A spike of something both pleasant and unpleasant had me shaking my head to clear it. “About shoveling snow?”
“About all manner of things. She wants to do her own laundry. She cleans her own room, vacuums and dusts, even. She likes to stop by the store in town before coming up here, every time, and usually eats only what she brings. Drives Lila bonkers.”
“You mean she’s picky.”
“Nope. No. Not that. Not that at all. She doesn’t want to be a bother. Between you and me and this snow here, I like Leo a lot. The parents, I could take or leave, and Lisa hasn’t been here in ages, she was a sweet kid when I knew her. But Mona is my favorite.”
“Because she doesn’t want to be a bother?” I decided Melvin talked too much, and one day his gossiping was going to get him in trouble.
“No. Because she goes out of her way to treat us like people instead of servants. Now, I know, I know.” He paused shoveling to make a waving motion with his hand. “We work for them, we’re their employees. But Mona checks in before she comes to make sure the dates work for us, since we live here and all. Who else does that? No one. We didn’t even know Leo was coming until you people arrived. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but there’s definitely a difference. As an example, one time Lila was sick, so Mona canceled her trip and sent a care package instead.” Melvin pushed his shovel forward, resuming his work. “They’re all nice people, but Mona is a different kind of nice. You know Mona?”
I was listening so intently, I almost didn’t catch his question. It took me several seconds to figure out how I wanted to respond to it, and a few more before I trusted my voice to sound disinterested.
“She seems like she’d be judgmental.”
“What?” He scrutinized me, sounding confused. “Mona?”
“Yeah. Isn’t she supposed to be a genius?”
“Is she? You mean because of going to that Ivy League school when she was little?” Melvin laughed. “I guess that makes me a genius too. Because I beat her at poker every time we play. Or maybe she’s just bad at bluffing.”
I didn’t respond, clamping my jaw together, taking my frustration out on the pile of snow instead.
“No, Mona isn’t judgmental. She’s a little quiet, but I think that’s because she’s . . . well, she’s shy.”
“Shy?” I asked without meaning to, and then snapped my mouth shut.
“Yeah. Shy. She never did have friends. Lisa was always bringing friends here, kids from those boarding schools she went to, and Mona would play by herself, mostly here, in the funicular, reading books. Leo would also bring friends, he still does.” Melvin lifted his chin toward me. “That’s why I was surprised to see all you guys when you arrived, since Mona was coming.”
I found I needed to clear my throat before asking, “She’s always alone?”
He nodded. “Yep. Always alone. Every time she comes, and she comes up here a lot. Which is why we take pity on her and play poker, or Scrabble. She also likes Trivial Pursuit—the one from the eighties, when USSR was still a country—but we just read the cards back and forth to see who knows the most answers. She tried to get us to play this new thing called Punderdome or Punundrum, but it needs an even number of people.”
Punderdome? That sounds—
I interrupted the rhythm of my thoughts. Gripping the shovel tighter at the realization we’d just spent the last ten minutes talking about the one person I least wanted to talk about, I shook my head, scowling at the snow.
Stop asking about her.