Doggone Ugly Creek

by Cheryel Hutton

  “You’re going to kill me.”

  He grinned, but I could see the strain in his face.

  “You’ll thank me.”

  “When?”

  “Now.”

  With that he began to move hard and fast. Almost immediately, I lost myself in the midst of a supernova of an orgasm. He followed me right in, and together we experienced the wonders of our own magical galaxy.

  A few incredible moments later, he rolled to the side, taking me with him. He brushed my hair out of my face.

  “You okay, honey? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “Are you kidding? That was awesome.”

  “I was a little worried. You’re so tiny.”

  “Oh good grief, I’m a grown freaking woman.”

  He grinned. “You’re a little spitfire, is what you are.”

  “So?”

  “So, I like spitfires.”

  He kissed me, and it didn’t take long for things to heat up again.

  We ordered pizza about midnight, and I called Terri to let her know I hadn’t decided to run off to the Bahamas or something, not that I would be opposed to the idea. Then we went back to bed for a lot of lovemaking and a little sleep.

  I woke during one of those sleep intervals to see light peeking in the window. I snuggled closer to Ace. It felt amazing to be here with him. It was such a rare experience to let go for a while and not have to be the serious, responsible one.

  I was drifting back to sleep when a thought brought me fully awake. I was falling in love with this man. Oh, this wasn’t good. I did not need to get myself involved with anybody. I came to Ugly Creek to start over. I wanted freedom, my own life, to get my career going strong. It was bad enough living with an immature, socially backward, shape-shifting cousin. I sure didn’t need a man on top of that.

  And what happened if Mom relapsed? It was a sure bet a man would want nothing to do with a woman who had to take care of a mother who got so depressed she couldn’t function.

  I was in deep doo-doo.

  Chapter 13

  Ace took me home mid-morning. We walked hand-in-hand up the two steps to my porch. “Would you like to come in?”

  He shook his head. “I’d better get my errands done and go back home.”

  “It was great.” Well, that was totally inadequate. And I call myself a writer?

  He chuckled. “That, my beautiful Shay, was the understatement of the millennia.”

  His gaze met mine, and electricity flashed between us. Then he held me in his arms, and we kissed. And oh my, the man could kiss.

  A buzzing sounded and Ace pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Why is it I keep finding this damn thing?” he muttered, then stuck said damn thing to his ear. “Ellison.” His expression darkened. “When did you see him last? I’ll drive around, see if I can find him.” He clicked off the phone.

  “Something wrong?”

  He nodded. “Mark is one of the high school kids who helps me with the rescues. He just called to tell me his dog, Charlie, is missing.”

  A chill went through me. “The dognappers?”

  Ace closed his eyes for a moment before he looked at me.

  “God, I hope not.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No, sweetheart. I’ll drive around and talk to people. Maybe somebody’s seen him”

  “What kind of dog is he?”

  “Collie.”

  My breath sucked in. “Like Trixie.”

  He nodded, and my stomach twisted.

  “Keep an eye on her,” he said.

  “I will.”

  He hugged me close.

  “This disgusting piece of dirt has to be stopped.”

  “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

  “Just keep your eyes open and be careful.”

  He kissed me, then hugged me against him for a moment before he headed down the steps. He slid into his SUV, and with a quick wave he was gone.

  My emotions churned as I looked down the road where he’d just been. Dognapper, collie, worry, excitement. Love. Oh, hell no! I turned to go into the house where I belonged. As I did, I saw Miz Carlisle watching me, and I felt the anger in her eyes all the way across the distance between the houses. I smiled and waved, just to keep her off-kilter, then I trucked it into the house before she could put a curse on me or something.

  Terri was in the kitchen. “I try not to eavesdrop, but I heard something about the dognapper.”

  I dropped into the nearest chair. “A collie’s missing, and Ace is afraid the napper might have him.”

  “Well, that is disconcerting.” She sat in another chair, worry pulling at her forehead.

  “You watch out.”

  “I will.”

  She zoned out for a minute, then looked at me.

  “I almost forgot, we have guests coming this evening.”

  “Guests? Well, aren’t you the social collie.”

  “Actually it’s Stephie and Liza. Jake is off on an antiques buying trip, and Steve’s busy with the investigation and keeping the business going.”

  “I’m glad she’s coming, but I’m surprised Liza isn’t busy too.”

  “She is,” Terri said, “but Stephie talked her into taking a night off and relaxing.”

  “I’m sure she needs it.” My heart went out to the couple.

  Terri stuck her head in the fridge as she said, “I wasn’t sure if you would be here tonight.”

  “Bite me.” I heard her giggle as I headed to my bedroom. I’d showered at Ace’s, but I was in serious need of a change of clothes.

  I took a sandwich and my laptop out onto the porch and tried to write. I got a few hundred words, but the feeling that Miz Carlisle was watching me wasn’t very conducive to concentration. Still, I puttered along. This was my home, and I’d be damned if I’d let the likes of a crotchety old woman force me off my own porch. When I did manage to get my mind focused on my manuscript, I kept thinking of Ace as the hero. Pleasurable, yes. True to the character, not so much.

  Eventually I got tired of struggling and took my laptop into the house. Terri typed away in her bedroom, so I left a note and went for a walk.

  Aunt Ruth’s house was at the end of a cul-de-sac, and the woods began not far beyond. There was a trail back there, so people must go that way. It looked interesting, so I started out.

  A few feet in, I figured out that teenagers were the ones using the trail into the woods. Candy wrappers, empty chip bags, and drink cans were scattered randomly on either side. I swallowed, remembering my fellow high school students talking about the fun times they had, and how they were a pain in their parents’ rears. I never did any of the wild stuff. I couldn’t because I had to take care of Mom.

  Except for that one time I went to a movie with a boy I liked. I told Mom where I was going and what I was doing, but when it got dark she got scared and worried. By the time the guy brought me home, the cops were there because she’d been screaming for an hour that I was dead like my dad. She went into the hospital, I stayed with Aunt Ruth for the remainder of the school year, trying hard to not be noticed at Ugly Creek High School. That boy never spoke to me again. I shoved the memory back into the little box in a dusty area of my brain where it couldn’t hurt me. Well, not much anyway.

  I walked for a long time, enjoying the breeze blowing my hair and the freedom to do whatever the hell I wanted to do. It was so quiet out there, so peaceful. I reached a small cleared area and sat on a tree stump.

  I was considering heading toward home when I saw something white between red and silver maple trees on the other side of the clearing. There was movement, and I saw it was a horse.

  I stood and slowly moved toward the creature until I could see more of the beautiful white animal. There wasn’t a saddle or any indication of a rider. Maybe she had gotten out of her fence. Somebody might be looking for her. I moved a little closer. “Hello, beautiful thing. Where did you come from?” I tried to keep my voice low and so
othing.

  The horse moved, and I froze. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

  The movement stopped and I took another couple of steps toward her. She, at least I thought it was a she, based on the apparent lack of dangly bits, was snowy white. The piece I could see of her tail was a different color, but I couldn’t tell what color that was. In the light through the trees, the tail almost looked lavender, but had to be brown or gray or something. “Who do you belong to?”

  The horse moved again, and I gasped. There was a single, long, golden horn on her head. “No. It can’t be.” I stumbled backwards until I tripped over a rock and landed on my rump. “I’ve lost my mind. I’m crazy. This can’t be real.”

  This was Ugly Creek, and Aunt Ruth always said it was a special place. So did Ace. But this…

  The, I refused to even think that u-word, came toward me.

  “Don’t be afraid.”

  Oh hell. Now it’s talking to me. Or sending mental messages. Or the voices in my head seem to be a unicorn. Oh no, I had thought the u-word.

  “You are chosen.”

  Oh great. Chosen. Chosen to be nuts?

  “Chosen to unravel that which is tangled.”

  “Could you be a little more specific?”

  The unicorn turned and walked deeper into the woods. Damn, her tail really was a gorgeous shade of lavender. I got to my feet and rushed after the creature, but it was gone. Vanished into thin air, or so it seemed.

  I waited a few minutes, hoping to see her again. When I was sure she wasn’t coming back, I headed toward home. We were having guests tonight, and I needed to get my thoughts straightened out. My plans for this evening didn’t include having to prove my sanity.

  ****

  When I got home, Terri was busy in the kitchen.

  “Tonight’s going to be fun,” she said.

  Then she turned and looked at me, and her eyes widened. “What happened to you?”

  “Do you think I could be, well, I mean with Mom and everything…”

  “Spit it out, cuz. What do you think you could be? Not a werecat, I’d have figured that out by now.”

  “Nuts, okay. Crazy. Loony. Insane.”

  Her forehead creased, her expression like that of a person who’d just heard the weirdest thing she could think of. “Why in the world would you ask that? Girl, you’re the sanest person I know.”

  “But I saw. No, I couldn’t have. I mean there’s no way. It’s impossible. So maybe I was hallucinating, or something.”

  She shoved me into one of the kitchen chairs.

  “What is it you saw?”

  “I couldn’t have seen it.”

  She let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, what is it you couldn’t have seen?”

  “A unicorn.”

  She blinked four times, then a huge grin pulled at her face. “A unicorn. How great. Oh man, why don’t I ever see the cool stuff? I’ve never even seen a sasquatch.”

  “It’s not cool. It’s nuts. I’ll wind up like my mother.”

  Terri put a hand on my shoulder.

  “Sweetie, your mom has depression. It’s not like she wears aluminum foil hats or something.”

  “But…”

  “No buts.” She pulled a wineglass out of the cabinet and poured an inch or so of wine in it. “Drink.”

  “Now?”

  “Right now. You need to chill.”

  I looked at the glass, figured she was right, and sipped it. Terri sat a plate of cookies in front of me.

  “Eat a cookie so you aren’t drinking on an empty stomach. Although you could definitely stand to loosen up.”

  I ignored her and grabbed a cookie. If the wine didn’t make me feel better, chocolate chips should do the trick. She puttered around the kitchen for a few minutes, then sat across from me and picked up her own cookie to nibble.

  “You know,” she said, “one of the reasons I’m staying in her house is that Aunt Ruth thought I would find acceptance here. She said Ugly Creek is a special place, where all kinds of things happen, so that being different isn’t a problem here.”

  “Even for a half-girl half-furball.”

  “Ha-ha, but basically, yeah. Odd is accepted by the folks here.” She made a face. “Except for that mean old biddy next door.”

  “She doesn’t fit in here.”

  “Boy, that’s the truth.”

  Then it clicked. “That’s why you weren’t freaked out about the unicorn. You already know about the creatures here.”

  She shrugged. “I knew about the Bigfoot tribe. Dyami, they call themselves. I know there are other creatures too, but Aunt Ruth wouldn’t tell me specifics. She said it was better if I found out myself.”

  “That’s what Ace said too.” I sighed. “So God only knows what’s out there in the woods.”

  “Or living next door.” She glanced toward Miz Carlisle’s house, then shuddered.

  I laughed in spite of myself. Then I saw the time and realized what I looked like. “Yikes, I need to shower, again, and get myself ready for guests.”

  She glanced at the clock on the microwave. “I guess I’d better decide on an outfit.”

  I shot an apologetic look toward Terri. “I’m sorry. I didn’t plan on leaving you alone to get things ready.”

  She waved a dismissive hand. “I made some cookies, put a lasagna in the oven, and straightened up the few things out of place in the living room. We’re not messy, that’s for sure.”

  “We don’t have time to be messy.” With that, I headed to get myself ready.

  ****

  Two hours later, we sat with Liza and Stephie around the seldom used, even by Aunt Ruth, dining room table. Our bellies were full of Terri’s homemade pasta, and the calm was soothing. Of course I had to ruin that. “How’s the investigation going?” I asked.

  Liza looked at her hands for a moment. “It’s not. We can’t figure out how somebody could have broken in. The police think it was an inside job, but there is absolutely no evidence to prove it. Besides we have a fantastic group of workers and security, most of whom are from Ugly Creek. “The cleaners check out too, although that’s the most likely way the theft happened. We outsource the cleaning crew. But they’re checked out thoroughly!”

  She dropped her head into her hands, and I felt like a heel for bring up the subject.

  “Forget I asked. This is supposed to be a fun evening.”

  “I’ll smack her around later,” Terri said.

  Liza waved her hand. “No, it’s okay. Steve’s a wreck worrying about everything, so I try not to get upset around him. I’ve been holding all this worry and confusion and frustration inside, and I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.”

  “You know you can talk to me anytime,” Stephie said.

  “Me too. I know you don’t know us well, but we’re here for you,” Terri said.

  “Absolutely,” I agreed. “And remember, I’m a novelist, not a reporter. You don’t have to worry about me sharing anything you tell me.”

  Liza smiled. “I trust you.”

  She gave my hand a squeeze.

  “I’m glad for the concern, and I’m glad you gave me the opportunity to let the feelings out.” She looked around the table. “I appreciate all of you being so supportive.”

  “It has to be hard to have somebody steal something so important from you.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “To be honest, I’m terrified this will be the end of our company. I don’t know what we’d do if we had to start over. We’d survive, but Steve has put so much of himself into the business, I’m afraid of what losing it would do to him.”

  She fought it, but she eventually gave in and cried. The three of us got teary-eyed as we worked at comforting her. After her cry, she went to the bathroom to wash her face. When she returned, her back was straight, she’d reapplied her makeup, and she looked ready to take on a grizzly. I still felt bad about bringing up the theft, but maybe she really had needed to let out her feelings.

  “Feel
better?” Stephie asked.

  “Much.” Liza put her fisted hands on the table. “Whoever this creep is, he’s not going to take everything away from us.”

  “Hell no!” Stephie said, holding her wine up.

  Terri and I agreed, and we all clinked glasses in commemoration of the moment.

  “You know, it’s strange,” Terri said a few minutes later. “Aunt Ruth always talked about how there was no crime in Ugly Creek, yet, just since we’ve been here there was a major theft at Z-Com Tech and a dognapper. I hope this isn’t a trend. I’d hate for this awesome little town to change.”

  Liza frowned. “Dognapper?”

  “Oh yeah,” Stephie said. “I heard about that. One of my customers said her little boy’s dog was missing.”

  “The Martins?” I asked.

  “Yeah, how did you know?”

  “Ace. He’s helping look for the dogs.”

  Stephie leaned toward me, interest blooming on her face.

  “Ace? I thought you didn’t like him.”

  Terri grinned. “She’s totally reversed her views.”

  “Oooh, you must give us details.”

  I felt my face go hot. “I just realized he wasn’t the pain in the rear I thought he was. He’s actually a very nice guy.”

  “Very nice, apparently.” Terri’s grin was big, bright, and annoying.

  “We enjoy spending time with each other.” My face burned. “We really haven’t known each other very long.”

  “Let’s give her a break.” Liza grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “In a few more weeks there should be some good stuff we can torture out of her.”

  “I can’t wait.” Terri was all but vibrating with anticipation.

  Time to change the subject. “Either of you know why Miz Carlisle hates Ace so much?”

  “That’s right.” Liza’s face filled with sympathy. “You live next to the old biddy.”

  “Who’s Miz Carlisle?” Stephie asked.

  Liza leaned in, as if she were afraid the woman could hear her. “From what I’ve heard, she and her husband moved here years ago. She was never really friendly, mostly kept to herself. Then one day her husband just disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him, but after that, she got crabbier and crabbier until she turned into the mean old lady she is today.”