Riggs: Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides (Book 15)

by Black, Tasha

  “We are not from Mars,” he reminded her.

  “No, but to a bigoted vandal it’s all the same thing,” she said. “Plus there’s the other part.”

  “Ah, yes, the part about the treasure,” he said. “What do they mean by that? Are they pirates of some sort?”

  “Oh,” Sage said. “That’s not what booty means in this context. They mean the, er, other booty.”

  “What other booty?” Riggs searched his memory for some other use of the term. “Like a baby shoe?”

  “Oh dear,” said Sage. “Booty can also refer to a woman’s… buttocks.”

  “But there are only male aliens on this farm,” Riggs pointed out, feeling more confused by the moment.

  “It implies, um, mating,” Sage said. “So if they are calling this farm Martian’s Booty, they’re saying that this is where women who have sex with aliens live.” Her face was red as a beet by the time she was finished.

  Riggs looked at the sign again, this time admiring how efficiently the sign painter had adapted those two short words into a remarkably apt description.

  But he could also sense that it would not please Sage for him to say so.

  Besides, mating was private, and this sign was public, and therefore dreadful manners, no matter how truthful it was.

  “This is an affront to your sister’s honor,” he realized out loud.

  “Oh god, we can’t let Tansy see it,” Sage said.

  “She will be offended,” Riggs agreed.

  “No,” Sage said. “She will probably think it’s funny. But then she’ll start to worry about someone vandalizing the farm.”

  “Do you think she should be worried?” Riggs asked.

  “I think this is the work of teenagers,” Sage said. “It seems like a one-time thing. And it was my fault for not making sure the ladder was put away.”

  “I was the one who was using the ladder,” Riggs said. “But I’ll run up and take the sign down. We can repaint it and no one will have to see this.”

  “Who would do this?” Sage wondered out loud. “Most of the teenagers are at the pool all day.”

  It occurred to Riggs that the only person on the farm who wasn’t usually there was Otis.

  “I’ll just climb up and take it down,” he said, choosing not to upset Sage with this idea. Surely Otis was sincerely sorry for what he had done before. Besides, Riggs couldn’t understand how the man could bake their breakfast all morning and then vandalize their sign the moment they left.

  It just didn’t make sense.

  6

  Riggs

  Riggs could hear his brothers’ laughter on the hill behind the barn.

  While he had removed the offending sign, hidden it, and properly stored the ladder, Sage had headed inside to prepare lunch.

  Riggs decided to head up the hillside and see what was so amusing.

  At breakfast, Arden had assigned his brothers the task of cleaning up the empty bushel baskets for the tourists. He could see that they had a stack of baskets lined up and a hose at the ready.

  Drago was in charge of the water and Burton was moving the baskets to be hosed off individually.

  But each time Burton carefully placed a basket on the tarp and turned around to retrieve the next one, Drago squirted him with the hose.

  Both men were laughing their heads off and Riggs could see that the basket washing wasn’t going very quickly. But he was very glad to see them.

  “Hello, brother,” Drago called to him. “May I squirt you with the hose in a playful manner?”

  Before Riggs could answer, Drago aimed the nozzle at him and sprayed.

  The cool water felt fantastic on a hot day, but Riggs pretended to be angry and charged his brother like a rhinoceros.

  Drago yelped and dropped the hose.

  Burton promptly picked it up and waved it around wildly as Riggs lifted his brother off his feet and slammed him to the ground.

  Riggs was feeling victorious when one of the peach trees seemed to reach out a root to trip him as he turned around.

  “No fair, you used your gift,” he spluttered, not mentioning that thanks to his own gift, he was completely unhurt.

  Drago just laughed like a wild hyena.

  Burton sprayed Drago down, calming him considerably.

  Then he turned the hose on Riggs.

  “Okay, okay,” Riggs laughed, standing and lifting his hands in surrender. “We give up, Burton.”

  Burton smiled and sprayed himself with the hose.

  “Did you have fun with Sage?” Drago asked, waggling his eyebrows as he got to his feet.

  “Yes, but not in the way you are implying,” Riggs replied.

  “I’m not implying anything,” Drago said, feigning innocence.

  “Well, your eyebrows are,” Riggs retorted.

  Burton laughed and then Riggs laughed too.

  Drago waggled his eyebrows again and clapped Riggs on the shoulder.

  “Really, brother, how are things with Sage?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Riggs said. “They’re going slowly. But she’s my mate. I told her this morning that I chose her.”

  Burton nodded, looking impressed.

  “You hadn’t told her yet?” Drago exclaimed, smacking him on the shoulder again, this time as if to scold him.

  “No,” Riggs said, fighting the urge to shove back. “Sage is not like your mates. She is thoughtful. It will take time for her to accept this idea.”

  “Tansy is thoughtful,” Burton retorted.

  “I did not mean polite, I meant… ponderous,” Riggs explained. “Sage doesn’t make decisions lightly. But I have faith that she will accept me.”

  “She will, brother,” Drago said lightly. “And then we will all be mated.”

  Riggs often wished he shared Drago’s easy confidence. The world seemed to offer itself to his easygoing brother. Riggs had to be more patient.

  “He’s right,” Burton said softly. “And so are you. Sage will need more time to think it over. She likes to have a plan. Soon you will be part of it.”

  The truth of this struck Riggs and he was deeply moved. He threw an arm around each of their shoulders.

  “What would I do without you, my brothers?” he asked. “This world only seems to make sense when I have you to help me observe it.”

  “We are a team,” Drago said firmly. “We all need each other.”

  Someone cleared her throat behind them. He didn’t need to hear any words to know exactly who it was. Riggs spun around to confirm that it was indeed Sage standing behind them, and shot her a sheepish grin.

  “I see you’re having fun with this job,” she said, eyes twinkling.

  Riggs wondered helplessly how long she’d been standing there.

  “I just came up to let you know that lunch will be ready in about ten minutes, so come on down when you finish up,” she said.

  “We will, Sage,” Riggs told her.

  She smiled and then turned and headed back down the hillside.

  7

  Sage

  Sage willed herself to walk carefully down the hillside back to the kitchen. She would not cry over what she had overheard.

  What would I do without you, my brothers?

  Riggs’s rhetorical question stung.

  Sage couldn’t believe that just an hour ago she had been asking herself whether he could come with her and assimilate to the outside world. She’d been worried about how he would get used to grocery shopping and elevators.

  It had never occurred to her to wonder if he would miss his brothers, or if he would even be willing to go anywhere without them.

  They were his only connection to his past life. And the more Sage thought about it, the more it made sense. Of course they helped each other to adjust to this new life. Of course they needed each other.

  Even Dr. Bhimani had not sent just one alien to the farm. She had sent three.

  They looked like men, and they had a man’s needs. But their short time on
this planet also made them like children. Sage could not imagine Tansy being taken from her when they were small. It would have been unthinkable not to have a sister with whom she could untangle the mysteries of the world.

  Sage had nearly reached the farm house now. The roses climbing up the back trellis were in full bloom. They trailed up the side of the house, their flaming orange color trumpeting the return of summer. But their glory was in full contrast to the gloom in Sage’s heart.

  She could not take Riggs with her. She would not separate him from his brothers. And the farm was not the place for her.

  “Sage,” Otis called out. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  She had left him alone in the kitchen for five minutes. His only job was to flip the grilled cheese sandwiches when they were cooked on the first side.

  But she stepped into the kitchen to the scent of burning bread.

  Otis stood in front of the griddle, one of Grandma Helen’s aprons barely covering his chest, a spatula in one hand, his other hand fanning a newspaper to dissipate the smoke.

  “Oh dear,” Sage said, marching into the fray.

  She bumped him aside with her hips, grabbed another spatula from the can on the counter and started flipping the sandwiches. One was already on the floor in front of the stove.

  “That’ll be mine,” Otis said quickly. “Ten second rule.”

  “I think it’s a five second rule,” Sage said. “And there’s no scientific basis for it. Whatever it landed on would have already contaminated it.”

  Otis picked up the sandwich anyway and put it on a plate.

  Sage couldn’t help but notice that one side wasn’t toasted at all.

  “Give it to me,” she sighed.

  He handed it over and she dumped it on the griddle. Maybe she could cook the germs off it.

  The other sandwiches took some prying but she managed to flip them.

  “How’s the soup coming along?” she asked.

  Otis blinked at her.

  “There’s tomato soup on the counter, the can opener’s in the drawer,” she said, pointing at the soup.

  “Sorry. I guess I’m really more of a baker,” Otis explained as he grabbed the can opener. “The bread for the sandwiches is fresh. I baked it this morning.”

  “That’s impressive,” Sage allowed, looking at the bread in the pan. It did smell delicious. “And don’t worry too much about it.”

  “I’m sure I’ll get better at other kinds of cooking if I spend more time here,” Otis said.

  Sage was surprised that he was planning to spend much more time with them. Surely he would feel he had paid off his debt after a few days.

  She looked over at him and he smiled at her sheepishly. Somehow it didn’t seem as endearing as when Riggs did it.

  She caught a glimpse of something bright red on his hands.

  He grabbed a towel right away and tried to cover them, but it was too late, she had seen.

  It hit her that Otis might have some other reason to be here at the farm. He might still be planning to sabotage them.

  And he had started with vandalizing the sign on the barn.

  “What’s on your hands?” she asked.

  “Oh, er, uh,” he stammered, further entangling his hands in the towel.

  “I already saw, you don’t need to hide them,” Sage said sternly.

  “It was supposed to be a surprise,” he said miserably.

  “Some surprise,” Sage said. “How could you?”

  “I know, I know, you said we all need protein, but I couldn’t help it,” he told her. “Everyone loves red velvet cake.”

  “What?” Sage asked.

  Otis opened the refrigerator and pointed inside.

  Sage stepped over and saw a two tiered, lavishly frosted cake.

  “I was going to surprise everyone after dinner, but you, uh, caught me red-handed,” Otis said with a nervous laugh. “I had a little mishap with the food coloring.”

  “Oh, wow,” Sage said, feeling terrible for suspecting him. It seemed pretty far-fetched that he might have vandalized their sign, then run back inside and baked an entire cake as an alibi.

  “I made it while you were in town this morning,” he said proudly. “Still can’t believe I got it done before you walked in the door.”

  “Is something burning?” Tansy asked as she strode in the back door.

  “Shoot,” Sage said, dashing back to the stove to get the sandwiches off the griddle.

  8

  Riggs

  After lunch, Riggs sat beside Sage in the truck once again.

  This time she was strangely quiet. The relaxed smile she wore this morning had been replaced with a look of concern.

  It occurred to him that she must be worrying about the vandal.

  “Do not worry about the sign,” he told her. “I put it in the back of the truck when no one was watching. I hope we can purchase paint in town and fix it before we go back to the farm.”

  This made her smile. She flashed him a grateful look that filled his chest with warmth.

  “Tansy will never see it,” he told her solemnly. “Also, I had a thought about who might have done this.”

  “Really?” Sage asked. “I had an idea too, but I was wrong.”

  “I do not like to make an accusation without proof, but Otis was trying to harm your operations just a few days ago. Now he is at the farm early each morning,” Riggs said carefully. “Do you think he would do this?”

  “I thought the same thing,” Sage nodded thoughtfully. “But he has a pretty good alibi.”

  “What was he doing?” Riggs asked. “I thought everyone else was working while we were gone.”

  “They were, but so was he,” Sage said. “He made a two-layer red velvet cake while we were out. He didn’t have time to vandalize the sign. I’ve seen enough Great British Baking Show to know what’s possible. There’s no way he could have done both in the time we were gone. Besides, if he really wanted to harm our business, he could have just kept his mouth shut about the bees.”

  Riggs was not familiar with the show she referred to, but Sage sounded convinced.

  He was both disappointed and relieved. Of course he would not want to think that anyone they trusted would betray them.

  But it rattled his senses to think that someone who intended harm to Sage and her family had slipped past him somehow. Every fiber of his being demanded that he keep her safe.

  “Here we are,” Sage said.

  They pulled into a parking space close to Cosmic Copies and went inside, sending the bells on the door jingling.

  “Hey there,” Howard said. “Your flyers are right here.”

  “Great,” Sage replied, hurrying to the counter.

  Riggs looked around, wondering if the store had painting supplies.

  The bright interior of the little store was so cheerful he felt like he was inside one of Tansy and Sage’s old children’s books that were still kept on a shelf by the fireplace.

  A riot of colorful sheaves of paper lined one wall of the shop. Carousels of books and cards lined another. And in between were bins of writing implements and dozens of shelves of items he couldn’t even identify.

  “What are you looking for?” Sage asked when she was finished with their purchase.

  “I was wondering if they had painting things here,” Riggs told her.

  “Good thinking,” Sage said, rewarding him with a gentle smile. “The hardware store would probably have better paint for an outdoor sign. We’ll go there last so we won’t have to carry the paint supplies on our walk.”

  Riggs smiled back at her and nodded.

  She walked toward the door and he scrambled to reach it first so he could open it for her.

  “Thank you, Riggs,” she said, brushing past him and leaving a trail of her intoxicating scent in her wake.

  The jingle of the bells echoed the song in Riggs’s heart and it was all he could do not to wrap his arms around her and kiss her.

  Soon,
he told himself. Soon.

  9

  Sage

  Sage stepped onto the sidewalk and Riggs followed.

  The milder weather meant the citizens of Stargazer were out in full force. Cafe tables had been set up along the tree-lined sidewalks and people with bright canvas shopping bags wandered in and out of the stores.

  A contingent of tourists in souvenir t-shirts wandered around, stopping for selfies against the backdrop of all the space-inspired shop names.

  Sage wondered how Riggs would react to all this. He was so reserved and quiet. It was probably the wrong day to ask him to follow her around while she asked to post flyers.

  But this was prime peach picking season and the farm opened for tourists in a less than a week. It was now or never.

  She snuck a glance over at her tall, dark and handsome companion.

  He observed the street with interest, his gaze taking in the tables, the people, the bright colors.

  “It’s a busy day for Stargazer,” Sage observed.

  “Everyone seems happy,” Riggs said.

  He was right, she hadn’t noticed, but there was a holiday feel in town today. It was likely the weather, making everyone lighthearted.

  “So where do we hang the flyers?” Riggs asked.

  “Let’s start at the post office,” Sage said.

  They crossed Jupiter Avenue and headed down Pluto Place to the post office - one of the few buildings in town that hadn’t adopted the space motif. She supposed that was to be expected for a branch of the federal government. She also knew they stocked more space themed postage stamps and postcards than she had ever seen in one place, so it wasn’t like they weren’t doing their part.

  If the usual counter clerk was on duty this would be a baptism by fire for Riggs. At least she would have a better idea of how he interacted with other people.

  They crossed the small town square and passed the bird-poop speckled clock tower and the modern art installation. When they got to the door, Riggs opened it for her.