“So, are you going to tell me what you’re thinking so seriously about?” His gaze followed where she had been looking. His lips formed a straight, irritated line. “Or maybe I should say whom, rather than what.”
“His name is Kristor, he’s renting my old room, and the guy is certifiable.”
His expression relaxed. “Is he the alien you saw?”
For a brief moment, she had a vision of herself screaming at the top of her lungs and pulling at her hair. The only thing stopping her from following through was the fact she didn’t want to be in the same car as the one that would be taking the once naked man, who claimed to be an alien, off to the state hospital.
“I didn’t see an alien,” she ground out. “He told me he was an alien.”
“Ahh…” He still looked skeptical.
Why should he believe her now? He never had in the past.
“I just want him out of my parents’ house.”
“Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.” Donald nodded toward the two men.
Heath shook the stranger’s hand as though Kristor had just told Heath that he’d won the Texas lottery. What the hell? Heath was grinning when he started back toward her.
“Did he tell you he was an alien?” she asked when he joined them again.
“You must have misunderstood. He’s from another country. Kris is a really great guy. He even agreed to play in the flag football game this afternoon. Good thing—we were short a man, and would’ve had to cancel.” Heath cast a sour look in Donald’s direction.
What?
No, no, no!
“Let me get this straight,” Ria began as calmly as she could. “He won you over because he agreed to play in a stupid football game? And you’re not taking him to the state hospital, not even after the game?”
Heath frowned. “It’s not a stupid game, and I can’t very well lock him up just because he’s a foreigner. How would that look?”
“He said he wanted me to go to his planet, and he would take me there in his spaceship.”
Heath chuckled. “Maybe that was his way of sweet-talking you?”
Beside her, Donald went rigor mortis. Sheesh, it wasn’t as if they were still dating. He didn’t own her. Then again, he could just be concerned the guy was a stranger. Doubtful, though. Donald still acted as if they were an item.
Her attention turned to Kristor. He was helping the Widow Simmons up a steep slope, and she was grinning like a young girl. Good Lord, she was at least eighty-five.
“You could do worse.” Heath glanced at Donald again, then back to her. “And you’re not getting any younger.”
Ria bristled. “Twenty-eight is not that old.”
Donald slipped his arm around Ria’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll check this new man out, Deputy. After all, it would be a shame if he was indeed a lunatic. I would rather believe one of our own, than someone you’ve known all of two minutes.”
Heath squared his shoulders. “I’d already planned to do that, since it’s my job. I don’t think you have to worry that I don’t know procedure. I signed on to protect the citizens, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.” He tugged on the end of his hat, then turned and left.
“You can move your arm now,” Ria told him. The heavy weight was like an anchor.
He took his time moving it. “Have lunch with me.”
Donald had inherited the running of his parents’ restaurant when they retired to Florida. It was a good place to eat. Not that they had many choices. It was either the restaurant, the Dairy Queen, or Sonic.
“I’m going to grab Carly a burger, and see how she’s feeling.” It was best not to start something else up with Donald. It had taken her too long to break free of his tight rein the last time.
“I’ll have the cook fix her something special,” he said.
“Donald, I…”
He smiled. “As old friends, nothing more. Carly would much rather have something from the restaurant, I’m sure.”
She didn’t see anything in his expression that would tell her otherwise, and it wasn’t as though she hadn’t known him all her life. “Okay, but I can’t stay long.”
He grinned, taking her hand in his. She looked across the park and caught Kristor watching her. He wore a dark scowl. She had a feeling he didn’t care for Donald’s touching her. What? Did he think she was his property? He might have fooled the deputy, but he didn’t fool her for a second. She stepped closer to Donald just to prove she didn’t belong to Kristor, either. Donald smiled down at her.
“I used to love it when you wore your hair down. It made you look more like a grown woman and less like a ragamuffin. I wish you’d wear it down more often.”
For a moment she’d forgotten exactly what it was about Donald that irritated her. She was so glad he’d reminded her. “Then isn’t it a good thing we’re not dating because I love my hair up. It’s so much cooler.” She smiled.
“Stubborn woman.” He laughed, but it sounded brittle.
“You’re not the first person who’s told me that,” she said. Except when Kristor had said it, it hadn’t sounded quite as condescending.
Lunch went by fairly quickly, mainly because Donald kept getting called away. His irritation was clearly visible. When he had to see about a malfunctioning dishwasher, she took the opportunity to escape.
Carly didn’t live very far away. No one in town lived very far away, though. Ria could cross town in peak traffic, with the light red, and still be at Carly’s in under five. They only had one red light, and a blinking caution light, and a few stop signs that people sort of stopped at.
She climbed the stairs to Carly’s second-floor apartment and knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door was opened by a bad imitation of her friend. Carly sported a red nose, and watery, red-rimmed eyes.
“Oh, sweetie, you look awful.”
Carly opened the door wider, then covered her mouth with a tissue when she began to cough. “I feel awful.”
“I brought sustenance.” She raised the white carton.
Carly puffed her cheeks out. “Blah. Food.”
“You have to eat.”
“I’d rather lie down and die.” She moved to the sofa and collapsed on it. “How was the parade?”
Ria took the carton to the kitchen and put it in the fridge for later. “My alien was there,” she said over her shoulder.
Carly sat up with a start, then grabbed her head, and lay back down. “I can’t believe you sprang that on me.”
“Sorry.” Ria went back to the living room and curled up on the chair, keeping a safe distance from any germs floating in the air.
“This was the naked guy you saw in the woods? What happened? I want all the details.”
She had already told Carly everything. Ria had known she could count on her friend to believe her. Now, she quickly related what happened in the park, what Kristor had told Ria about her parents, and then the lies he’d told Heath.
“I take it that you don’t think he’s using a new line to come on to women?”
Ria shook her head. “I think the guy is crazy. Mom doesn’t though.” She grimaced. “You should’ve seen her gush when she talked about him. You’d think he was a god or something. Apparently, he’s casting a spell over the town. Well, at least my parents and Heath. I know why Heath thinks he’s great. He agreed to play in their flag football game this afternoon. But my mom? She should know better.”
“She’ll come to her senses when the newness wears off.”
“If she’s still alive.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Ria sighed. “I don’t know.”
“Know thy enemy.”
“Huh?”
“Go to the football game.”
Ria’s stomach twisted in knots. “I have to. Remember? I’m a cheerleader.” It was Mary Ann Proctor’s fault. That, and the fact Ria had turned down a post on the Women’s League board, which meant if she missed a meeting, she got volunteered for whatever everyone else didn’t want to do. Drat, how could she have forgotten about the football game? It was a community event, and therefore, the league was obliged to participate.