by Gerri Hill
She lifted the covers back on the bed, pausing again as Corey shifted to her back. Corey must have felt her presence. She leaned up on an elbow for a second, then lay down again with a tired sigh.
“Hey.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered.
Corey patted the bed beside her and Dana got in, moving closer to her.
“Did everyone find a place to sleep?”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “And please don’t ask me how I am,” she said.
“Okay.”
“Because I really don’t know. So much has happened and I still can’t wrap my mind around it all,” she said. “My mom is heartbroken and she doesn’t grasp everything that happened. I don’t know that I’ve grasped it. But hell, I’ll be okay.” She paused. “But don’t ask me how I am.”
“Okay,” Corey whispered. “I won’t ask.”
She sighed. “Would you hold me?”
Corey rolled to her side and gathered Dana in her arms, pulling her close. Dana’s eyes closed and she tugged Corey’s arm even tighter around her.
“You’re safe,” Corey murmured. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” She snuggled even closer to her. “You’re not going to disappear on me, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
“Good.”
They were quiet, and she thought Corey had fallen asleep. She sighed, no longer able to keep her eyes open, but Corey’s soft voice made them flutter open once again.
“Am I your Dream Girl?”
Dana brought their clasped hands up and kissed the back of Corey’s gently. “You are,” she said simply.
Corey pulled her tighter. “Good.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Four months later
Jean felt like a lazy bum as she set her rocking chair in motion. It was getting on to be suppertime, but she thought it could wait a few more minutes. She was enjoying the sight of the girls out in the garden too much.
Never in her life had she seen a grown woman get so excited about digging potatoes. But the captain was like a kid at Christmas, excitedly showing off her prize time and again when she unearthed a big one. Dana was helping her, although not with the same exuberance as the captain.
She smiled, surprised at how content she felt. And she supposed she needed to stop referring to Corey as “the captain.” Her retirement became official when the calendar flipped over to September. She seemed much too young, and Dana had explained that even though Corey had fifteen years’ service, she still didn’t qualify for early retirement. Some general had pulled some strings, she’d said. Well, Jean thought that was only right, after what all the captain had been through.
After she’d rescued Dana’s mother and Butch’s gal Holly, they’d still given the captain no rest. It was two weeks before they’d even let them come back to the valley and even then, they weren’t allowed to stay. Thankfully, the town of Paradox fared better than they’d thought. It wasn’t quite the ghost town that Dana had suspected. Most of the residents were locked up tight in their own homes, afraid to step foot outside. Still, it was another two weeks before the area was deemed safe to return to. Safe from what, most on the outside never knew. She was amazed at the different ways the government could spin something. There was never a single mention of a spaceship landing up on Baker’s Ridge. Well, regardless of what they were saying, she had been still too afraid to stay at the farm alone. Hal Jr., had suggested she move in with him. She knew she should be pleased that he cared enough to even make the offer, but the thought of moving into the city, living in his tiny house, didn’t appeal to her in the least.
The captain, however, had the perfect solution. Jean had jumped at the proposition of the captain and Dana moving in with her at the farm. She’d assumed that Dana would move back to Paradox Valley and stay with her mother for a while, but her mother had flat-out refused to go back to their farm. Barbara ended up moving in with Butch, and Dana had put the home and farm up for sale. Dana had flown back to Seattle, only to return a week later with a rented van loaded down with her things.
Jean had moved into the spare bedroom, letting Corey and Dana take over her and Hal’s old bedroom. It was too large for one person, she reasoned. But the truth was, without Hal there, she couldn’t find much peace in the room anyway. Besides, the spare room was right next door to Johnny’s old bedroom, the room she’d converted into her sewing room. She had a mind to set up her quilting rack again, something she hadn’t had the itch to do in years.
Laughter pulled her out of her musings, and she watched as Corey picked Dana up and spun her around. Lucky danced around them, barking excitedly at their antics. When the captain set her back down, Dana slipped her arms around Corey’s shoulders and pulled her close for a kiss. Jean felt her face blush as she watched them, even after all these months of living with them. Those two were so affectionate; it warmed her heart to watch them. It was obvious they were very much in love. It reminded her of when she and Hal were young. He used to chase her around the garden too.
She took a deep breath, once again savoring the contentment she felt. As she’d warned the captain, there’d been good days and bad, but for the most part, they’d put the nightmare behind them. There were no funerals and she felt guilty for not giving Hal that, but the town of Paradox held a memorial service for those who were lost. The tiny Baptist church had been overflowing, and the captain had sat on one side of her and Hal Jr., on the other and she’d cried her eyes out once and for all. Dana’s brother and sister had come too and all of Butch’s family. There were so many tears, Jean wondered if they’d ever stop. Of course, they did. As she’d told the captain once, the sun was still gonna rise the next day. Life would go on.
And it had. They’d formed their own little family group here, and she was content to know that she’d be able to live out her remaining years here at the farm. She had the girls to take care of…and they would take care of her. She suspected that Hal Jr., was relieved at that prospect. She nodded to herself and she noted the smile on her face. She glanced around her surroundings, seeing four horses now in the pasture instead of only her Daisy. The white stallion was the most prominent of the bunch, even though Gretchen stood several hands taller than he did. Her gaze slid back to the garden where Dana and Corey were again working on the potatoes. Lucky lay at the edge, watching them. Oh, that dog sure had taken a liking to the captain. He hardly let her out of his sight. She knew that they had bonded during the ordeal, but she suspected that he also enjoyed the once-a-day trek they made to the creek where the captain would throw rocks in the water for him. She and Dana accompanied them some days, but mostly, it was a private time for the captain and Lucky.
Well, she had supper to start. Best get to it, she thought, even though it would be a simple meal tonight. Tomorrow—as they did nearly every Saturday—Barbara, Butch and Holly were all coming over to spend the day with them. She would cook up a big roast with her special gravy that Dana liked so much. And of course, some of the potatoes and carrots from the garden.
She looked once more at the girls, then got out of the rocker and moved back inside to the kitchen. As she was chopping an onion, she heard a phone ringing. She looked around, scanning the cabinet. She finally found the captain’s phone and walked over and picked it up.
“Hello,” she said.
“Yes, hello. I need to speak to Captain Conaway, please.”
Jean looked out through the window, seeing Corey and Dana still in the garden. “I’m sorry, but she’s not inside right now. She’s out in the garden, got dirt clean up to her elbows,” she said. “Digging potatoes.”
“Oh, I see. Well, would you please be so kind as to get her for me?”
Jean frowned. “Who is this?”
“General Brinkley, ma’am. Please. It’s rather urgent.”
Jean didn’t like the sound of his voice, and she had half a mind to hang up on him. But she would do as he said. She put the knife dow
n and went outside, taking the phone with her.
* * *
“Hey, Miss Jean. Look at this one,” Corey said, holding up a large potato. “I think we should have this bad boy for supper. What do you think?”
Jean nodded. “How about I fry us up some potatoes to go with that chicken?”
“Sounds great.” Oh, yeah, she loved Miss Jean’s fried chicken.
“Oh, Captain, here, I almost forgot,” Jean said, handing her phone to her. “You have a call.”
“Okay, thanks,” she said, wondering who would be calling her. She used her phone so rarely, she almost forgot she had one. “Hello, this is Corey.”
“Captain Conaway, I understand you’re in the garden. From the sounds of it, you’re digging potatoes. I imagine that’s a stress-free job.”
She smiled. “Hey, Harry. Yeah, we’re digging potatoes for the second day now. I had no idea how much fun it would be.” She could tell by the sound of his voice that this wasn’t a social call. She took a few steps away from Dana and Jean. “So…what’s up?”
“Got a bit of a situation,” he said. “I wanted to keep you informed. Just in case,” he added.
She frowned. “Just in case what?”
“There’s a small community south of you. Brush Canyon. Along the Delores River,” he said. “Nothing more than a dot on the map out in the middle of goddamn nowhere.”
“Never heard of it,” she said.
“No, I don’t suppose you have. Got four people missing. Reports of strange behavior. Found a body…partially eaten.”
“Jesus,” she whispered. She walked closer to the barn, keeping her back to Dana and Jean. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Nothing’s confirmed yet. The body, it could be wild animals got to it, that’s all. But after what happened in Paradox Valley…well, we don’t want to take a chance. Don’t want to waste time with bullshit protocols.”
“Harry…you’re not asking me to assist, I hope. Because—”
“No, Corey. Your retirement is official. No worries there. I only wanted to make you aware of the situation.” He paused. “In case it gets out of hand again.”
“Okay. I appreciate that, Harry.” She glanced behind her, seeing Dana and Jean watching. “Please keep me in the loop, if you can.”
“Will do. You take care of yourself, Corey. I hear farming is pretty hard work.”
She smiled quickly. “Best decision I ever made. I’ve finally got a home, Harry. A home that I don’t ever have to leave.”
“I was hoping that was the case. You deserve it.” He cleared his throat. “Well, you take care, kiddo.”
Her smile faded after she slipped her phone into her pocket. Christ, were those…those things still out there? Somewhere? No. They’d gotten them all. Surely to God they had.
“Everything okay?” Dana asked.
Corey turned, forcing a smile onto her face. “Yeah, yeah. Fine. That was Harry,” she said. “Everything’s fine.”
Dana eyed her suspiciously. “You sure?”
“Yeah. He was just checking on me.” She walked over to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “He wanted to know how I liked the farming life.”
“Really? And what did you say?”
This time, Corey’s smile was genuine. “I told him it was the best decision I’d ever made.”
Dana smiled sweetly at her and moved into her embrace, kissing her lightly on the lips. “Well, I happen to agree with you.” She turned to Jean. “Isn’t that right, Miss Jean?”
Jean nodded. “I think she makes a very good farmer. You both do.”
Corey laughed. “Well, it’s a start. I still refuse to kill any of our chickens, though.”
“All in good time, Captain,” Jean said as she turned away. “I reckon I best get to supper and fry up this prized potato of yours. We’ll eat in an hour, girls.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Corey said.
As soon as she walked away, Dana linked arms with her. “You sure everything’s okay?”
“Promise.”
Dana searched her eyes, finally nodding. “Okay. Then let’s go put up all these potatoes you insisted on digging. I hear a shower calling my name.” She smiled up at her. “In fact, I think you should join me. Sharing a shower with you has become one of my favorite things to do.”
Corey laughed. “Yes, I know. Remember what happened the last time, though? You were so loud, Jean thought you were under attack or something.”
Dana laughed too as she tugged Corey with her. “I was under attack. Only it was friendly fire.”
Corey pulled her to a stop, turning her to meet her eyes, her expression serious now. “I love you, you know. Very much.”
Dana’s expression was gentle, and she reached out a hand, lightly caressing her cheek.
“I love you too.” Then she grinned. “My little farm girl, with dirt on her face.”
Corey laughed. “I thought I was your Dream Girl.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you are definitely that. I’m just sorry it took me so long to find you.”
Corey leaned closer, kissing her softly on the lips. “Not as sorry as I am.”
They embraced tightly, then pulled apart when Lucky—tail wagging wildly—squeezed in between them.
“I swear, he’s so jealous,” Dana muttered as she ruffled the fur on his back.
Corey squatted down beside him and took his head between her hands. She smiled and closed her eyes as a cold, wet tongue swiped across her face.
Dana laughed, then pulled her back up. “Come on, Farmer Brown. Shower time. We don’t want to be late for supper.”
Corey sighed contentedly as they headed to the house with their baskets of potatoes. She paused, looking behind her to the south, where the low clouds were starting to reflect the reds and yellows of sunset. She wondered how far Brush Canyon was from them.
“Corey?”
She turned back around. “Hmm?”
Dana tilted her head, watching her. “You sure everything’s okay?”
She met the steady gaze that held her own. Was she really protecting Dana by keeping this from her? After all they’d been through, was that fair? But it was because of all they’d been through—Dana, her mother, Butch, Holly and Jean—that she kept silent. Their pain was still just below the surface. Over the summer months, they’d bonded, they’d formed a new family and laughter had gradually replaced tears…happiness had replaced sadness. They were healing.
“Honey?”
Corey nodded. “Yes. Everything is perfect.”
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