Chapter 9

As they flew down the road, Melody wondered about the things she’d already seen and learned since arriving in this time. Was it even realistic that she could return to 1870 after all this? Could she live under the rules and restrictions of that time after experiencing the freedoms of this one?

While still uncomfortable with the way women’s clothing had changed, and thinking that some items that Sara had chosen for herself were a little too revealing. She did marvel at the freedom of movement that these new underclothing gave her. And while she’d complained about it, she loved the soft and silky feel and bright colors of the things she’d bought to wear.

She didn’t want to think about slipping back into her time and all the extra layers she’d have to wear to be properly clothed and to give up the freedom of working alongside a man, or even more, telling a group of them what to do seemed almost torturous in comparison.

Melody was pulled from her thoughts as Tallis maneuvered his motorcycle into another of those places everyone seemed to leave their vehicles while entering a shop or building. Before them sat a red brick building with enormous glass windows in front and a sort of tent overhang on the side, with tables and chairs under it. It sat beside a lake that had one of the beautiful rolling hills of western Montana behind it.

Once again Tallis stepped off the machine and helped her dismount. Melody knew he realized she didn’t need help, but it was a proper and acceptable way for them to be close to each other. She had already seen that closer physical contact was acceptable between men and women. She was grateful that he’d realized for her it would have been uncomfortable. Melody had seen several men and women with their hands clasped together as they walked. She’d taken his as they headed toward the glass front of the building. He looked at their clasped hands and then at her and smiled.

Her heart raced every time he looked at her. He was so handsome. His acceptance of her just as she was had her saying yet another prayer. One that asked she could not only accept his suit, but accept any proposal of marriage when or if he finally made it. She knew that in the deepest, most secret part of her, she already had accepted what he’d told her twice that day. She was his heart and soul, if not yet in name and body. And she wanted to be fully his, even if it was only for a few months.

They entered the front of the building and delicious smells overpowered her senses and brought her back to the present. “Oh my, what is that wonderful smell?”

Tallis laughed at the tone of her voice. “That, my precious Melody, is the smell of Mama Fazio’s secret recipe tomato gravy.”

A very round, short woman with black hair streaked with silver and olive-colored skin approached them with a big smile on her face. “You give away my secrets again, Signori Ryder?”

His smile widened even more and caused Melody’s breath to catch in her lungs. “How could I, Mama Fazio, when you won’t give me the secret recipe?”

The older woman shook her finger at him. “If I give you the recipe, how would I get you to come back?”

He leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. “I would always come back just to speak to as lovely a lady as yourself, Mama.”

The woman laughed. “You, Signori Ryder, are full of the hot air. I know better, especially when you come to see Mama with such a Bella Donna on your arm.” The woman turned to look at Melody. “You, Bella, must be very special to our young man. Never has he brought a Bella Donna to our place. Only his sorella del bambino.”

Melody looked at Tallis, confused. “She means Sara. My baby sister.”

“This is not a place you take all the women you court?”

“All the women,” The older lady said, “Sengori Ryder has brought no one who is not his family to my place. He says it is a special place just for him. I tell him every time I not stay in business that way.”

Melody looked at Tallis to see the truth of this woman’s words and realized that for once he was the one blushing.

“You have brought no other suitors to this place?”

“Melody, as Mama Fazio told you, this place is special to me. I’ve never had a special woman I wanted to share this place with before now. I told you, you’re mine and soon you’ll understand that I mean it. I want to share every part of my life with you, including this place.”

As Melody blushed, Mama Fazio clapped. “Meraviglioso, now you follow me, I have just the table for a young couple to find Amore. I bring you Mama’s special meal for cena romantica.”

She led them to a table in the corner, looking out over the lake but still indoors. As they sat Tallis asked her to bring them both glasses of sweet tea and she nodded before leaving them. “What did she say about us and food?”

Tallis laughed at Melody’s question. “She said she had a table to help a young couple fall in love and that she would bring us a special meal that would bring romance.”

“Oh!”

As they sat and talked Tallis told her about his life, growing up in New Mexico. Deciding early that he wanted to open a ranch that showed people how his ancestors had lived in the old west. How he’d attended college up the road at the University of Montana. With a portion of his trust fund from the Ryder fortune, he’d helped the Fazio’s reopen their restaurant after a fire, while in school. It was because of that Mama Fazio always kept a table open for him as thanks.

He asked questions about her life and she was more open than she probably should have been with her answers. She made certain not to mention that Reverend Johnson had actually brought her from 1870 into the present. She talked about her community as if it was a closed-off place where outsiders weren’t welcome or encouraged, which was in a way true. He’d never find her family’s ranch or town, no matter how hard he looked.

They were so caught up in learning about each other that it surprised them when Mama approached their table again. “I bring you good things, my bambinos. For the Bella Donna, Chicken Cacciatore and enough to share a bit with your bei signori.”

She winked at Melody before setting a white sauced dish before Tallis. “And for Sengori, Shrimp Alfredo on linguini, again enough to share with the Bella Donna. Not that Spaghetti Bolognese. Blech, there will be no baci accidentali in my restaurant, all baci must be apposta for Amore to bloom.”

Again Melody looked to Tallis to translate for her. He sighed. “She said there would be no accidental kisses in her restaurant, that all kisses must be on purpose for love to bloom.”

Melody’s cheeks burned bright with the heat of her blush. “Surely she doesn’t think I’m the type of woman to allow you to kiss me in a public restaurant, Tallis.”

He laughed as he forked his food toward his mouth. “Melody, a kiss between a couple in public is not considered scandalous. There are times I think you actually lived in the 1800s instead of in a closed community.”