Melinda's New Suitor

by Jesseca Dawn

I thought I would take a little time to write about Melinda's latest suitor.  I had hoped she would stay away from boys for a while after what happened with Jeffery Sullivan, but of course I got no such luck. 

Just two weeks later Melinda seemed to forget all about Jeffery Sullivan when Justin's new law clerk, David, came to town. You see, Tim had taken a vacation for a couple weeks and Justin needed someone to replace him while he was gone. He had met David in San Francisco when he had gone to school there and they had kept in contact. I guess David was pretty taken with Melinda, because right away he asked if he could court her, and the answer had been yes.

Well, one day when he was planning to come to our house to see Melinda and take her out for a buggy ride, I decided to test David and see if he was worthy of seeing my sister. I tried and tried to think of a way to do it but I couldn't ever think of something good enough.

Then I had an idea. It was late August and still hot, so he wouldn't mind a dip in the water trough, would he? If David was as nice as Melinda thought he was, he would probably laugh and think it was a good joke, just like Chad and Mitch would. But if he was like Jeffery he would get upset.

There was only one problem. How could I get David to “accidentally”  fall in the water trough?

He's no cowboy, but he's nice!

At this point, I rethought my plan. I mean . . . if Justin approved him, and Justin was a good judge of character, then that should be good enough, right?  But all my brothers had approved of Jeffery, and he proved to be nothing but a double-crossing rat.

No, I had to see for myself.

Instead of having David fall into the water trough, I decided to do what I had done to Mitch while back—pour a pitcher of water on him. There was this huge tree that grew right next to the lane leading up to the ranch. If I could climb that tree and wait until David was driving up our lane, I could easily dunk him then.

I knew I was risking a lot. Melinda would be mad, and Mother and Justin wouldn't be too happy either. I went into the barn, grabbed a bucket, and filled it up at the pump. I was still debating whether or not I should do it when I heard buggy wheels turning into our lane. It was now or never!

I ran as quickly as I could to the tree and climbed up just in time. As David drove slowly under the large, shady branches of the tree, I tipped the bucket over and dunked him right on the head with cold water. Then I shimmied down the tree.

I was about to run off when I felt myself grabbed from behind. Obviously, it hadn't taken David as long as I thought to recover from the shock of the cold water. He picked me up and ran toward the barn and . . . would you believe it? He dunked me in the water trough just as Mitch had done! 

I sat up sputtering from the cold water and looked up into his laughing blue eyes. “Truce!” I yelled as he was about to dunk me again.

He laughed. “That was fun! Nothing like cold water to cool a man off on  a hot day!”

I laughed as well. “Are you here to see Melinda?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I am.”

We walked into the house, and Melinda jumped up when she saw us. “What happened?” she exclaimed. “Are you both okay?”

“We're fine,” David said. “We just had a little fun outside. Isn’t that right, Andi?”

I laughed. “That's right!”

David turned to Melinda. “Are you ready to go?”

“I am, but don’t you want to change first? You could wear some of Justin's clothes.” 

David laughed. “No, it'll keep me cool on our drive. See you later, Andi!  

Thanks for the fun!”

“You’re welcome. I'll be glad to do it again anytime!”

“I might just take you up on that offer,” he replied.

As Melinda went to the closet to get her hat, I walked over to her. “David's really nice. I'm glad he’s courting you and not somebody else.”

Melinda smiled. “Thanks, Andi. I'm glad he is too!”

 

The End