Page 34 of Alien Mine

Fate shrugged and tapped a heel against a step. “First time I saw you, I thought you was just a no account drifter, but the way you work here? I figure you wouldn’t invest so much time in helping Rachel out if you didn’t plan on digging in your heels for a while.”

“She needs the help.”

“Don’t I know it, ol’ son. Thing is, she don’t give in to just anybody. She gives in to you.” Fate slapped his palms against his thighs and stood, his gaze still caught on the far horizon. “You hurt her, I’ll have to come after you. Ain’t nothing personal, ya hear? But I can’t have men messing with her. One heartache is one too many, and Juan Olvera done used that one up.”

Dyuvad stood and nodded solemnly. “If she were my sister, I’d do the same.”

“Then we’re in accord.” Fate grinned and jerked his chin toward the house. “Offer’s still good. It’s been a while since Kelly and Tiny had a sleepover. I sure do miss having ‘em in the old home place.”

As tempting as Fate’s offer was, Rachel wasn’t ready for more, and Dyuvad had no desire to push her. “Maybe soon.”

“Suit yourself. Just don’t let too much time pass. I might find me a woman soon, and then what’ll you do for a babysitter?”

Fate cackled as he followed the girls inside. Dyuvad shook his head, struck by the other man’s question. He hadn’t given a single thought to courting Rachel without her daughters around. Sneaking into her bed, stealing kisses when no one else was watching, and maybe cornering her for another late night cuddle session under the stars?

Sure, he’d pondered all of those scenarios and more, but sending Kelly and Tiny away simply so he could seduce their mother? Never. They were as much a part of Rachel as the land she worked. If he couldn’t accept her family the way it was, he had no business pursuing her.

The sky burst open not long after, forestalling outdoor work. Fate raced home under the scant cover of a folded newspaper onthe pretext of catching up with a friend.

Dyuvad settled in the living room between Kelly and Tiny with a book Kelly chose, and listened while she related a winding tale of two sisters who lived a long time ago in the far away land of Big Woods. Tiny fell asleep midway through the first chapter, snuggled against his side under his right arm.

The rain pounded on the tin roof, occasionally drowning out Kelly’s careful reading, and the power flickered. She finished reading chapter two, tucked a bookmark between the pages, and leaned her head against Dyuvad’s left arm. “Mama shoulda done been home by now.”

“Fate said she might eat lunch with Yasmin,” Dyuvad said.

“But what if she didn’t? What if the van broke down or something?”

“She has a phone with her.”

“But what if it’s broke?” Kelly huffed out a forlorn sigh and rubbed her cheek against Dyuvad’s bare upper arm. “It’s a long walk from here to town, and her wearing them fancy heels. Maybe we should go fetch her.”

Dyuvad’s heart softened at the worry thinning her young voice, and his earlier thoughts replayed in his mind. How could a man want a woman without accepting her children? How could any man walk away from a daughter who loved her mother as much as this one did?

“Don’t worry, Kelly. I placed a tracking device on the goat van.” He jiggled his left hand, flashing his wrist com for her benefit. “Would you like to see where your mother is?”

She brushed a tentative fingertip against the edge of his com. “You can see that through your watch?”

“It’s not a timepiece.” And beyond that, he couldn’t explain without telling her everything. “But yes, I can track your mother through it.”

In Pruxnæ, he relayed rapid fire instructions to his ship requesting Rachel’s location overlaid on an area road map. Three ticks later, a flat projection shot out of his com into the air above it, displaying a stationary, blinking dot to the side of a curvysection of road.

Kelly gasped. “Wow, Mr. Dyuvad. I ain’t never seen nothing like that except on TV.”

“It’s a relatively simple technology. Here. You try.” He eased his arm away from Tiny, flicked the wrist com’s clasps open, and fastened it around Kelly’s much narrower wrist, adjusting it to the smallest size. “What do you want to see?”

She fingered the loose com, sliding it back and forth along her forearm. “What Mama’s doing now.”

Dyuvad dutifully translated her request into Pruxnæ. Almost immediately, the projection zoomed in on the scene surrounding Rachel’s location and morphed into a holographic sphere encompassing a one-quarter hrik radius around her. The goat van was parked in a gravel parking area surrounded by a handful of vehicles, two four-wheeled, the others two-wheeled. Men of various sizes gathered around the van.

The view wasn’t tight enough to discern more than that, including whether Rachel was inside the van or out, but it was plenty close enough for fear to squeeze a tight hand around Dyuvad’s spine. In Pruxnæ, he said, “Computer, alert emergency services and mobilize them to Rachel’s coordinates.”

Kelly wrinkled her nose, her brown eyes wide. “Your voice got all funny.”

He forced his muscles to relax, forced himself to calm the tumult raging within him. Rachel was in danger. Why had he allowed her to journey to her meeting unescorted?

Tiny stirred and shifted against him, and Dyuvad’s eyes slid closed. Right. He wasn’t here to protect Rachel. He was here to protect her daughter. The two tasks should’ve been simple to accomplish in tandem.

He was beginning to believe nothing about his assignment was as simple as it appeared.

---