Tales from Shady Grove: Stories from the Trailerverse, Volume One

by Kimbra Swain

  Stephanie leaned into his ear, licking it after whispering to him. Like a dog marking her territory.

  He continued to stare at me, and then I remembered Jeremiah’s words. Mr. Sandy Hair was here to monitor me. Not fuck me. More than likely, he had a few tricks up his own sleeve. If he forced me away from here, I’d miss Winnie, Betty, and Luther. I had made ties, and this man could take them away from me.

  He spoke softly to her as they made their way to the door. I looked over my shoulder as they walked out, and his eyes met mine again. He was leaving with her, but he wanted me. It was better this way.

  After my ordeal with Remy, the last thing I needed was a wild goose chase for Dylan Riggs.

  THE END

  Grace’s story continues in the series, Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen. The first book, Bless Your Heart, is available online and in paperback.

  http://www.kimbraswain.com/trailer-park-series

  Whiskey in a Teacup is Dylan’s prequel. The free story be found in Kimbra Swain’s Facebook Group, Magic and Mason Jars.

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/KSwainMagicandMasonJars/

  Note from the Author

  Fairy Tales of a Trailer Park Queen is the heart and soul of my writing. It hits home for me in so many ways. I’m happy to share this part of my heart and soul with you. It can certainly be read before reading any of my trailer park series, however, it is best if read after reading the first book, Bless Your Heart.

  This story is Dylan’s perspective on arriving in Shady Grove, and you may think that it changes the story of Bless Your Heart. This is only part one of two prequels that I am doing.

  The second story, Moonshine in a Mason Jar, will bring things full circle. You can read Whiskey in a Teacup after Wild Goose Chase, which is chronological, or you can read it after Gully Washer.

  I hope you enjoy!

  -Kimbra

  21

  Perhaps the red sports car brought more attention than I needed. As I drove into Shady Grove, Alabama for the first time, the citizens stared at the flashy car. I pulled over at the tiny bar in the main part of town. My contact intended to meet me here to explain the terms of my employment.

  I walked into the dark bar, removing my sunglasses to see. The room was dank and smelled of hard liquor and beer. I approached the bartender who greeted me warmly.

  “Afternoon, Stranger,” he smiled as he spoke.

  “Hiya. I’m looking for Jeremiah,” I said, looking around the room.

  “He called and said he’d be a little late. I’m Nestor Gwinn,” he said.

  I reached out to shake his hand. He threw his white towel over his shoulder and squeezed my hand. The old man had a stout grip. I suspected that he was much older than he looked. I wondered then exactly how many people in this town were fairies.

  Jeremiah Freyman, a member of the Sanhedrin, had recruited me to come and help out in Shady Grove. My ancestors had experience dealing with the supernatural, and I’d been raised to pick out fairy kind as well as shifters. Jeremiah assured me that Shady Grove would be a good fit for me.

  I sat down on a bar stool, and Nestor piped up. “What will it be, Mr. Riggs? Or should I call you, Sheriff?” he asked.

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “Nothing stays a secret for very long in Shady Grove,” he laughed.

  “I guess not. Just a beer,” I said. I didn’t drink hard liquor often, but I didn’t mind a good beer from time to time.

  I watched across the bar as a few men played pool. They laughed and teased each other. Occasionally, one would steal a glance my way. I supposed any new person in Shady Grove was worth a look or two.

  The door was to my back, but I felt the air suck out of the room as it opened. I turned to see if Jeremiah had arrived. Instead, it was a raven-haired beauty. I knew immediately she was a high-born fairy. She quirked a smile to me. I nodded back to her, watching her long legs cross the room to the pool table. The men greeted her jovially. She kissed one on the cheek and leaned next to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist. He watched her, but she watched me. Royal fairies were trouble.

  “That’s Stephanie,” Nestor said, noticing that I watched her.

  “Is she the fairy queen I’ve heard about?” I asked.

  Nestor laughed, “No. Grace is the one you know about. Trust me, when you meet Grace, you will know exactly who she is.”

  “Royal fairies are trouble. Is that one?” I asked nodding to Stephanie.

  “She’s a good girl for the most part. She works for a law firm in the big city, but she spends most of her time here. Her mother isn’t in good health,” he said.

  “That’s nice of her to stay in town to take care of her,” I replied. I decided I had been staring long enough. She stared back. Even if she was a royal fairy, or especially because she was one, I knew she would be good in bed. I’d like to sample that.

  I didn’t hear Jeremiah enter. A large hand landed flat on my back with a pat, causing me to jump. A small part of my beer sloshed out of the glass.

  “Dylan! Sorry to startle you,” Jeremiah laughed.

  “Hey Jerry,” I said, as Nestor wiped up the spill. “Thanks, Nestor.”

  “Ah! Good! I’m happy to see that you’ve met Nestor,” he said. Ever since I’d met Jeremiah who was sent to find me on behalf of the Sanhedrin’s head honcho, Caiaphas, he had smiled and laughed a lot more. “Have you been out to the house yet?” he asked.

  “No. I just got into town. So, I stopped here to meet you,” I said. I heard Stephanie laughing across the room. The men laughed with her. My eyes were drawn to her. The business outfit she wore was tight. The split in the back of the skirt almost reached her round ass. I watched as the man with her stroked her inner leg, reaching up beyond my sight. When she saw me looking, she pushed him away scolding him.

  “Stephanie Davis. She’s mostly harmless. Seelie royal,” he said.

  “Ellyll?” I asked.

  “Yes. It’s good to know you can pick them out of a crowd,” Jeremiah said.

  “It’s why you hired me, right?” I said trying not to sound cocky.

  “Indeed,” he replied. “Want to follow me out to the house, and we can talk in private about the expectations of those I represent?” He meant the Sanhedrin. I knew they were a large organized group of fairy hunters. The fact that this town was full of them and the Sanhedrin allowed it to continue surprised me. Generally, they would cut down any and all fairies.

  I finished off my beer and dropped a few bucks on the bar. “Thanks, Nestor. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon,” I said. I looked back to Stephanie whose features darkened. Surely, she wasn’t upset that I was leaving. I nodded to her again, and she smiled. She was gorgeous.

  “Come on,” Jeremiah urged. I knew he’d have restrictions for me. That’s what the Sanhedrin do. They weren’t out to kill me though. They needed me to keep the peace with the exiled fairies that lived here in this town. I was bored with traveling the world. It seemed like an endless run of sightseeing and temporarily warm beds. A new woman in each place. Every night if I wanted. I took one look at Stephanie Davis and thought if I’d settled down, it would likely be here.

  22

  Following Jeremiah in his beat-up Buick, I was excited to see my new home. The home and acreage I practically stole from the bank. It had been a foreclosure. I knew it would need some work, but I was eager to get to it. I’d already hired a contractor to come in and strip the walls and floors. They’d hung sheetrock and laid hardwoods, sending me pictures of its progress.

  We pulled up to the house after passing down the long tree-lined driveway. It was a vision. A huge antebellum home with tall columns. I felt like I’d bought a house from Gone with the Wind, and for some reason, I loved it.

  I climbed out of the Camaro, staring at the enormous house. It was my hope to settle down. Start a family and be ‘normal’ for once in my life.

  “It’s cleaning up nicely,” Jeremiah said.

  “Yeah, it
is. I can’t wait to see inside.” I pulled out the key that my contractor had sent me. I opened the front door. The house smelled like fresh wood and paint.

  I clicked on lights as I passed through the rooms. It was bare of furniture, but all the painting and flooring was done.

  “Do you approve?” Jeremiah asked.

  “Yes, definitely,” I said.

  “Great. Let’s talk business,” Jeremiah said.

  “Sorry, I didn’t think about not actually having furniture yet,” I said.

  “It’s fine. This won’t take long,” he said, leaning on the island in the kitchen. The main room of the house had a huge fireplace and opened up to the massive kitchen. I cook some, but I hoped that maybe one day I’d be sharing the kitchen with someone else.

  “Alright. Lay it on me,” I said.

  “Troy Maynard is the top deputy here. He will be your right-hand man. I trust him. I know it will take time, but you will trust him, too. He’s like you. He knows the ins and outs of the fairy world. He knows the trouble they can cause. So, he will pick you up in the morning,” he said.

  “Keep going. Get to the good stuff,” I said.

  “When you run into something big, I want you to call on Grace Ann Bryant to help you,” he said.

  “The fairy queen?” I questioned. “Aren’t they more trouble than they are worth?”

  “This one definitely is, but she will help you. It’s part of her contract to live here. Nestor, as well as a few others in town, knows who she is but for the most part, she’s just a pretty girl living in a trailer park.”

  “Trailer park? What the hell?” I scoffed at the idea of a royal fairy degrading themselves that way. I didn’t think it was possible. I was willing to bet that Stephanie Davis lived in a nice home.

  “Yeah, she likes to have a house with wheels. Honestly, I’m surprised she’s still here. She likes to run. My intention is to keep her here. I’ll need your help with that,” he said.

  “How am I going to help that?” I asked.

  He pushed away from the countertop to pace the empty room. His tan pants and off-white shirt were unremarkable. He wore brown shoes with worn soles. The Sanhedrin were something supernatural. I wasn’t sure if it was a fairy or another powerful being, but I knew that Jeremiah had power. I’d seen him jump from one place to another in a blink of an eye. Perhaps they were wizards. There were very few of them around these days, but they weren’t even close to extinct. I supposed they could be a type of warlock too. Either way, Jeremiah was giving me an opportunity to make something of myself. Maybe I’d finally make my family proud.

  “I think if she has something to occupy her time, she will stay in town. So, if you occasionally call her in to help with cases, even if you don’t really need the help, it will keep her here. To be honest, I have orders from higher up to make sure she stays safe. She’s not like other royals, but you will figure that out for yourself,” he said.

  “Hmm. Sounds like trouble,” I replied.

  “Grace is all kinds of trouble, but inside that cold exterior, she’s got a good heart,” he said. “She’s been with humans since she was very young. She was exiled here because she liked a few of them too much. Her father’s people didn’t approve, thus banishing her here. My people have hunted her for a long time, but much like you, she signed a contract. We allow her to live here in a place that no one would ever expect a fairy queen.”

  “A trailer park,” I said.

  “A trailer park in a podunk town in Alabama,” he added.

  “I can see the brilliance of it,” I said. It was an amusing thought. I was interested in meeting her. She sounded different from most fairies I knew. But I knew a fairy of her caliber would be enough to bring down even some of the biggest badasses I knew. I didn’t want to cross her. She could snuff me out with a flick of her wrist.

  “You don’t have anything to worry about with her. She’s under contract. No killing, plus she has to keep her, ahem, nocturnal activities to a minimum,” he said.

  “How is that even possible? Most fairies I know would fuck twenty-four seven,” I said.

  “She’s done her fair share of it, that is for sure, but she is limited by the contract. You will see her out occasionally because we aren’t oblivious to the fact that she has to be sated or she will run. There are times coming, I’m afraid, that a fairy queen of her caliber is exactly what we are going to need to survive,” he said as his eyes turned dark.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Have you ever met a seer?” he asked.

  “Like an oracle?”

  “Yes, very much like it. The prediction for Shady Grove is dire. We are making moves for an inevitable showdown,” he said.

  “What kind?” I asked. I’d heard of fairy wars, but generally, the top dogs stayed the same. Oberon was the King of the Unseelie Fairies and Winter. Rhiannon was the Queen of the Seelie Fairies and Summer. The Wild Fairies generally gravitated toward Oberon who had managed to keep me under his thumb for the most part. This arrangement had been going on for thousands of years.

  “A change in power,” he said. “I can’t tell you more than that, but I hope you will trust that we are making the moves necessary to keep the fairy world and the real world separate. Otherwise, I can’t imagine the calamity.”

  “And you plan to do this from a little town in the middle of nowhere?” I said.

  “Where else do you suggest, Serafino?” he asked.

  “Please don’t use that name,” I muttered. I hated it. I chose Dylan Riggs for Shady Grove because I would fit in here with it. Among the fairies, as well as the humans. Serafino, a name given to me by my parents, only drew attention that I didn’t want.

  “Right. Sorry about that,” he said. “Look. We aren’t restricting you as we have her. You go out there and sow your wild oats. We don’t have a problem with that, but at the end of the day, you work the cases as we direct. You keep her involved. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah, sure. Doesn’t sound too hard,” I replied.

  He chuckled, then looked at me. Just before he disappeared from sight, he laughed again, hard.

  What had I gotten myself into this time?

  After Jeremiah left, I grabbed my bags from the car. I had a sleeping bag and a few other things. I decided to spend my night beneath the stars. I fell asleep in my new backyard looking up at the clear sky while listening to the cicadas. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was at home.

  23

  A sturdy knock on the front door resounded through the house. I bounded down the steps in my brown slacks, my face dripping with shaving cream.

  I opened the door to find a brown-clad deputy. The name tag read: T. Maynard.

  “You must be Troy,” I said.

  He smiled. “Yeah. Hello Mr. Riggs,” he replied.

  “None of that. I’m Dylan,” I said reaching my hand out to shake his, but realizing I still held my razor. “Whoops! Don’t shake!”

  He laughed. “I can give you some more time,” he said, then looked down to his hands where he held two cups.

  “Is that coffee?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he replied, handing me one.

  “Come in,” I said opening the door to him. He walked into the house with wide eyes.

  “Wow! This old place looks great,” he said.

  “Thanks. I think I’m going to like it here. Give me just a minute to finish this up,” I said, then bounded back up the steps. I got a sense from Troy Maynard, he wasn’t completely human either.

  When I returned, Troy stood at the kitchen counter. I desperately needed some furniture. “Ready to go?” I asked.

  “Sure, if you are. You have any questions?” he asked.

  “Nah, I got this,” I said. “Wait. Where is the best place to get furniture?”

  He laughed, “I meant about the job, but you’ll have to go into the big city to get that. No one here sells anything except for the antique store on main.”

  “I�
�ll have to check it out later. I’m not sure how many nights I can take in a sleeping bag,” I said.

  “You can stay with me until you get some furniture,” he offered as we headed out the door.

  “I’m kind of a loner. I’ll be fine for a bit,” I replied.

  “The offer is open. Let’s go get some breakfast,” Troy replied.

  “Sounds great. We eat on the job?” I asked.

  “Of course, there isn’t much to do here in Shady Grove unless something weird happens,” he said. “You know about the weird stuff, right?”

  “Yeah. I’m aware,” I said.

  “I figured so since Jeremiah brought you in,” he said as we climbed into his department cruiser.

  I took sips of the hot coffee on the way to town. My new house wasn’t too far from the main drag of town, but from what I could tell yesterday, the main drag wasn’t very big. It suited me though. I was happy to be here.

  We pulled up in the parking lot of a small diner near the bar where I’d met Jeremiah in last night.

  “Betty and Luther own this place. The food is so good,” he gushed.

  When we entered a white-haired lady greeted us. “Well, good morning Handsome,” she said.

  Troy elbowed me in the ribs. “She means you,” he said.

  “Oh! Hi, good morning, ma’am,” I said. I wasn't used to being hit on by older ladies. She had a pleasant face. Behind her in the little window leading to the kitchen, a large dark-skinned man stood shaking his head at her.

  “Don’t ma’am me, pretty boy. My name is Betty, and you are finer than a frog’s hair split three ways,” she grinned.

  “She’s always like this,” Troy said with a big grin.

  “Um, well, thank you,” I replied sitting down on a stool.

  “Let me fix you up. You look like a man who likes a big breakfast,” she said. “Don’t cha?”