Thankfully, he knew that she wouldn’t be taking off in the middle of the night on him.
Mike walked them out front as everyone else was leaving.
“If you want, you’re welcome to park the van where it is. We do have a guest room, but Xtina thinks you won’t take us up on our offer to stay in it,” Mike said.
“She’s right.” Tara nodded. “I’m more comfortable in my own place. It may be tiny, but it’s all mine.” She smiled. “Thank you. I will, however, agree to hook up to your water and power, if it’s okay with you.”
“Sure is. I had the connections installed a few months back for my parents, who just bought a huge RV. But they have decided to travel since my dad likes the open road.” He rolled his eyes. “They are just by the barn. It’s over here.” Mike walked towards the other building to the right.
Since he figured he could help, he followed along. Besides, he was kind of curious to see what the inside of her van looked like. Did she have a shower? A toilet? In the last month he’d never seen her check into a hotel to shower. She always came out of the van looking fresh and clean, which led him to believe there was more room on the inside than it seemed.
Mike and he stood back as she backed her van up next to the garage and opened the sliding door. To his surprise, there was not only a shower area with a toilet inside, but a full-blown kitchen, a small dining space, and a king-sized bed.
“Wow,” Mike said, looking inside. “It’s like a tiny home on wheels,” he joked.
“Thanks. I built most of it out myself.” Tara hooked up the power and water connections. “It had some parts when I bought it, but the rest I upgraded.”
He had to admit, he was more than a little impressed.
“You… live in this full time?” Mike asked.
“Yes,” she answered with a smile. “I guess you can say I like the open road too.”
“Not that I don’t enjoy a good trip, but…” He glanced back at the big house and smiled. “I’ve got a few things here worth sticking around for.”
Tara smiled. “Your daughter is charming.”
“She will be.” Mike chuckled. “When she does more than sleep, eat, and poop.” Mike reached out his hand. “Well, I’d better get inside and see to my women.” Colt shook his hand. “Goodnight.” He gave Tara a nod and then strolled back towards the house.
“They’re very trusting,” Tara said, mostly to herself.
“They’re all insane,” he added with a shake of his head.
Chapter 5
Tara felt her entire body tense.
“Why? Because they let a stranger stay on their land?” she asked.
“No.” Colt shook his head. “Because they…” He shrugged. “They did tell you the whole story about fighting off gods, right?”
She relaxed slightly and took a deep breath of the sultry autumn air. She’d spent most of her life in California and in the northern states. She’d never been somewhere where at ten o’clock at night it was still so warm outside. Not to mention all the humidity. She found she kind of liked it.
At least she wouldn’t have to run the space heater in her van tonight. Actually, she might even open the windows and let some of the scent of the flowers planted around the garage soothe her to sleep.
“Yeah.” She waved him off and started walking around her van to pull out the folding chair that she used to enjoy the outdoors. She had two of them and since Colt didn’t show any signs of leaving soon, she pulled them both out.
“That doesn’t concern you?” he asked as he helped her set them up.
“No.” She shook her head and reached inside to grab a couple of cold sodas from her fridge. She handed him one and sat down and enjoyed the view of the fireflies playing over the dark field beyond the barn. “You’re forgetting, I just showed everyone I could lift a piano and fly,” she added dryly, even though she was still reeling inside from letting out her secrets to strangers. But part of her trusted that they wouldn’t call in the government agents and have her hauled away. She hoped. “Besides, over the past years I’ve learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth.” She smiled. “Or a free spot to park and stay with hookups.”
He sat next to her and sipped his soda. “Right.” He frowned into the darkness.
She could tell he was debating asking her something.
“What?” she asked after a moment. When he looked at her, she shrugged. “It’s obvious you want to ask me something.” She waved her hand. “Shoot. It’s not like I didn’t just open myself up completely in there already.”
“Right.” He shifted in the chair, then set down his drink on the ground next to the chair. “Have you always had the abilities?”
“No,” she answered quickly.
“When did they come to you?”
“Shortly after my sixteenth birthday,” she answered easily, trying to push aside the memoires of her childhood, of everything she’d lost. “Who did you come in town to work for?” she asked, turning the tables on the questioning.
He was silent for a while before answering. “I didn’t come to town to work for someone in Hidden Creek, specifically.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re here for me, aren’t you?” She’d thought about it since the moment he’d mentioned what he did for a living. Her gut had told her he was after her the instant he’d mentioned that he found people, spied on people. Something just hadn’t sat right. Besides, it was too much of a coincidence to run into him in the gas station that morning and then see him at the coffee shop more than a hundred miles away.
Instead of answering, he stood up and walked over to the wood fence a few feet away under a dim light that hung on the corner of the garage.
Moths danced in the beam of the floodlight, and the crickets’ chirps were almost deafening. She moved to stand next to him.
“Why me? I’m nobody,” she asked.
He turned to her. “I thought that at first.” His eyes ran over her. “Then you lifted a piano like it was a feather.” He sighed. “Oh, yeah, and flew.”
She nodded. “Okay, who is your client, then? Someone from my past? I mean, I’m careful not to mess up, but I’m not perfect,” she admitted as fear spiked through her. Was he going to turn her in? Part of her was screaming to pack up and drive away at that very moment. Still, the way he was looking at her, the kindness and concern she saw in his eyes, had her leaning against the fence and watching him.
“So someone else knows what you can do?” he asked her.
“No. I mean, I don’t think so.” She thought about it. About all the times she’d slipped up in the past. When she’d lifted something that would have been way too heavy for someone her size. Or the time she’d jumped a little too high to reach the top shelf in the store. Not to mention the time she’d poured hot liquid on her skin and walked away without even a red mark.
“Can you think of anyone in particular?” he asked, as if he wasn’t even sure who his client was himself.
Sighing, she shook her head. “Don’t you even know who hired you?”