“I’m always the last one to know anything around here anymore. I can’t even hear it from the horse’s mouth. Instead I have to hear it from the horse’s mother.” Maggie waved her free hand.
“Maggie Ann what are you talking about?”
“You! I’m talking about you!” She walked up and leaned on the counter and smiled mischievously, her voice lowered. “So how’s he in bed?”
“What?” Her mind was scrambling to keep up. Then it hit her. “I haven’t had him in my bed.”
Maggie quirked a disbelieving brow at her. It was true. Ray hadn’t been in her bed, at least in human form.
“Fine. At least tell me what’s going on between the two of you. I haven’t got a phone call or anything. Then your mom calls me this morning asking what I knew about the two of you.” She set Tucker on the counter. He immediately began to reach for the pens and anything else he could get his hands on. Maggie magically produced a toy from her diaper bag/purse and gave to him.
“You know everything in this town gets exaggerated, and I’ve been busy with the shop opening back up and getting ready to do spring planting.” Maggie’s expression said she wasn’t buying it. “Anyway the day before yesterday, Cindy tells me Ray is back in town. That same day he stopped by with an invitation from Mary Beth for dinner. I went to dinner at the Burnett’s. After dinner Ray and I talked a little. Nothing deep. In fact, he started running his mouth. I got mad and left early. Yesterday he came by to try to mend fences and asked to take me out. We ate at Claire’s. We’re having such a good time I invited him in when we got to my house. We watched a little TV and he fell asleep on the couch. End of story.” Why couldn’t she have thought of that when her mom cornered her earlier? And why had she felt the need to lie to her best friend? Maybe because the trust was too unbelievable, even to her own ears.
Maggie reached over and grabbed a pen out of Tucker’s hand before it made it too his mouth. “Well for him just sleeping on the couch you sure have a nice glow about you this morning.” She looked like a teenager, eagerly waiting for the juicy details.
Becky Sue unsuccessfully tried to keep down the blush rising to her cheeks. “Okay, guilty. We might’ve kissed a little.” A little understated considering the fire ring they’d left in their wake.
“I knew it! So are you two a thing now? Is he going to stay here? Are you going to move to Harrison if he goes back?”
“We’re just going to hang out and see where it goes.” She wasn’t ready to admit to Maggie that their relationship was a farce. And after his assignment was over, she didn’t want to have to play the broken hearted girl who got dumped for the city. Even if she did get left with a broken heart, she wouldn’t admit it to anyone because it’d inevitably get back to Ray and to him they were just play acting.
“Yeah, I know how that goes. It goes straight to bed. I can tell you that now. How do you think I ended up with these kids?” Just then she looked over Becky Sue’s shoulder and pointed. “You’re such a liar! You little hussy.” She followed the accusing finger. There sat the child birth and rearing book.
She rolled her eyes. “No, no, no, no. I went to the library this morning for a book and Mrs. Collins heard the same rumors you did and slipped this to me before I realized what she’d done.”
Maggie busted up laughing. “Oh my lord, that’s hilarious. Who knew old Mrs. Collins was so sly.”
“I swear this town is so screwed up.” Becky Sue picked up the offending book and tucked it under the counter before anyone else she knew came in and spotted it.
“Where are your other two by the way?” Becky Sue asked as she halted Tucker’s pen grabbing and tried to change the subject.
“Out in the square playing. Oh, the other thing I was going to ask you before I got distracted was, did you see that strange blue light last night somewhere over near your house?”
“I heard about it, but didn’t see anything.”
“Yeah, that’s right. You were busy watching TV, huh?” She winked.
Just as Becky Sue opened her mouth to answer, the door burst open. Maggie’s other two tow headed kids raced into the shop.
“Mom, I’m bleeding.”
“Levi hit me.”
Levi’s nose was gushing blood. Becky Sue reacted first and grabbed some tissues from under the counter and passed them to Maggie. She tilted his head back and plugged his nose with the tissues.
“I’m going to have to leave and take care of these wild things. Don’t be a stranger and call me. No more leaving me in the dark.” Maggie grabbed Tucker off the counter after rescuing another pen from being eaten and ushered her crew out the door.
Becky Sue smiled as she watched them leave. They were like tiny whirlwinds. They blew in and they blew out just as fast, never stopping to linger. She grabbed a cleaning rag and mopped up the few drops of blood Levi had trailed in.
Once again she returned to her chair and opened the diary. She scanned the next few pages as Winifred detailed the struggles of the town and her internal debate on how to catch her cheating husband. Nothing to point her to how to use her powers though.
Only a couple of tourists came in while she read. The season was early. She wasn’t worried.
“You’re back fast,” Becky Sue greeted Ray as she put the empty food container into her lunch box. He walked up to her and she could smell his freshly showered body. It smelled of earth and spice and maybe a hint of something heady and wild, something untamed and free. She caught herself before she inhaled deeply. His shirt was fitted and tucked into his jeans. She wanted to free it and rub her hands across his chest, down his hips, into his jeans. Stop. Focus. These thoughts were making her too warm in all the wrong places.
“I’m anxious to find out how to use these incredible new powers we have. And I don’t want to be stuck in the body of a house pet again. Have you found anything?”
“Not really. I found out that Winifred Buford, you know the mayor’s wife that burned down their house after catching him with another woman, was in the form of a cockroach when she caught them. Past that, she really hasn’t gone into how to use the Sparker power.”
“Are there any other books that you know of about the Sparkers?”
“Other than what we have here? No.”
“Are you sure we can’t touch and kiss here?” He said closing the distance between them, his hand snaking around her waist to draw her to him. Their bodies touched. Heat filled the last cool places. Her hands instinctively reached out for him, her fingers trailed tiny circles on his back tracing the lines of his muscles.
His mouth was inches from hers. His breath caressed her face like the sighing of a gentle breeze. His blue eyes held her captive. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. She wanted him bad, but not bad enough to let all her hard work go down in flames. “So help me if I see one stray spark, you’re out,” she whispered huskily.
Hungrily his lips came down on her, leaving her breathless. His tongue thrust and parried. He tasted like sunshine and freedom. She pulled into him, craving his every touch. Trying to draw from him the same need she felt.
Bells jangled. She pushed him away, breathless as she was. Three tourists entered, the man who walked in first pretended he hadn’t caught them about to claw each other apart.
“Afternoon. How’re ya’ll today?” Becky Sue greeted cheerily.
They mumbled some semblance of reply.
“I think I better so sit out back on the step.” Ray said in a low voice taking one of the diaries with him.
“Good idea.”
The three tourists walked around the shop, picking up things that struck their interest. Becky Sue tried to tuck her stray hair behind her ears to keep from looking like an untamed hillbilly.
The teenager that was part of the three, picked up Uncle Melvin’s book, read the back, then flipped through the pages. She turned to Becky Sue. “Are any of these stories true?”
“Well the mayor’s wife did burn their house down, whether she was a Spa
rker or not is debatable. But there’s documented proof of the house. Let me ask you this. Do you believe in Bigfoot?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay then you’ll probably enjoy it. There’s some colorful characters in it.”
The girl looked to her mom who was listening to the conversation for approval. She nodded. They looked around a few more minutes before purchasing the book and leaving.
Becky Sue poked her nose out the back door to check on Ray. He wasn’t there. She looked around for a lizard or caterpillar or some other random thing he could’ve accidently changed himself into, but the diary was gone too. Crap. Mrs. Collins was going to nail her to the wall if she misplaced one of them.
She walked back in fuming and bewildered. Where did he go? Why would he take off with something so valuable and not give her notice? Had something happened to him? Had some of the people from the drug ring he was investigating kidnap him, or worse? She was really beginning to worry.
Pacing to the big window at the front of her shop, she spied two men on one of the benches in the park square. One of them was Ray, diary in hand. The other was no one she recognized, which made him a tourist. Even from here she could see the man was good looking. He looked like he spent a lot of time outdoors. Tanned, rangy, dark hair, broad shoulders. Ray pointed towards her shop. The man turned. She ducked out of the window back to her place behind the counter. She didn’t know what Ray was pointing for, but she didn’t want to be caught staring.
Back in the diary, she tried to read, but was too busy wondering what Ray was talking to the tourist about her or her shop to concentrate.
A little bit later, Ray walked in through the front door. He didn’t speak until he got close enough she could hear him whisper. He was tense. “Is there anybody in here?”
“No.”
“I think I just picked up a lead about the drug running.” He relaxed a little, but seemed to be full of nervous energy.
“Oh? That’s good, right?”
“Yeah. I told him my girlfriend was making me read this old diary to find some magic to help in bed. He said he knew a better way to magic rather than an old book. Bam, just like that he tells me how to get in touch with someone to make a purchase. How would you like to go fishing?”
“Fishing?”
Ray grinned. “Fishing.”
Ray left an hour later to get ready for their fishing trip. They were no closer to having an answer on how to use their powers.
**
A Sparker? Who in the hell would’ve thought in a million years that it was a real thing. But how cool was that? If he could just figure out how to harness and use his power he’d be unstoppable. He could climb to the top and barely blink. He just had to figure out how to keep his clothes on… literally.
And damn it, if Becky Sue wasn’t a distraction. He’d already faced the firing squad that was his mother when he’d come home earlier over his staying out all night with her. He’d played it off as falling asleep watching TV on the couch. It wasn’t like he could’ve done a whole lot when he was in cat form anyway. They didn’t need sleepovers either. Just the thought of their pre-sleepover encounter had his blood rushing hot and his cock straining in his jeans. She’d been fiery and wanton. Willing and wet. He’d known they both felt attraction for each other since their rekindling, but what he’d found was beyond what he could’ve hoped for. His attraction for her wasn’t dimming each time he touched her, like it often did with others, instead each time he was near her he almost couldn’t help but touch her, partly for the thrill it gave him, partly to see if she was really real.
He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. He felt bewitched. Open and exposed. He’d always played his cards close to his chest, but with her it was different. She knew him down to his stone cold heart. And now she was melting it.
Frustrated he slammed the door of his truck after he got out and winced. He needed to relax and calm down or he’d explode ruining everything, including his job, Spark or no Spark.
He slipped into the house as quietly as he could. Mary Beth was sitting on the couch in front of the old television.
“Why are you coming into this house so stealthy like?”
“I didn’t realize I was being stealthy.” She gave him a look of disbelief. “Will you be home for dinner tonight?”
“I don’t plan on staying out all night, but don’t hold dinner for me either. I was thinking to go out fishing and don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“What kind of fishing you doing?”
“I was thinking to go over by Ashburn.”
“Oh, that kind of fishing.”
“What kind did you think I was talking about, Mom?”
“Don’t be questioning my motives. Just remember you’re not getting any younger.”
He shook his head and went to his room to hide. If he survived his assignment here, he could survive anything.
**
Ten minutes before her usual shut down time, Becky Sue locked up her shop and walked back over to the library to return her books.
Mrs. Collins was still seated at her desk. One of the town’s old timers was browsing through an aisle of books. Becky Sue set her stack on the desk, the double feature for expectant mothers on top, silently letting Mrs. Collins know she’d been called out.
“Are you sure you don’t want to keep this one a little longer, dearie.” Mrs. Collins held out the offensive book to her.
“Positive. I have no use for it.” She said it loud enough that the other patron would hear so when she left and they talked about her, the woman browsing would hear the answer straight from the horse’s mouth.
“Will you be back tomorrow for the diaries again?”
“No. I read enough. Thank you.”
**
It’d been years since he’d been out here, but nothing had changed. Just like the rest of the town. He pulled into Roy’s Bait and Tackle.
He opened the door to the shop and frowned. Jed Turner was sitting behind the register with a bottle pressed against his lips.
Jed jerked the bottle quickly out of his mouth, somehow managing not to splash himself with the contents.
“Well, well, well if it isn’t Ray Burnett, back from the dead.”
“Hi, Jed. How’s it going? It’s been a while.”
“Sure has. Don’t seem to affect you none though.” Jed sneered while eying him like he’d just taken something from him and was debating how much to fight to get it back.
Once upon a time Jed had been the golden boy. The one all the girls in town fawned and swooned over. He’d basked in the glory and played fast and loose with it all. Ray noted the absence of a wedding ring. No surprise there. Jed had never grown up. In this town there were only 2 reasons to not be married. One was if you’d just divorced, there was an unwritten time frame of supposed bachelorhood, and two was if the town was done with you, including its women, which was no small feat. He’d bet money that Jed fit into the latter category.
“It has, it’s just not as visible as you’d like, but I didn’t come here to talk about how I’m aging. I have my girl coming up soon and plan to do some fishing. Dropped by to pick up some lures and bait.”
“I’ll bet you are. Let me know if you need anything extra to help with your girl. I got just the thing.”
Just then a customer entered. Then another. Business was picking up. Ray looked around the store for a minute to listen, but nothing else suspicious came up.
“I’ll be back later, Jed.” He waved and walked out.
Surely Jed couldn’t be the brains behind the operation. He was too willing, and too drunk, to run an operation. That meant there was a bigger fish out there he had yet to find.
He drove down around the campground, not really sure what he was looking for. Nothing stood out. He parked his truck and grabbed a fishing pole. He needed a reason to be watching people on the water pass by.
The sun was starting to set when he finally reeled in his line. His bucket wa
s empty. Every fish he’d caught, he’d thrown back knowing he didn’t have the time to clean it. Although a fish dinner didn’t sound so bad. Mom could cook fish like nobody else, but now was not the time. He had work to do.
He knew it was too much to ask for a simple, easy, in-your-face solution. On one hand it’d be good to wrap this job up nice and tidy like, but on the other, the more time here meant more time he could spend with Becky Sue. He smiled to himself, threw his gear in his truck, and started meandering back to the bait shop to meet her.
**
It was a twenty minute drive, part curvy highway, part dirt road, to the Ashburn campground. It was known for its fishing mainly, but also canoeing and hiking trails. It was probably the most popular among the tourists.
She parked her pickup in front of Roy’s Bait and Tackle, located next to the campground entrance. Last she’d heard old man Roy had cashed in and turned the business over to his son, Jed. She’d seen Jed last summer. He’d looked like life had chewed him up and spit him back out. It was almost a shame that someone who’d been so good looking and popular in school would end up with the short end of the stick in life. That is if he wasn’t such a sleaze ball. She felt dirty every time she looked at him after their train wreck of a Jr. Prom together.
Ray’s truck was already in the lot, but there was no sign of him. Becky Sue was in no hurry to rush inside and find him either. After a short debate on whether to go in or not, she convinced herself it wasn’t a big deal.
“Well, well, well, if it ain’t the little sweetheart herself. What brings you to my fine establishment Becky Sue?”
One look at Jed and she knew he was drunk. His face was rudy red, his hair was disheveled and looked like it hadn’t seen scissors or a brush in some time. He scratched at his stomach. His shirt looked like it hadn’t seen laundry soap in a year. Ray glanced up from inspecting a lure.
“There you are honey. I was wondering what was keeping you.” Ray walked up and kissed her lightly on the lips. So this was how it was going to be.
“Sorry to keep you. I had to check on Sherlock and change.”
Legend Of The Sparks Page 8