Secrets of Ugly Creek (9 page)

“Even you?” I admit I was surprised by this. I’d have thought she’d have enough psychic energy to boost that ship off without any help.

She chuckled. “I don’t have more energy than anyone else. I’ve just learned to channel that energy better.”

I was contemplating that when Aunt Octavia announced she needed to go home and prepare. Soon Liza also left, and Mom went off to her painting. Left alone, I went up to my childhood bedroom and spent some time putting the finishing touches on my article on Mac and his documentary.

I was almost finished when my phone chirped. My boss. “Hello, sir.”

“Can you give me one good reason for you to stay any longer?” Mr. Grainger’s voice, even through the phone, could make people fear for their lives.

“Sir, I believe there are things still to be learned.”

“I’m sure there are, but I don’t want to pay you—and a photographer—to find out. Unless you have evidence McFain is hiding a body down there, you need to get yourself back to DC.”

It was tempting. Getting away from that pain in the ass man, leaving behind the talking dog, letting somebody else take care of the non-humans. I knew I couldn’t do that. “You remember this is my hometown, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Could I take some vacation time and stay here a little longer? Please?”

“Oh, good grief.” He sighed. “You do have the hours banked. But Haven has to come home.”

“Not a problem.”

We hung up, and I headed down to dinner. I wasn’t hungry, though. Mr. Grainger had just put the moldy cherry on my sour dessert day. I trudged downstairs feeling confused, frustrated, and seriously irritated.

We were enjoying a nice, nerve-soothing meal of homemade vegetable soup, when a knock at the front door ended our serenity. “Are you expecting anyone?” Mom asked.

“No.” Please, God, don’t let it be Mac.

“Hmm, maybe it’s Henry.”

I waited at the table in case she was right. Then I heard an irritatingly familiar voice and charged toward the foyer.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Clark,” the medium-height, blond man said.

“Nice to meet you too, Greg.”

There he was, Gregory Allen Starling, III. The man I’d told to go to hell just six weeks before. “Greg?”

His smile was million-dollar, probably literally—I’d seen his elementary school pictures. “Hello, my sweet Madison.”

I didn’t smile back. “What are you doing here?”

The smile didn’t waver. “What a way to treat a man you’re crazy about.”

More like a man who made me crazy. “I’m surprised to see you.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “I missed you, princess. And I wanted to apologize for being so inconsiderate.”

He was sucking me in. Like a proverbial moth to that damn flame, I was flying toward destruction. Then I remembered. “By inconsiderate, you mean kissing Penny Montage, right?”

He looked down-right pitiful. “That meant nothing, my sweet. Just a greeting between two old friends.”

“I’m going to start cleaning up.” Mom turned toward the kitchen.

“Please don’t leave on my behalf, Mrs. Clark. I’d love to talk to you about your art.”

Mom gave his arm a little squeeze. “Save it, Greg.”

“Have a seat.” I waved him into the living room.

He lowered his lanky body onto the couch and patted the seat beside him.

Instead, I sat in a chair and faced him. “Wanna explain?”

“I came to see you, to speak to you away from the craziness of DC.”

I didn’t want to ask, I was afraid of what his answer would be. Still, I had to know. “Why?”

“Because I care about you.”

Those blue eyes of his mesmerized me. I wanted to believe him. I always did. And the reality is, he’s the man I should be lusting after. Greg was nice, rich, successful. So we had our ups and downs. So he’d kissed another woman. We didn’t have an exclusive relationship. Not really.

He put his hands on his knees and leaned toward me. “I’ll bet you’re bored out of your mind out here in redneck-central.”

My breathing rate doubled as I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not really.”

He stood and put his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll bet you can’t wait to get back to civilization. It shouldn’t take you much longer to get the info you need, and I’ll throw you a welcome home party. It’ll be a blast.”

I should be happy. He was being nice. “Thank you.”

Then he kissed me and…nothing.

All I could think about was Mac’s kiss. How it made me feel like I was burning from the inside out. How he made my heart beat so hard it hurt. How I never wanted him to stop.

What the bloody hell was wrong with me?

Greg pulled back, smiling and apparently unaware of my errant thoughts. “We belong together, Madison.”

Oh no, not now. “I, um, we talked about this. I’m not ready to settle down.”

He took my hands in his, and the warm feel of them should have affected me. It didn’t. “Give me a chance, Madison. Let me prove to you that we are meant for each other.”

I started to speak, but he put a finger on my lips. “Don’t. Not now. Let me show you, please?”

I sighed. “Fine, but no promises.”

“Thank you. You won’t regret this, I promise.”

Personally, I wasn’t so sure.

He kissed me gently, then let go of my hands. “I’m staying at the Hilton up toward Knoxville. There was really nothing closer.”

“The film crew has everything booked.”

“There isn’t a lot anyway.” The frown had me tamping down a desire to forcefully defend my little hometown. It was better to just leave it alone, I decided.

“If you need me, or just want to talk, call me.” The million-dollar smile was back.

I nodded, and he walked out the door. The relief I felt did nothing to calm my chaotic thoughts.

“That Greg is a handsome young man.”

I turned toward my mom. “Yes, he is.”

“But not who you need in your life?”

I sighed and moved into my mother’s arms. “Apparently not.”

“Don’t settle for less than the very best.”

I looked into her wise eyes. My mom’s awesome at giving great advice. “He’s handsome and rich and successful. He says he loves me, Mom.”

“But you don’t love him.”

“No. But he is exactly what I want in a man.” Exactly the kind of guy my dad would have picked for me.

She smiled as she brushed a stray strand of hair back from my face. “Your mind might think he’s great, but if your heart doesn’t agree, you need to wait until your heart says you’ve found the right one.”

“How do you know when it’s the right one?”

“You’ll know,” she said. “Let’s go have dessert.”

I went to sleep thinking about what she said and dreamed all night about Gibson McFain. Obviously, eating pie before bed was a bad idea.

****

The next morning dawned clear and warm. A good thing since Mom, Liza, Aunt Octavia, and I met behind the soon-to-be railroad museum before the sun was completely up. “This is so exciting!” Aunt Octavia seemed to vibrate with energy.

I gripped my travel coffee mug and focused on staying awake as we trudged into the woods behind the museum. We hadn’t gone far when a familiar little gray figure stepped into our view. Presumably this was the same creature who had spoken with us the day before, but you couldn’t prove it by me. All I knew was that the little fellow looked like all those science fiction movies with the gray aliens. He, or she, seemed to be unclothed, and had no markings or indications of gender.

The alien motioned to us, then turned and headed deeper into the woods. It took me a minute to realize it, but he, or she, wasn’t wearing shoes. Dang, I was having a hard enough time in my Nikes. At least I’d had enough sense to leave my heels in the car.

Before long we came to a clearing. There, taking up most of the space, was a huge spaceship. At least I assumed that was what it was, since the last time I’d seen it, it had been in flight. Yeah I know, when you assume you make an ass of you and me. Okay, let’s just say my best guess was spaceship.

“I can feel the energy coming off of it.” Aunt Octavia stood near the ship, hands up and facing it. “Amazing!” she whispered.

I can’t say I felt any energy, but it was an awesome sight. Huge, saucer shape, markings I couldn’t begin to identify. Incredible!

More of the little gray creatures appeared, and soon human and alien alternated in a rough semi-circle with the open end at the ship. The aliens began an odd chant, which Aunt Octavia quickly joined in. I couldn’t seem to catch the sounds or the melody, but chanting or not, I soon felt tingling power move through me.

The next few minutes was the most incredible I’ve ever experienced. The sound that I both heard and felt vibrating through my body tingled and left me breathless. It was a sensual, almost sexual experience—which I know sounds weird, but it was. I swear. The energy peaked and suddenly the ship began to wobble and emit its own, similar yet somehow different, sound.

Everybody cheered in their own way, and hands dropped.

“Thank you,” the original alien said. I know it was him, or her, because her eyes were just slightly larger and had a bit of a curve at the outside corners. Kind of like he, or she, was perpetually smiling.

We all said thank you and goodbye. I shook the alien’s hand—gently—and told him, her, I hoped I saw him, or her, again. Did they even have genders? I promised myself I’d find out one day. Right now, I had to rush to catch up with Aunt Octavia and Mom, who were heading out rapidly. Liza was a little ahead of me, but she slowed down until I caught her. “How come the older two have more get-up-and-go than us?” she asked.

“Beats me,” I gasped, “but I may have to take up jogging.”

“Not me,” Liza said. “I’ll keep my knees intact, thank you.”

“Excellent point.”

We hurried in silence until we got back to the coming museum’s unfinished parking lot. Mom and Aunt Octavia took off in Mom’s car, and Liza and I stood for a minute beside our side-by-side vehicles. “Liza, are you angry with me?”

She blinked and made a face. “Do I look angry?”

“No, but I know Steve is mad at me.”

“He’s not mad, he’s just worried that contacting the non-humans like you did could upset the delicate balance between our kind and theirs. Especially since it was the faeries you picked to talk to. They’re an odd lot.”

“I just wanted to help.”

“I know, and so does Steve. He had to jump your case, but he’s still your friend. I wouldn’t worry.” She touched my arm. “For what it’s worth, I understand why you did what you did. Just don’t do it again.”

Her attempt at a chastising expression almost had me grinning, but I knew better than to push her too hard. “I’ll try to be good.”

“You do that, Maddie. Now I have to go to work.”

She got in her car, and I got in mine. I might not have work to do, exactly, but there were things I still wanted to investigate.

****

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the county courthouse, which is conveniently located in the middle of downtown Ugly Creek. Once a bustling little town, today most of our stores were located in outlying areas. Still, there’d been a resurgence of businesses in town, and I was glad. The beautiful little streets might not be very wide, but they were filled with history.

Mac was busy directing his small crew. I probably should have left him alone to do his thing, but I didn’t get where I am by ignoring people. I edged toward him, and waited until he had a moment alone to get close to him.

“Really stealthy, filming in the middle of town.”

He smiled at me, and my heart stuttered. “That’s the plan. It should be hard to attack us out here in the middle of everything.”

“Smart.”

“Thank you.”

I held up my phone, with the text from him telling me the shoot was at the courthouse. “And how did you get my phone number?”

He grinned, and double dimples appeared on each side of his mouth. “You have your sources, I have mine,” he said.

Yeah, I should have been mad, or at least highly irritated. What I did was smile back and go find my folding cloth chair so I could watch the filming.

Did I mention
double
dimples? Sigh.

The first couple of hours I sat back in my chair and enjoyed the fresh autumn air. This was my hometown at its best. I didn’t miss the craziness of DC at all.

That scared me. A lot.

“So this is how you make a living.”

I shrugged and took a left turn around the truth. “Is there something wrong with my job?”

Greg opened a black portable cloth chair and sat beside me. “Just doesn’t seem like hard work. I was a little jealous for a minute.”

I gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “That’s because we’re here in Ugly Creek. If we were back in DC I’d be struggling to find time to pee.”

One eyebrow shot up. “A bit crass, but I get your point.”

“Greg.” I swallowed back the trepidation. “You really like DC. I grew up here, and I love Ugly Creek.”