Burton: Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides #14 (Intergalactic Dating Agency) Page 4

  “I love it too,” Tansy murmured.

  “It’s harder these days though,” Dolly said quietly. “There’s online grocery delivery, and farmer’s markets in town to keep up with or lose business to. And with Martin’s Bounty being a tourist farm you’re competing with television and Atari games to boot.”

  “I’m having a hard time seeing how the numbers can crunch,” Sage admitted.

  Tansy bit her lip.

  “I would love nothing more than to see more women farmers succeed in Stargazer,” Dolly said carefully. “Your grandmother and I were always allies and I’d love to have you girls stay on. But if this is too much for you, you do have options.”

  “No,” Tansy said.

  “What options?” Sage asked at the same time.

  Dolly buttoned her lips and dug around in her handbag. After a moment she pulled something out.

  It was a document of some kind. She unfurled it to show it to Sage.

  Burton noticed a round stamp mark and a set of signatures at the bottom.

  “Right after your grandfather died, your grandmother had two dry seasons in a row,” Dolly said. “Things were bad for her, really bad, and I was afraid she would sell the place.”

  “What is this?” Tansy asked.

  “It’s a right-of-first refusal,” Dolly said. “I knew your grandmother was too proud to accept my help. And I didn’t want her to sell this beautiful farm. I offered to buy a right-of-first-refusal from her.”

  “What’s a right-of-first-refusal?” Tansy asked.

  “It’s this document right here,” Dolly explained. “It states that if the farm is ever sold, I have the first right to buy it.”

  Sage read it over Dolly’s shoulder.

  “I paid her enough for this to wipe out her debt and keep the place going another season,” Dolly said. “She managed to hold onto the farm, which I know brought her joy. And it has been peace of mind for me ever since to know that if the place were ever sold I’d be first in line to buy it.”

  “How much would you pay?” Sage asked.

  “Oh, that’s this figure here,” Dolly replied, tapping a spot on the page. “It would be that figure plus average appreciation for the county in the years that have passed, as determined by a professional appraiser - in this case the one over at the Stargazer Town Bank.”

  Sage’s eyebrows went up slightly. She seemed impressed. Tansy, not so much.

  “It’s a bit more than market value in this economy, but this was never about business for me,” Dolly said. “It was about holding onto the land. I could have those funds ready for you today if you girls wanted to sell.”

  “The farm isn’t for sale,” Tansy said matter-of-factly.

  Tansy had paid no attention to the paper or to Sage’s questions.

  “You’re a girl after my own heart,” Dolly chuckled, hoisting herself off the sofa and stuffing the paper back into her handbag. “You let me know if you change your minds, and of course if there’s anything else I can do to help.”

  “Thank you, Dolly,” Tansy replied. “Let me walk you home.”

  The two exited the farmhouse.

  Burton watched after them, wondering what the interaction he’d just witnessed meant for his mate and her sister. The older woman had offered them what she framed as peace of mind, but Tansy’s mind had seemed anything but peaceful.

  7

  Tansy

  Tansy’s worry was quickly turning to despair.

  Though she had gotten Dolly Strickland out of the house with that awful document as quickly as possible, she couldn’t help but notice the light in Sage’s eyes when she had looked at the numbers.

  Tansy’s window to save the farm was narrowing faster and faster. She had to do something before it was too late.

  She returned to the farmhouse to see Burton staring out the window, apparently lost in thought. His handsome face was strangely dreamy.

  Cleo sat on the window seat beside him, the same look on her feline face. Cute.

  “Hey, big guy,” she said. “Want to help me investigate?”

  He blinked twice and then looked down at her.

  “Yes,” he said. “What are we investigating?”

  “You’re all in, aren’t you?” she mused.

  “What does that mean?” Burton asked, looking at the door as if considering his idea of what it meant to be in.

  “Never mind,” she said. “We’re going to investigate our missing bees.”

  “This is a good plan,” he replied.

  They headed out the door and Cleo trotted after them.

  Everything was wrong. Tansy was out of money, out of time, she hadn’t even eaten breakfast.

  But somehow things seemed bright anyway. The birds sang over the farm, the scent of the peach blossoms carried down the hillside.

  And if she were honest with herself, the best part of the setting was the man beside her. His big, steady presence made her feel as if everything would be fine, better than fine. Even her cat liked him.

  “Why are you smiling?” he asked.

  She felt her cheeks grow warm.

  “It’s nice out here, isn’t it?” she asked instead of answering.

  “This planet is colorful,” Burton replied. “The sounds and smells alone would be enough to fill volumes.”

  “What’s it like on Aerie?” Tansy asked.

  “Aerie has a dry climate,” he said. “There’s just the sand and the crags. And the stars are so close. Compared to Earth it would feel as if someone had taken a picture of you with the light on, do you know what I mean?”

  “Oh, a flash,” Tansy said. “Like taking a picture with a flash?”

  “Yes, like that,” Burton said. “And there is contrast between the dark sky, the bright starlight and the dark sand. This planet is softer. Everything here is in shades of color and light.”

  They had nearly reached the orchard. Tansy slowed her pace.

  “Okay, now we need to really look,” she said. “And if you see something unusual, try not to touch it.”

  “What are we looking for?” Burton asked.

  “Clues,” Tansy said, realizing how vague that was as she said it. Her only experience in crime investigation was from watching TV shows and reading Grandma Helen’s old Agatha Christie books.

  “Won’t the police search for clues?” Burton asked.

  “Sage called the police the minute we realized the bees were gone, and they still haven’t come,” Tansy said. “I don’t know how seriously they will take this when they get here. If we want to recover the bees quickly, we’re going to have to do this ourselves.”

  “I will look for anything unusual,” Burton agreed.

  Tansy went to the spot where Bee Our Guest had deposited the crate last night. There was still a slight indentation in the ground, more marked in two corners, where it had sat.

  She studied the soil, wondering if the box had been tipped.

  She straightened and stood back to look at the surrounding area.

  Burton was standing a few feet away, wearing the same dreamy expression he’d had back at the farm house.

  Suddenly he blinked and then strode purposefully over to where Cleo was sniffing around in the grass.

  “Tansy,” he said. “Cleo found something unusual.”

  A small cartridge that looked almost like an iridescent purple ink pen was half hidden in a tuft of grass.

  Tansy pulled a tissue out of her pocket and used it to pick the thing up.

  Something was written on the side:

  Cali-vanilla Dreaming

  “What is it?” Burton asked.

  “It’s a vape pen,” Tansy said. “People… smoke them. Like a cigarette, but it’s not really smoke since it’s not burning anything, just water vapor.”

  “I see,” Burton said, sounding like he didn’t see.

  Tansy felt instant sympathy for how new everything must be to him.

  “Does anyone on the farm smoke vapor?” he asked.

>   “No,” Tansy said. “And this looks clean, it was probably dropped here recently. It is an excellent clue.”

  Burton smiled proudly and then knelt to pat Cleo on the head.

  “Good work, Cleo,” he told the cat as she wound herself between his ankles in feline ecstasy.

  Tansy smiled at the two of them. Cleo wasn’t the friendliest cat. It was nice to see her take a shine to the big alien.

  She scanned the ground again and noticed marks in the soil leading down the hill toward the roadway.

  She followed them, slowly at first and then faster as she saw where they were leading.

  At the bottom of the hill, close to the street, a stand of bushes flanked each side of the Martin’s Bounty sign.

  Beside one there were obvious tire tracks in the moist soil.

  “A vehicle was here,” Burton voiced Tansy’s thought.

  “Not just any vehicle,” Tansy said, crouching to study the dirt.

  The big front tire tracks looked like they could belong to any local farmer’s pick-up.

  But the rear dually tracks could only belong to one truck in Stargazer.

  “Gretchen Peterson,” Tansy said. “These are from Gretchen’s truck.”

  8

  Burton

  Burton followed Tansy through the darkness. He felt like a spy in a movie, and also like a farmer.

  Tansy had given him a black t-shirt and a pair of loose black sweat pants that had once belonged to Grandpa Max. The clothes still carried the faint scents of aftershave and fresh hay in equal parts. Burton felt that he knew Grandpa Max a little, now that he was wearing his pants.

  They waited until the sun set, then managed to sneak off the farm and across the road without arousing suspicion from anyone but Cleo.

  The fluffy cat followed them at a distance, darting around trees and stalking the hedge lines. Tansy said she was curious, but Burton sensed a certain air of authority about the little creature. Unlike Burton and Tansy, Cleo was not wearing any disguise. Her dark striped fur was already an excellent camouflage.

  The Petersons’ farmhouse wasn’t at all like the one at Martin’s Bounty. Tansy and Sage’s house was covered in old-fashioned lumpy stucco with a roof that overhung the walls by a foot, curlicue woodwork and green shutters with metal holders. The Martins swept their porch every morning and bright flowers on a delicate green vine grew up its columns.

  The Petersons’ house, on the other hand, was a squat rectangle that looked like it had been made of children’s blocks left out in the sun to fade. Trash cans lined the front of the house, some upright, some rolling in the muddy front lawn which led back past a paint-flecked barn and into the corn fields.

  The pulsing blue light of a television illuminated one of the windows.

  Tansy motioned for him to follow her toward the barn in back.

  “I thought they weren’t at home,” Burton whispered when he caught up to her.

  “They probably just left the TV on,” Tansy said. “They never miss ’80s Karaoke Night at Klingon’s in town. Worst case, they left Granny Peterson home. She can’t hear much anyway.”

  Burton didn’t know what a lot of those words meant, but he trusted Tansy when she said everything was okay.

  He was prepared to protect her with his life, although he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  Clouds had been forming all afternoon and the night was oppressively humid. Something in the air made the hairs on his arms lift up a little.

  Tansy fiddled with the metal bar across the barn doors.

  Suddenly the sky lit up like Aerie.

  A moment later there was a terrible crash of thunder.

  Tansy took advantage of the sound to give the bar a good shove. It popped out of place with a slight bang that was covered by the thunder.

  She slid it aside and pushed open the barn door slowly.

  Cleo darted between their legs into the vast darkness.

  Though Dr. Bhimani had cautioned the men not to use their gifts in front of anyone, Burton closed his eyes and allowed himself just a glimpse.

  It took a moment to adjust to Cleo’s difference in height.

  Through the cat’s clever eyes, the barn’s interior held the same faded colors in darkness that it would have during the day.

  Burton could make out a large vehicle. Behind it, on the floor of the barn, was something about the right size, covered in a tarp.

  Before Burton could get excited about it, the whole scene panned.

  Cleo was making a quick retreat out of the barn. The little animal didn’t like the feeling of being in a confined space that wasn’t her home.

  Burton blinked and brought himself back into his own head.

  “Are you okay?” Tansy asked.

  “Yes, just trying to get used to the dark,” he whispered back.

  He longed to share his gift with his beautiful mate, but Dr. Bhimani had been very clear on that point. He couldn’t risk revealing his hidden talents and making himself appear anything but human. She’d explained to him and his brothers that the women of Earth might be frightened or repulsed by such a display. And the last thing he wanted to do was risk his blossoming relationship with Tansy.

  “Here,” she said, lifting her phone. It gave off a soft glow, just enough to see a few paces ahead.

  He led the way in the direction of the thing under the tarp.

  Tansy followed at his elbow, phone extended before her.

  “Oh,” she whispered as soon as they were close enough for her to see the tarp-covered crate.

  “Is that it?” Burton asked.

  “Looks like it,” Tansy whispered, handing him the phone.

  He held it out for her.

  Tansy lifted the canvas slowly, then sighed.

  Burton leaned in to see that the canvas covered an old wooden dresser.

  “This is from our farm. We put it out for big trash when we were cleaning out the old guest room,” Tansy whispered. “Gretchen’s mom must have sent her over to pick it up.”

  “That’s why Gretchen’s tire tracks were on your property,” Burton mused.

  “This was a mistake,” Tansy said. “We need to leave right away.”

  She straightened up and was flicking the tarp back over the dresser when Burton heard a noise outside.

  He moved to the doorway as silently as he could.

  Someone was coming - he could hear faint voices outside.

  He moved back to alert Tansy and nearly crashed into her.

  “Someone’s coming,” he whispered.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she whispered back.

  They moved quickly through the darkened space. Their eyes had become accustomed to the moonlight pouring in the open barn door, and Tansy didn’t need the light of her phone this time.

  “—can’t believe they closed for cleaning on Karaoke Night,” a female voice said from outside. “Hey! The barn doors are open.”

  Burton and Tansy reached the threshold.

  “Move,” Tansy whispered, giving him a nudge.

  He slipped out into the rain and Tansy followed. They made it just off the driveway when they heard the second voice.

  “Who’s there?” a rusty male voice shouted. “You’re trespassing on my property.”

  There was a clicking sound that Burton recognized from the western style movies when a cowboy prepared his gun to shoot.

  “Don’t worry, Clem,” the first voice said. “Otis has ‘em cornered.”

  There was a third person out there somewhere.

  Tansy slipped her hand into Burton’s and he held it tightly.

  He looked around, but the driving rain made it too hard to see much of anything.

  Cleo.

  He thought of the cat and closed his eyes.

  Instantly he was watching the whole scene from underneath a car on the driveway.

  A tall thin man held out a weapon.

  A woman stood beside him, hands on her hips.

  And in the foliage just
off the driveway, a very large man was moving toward Burton and Tansy, cutting them off from the road.

  Burton blinked back to himself and tightened his grip on Tansy’s hand.

  “Follow my lead,” he whispered.

  He pulled her toward the cornfield.

  When she realized where he was headed, she resisted, tugging back toward the street.

  “Trust me,” he breathed.

  She relented and they flew between the rows of stalks.

  “They’re in the cornfield,” the woman’s voice shouted.

  She must have seen the stalks moving.

  Burton wondered if they could move any faster. Tansy was strong but her legs were not as long as his. Still, he thought they must have been putting some distance between them and their pursuers.

  Just then, Tansy slipped on the sodden ground.

  He held fast to her hand, pulling her up.

  A strangled moan escaped her buttoned lips.

  “Tansy,” he whispered.

  “I twisted my ankle,” she whispered.

  “May I carry you?” he asked.

  She looked torn for a moment, then nodded.

  He swept her into his arms. Despite knowing they were running for their lives, the sweet scent of her hair and the satisfying weight of her left him feeling intoxicated. She was not soft and willowy like the other women he knew. Tansy was strong and solid. She felt good.

  Once he could go at his own pace, Burton was quickly outstripping their pursuers. But he knew he could not outrun the ammunition in the other man’s weapon.

  His mate was in danger.

  His heart pounded like the frost drive in the 8-7 engine back on Aerie.

  He wound his way out of the cornfield, relying on his internal compass to put him back on the roadway between the two farms.

  When he burst out of the wall of produce and saw Martin’s Bounty before him he sighed with relief.

  Holding Tansy close, he crossed the street and jogged up the hillside.

  When the foliage beside the sign hid them, he dared to turn around.

  The rain had slowed enough to let him make out the rustling among the cornstalks across the street.

  “They all went into the field,” Tansy said, looking up from his shoulder. “If one of them had stayed out, they would have found us easily.”