* * *
Ophelia was in a foul mood when they got to the French teacher’s house. “You’re late,” she said, throwing her backpack into the car and flinging herself after it so hard the Beemer rocked.
“Sorry, honey,” Brad said. “But guess what? You’re going to get a special dress made for the wedding! Mommy wants you to be her flower girl!”
“She’s not my mommy,” Ophelia snarled. “And I’m too old to be a flower girl.”
“Junior bridesmaid, then,” Melissa said. “It’ll be fun, you’ll see.” It was lucky that Ophelia was on the short side. Little kids were cuter in weddings, but they could steal the show, too. Ophelia would not. She’d have to tell Hannah to book a trial run for straightening Phee’s hair, too. （She’d started calling her niece Phee since they’d moved to Wellfleet, feeling slightly closer to the girl in the new house.）
They pulled up to the pillared driveway of Stella Maris, and it was still a thrill. “Home, sweet home!” Brad said, and Melissa laughed. Tonight would be wonderful. She’d hired a cook, now that she didn’t have to earn her keep as she had with Dennis, and Chef Paul had prepared coq au vin and roasted baby brussels sprouts with diced prosciutto （she chose the meals each week, and Paul did all the work）。 Melissa would get a lovely pinot noir from the wine cellar—Bradley needed to drink more than just malbec. They could have a glass while sitting on the deck, watching the sunset. So relaxing. So elegant. So enviable.
“Something smells weird,” Ophelia said as they went in. “I hope it’s not dinner.”
It was a smell Melissa knew far too well. Skunk. Her father used to shoot them for fun when he was drunk. Even when they didn’t spray, they smelled. Apparently, they were plentiful here on the Cape. She’d have to make sure Hannah took steps to keep them away on the wedding day.
“There’s a skunk somewhere outside, Bradley, honey.” She made wide, pleading eyes at him. “Do something.”
“No worries, babe,” he said. “Do we have any mothballs? The smell will make them leave.”
“I have no idea,” she said. “Let me text Lucia and see.”
She went into the house, hands on her phone, and texted the housekeeper. Do we have mothballs? We need to chase a skunk away. She glanced around. “Gosh, it’s worse in here. It must’ve walked right under the window.” Or it might be under the deck. Shoot!
So much for sex followed by a nice evening sitting outside. Dang it! That was her favorite part of the day. Fine. They’d sit in the living room. Maybe she’d turn on the gas fire and send Ophelia to bed early （not that the child liked spending time with them）。
Melissa went into the living room, where Ophelia was standing by the grand piano. Since Phee had dropped violin, Melissa was trying piano lessons. “Are you finally going to practice, Ophelia? That’d be a nice change. I would’ve loved piano lessons when I was your age. It makes an impression, knowing about music. It’s very classy. You’ve already given up on the violin, but—”
“Shut up and don’t move,” Ophelia said.
“Ophelia! Don’t talk to me like that, you—”
“There’s a skunk under the piano.”
Melissa froze. No. Not in her perfect house! “What should we do?” she whispered.
“I dunno. It’s pretty cute, though.” Ophelia glanced over her shoulder at Melissa. “Where’s Teeny?”
Oh, God! Teeny, the Chihuahua Melissa had bought Ophelia just a few weeks ago. What if the skunk sprayed the sweet little dog? What if it got into a fight with her and killed poor Teeny? Wait. No. Teeny was closed in Ophelia’s bedroom, because she tended to piddle when left alone （and Melissa sure as heck didn’t want the dog piddling anywhere else in the house）。
Ophelia reached out toward the skunk.
“Don’t touch it!” Melissa hissed.
“I think it’s a baby.”
Melissa inched over to Ophelia, making sure to stay behind her. It was not a baby. It was, in fact, as big as a large cat. “It’s a rodent,” she whispered. It was blinking at them both, tail down, looking a little surprised to be inside. Its claws were unpleasantly long. “Go to your room, Phee. It might bite you.”
“Melissa. It won’t bite me. At worst, it’ll spray the room, so don’t scare it. Besides, I like animals. Hi, honey.” She squatted down. “Hi, baby skunk.”