Spy High
Page 35
Chapter 42
An hour later, Nichele fluttered beside her suitcase in the rain-drenched field. “Oh-em-gee, Aydan, I can’t believe what a mess I am! I had a little party with Aurora last night…”
Beside me, Aurora flushed guiltily, but Nichele prattled on, “…and this morning I had the mother of all hangovers! I swear to God, Aydan, I hurt all over! And I can’t find my clothes. Thank God my Valentino sneakers were under my bed. And I’ve got the worst bedhead ever; I can’t believe how this wet weather wrecks your hair. I don’t know how you lasted here all this time. And I haven’t showered in two days…”
She turned anxious eyes toward me. “I’m such a mess. What if Dave…”
“Dave will be so glad to see you he won’t care if you’re covered in pig shit,” I assured her.
She wrinkled her nose. “Eeeuw, gross, girl! I’m going to make him take me straight to the Empress in Victoria and I’m going to shower for days and go to the spa, and oh-em-gee, look at my nails! A manicure, first thing…” She broke off. “Look, there he is! Oh-em-gee, there he is!”
She gripped my wrist hard enough to leave little half-moon nail indentations in my skin. “Ohmigod, Aydan, I can’t believe I’m so nervous!”
“Relax. Take a breath.” I pried her fingers loose, beginning to be infected by her nerves myself.
Dave’s highway tractor rumbled into the field, bouncing over the uneven ground to pull to halt in front of us, the air brakes hissing. Dave swung down from the cab seconds after the wheels stopped turning and hurried toward us, looking as nervous as Nichele.
He bent to give her a quick hug and a peck on the lips. “Ready to go home, honey?” he asked, his voice cracking with false nonchalance.
Nichele cast her gaze down, clinging to his hand. “Um… no, not really…”
“Oh.” Dave threw me a desperate look. “Well, um…”
“I was hoping…” Nichele gave him a quick glance from under her lashes. “…maybe you’d take me to the Empress Hotel in Victoria…?”
He brightened, already beginning to nod when she added, “…maybe… for an early honeymoon?”
“Uh…” A flood of crimson raced up his face to set his ears alight. “Did you say honeymoon?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip, looking up at him with pink cheeks. “I mean… Yes.”
“Yes?” Comprehension burst onto his face in a grin wide enough to threaten his ears. He swept her up in a bear hug and I revelled in the sweetness of their embrace, grinning almost as widely as Dave.
When they finally pried themselves apart, I asked Nichele, “What changed your mind?”
She beamed at Aurora. “The Earth Spirit. And Aurora.”
Aurora flushed, her smile bright.
Nichele went on, “She said if love is real, it’ll never let you down. And even if it does, having your heart broken is still not as bad as never being loved because you were afraid to try.”
She turned to Dave. “So I want to try.” She screwed her face into a ferocious scowl. “But if you cheat on me even once, we’re done.”
Dave’s arm tightened around her. “Honey, if I was dumb enough to cheat on you, I’d deserve to be alone.”
Nichele leaned into him, gazing up adoringly. “I love you.”
He flushed. “I love you, too, honey.”
I made a gagging noise. “Get out of here, you two; you’re throwing me into diabetic shock.”
“Don’t be such a cynic, girl!” Nichele bounced over to throw her arms around me. “Maybe someday you’ll find somebody-”
“Don’t start!” I hugged her back. “Jeez, now you’re going to be matchmaking as well as trying to turn me into a girl. I don’t know, Nichele, there’d better be some beer in this for me somewhere.”
“All you can drink,” Dave spoke up gratefully as Nichele released me to hug Aurora. “Without you, I’d never have met Nichele.”
She returned to his embrace and he folded his arms around her, giving me a significant look over her head. “And you know I’ll do anything to take care of her,” he added.
I stepped over to throw my arms around both of them one more time. “I know you will. Now get out of here.”
A few minutes later I waved at the receding taillights of the highway tractor before dropping my hand with a sigh of relief.
“Thank you for what you did for Nichele,” I said to Aurora. “I didn’t spend enough time with her while she was here. I’m glad you were able to change her mind.”
“I was happy to,” she replied, and her voice didn’t bother me a bit. Her eyes shone with innocent joy. “That’s what we do here. We share the love of the Earth Spirit. Will you be staying with us? We’d love to have you live here permanently.”
I sighed at the memory of my conversation with Stemp an hour earlier. New problems awaited me in Alberta, but at least they weren’t likely to be life-threatening. And I’d have a warm dry bed and hot running water while I dealt with them.
The corners of my mouth tugged upward.
“Thanks, Aurora, but no…”
My farm beckoned, my heart yearning toward its peace and solitude. The slow life-affirming transition of winter to spring. The sweet aroma of moist fertile soil and new grass. The wide-open country that let my soul spread its wings to soar on the long prairie winds.
I drew a breath that felt as though my lungs had been unlocked for the first time in a year.
“No,” I repeated, my smile widening. “I’m going home.”
A Request
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this book, I’d really appreciate it if you’d take a moment to review it online.
Here are some suggestions for the “star” ratings:
Five stars: Loved the book and can hardly wait for the next one.
Four stars: Liked the book and plan to read the next one.
Three stars: The book was okay. Might read the next one.
Two stars: Didn’t like the book. Probably won’t read the next one.
One star: Hated the book. Would never read another in the series.
“Star” ratings are a quick way to do a review, but the most helpful reviews are the ones where you write a few sentences about what you liked/disliked about the book.
Thanks for taking the time to do a review!
Want to know what else is roiling around in the cesspit of my mind? Drop by my blog and website at http://www.dianehenders.com, vote for your favourite character, and don’t forget to leave a comment in the guest book to say hi – I love hearing from you! Or you can connect with me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authordianehenders. See you there!
Books in the NEVER SAY SPY series:
Book 1: Never Say Spy
Book 2: The Spy Is Cast
Book 3: Reach For The Spy
Book 4: Tell Me No Spies
Book 5: How Spy I Am
Book 6: A Spy For A Spy
Book 7: Spy, Spy Away
Book 8: Spy Now, Pay Later
Book 9: Spy High
Book 10: Spy Away Home
Book 11: To be released early 2016
Humour by Diane Henders
Probably Inappropriate
Definitely Inappropriate
Totally Inappropriate
More books coming! For a current list, please visit www.dianehenders.com
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About Me
By profession, I’m a technical writer, computer geek, and ex-interior designer. I’m good at two out of three of these things. I had the sense to quit the one I sucked at.
To deal with my mid-life crisis, I also write adventure novels featuring a middle-aged female protagonist. And I kickbox.
This seemed more productive than indulging in more typical mid-life crisis activities like getting a divorce, buying a Harley Crossbones, and cruising across the country picking up men in sleazy bars. Especially since it’s wint
er most of the months of the year here.
It’s much more comfortable to sit at my computer. And hell, Harleys are expensive. Come to think of it, so are beer and gasoline.
Oh, and I still love my husband. There’s that. So I’ll stick with the writing.
Diane Henders
Since You Asked…
People frequently ask if my protagonist, Aydan Kelly, is really me.
Yeah, you got me. These novels are an autobiography of my secret life as a government agent, working with highly-classified computer technology… Oh, wait, what’s that? You want the truth? Um, you do realize fiction writers get paid to lie, don’t you?
…well, shit, that’s not nearly as much fun. It’s also a long story.
I swore I’d never write fiction. “Too personal,” I said. “People read novels and automatically assume the author is talking about him/herself.”
Well, apparently I lied about the fiction-writing part. One day a story sprang into my head and wouldn’t leave. The only way to get it out was to write it down. So I did.
But when I wrote that first book, I never intended to show it to anyone, so I created a character that looked like me just to thumb my nose at the stereotype. I’ve always had a defective sense of humour, and this time it turned around and bit me in the ass.
Because after I’d written the third novel, I realized I actually wanted other people to read my books. And when I went back to change my main character to not look like me, my beta readers wouldn’t let me. They rose up against me and said, “No! Aydan is a tall woman with long red hair and brown eyes. End of discussion!”
Jeez, no wonder readers get the idea that authors write about themselves. So no, I’m not Aydan Kelly. I just look like her.