Page 24 of Star Mates

CHAPTER EIGHT

Emmarie and Harpo worked the rest of the afternoon together. She had watched from the stage area as Raiden had left a few minutes after she had approached and introduced herself to the piano man. Harpo stood slightly shorter than her own five foot four, and he had head full of curly brown hair. His fingers constantly worked over the keys, even as he talked with her. Emmarie was delighted to discover they knew quite a few songs. His father had come from Earth and had taught Harpo all the hits from up to the time he had been abducted.

After a few hours of rehearsing, Leona waved her over to the bar. Emmarie patted Harpo’s arm and left him. Leona placed a glass of water on the counter for her to drink, and Emmarie gulped it greedily.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Leona told her. “About my temper. All I can say is that it wasn’t directed at you.”

“I kind of figured that.”

Leona gave rueful grin. “Those boys bring out the worst in my temper sometimes.”

“You work with them a lot?”

“Quite a bit,” she said on a sigh. “My mother ran this place before me and took care of the new refugees finding their way from the other side of the belt. It was dangerous business then because we didn’t have ground weapons at the time and Dura was still undecided about human colonists.” She shrugged. “When my mom died, I took over. I help the refugees that come through get acclimated to freedom but there are many who are still too scared to do anything.”

“Is Dura still not recognizing us?”

“There are negotiations all the time, but out of sight out of mind. I don’t think Durian citizens care about humans. Every once in a while, there’s a big push, and we get hand-me down weapons. They even gave us star jumpers. Pell grew up learning how to pilot. He and Pikon always commanded attention wherever. Natural born leaders my mother always said.”

“And how do you know for sure Pike cheated on you?” Emmarie asked, changing topic. “He didn’t sound like he did.”

Leona sighed. “Actually, I don’t think he did either, but I can’t think of any other reason why he might be coming from Lusty Lisa’s.”

“You can always go ask Lisa.”

Leona pursed her lips as she considered that. “Hm,” she finally said. “Never thought of the direct path.”

“Sometimes, when you’re in love, it’s hard to see the whole picture,” Emmarie replied.

“You know an awful lot about love,” Leona teased.

“I’ve sung at a lot of weddings.”

****

To say she was exhausted was an understatement.

That evening she sat on stage and sang every song she and Harpo knew together. The crowd clapped with approval and asked her to repeat some of her playlist, and before she realized it, half the night had sped by. The saloon closed so she headed to the room Leona had set her up in.

Even though she was practically dead on her feet, her mind couldn’t stop thinking. Emmarie sat on her bed, a narrow strip of mattress on a wooden frame, and stared unblinking at the wall. The happenings of the day finally crashed through her and there simply wasn’t anything she could think or say to herself to make the nightmare go away. How was it even possible that she had been abducted by aliens, freeze-dried for the ride here, miraculously saved when they crashed on an asteroid, and then rescued by fellow human abductees? It was beyond belief, beyond strange, beyond even her imagination.

And then there was Pell Raiden. A hard and rough man under a veneer of civility, it didn’t escape her notice that he hadn’t shown for her performance. She didn’t know which annoyed her more…her disappointment that he had missed her singing or the fact that she swiveled her head every time the door opened. Emmarie questioned how he could dominate her thoughts so easily, but perhaps she’d been alone too long. Perhaps she was simply grasping at the first honest to goodness attraction she’d ever felt. Perhaps she was making too much of the handsome captain.

With a sigh, Emmarie left her bed and headed for the door. With the saloon now closed, she hoped she could find something to settle her brain and help her to relax. Anything was better than staying awake and thinking.

No light shown downstairs. The only sound was her footfalls as she walked over the wooden floor. A quick glance around revealed no booze, much to her disappointment.

“She locks it away,” a husky male voice told her.

Emmarie gasped in fright, spinning. Raiden sat in one of the back tables, his feet propped up on a table, a tall bottle of amber liquid resting next to them, and a shot glass clutched in his hand.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked, taking a swallow.

“No,” Emmarie replied. “Thought a drink might help.”

“Grab a glass down at the end,” he gestured with a wave of his free hand. “You can share mine.”

Emmarie hesitated for a moment. Her heart sped up a little quickly with excitement at being alone with him, but she wondered if sitting in the darkened deserted saloon was wise.

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