The Dangerous Cure

(Length: 32,000+ words)

She found a cure for cancer. But would they let her use it?

When Melody Donavan confides in a new neighbor about a cure for cancer that will only cost pennies, she doesn’t realize how often he will save her life, nor that she will come to view men differently . . .

Please note some content is slightly erotic.

Chapter ONE

Melody Donavan exited her basement door on a cloudless, Saturday morning and took a slow, deep breath to enjoy the spring air. Smiling contentedly, she casually waded through the ankle high weeds toward the back fence. Looking at the well defined muscles on the man in the yard behind hers as he pruned a rose bush, she wondered what kind of work he did. “Excuse me?” she said after a few seconds had passed.

Mike turned and saw a brunette who didn’t appear to have a speck of makeup on her face. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but she could be classified as pretty. With her hair in a ponytail, she wore a loose fitting shirt and jeans that didn’t show any of her womanly curves, but she appeared to be passable. Married? “Hi.” He casually threw the two-inch cigar butt that had been between his lips to the ground and walked toward the fence. “Just move in? I didn’t know they’d finished the house.”

“Yes to both,” Melody said and smiled at him cordially. “I’m renting the house. Oh, by the way, I’m Melody.”

“I’m Mike.” He extended a hand and gently shook hers. “Do you have a large family?” With four bedrooms in that type of house, she had to have at least two kids.

“Nope,” Melody said as she shook her head. “Just me.” She kicked at some weeds at her feet and sighed. “Wish I did have a few kids. These weeds all have to be pulled out.”

“There used to be a nice lawn under there,” Mike informed her and shook his head disapprovingly. “The contractor just leveled off the extra dirt and rocks and buried it.”

“That’s a shame,” Melody said as she glanced around his yard. There didn’t seem to be a single weed. “Your plants are beautiful. Are you in the landscaping business?” Even though it was only mid-spring, his complexion was already bronze. And his muscles suggested some sort of physical labor.

“No. I’m a building contractor,” Mike said and smiled. “I guess I’m so accustomed to being outdoors that I have to do it when I’m home, too.”

“I’m a professor at the university.” She didn’t want to give him anymore information than that. “Speaking of gardening . . .” Melody began, remembering why she had wanted to meet him. “Can you spare a pot of soil for one of my houseplants?”

“Sure. How big is the pot?”

“I have it right here.” Melody bent over to pick up the flowerpot that was next to the fence. “I was hoping to get the chance to meet you and left it here.”

“No problem. I’ll be right back.” Mike took the eight inch in diameter flowerpot from her and walked toward the front of his garage. “I mixed some compost with peat moss,” he said about two minutes later and handed the pot over the fence.

“Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.” After she rested the flowerpot on the ground, Melody glanced around her yard and sighed. “What do I do with all these weeds after I pull them up? Can I throw them out with the regular garbage?”

“Do what I do.” Mike noticed a strange dullness in her eyes. She appeared to be looking at him, but not really seeing him. Apparently, her mind was elsewhere. “Make a pile in one corner of your yard, add leaves, kitchen scraps, shredded newspapers and anything else that’ll decompose and occasionally turn it for aeration. Then you’ll have some good compost, which is the best fertilizer in the world.”

“That’s a good idea.” Melody leaned her elbows on the top of the fence and arched an eyebrow. “Do you think my yard will ever look as good as yours does?”

“I don’t know why it shouldn’t,” Mike said as he wondered what her shape was like under that baggy clothing. Her face was even a lot prettier than he had first classified it. “It’s really not that much trouble if you keep after it.” Maybe he could even offer a little assistance and hopefully get to know her a little better.

“Well I can try,” Melody said and grunted a laugh. But her eyes were still dull. “Oh. You mentioned that you’re a contractor. Do you know a good plumber? I called two of them within the past week, and they were too busy.”

“What’s the problem?” With the house being new, Mike couldn’t imagine what had gone wrong so soon.

“My toilet,” Melody said and sighed. “The water keeps running into it. I have to keep turning off that little thingy behind the bowl to stop it.” She looked at him hopefully. Maybe he would know someone who could repair it.

Mike shook his head, knowing what the problem was. “It’s just an adjustment in the water closet. The plumber who installed it should have checked that out.”

“Do you know a plumber who can fix it for me?”

“I can fix that for you,” Mike said casually, knowing it would take less than a minute. He had done favors for other neighbors. So why not do one for his new neighbor? “When will it be convenient for you?”

“Now?” Melody smiled broadly for the first time since she had met Mike. She took a few steps back and watched him put a hand on the top of the four-foot-high fence and hop over it with the agility of a teenager.

After he shut the valve, Mike flushed the bowl to drain the water, removed the lid from the water closet and pointed to the back, left corner. “That thing floats up until the water reaches a certain level. It’s just set too high.” He unscrewed a ring, lowered the round, plastic box about two inches and tightened the ring again. “That should do it.”

“Wow! It was that simple, huh?” Melody said. “I guess I’m not that much of a genius after all.”

“We all have our specialties,” Mike said to console her. “What kind of work do you do?” She had said she was a professor, but he didn’t know what she taught.

“Um, In addition to teaching, I’m a scientist,” Melody said hesitantly and realized she shouldn’t have blurted that last part out.

“A scientist?” Mike hadn’t missed the intonation in her voice. “Making a new kind of bomb?”

“No,” Melody said and smiled weakly. “I’m in the medical field.” With him seeming like a nice guy, she wondered just how much to tell him. Someone who was a building contractor probably wouldn’t understand her work.

“Well if you’re working on a new antibiotic, don’t feel the need to give me any free samples. I never use them.” Mike was convinced that the human body had been designed to heal itself, with some occasional help from a few herbs.

“Good for you. I never use them either.” Melody exhaled through rumbling lips. “Those things have been doing enough damage.” She didn’t want to get into a lecture on how they were responsible for helping to develop stronger strains of bacteria and checked herself.

“It’s refreshing to hear someone in the medical field say something like that.” Mike glanced at his wristwatch and realized it was time to get back to his gardens.

“I’m working on a cure for cancer,” Melody said and suddenly wondered why she had said that. Even her closest friends didn’t know that. Perhaps she didn’t want him to leave just yet. “And you shouldn’t be smoking cigars,” she said to change the subject before he could ask any questions.

Mike grunted a laugh and shook his head. “Did you see that small area just behind my house, the section with all those new seedlings?”

“Yes,” Melody said thoughtfully. “Isn’t that a vegetable garden?”

“Yes, it is,” Mike said. “In addition to my tomatoes, cucumbers and cooking herbs, I grow several varieties of hot peppers. Those things can probably even kill cancer cells.”

A mild chill consumed Melody as she thought about what he had just said. Could he be right? She had never thought about that. “Um, would you like a beer? I’d like to talk to you about that.”

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