All Fired Up (Stardust)

by Riser, Mimi

  “Well, hey there, Winslow. Fancy meetin’ you here.” Cody reined to a halt, a big sunny smile shining out from under the brim of his Stetson. He lounged back in the saddle, holding Roxanne in front of him with a brotherly arm around her waist.

  But not that brotherly.

  Baring fangs in a snarl of a grin, Slo climbed out of the car.

  Cody got the chance to demonstrate his expert horsemanship by preventing the pinto beneath him from shying at the sudden shriek of a siren.

  Deputies Mike Thompson and Juan Martinez had finally cornered their man. Their feathers severely ruffled from all the chasing around they must have been doing, they burst out of their vehicle, red faced and sweaty, and snapped cuffs on the culprit.

  “Hey, if there’s a reward for him, I get it,” Cody declared brightly. “I blocked his escape for you.”

  “Uncuff me for ten seconds, and I’ll block his mouth for you,” Slo said to Mike.

  Mike looked tempted, but Juan shook his head. “Sorry, Slo, I wish we didn’t have to do this, but Randy and Andy haven’t dropped charges.” Sounding awkward and embarrassed about it, he began reading Slo his rights.

  “Wait a minute!” Roxanne swung her leg over the horse’s neck and slipped off onto her feet. “Does this have anything to do with last night? What are the Bullfinches charging him with?” Like Joan of Arc confronting the British, she advanced on the deputies, driving them both a clumsy step backward.

  Slo’s heart warmed at the sight of her so puffed up with indignation on his behalf – well, okay, he warmed at the sight of her, period – but his stomach knotted at the thought she was making trouble for herself. Again. She seemed always to be getting herself into trouble. And he just couldn’t stop himself from trying to get her out.

  “Roxy, back off. They’re only doing their job.” Slo’s aggravation with the situation made him sound aggravated with her.

  Which made her aggravated with him. Roxanne narrowed her eyes. What was his problem? Male ego? He didn’t want help from a woman? Or maybe he just didn’t consider this woman capable of helping. Well, too bad. She could and she would.

  “Shut up and let me handle this,” she told him. This was Russell Sinclair’s daughter speaking. If there was one thing Roxanne had learned from her father it was how to crack the whip and give orders. Not that she liked to do it, or had ever had much chance to practice, but the ability was probably inbred. She wouldn’t have been a Sinclair if she couldn’t summon up a little imperiousness now and then in a pinch.

  Caught off guard by her tone, Slo shut up. Joan of Arc had become Catherine the Great – and who ever argued with her?

  Roxanne planted her hands on her hips and stared down her nose at Mike and Juan. “I asked you a question. What are the charges?”

  Answers were hastily mumbled.

  “I see,” she said – coldly – an amazing state for her, but she didn’t notice it. She was too busy thinking how stupid this whole thing was. “In that case, I want to press charges, too. Against Randy and Andy Bullfinch. For attempted rape! You contact them right now and tell them if they don’t drop their asinine charges immediately, I’m going to have them arrested. Got it?”

  Juan did. He pulled out his cell phone.

  The necessary calls were made.

  Several minutes later the Caddy sat parked by the curb, out of the way of traffic – not that there was any – and the patrol car rolled back down the street, without its intended passenger.

  Chuckling to himself, Cody followed it, heading for the open range again. He would have preferred to stay for the fireworks show. You could smell it coming – Slo and Roxanne stood on the sidewalk, glaring at each other, oblivious to all else. But Cody had spotted some stray cattle with his brand on them during the ride to Star. He needed to herd them back behind his fence line before they wandered too far. A rancher’s work was never done.

  “See y’all later,” he called. Nobody answered, but then Cody hadn’t expected anyone to.

  “What’s happening ‘later’?” Slo asked Roxanne. If he sounded suspicious it was only because he was. One couldn’t help noticing how comfortable Roxanne had acted with Cody – and not with himself. “Are you dating him?”

  “Of course not.” She appeared to find it a ridiculous question.

  Slo took heart. “Would you date me?”

  “Hell, no!” Her eyes widened in horror. “Do you want me to torch this town? I can’t date anyone.”

  “Because you think you start fires?” This was not a good turn of the conversation.

  It turned Roxanne away from him to stare down the street. “I know it. And so do you. You’ve seen the evidence. What do you think started that fire outside the tent?”

  “Lightning.” He gently gripped her shoulders and turned her back around to face him. “Lots of range fires start from strikes.”

  “Not that one.” She shrugged him off. “Don’t touch me. Ever. It’s dangerous.”

  It also made no sense.

  “I can’t, but Cody can? You were squashed together in the same saddle. That’s not touching?”

  “That’s friendship. Cody’s safe because he doesn’t” – she blushed – “make me feel excited.”

  “And I do?” He hoped. “Roxy, you make me feel the same way. Why is that such a bad thing?”

  “Because it’s like pouring gasoline on flames! How many times do I have to explain it? I have an evil curse, and I can’t control it. I’m a menace! Why won’t you believe me?”

  It didn’t matter what he believed. Roxanne believed her crazy claims, and it was killing her. Killing him. She looked ready to run, suddenly desperate and hurting, looked so hungry for a hug it took all Slo’s willpower to not oblige. He wanted to comfort her, calm her, not scare her and drive her away.

  He tried a new tact. Diplomacy.

  “Okay, I’m sorry. Lets say I do believe you.” Just for the sake of argument. “Is this, um, pyro thing the only reason you want me to stay clear?”

  “Yes.”

  “So if that wasn’t a problem, you would date me?” If he could get her to at least consider that possibility, maybe they could make some progress from there.

  “No. I love my home and my family and I don’t want to leave them. So even if I could, I wouldn’t get involved with someone who won’t be around here long. Which you won’t” – she gave him a furtive glance, a strange blend of fear and hope – “will you?”

  “I might,” Slo said, shocking himself. He couldn’t really be thinking of staying in Star. Could he? There was nothing for him here. Except his grandmother (who wouldn’t be here if he dragged her with him to Houston). And a lot of people who had jumped to his aid today.

  That was the one thing about this dusty town Slo had hated the worst and loved the best. The people. They could drive you to distraction, but they were always right there to help when needed. Always. People like Earl Goodman…and Evangeline and her new husband…and Cody, pain in the ass though he was.

  And Roxanne.

  Especially Roxanne. She was here, and that alone seemed an excellent reason to stick around.

  “What if I moved back home? We could be neighbors. Would you date the boy next door?”

  Seriously, the more Slo thought about it, the better he liked the idea. He’d make less money here, but the cost of living was less, too, so the finances would even out. And with fewer fancy cars to paint, maybe he could even pick up an old dream – portrait painting. Hell, why not? Sam lived in Star, and he was fast becoming a world-renowned artist. If Samson Jones could do it, so could Slo Larkin. God knew there were some great portrait subjects in Star. One of them stood just a short pace away – the best of the best – but not wearing an expression Slo wanted to capture on canvas. She didn’t say anything he wanted to hear either.

  “I think that would be a very bad move,” Roxanne answered him in a voice throaty and thick with suppressed sobs. “You’re running risks you don’t understand, but since you refuse to
believe me, there’s nothing left to say. I’m sorry, Slo, but I can’t listen to you anymore.”

  And she didn’t have to, unfortunately for him.

  With a shaking hand, she removed her hearing aid. “This conversation is over. We can’t see each other again, so don’t even try. I’m going home now, and I’m going to stay there until you’re far gone. If you’re smart, you’ll leave soon.”

  Stunned speechless, Slo watched her walk off, feeling like he’d been sucker punched in the gut, feeling the quiet of the town settle over him like a lead shroud, not another soul in sight, not a whisper of hope… Then the church chimes struck the hour of noon, breaking the silence almost as if they were breaking a curse.

  Roxanne stopped in mid-step and spun around.

  “I hear them! I hear the chimes!” She raced back, hitting Slo with a flying tackle hug. “I’m not wearing my aid, and I can hear! I’m fixed!”

  “I never thought you were broken,” he strained out, half suffocated by her stranglehold on his neck. Not that he was complaining.

  “No, you just thought I was crazy. And now you’ll never know I wasn’t.” She pushed back, her face ecstatic, all sunshine and smiles.

  Slo basked in her glow. He had no idea what was going on, but hoped like hell it would continue.

  “I went deaf about the same time I became pyrokinetic,” Roxanne explained. “I’ve always figured the two problems were connected, and if one disappeared the other would, too. But there’s only one way to be sure.”

  “Which is?” Slo had a warm fuzzy feeling about this.

  “You’ll have to kiss me.”

  Damn, life was tough sometimes.

  He gathered her close, ready to answer the call of duty however arduous it might be. “How hot am I allowed to make this?”

  “As hot as you can. This is a test. If no fires start, we’ll know I’m cured.”

  “If no fires start, I’ve lost my touch.”

  “Slo, shut up and kiss.”

  Yes, ma’am.

  She asked for it.

  He got it.

  Wham—

  Roller coasters, rockets, and rainbows for all!

  The second Slo’s mouth covered hers, fireworks lit up his sky. Roxanne pressed against him, hanging on tight, kissing him hard. Volcanoes erupted, the Earth moved, angels sang—

  No…someone was playing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.” The music blared out of a building midway down the street.

  Breathless and flushed, Roxanne surface for air.

  “Sam must be home,” she panted out. “He told me yesterday he’d be going to Lubbock this morning to buy new speakers for his sound system. He must have just hooked them up.”

  “They sound good,” Slo drawled. But to him, Roxanne sounded even better.

  “Everything sounds good. And I didn’t burn anything!”

  That’s what she thought. Slo felt cheerfully charbroiled. Smiling and still smoldering, he pulled her back into the embrace. None of this made any sense, but then nothing had before, and he wasn’t so stuck on logic that he’d argue against craziness when it worked in his favor. If nothing else, you had to acknowledge her hearing had returned, which seemed pretty damned miraculous.

  “I just want to know how.” Roxanne rested her head on his shoulder, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m beginning to think there really was a lightning strike near the tent. I don’t mean that’s what started the fire – I know a pyrokinetic flare up when I feel one, and I sure felt one then. But I also felt an extra jolt – like an electric shock – which could have come from a close strike, I guess. That would explain why I passed out at the cave. It was a delayed reaction from an electrical overload to my ‘psychic circuits.’ Lightning knocked out my pyrokinetic power and me with it.”

  Amazing. She made it sound almost logical.

  “Either that, or you did,” she added, “because I felt the same electric jolt when we met. I think I knew right then you were either going to kill me or cure me.”

  She tilted back her head to give him a vixen’s grin. Foxy Roxy. “Anyway, it looks like I can date you now. Is that offer still open?”

  Slo couldn’t answer. He was suddenly too busy kissing her again. Which was an answer in and off itself. With an angel in his arms, Star, Texas felt like heaven.

  God, he was glad to be home!

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  Epilogue

  As the Star Gazette reported things, it was a whirlwind courtship that blew straight into a wedding the whole town helped to plan. However, the impatient bride and groom foiled the big plan by eloping on a motorcycle borrowed from Mr. Harper Rourke, and then riding off into the sunset for a honeymoon under the stars.

  Roxanne wanted to experience the wonders of nature. Slo wanted to experience the wonders of Roxanne, and didn’t care how or where. In any case, the gully did hold rather romantic associations for them. He showed Roxanne the proper way to pitch a tent and how to zip two sleeping bags into one. Then he showed her what amorous people did on their wedding night. No storms broke, and nothing caught fire – except Mr. and Mrs. Larkin. Yes, the tent did collapse on top of them at the climactic moment. But the Star Gazette didn’t report that part.

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  About the author:

  Mimi Riser is a multi-published, award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction. Her books celebrate the upbeat and the offbeat, and “happy endings” are her specialty. She began life in the urban northeast, but now resides in the rural southwest with one husband, two dogs, and more cats than anyone wants to know about. Her current locale inspires many of her stories. And, yes, she believes in love at first sight. Doesn’t everyone?

  http://www.mimiriser.com

  (Note: For those interested, the stories of Jack & Jileana Jones and Harper Rourke & Evangeline are told in the full-length novel Every Jack Needs His Jil, volume 1 of the Stardust series, available on Kindle.)

  ALSO BY MIMI RISER:

  Novels

  Eyes of the Cat

  Sherwood Charade

  Space Rats and Rebels

  Lifestyles of the Witch & Famous

  Kiss My Blarney Stone

  The “Stardust” Series:

  Every Jack Needs His Jil (novel)

  All Fired Up (novella)

  Star Cookies & Comfort (short story)

  Short Stories

  The Great Race

  If Wishes Were Kisses

  Joy to the Worlds

  The Robin Flies Again

  The “Lovestruck” Series:

  Marrying Mona

  Seducing Sophia

  Nonfiction

  Texas Treats

  Cooking Up Christmas

  Homemade Halloween Treats

  The Kitchen Witch Glossary of Cooking Herbs & Spices

  The Kitchen Witch Guide to the Timeless Art of Herbal Tea

  Spice Up Your Love Life! Aphrodisiacs from the Kitchen

  The Naughty Girl’s Guide to Divining by the Dots

  The Kitchen Witch Spring Into Summer Book

  The Kitchen Witch Yuletide Book

  The Kitchen Witch Halloween Book

  The “Odd True Tales” Series

  Anthologies

  Romance: Fantasy, Food, and Fortune Telling

  Breaking the Thought Barrier

  Erotic Romance

  Cymric’s Rose

  Samantha White & The Seven Dwarves

  Dungeons & Dirty Dreams

  Romeo’s Revenge

  Tina Takes a Tumble

  Saving Sally Savoy

  A Knight to Remember

  Just Another Lonely Knight

  In the Heat of the Knight

  The Adventures of Cassie Nova

  The Cowboys & The Courtesan

  Wicked Comes the Beast

  Playing Pirates

  Pirates Do It With Passion

  The Sylver & Steele Series

 
Paperback Anthologies

  My Knightly Adventures

  Return to the Burn

  Can’t Fight the Feeling

  Pirates & Other Wicked Pleasures

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