare. I’m a little edgy from the drive.”
“Why’s that?” Daren asked. “Crazy drivers? Random animals jumping on the road?”
Mel hesitated. The last thing she needed to do was make a fool out of herself by saying something she would later regret. She nodded towards the Hummer. “Is that your family’s car?”
Daren was confused by her question. “No,” he said. “They are guests who just checked in.”
She was relieved. “Well, they were causing my trip to be a little . . . rough,” she said.
He wasn’t surprised. “Crazy drivers then. Dad called to warn me about them during my drive home. From the way he described them, they seem like that sort of couple. You better watch out for the guy. Dad says he seems like the type to have a wandering eye and hand if you catch my drift.” Daren saw the warning agitated Mel. “But don’t stress too much about it,” he said quickly. “They are only here three nights. And if the guy gives you a problem, you just tell me and we’ll handle it. Besides, they’ll be leaving after the fight-”
Chapter 2
Daren broke off.
Mel could sense his disbelief that he said so much in front of her. She wasn’t surprised about his slip. People tended to open up to her without effort on her part. The topic, however, piqued her interest. “Fight?” Mel said. “What fight? Is it boxing or one of those mixed martial art things? This town seems a little small to host something like that.”
His energy whirled in a panic as he tried to think of a way to salvage the situation. “I’m not supposed to talk about it,” he said honestly. Daren prayed Mel would accept his statement and drop the subject. His emotion was so strong that Mel could feel his desperation.
Wow, Mel thought. She didn’t even like fights, but his reaction awakened her curiosity on the subject. What kind of fight would he want to hide? I hope it’s not animal fighting. This is an interesting way to start my vacation. He’s making it hard for me not to over-analyze!
“Will you at least tell me if it’s animal fighting?” she asked.
Daren looked horrified. “God no! That’s inhumane. All the fights are voluntary . . . people,” he said.
“Oh, okay,” Mel said with relief. She hoped she sounded nonchalant about the matter. “No worries then. I won’t press.” She grabbed her bag.
“Let me help you,” Daren said. He was still in disbelief about his slip up. He had never done that before. Instead of letting the matter go, he added; “Sorry I can’t tell you more, but it’s sort of one of those things that outsiders aren’t allowed to know about if you catch my drift. Normally, I don’t blab out things like that. I don’t know why I did.”
Mel bit her lip in frustration. She wanted to tell him to stop talking about it because all he was doing was making her want to find out more about the fights. “I understand,” Mel said. “Don’t stress too much about it. It’s normal for people to tell me more than they mean to. I’ve been told I have an accepting way about me.”
“I can see that,” Daren said. “It’s like I could tell you anything and you wouldn’t judge me for it.”
“That about sums it up,” Mel said. “It’s not my place or my business to judge anyone. When I catch myself getting judgy, I just remind myself that I’m not perfect and I make mistakes as much as the next person. I also have never been in their shoes, so I can never be sure I wouldn’t react in the same manner if I was in their position. I will admit I’m working on the whole self-acceptance bit. It’s tough not to be hard on myself.”
“I hear you. I’m the same way,” Daren said. “I’m really hard on myself, especially with education and athletics. I get so critical of myself that it makes the subject I’m studying or the sport I’m playing no longer enjoyable. It’s one of the reasons I stopped fighting-”
Daren cut himself off with a curse. He was embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said.
Mel scowled at him before catching herself. Is he intentionally messing with me now? she wondered. She quickly smoothed her face and shrugged. “No worries. I’m just here to relax, not cause trouble for anyone.” It took a lot of restraint to keep Mel from asking thousands of questions.
Mel had come to terms with the fact that she was naturally a very curious person. Others referred to it as being nosy, but Mel felt curiosity was an integral part of living. Without the urge to explore and learn and understand, what is the point of living? she had thought. She was proud she was being indifferent at the moment, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to act unconcerned if Daren kept talking about it. Her mind was spinning. An underground fight ring in a podunk town! Who would have thought?
Daren was grateful she handled it so well. “You’re all right, Mel.”
“Thanks,” Mel said.
He glanced in her backseat and whistled. “Looks like we have a musician on our hands,” he said as he carefully pulled out a keyboard and its stand.
“I’m trying to be,” Mel said as she pulled out her guitar and backpack.
“Do you make music?” Daren asked.
“Yes,” Mel answered slowly. She wasn’t sure where he was going with his question.
“Then you are a musician. There is no try,” Daren said simply. “Is that why you came here? To be inspired by Appalachian music?” He looked as though a puzzle had suddenly been solved for him.
She didn’t know what he was talking about. “What do you mean? What is Appalachian music? Is that country music?” She suddenly remembered the sign of the banjo she saw earlier. “Is that the music that crooked road sign was for?”
He was flabbergasted. “You came here as a musician to Franklin County and you don’t know about its music? For shame!” he teased. He was confused once more. “How did you end up here then?” His tone of voice showed he had trying to figure out the reason for her visit from the moment he saw her.
“A friend visited Ferrum College and talked about how beautiful it was out here,” she answered.
He laughed. “A city girl travelling all the way out here to see some trees? And alone? Why’s that?” He was curious why Mel made such a trip. It was unusual for a woman her age to come out here, especially alone.
“I needed a change of scenery. I’m hoping it’ll kick start my creativity. I want to write music,” Mel said. She didn’t realize how silly her response sounded out loud. It was apparent in her voice she hadn’t given the whole answer.
“I can understand that,” Daren said politely. He didn’t fully believe her, but he tried not to make it not
iceable. She appreciated his efforts. “Well, we’ll have to introduce you to the music here. And it’s not country. It’s bluegrass and Appalachian music. A local family is going to be playing at the Harvester tomorrow night. The tickets are inexpensive. If you’d like to go, we can. Mom and Dad would probably want to go too. Maybe that will help you get inspired.”
“I noticed the Harvester as I was driving. That sounds good to me,” Mel said. “Thank you.”
“Perfect. I’ll get the tickets,” Daren said.
“Let me know how much they cost and I’ll pay you back,” she said.
“Okay,” he said.
When they reached the porch, Mel paused and looked out. The grass was a vibrant green with a few leaves scattered across the lawn. “It’s amazing out here,” Mel said. “To be so close to nature all of the time must be wonderful.”
“It can be,” Daren said. “Though, it’s not always fun when you have to do a lot of landscaping. I did a lot of research before I planted all of those shrubs and trees. They’re all native to Virginia.”
“What are those flowers?” Mel asked, pointing to a cluster of long-stemmed tubular flowers. Some were red while others were purple.
“Bee balm,” Daren said. “Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds love them.”
“It must be a pain to rake leaves,” Mel said.
“Nope, we don’t rake leaves in the fall. It’s terrible for the environment. The leaves offer food, shelter, and bedding for wildlife. It also helps bring nutrients into the soil. By the way, there are a lot of trails around here that you can walk on to be part of nature. There’s also Fairy Stone State Park only a short drive away. It’s too cold to swim, but you could at least get some Vitamin D in your system and tree bathe a bit.”
“Tree bathe?” Mel asked.
Daren laughed. “You haven’t heard of tree bathing?” he teased. “I saw it on social media the other day. Something about how being out in the trees is healthy for you. I mean, I already knew being out in nature is good for you, but they’ve got videos telling people to get out amongst the trees now.”
Mel laughed. “I didn’t know that, but it makes sense to me. Thanks for the information,” she said. “I’ll have to check the park out.”
A man came outside. He was an older version of Daren except he had a goatee. “Hello, you must be Ms. Teller. My name is Lee Adkins.” His energy was warm and kind. He was the type of man who never ran out of patience. She knew he would make sure the Hummer couple kept their dysfunctional relationship to themselves.
“Please, call me Mel. It’s nice to meet you, Lee,” she said.
“All right, Mel. I see you’ve met my son.” Lee glanced at the keyboard. “A musician. Dana will ask for a performance, so don’t be surprised.”
Mel blushed at the thought. “Perhaps I’ll be able to,” she said slowly.
“Here, Daren, I’ll carry it up there. I know you’ve got plans with Viola,” Lee said as he took the keyboard and stand. He looked around. “Where is she anyway? I thought she was meeting you here.”
“I was taking too long to get back from work, so she left. I’m meeting her at . . . her place instead,” he said.
“Oh well. Tell her to come inside and say hi next time,” he said. He sighed. “Dana’s going to be upset she didn’t at least say ‘hello.’”
Daren winced. “Yeah, Mom will.” He recovered and winked at Lee. “I’ll be sure to give her a hard time about it,” he said.
Lee chuckled. “You do that. The thicker the guilt, the better,” he said.
“I better head on then. Thanks, Dad,” he said. Daren was naturally calmer in his father’s presence. He had a lot of respect for his father. “Oh, and Dad? Mel said she wanted to go see the Robey’s tomorrow night, if you and Mom are interested.”
Lee smiled. “Sounds like a good idea,” he said.
“I’ll see you around, Mel. Got to go train with Viola,” Daren said. He ran off before Mel could ask for clarification.
Mel was struck by his speed. She had a feeling he was trying to go slower than normal. She also realized he was wearing shorts. His leg muscles effortlessly flexed as he ran.
Lee gave Mel a look and Mel realized Lee was trying to decide if she was ogling his sun. She wished she had been ogling Daren. It would have made her life easier.
Mel awkwardly cleared her throat. “Is he training for track?” she asked.
“No,” Lee said with a laugh. “He’s twenty-two-years-old. He graduated from college back in May.”
“Oh,” Mel said, blushing. “My mistake. Was he ever on the track team?”
“Nope,” Lee said. “He never did track.”
“He should have,” Mel observed out loud.
Lee laughed. “Yeah, he would have done good at it, but Daren enjoys running through the country more,” he said.
“Don’t they have cross country running?” Mel asked.
“Yes, but Daren would have had an unfair advantage.” Before she could ask what he meant, he continued; “Come on. Let’s get you settled in.”
Mel followed Lee inside the B&B.
The house was beautiful. The walls seemed to shine with fresh paint. The wood gleaned from polishing. The only things that gave away its age were the atmosphere and the random creaks the house made as it settled. It was easy to see the place was well-taken care of.
She followed him up the worn stairs. There were beautiful paintings on the wall of people and landscapes. One was of Lee and Daren sitting on the porch swing, laughing.
“Who painted these?” Mel asked.
“Dana,” Lee answered. In his voice, it was more than evident that he deeply loved and adored her. It was the kind of love people wrote about. “She’s the smartest, most beautiful, sweetest, strongest, and talented person I’ve ever known. I was lucky that she was foolish enough to love me back.”
Mel laughed. “You seem like a good person to me, Lee,” she said.
“Why, thank you. And what makes you say that?” Lee asked. He was intrigued by the confidence of Mel’s statement.
“I’m good at reading people,” Mel said slowly.
“Dana’ll enjoy that. She’s a people watcher too,” he said.
There was another painting of a beautiful woman. Her dark curly hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her rose-petal lips and high cheekbones seemed such a stark contrast to the warrior pose she was in. Muscles stood out beneath her olive skin. “Who is this?” Mel asked. She was amazed that Dana was able to capture the fierceness of the woman’s eyes. Her eyes were the color of a rich brown Autumn leaves that have fallen to the ground to nourish the earth. Even in a painting, Mel felt like she could get lost in them.
“Viola,” Lee answered.
“Oh.” Mel stared at the painting a little longer. She felt Lee’s stare and glanced over to find Lee very confused. His energy was swirling as he fought not to ask Mel a slew of questions. “Does she and Daren train in martial arts or something?” Mel asked.
“Sometimes they do,” Lee said. His tone showed he didn’t want to talk about it.
Mel found Lee’s reaction peculiar but didn’t press. Mel wondered if Viola knew anything about the fights. Maybe she used to fight like Daren did, Mel thought. Mel wondered if Lee knew about the fights too or if it was a secret Daren kept from his parents. Stop it, Mel .
“Is she Daren’s girlfriend?” Mel asked.
“Goodness, no!” Lee laughed. “She’s his sister. We basically adopted her when she moved to the area back when she was a teenager.”
“Does she live at the B&B?” Mel asked. There was something familiar about her that Mel couldn’t place. She looks like that blur I saw . . . no, she couldn’t be, she thought. It was an animal or I made it up! Mel immediately brushed it off as driver fatigue.
“No,” Lee said. “There’s too much of a risk-”
Lee cut off. He was shocked with himself. He normally didn’t speak so freely in front of a guest. Lee looked at Mel like he was sizing
her up.
“You and Dana sound like really good people,” Mel said, trying to take away the awkwardness. “How long have you two known each other?”
Lee smiled at the mention of Dana’s name. “We grew up together,” Lee answered. He got a distant look in his eyes. His energy opened up and Mel could feel something almost feral blending with his energy. It was similar to Daren’s energy. It puzzled her that Lee was able to hide it a moment ago. “She used to never give me the time of day. I had to do a lot to impress her. I got into fights to prove my strength. I picked up heavy things and even tried to write poetry. Heck, I would have stood on my head if I thought that was going to win her over! She didn’t give me two glances because that was how she was raised. Her father was a b-” He blinked. His energy closed back up. The wildness left and there was only the warmth she was already accustomed to from him.
Mel felt Lee’s energy pull away from her. Mel made him nervous. She wasn’t astounded by his reaction. She had a habit of causing people to share more than they planned. Her manner naturally eased the coldest and quietest of people. Sometimes, after the person opened up, they would become more distant. Some people would even get angry and resent Mel. Mel understood that some people didn’t like divulging personal information because they felt it showed their vulnerabilities. Mel was the same way. She didn’t like opening up to people.
Though, he shouldn’t feel bad if he was calling her dad a bastard. I don’t know the guy, so maybe he is, Mel thought.
“Anyway, I better let you get unpacked instead of talking your ear off about how us old folks used to get our gals,” Lee said hurriedly.
They went upstairs to the second floor. “There’s the bathroom,” Lee said. He kept moving before Mel had a chance to look inside. He wanted to get away from her before he said anything else personal accidentally.
Mel remembered the website had mentioned a communal bathroom. When Mel asked about the communal bathroom, Lee said; “Some people aren’t comfortable with sharing a bathroom. So, we put it on the website to deter those people. We could have added bathrooms, but we didn’t want to disrupt the integrity of the house.”