Riggs: Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides (Book 15)

by Black, Tasha

  “Shocking photos from the local police force show that there wasn’t so much as a single blossom on these peach trees a mere two weeks ago,” Arlene said in a voice that implied juicy gossip and ghostly tragedy at the same time.

  The camera panned to show the orchard, branches sagging under the weight of the glorious ripe peaches.

  “The proprietors insist that these trees aren’t genetically enhanced, but the results speak for themselves,” Arlene said darkly.

  “Oh my god, Sage, I’m so sorry—” Arden began.

  But Sage was already on her feet, running out the back door to find Tansy.

  Her sister was just outside, toweling her hair off from her swim in the pond.

  “What’s going on, Sage?” Tansy asked.

  “When the police were here for the bees, they took pictures,” Sage said.

  “Yeah?” Tansy said.

  “And the woman from Channel Eight got a hold of them,” Sage said. “She’s using the pictures as evidence that the trees bloomed too fast to not be genetically modified.”

  “No,” Tansy said, an expression of despair on her face.

  “I know how much you want this farm to work,” Sage said carefully. “I want it to work too. But there’s too much going wrong.”

  “There’s nothing that can’t be fixed,” Tansy said softly.

  But Sage could tell from her sister’s expression that she was only putting up token resistance. Tansy already knew what was coming.

  “I crunched the numbers last night, Tansy,” Sage said. “With the new tax bill and the supplies we’ll need for next year we just can’t make this work - not if we sold every peach on the place.”

  “I still have money in my account at school—” Tansy began.

  “No,” Sage said. “We’re not touching that again. I wouldn’t have let you touch it in the first place if I’d known where you were getting the money.”

  “It’s only money,” Tansy said. “I can earn more.”

  “It’s not only money,” Sage told her. “How long do you think it will be before someone digs deeper into the operations on this farm? Now that they’re suspicious of our practices, we’ll be under a microscope.”

  “The men,” Tansy breathed.

  “The men,” Arden nodded. “I don’t know if we can keep them hidden much longer. All we need is for someone to capture them on film and money problems will be the least of our worries.”

  “So what do we do?” Tansy asked.

  “We sell the farm to Dolly and get out of here,” Sage said. “You and Arden can take the boys someplace remote. Or split up and take just Burton with you. He might fit in all by himself, and then you can finish school.”

  “What about you?” Tansy asked.

  “I’m going back to work,” Sage said. “Someone needs to make some money. I’ll help you as best I can.”

  “What about Riggs?”

  Tansy’s question hung in the air.

  Somehow it hurt too much to think about.

  So Sage did what she always did, pressed her emotion deep down and declined to answer.

  “He cares about you,” Tansy added. “And I know you care about him too.”

  “Now is a time for action,” Sage replied. “Emotions can’t play into it.”

  There was a sound from the other side of the barn.

  Sage whipped around, but there was no one there.

  “You’re doing it again,” Tansy said. “You’re turning your back on what matters most. When Grandma Helen died, all you could think about was organizing everything, planning the funeral, crunching the numbers.”

  “Someone has to organize things,” Sage said, hurt. “Everyone can’t spend all their time saying good-bye. Someone has to make arrangements, or else nothing would ever get done.”

  Tansy shook her head, eyes wet with unshed tears.

  Before Sage could say anything more, Tansy jogged off toward the house.

  Sage found herself hoping Burton would find Tansy. He always seemed to be able to make her sister feel better.

  She tried not to let herself resent the fact that making Tansy feel better used to be her job.

  21

  Riggs

  Riggs paced the grassy knoll behind the barn.

  He should not have heard what he heard. He’d only been headed to the back door to join the others for dinner. And he’d dashed away as soon as he’d realized he was intruding on a private conversation.

  But he was glad he’d overheard a small bit before he rounded the barn.

  Sage cared about him, whether she wanted him to know it or not.

  And right now she needed his help.

  If only he could think of how to help her…

  But if what she said was true, it wouldn’t matter if he hung up flyers all night. If they had to sell the peaches for more than they were worth, it would not help to bring in a crowd to visit the farm tomorrow.

  Her words echoed in his head.

  The only thing anyone in this town wants to visit is aliens.

  Unfortunately she wasn’t wrong. Every time they passed the observatory on the way to town there were crowds outside the hedge. The whole downtown area was full of tourists and souvenir stands. Alien mania was rampant here.

  There didn’t seem to be as much peach mania.

  Suddenly something occurred to him.

  He stopped in his tracks, working it out. Surely there was some problem with his logic, some key thing he was missing.

  He had taken Sage’s comments to heart. He really had only been on this planet a short time. His judgment was not equal to the task at hand, at least not yet.

  But no matter how he looked at this, it seemed to be an elegant solution.

  Quick as a thought, he dashed up the hillside to the peach orchard.

  He jogged between the graceful trees. The fruit on the branches was practically bursting it was so ripe. It smelled heavenly.

  When he reached the hedge that separated Martin’s Bounty from the Observatory, he closed his eyes and called to his brother, Bond.

  I need your help brother, he thought as hard as he could. Please come to me.

  22

  Sage

  Sage awoke to a pounding on her bedroom door.

  “H-hello,” she called.

  The door flew open. Otis Rogers stood in the threshold, looking as if he had sprinted to her room from the town square.

  “Otis, what’s going on?” she asked, pulling the sheet around herself so he wouldn’t see her skimpy pajamas.

  He opened his mouth and closed it again, then shook his head.

  “Just get dressed and come out as fast as you can,” he said.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked, launching herself out of bed as ice water filled her veins. Farms were dangerous places if safety protocol was forgotten for even a moment.

  “No,” Otis said quickly. “Something’s very, very right.”

  He stepped back into the hallway.

  Sage scampered over to the closet grabbed some clothing and dashed to the bathroom to freshen up and dress.

  When she came out he was waiting in the hallway.

  “The thing is,” he said, as if they were already mid-conversation, “it probably wouldn’t have been so big, but the first people to arrive put pictures on Instagram.”

  “Pictures of what?” Sage asked, mystified.

  “Well, you’ll see,” Otis said, walking faster.

  He beat her to the front door and held it open.

  She stepped out the door and onto the front porch.

  Cars filled the gravel lot and spilled onto the lawn.

  A line of people stretched from the peach orchard down the drive and out onto the roadway.

  And it was barely even light out.

  “Good morning,” Riggs said from where he stood on the porch. He must have been waiting for her.

  “Wow,” Sage said, looking out over the crowd at the farm.

  “I’ll just let you
two talk,” Otis said, backing into the house.

  “Did you make this happen?” Sage asked.

  “Not directly,” Riggs said. “And it wasn’t even my idea. Not really. It was yours.”

  “What do you mean?” She turned to him, scrutinizing his face.

  Riggs smiled down at her.

  “Do you remember when you said that if we wanted the farm to earn enough to open again next year that we would need to sell the fruit for twice what it’s worth?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “The price for fruit-picking today is three times what your grandmother charged,” he said.

  Sage looked out at the crowd again, amazed.

  “Do you remember when you said that the only thing people in this town wanted to see was aliens?” he asked gently.

  She nodded and turned slowly to face him again.

  “You were right,” he said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I talked to my brother last night.”

  “Your brother?” Sage echoed.

  “Yes,” Riggs said. “Bond is out there with Posey and baby Estrella Grace. They’re going to do a hayride with the kids every two hours today.”

  “They’re here,” Sage said.

  “Yes,” Riggs replied.

  “And that’s why so many people are here,” she said, still trying to get her mind around the idea.

  “Correct,” he said.

  “And the news report, that something is weird about the peaches?” she asked.

  “Since my brother is here, everyone assumes that it’s some kind of alien magic making the peaches grow,” he said. “Now everyone wants Stargazer peaches.”

  “Stargazer peaches… and they did grow fast because of alien magic, so it’s not an empty rumor,” Sage murmured. “That’s… that’s… that’s brilliant.”

  “You like the idea?” he asked.

  “I love it,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing as tightly as she could.

  Happy tears prickled the insides of her eyes and she felt him kiss the top of her head. No matter what her mind told her, she had never experienced anything in her life that felt more right than being in his strong arms.

  “Come on,” he said gently. “Want to meet them?”

  “Yes,” she said, her apprehension gone for the first time since she came back to the farm.

  They descended the porch steps together, hand in hand.

  “We’re out of bushel baskets again,” Arden yelped, jogging toward them looking like she’d just run a marathon. “Oh, hi, Sage!”

  “Hi,” Sage replied. “I’ll go grab the spares out of the shed.”

  “Can you help me hitch the hayride to the tractor?” Arden asked Riggs.

  “Sure,” he said. “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” he told Sage.

  She smiled up at him and then headed for the old storage shed next to the orchard.

  Dozens of families roamed the trees, picking peaches and laughing. Tansy mingled among them, pointing out the best fruit and demonstrating techniques with the picking sticks.

  Meanwhile, Bond and Posey and the baby were surrounded by a ring of children who shyly touched Posey’s pretty pink dress and capered around to try and amuse baby Estrella Grace.

  It was a perfect day, and Sage allowed herself to relax and enjoy the kind of optimism she’d been longing for.

  Riggs was right. Everything was going to be just fine.

  She hummed to herself as she opened the storage shed.

  23

  Riggs

  Riggs straightened up from attaching the hayride wagon to the tractor.

  Bond and Posey sat in the hay, holding their baby daughter. The wagon was loaded with children, and parents pressed in from both sides, trying to catch a picture of their kids with the alien family.

  He stepped forward and out of the way.

  Tansy sat on the tractor in front, grinning widely.

  “Okay, everyone,” Tansy yelled. “Listen up!”

  The happy chaos faded to a joyful din.

  “These are the safety rules for the hayride,” she called out. “Number one, stay seated. Don’t get up until we stop. Number two, keep your hands inside the wagon. Number three, have fun!”

  The kids cheered and the parents smiled at each other.

  Tansy turned the key in the tractor and the engine started right up.

  The hayride headed slowly up the hill past the peach orchard.

  Tansy pointed to the trees, explaining to the kids about how old they were, and how they had been grown from cuttings of the original trees her grandmother had planted here.

  Riggs smiled, realizing Tansy was truly in her element.

  He trailed them on foot at a bit of a distance, enjoying the breeze and the sight of all the happy faces.

  The tractor looped downhill again, heading for the berry fields, picking up a bit of speed on the way.

  Riggs moved closer, covering his eyes against the rising sun to see if Tansy was in trouble. Surely she wouldn’t want to go so fast.

  At the same moment, he noticed a toddler break away from his mother to get closer to the hayride.

  The scene unfolded in a heartbeat.

  Tansy was between two lines of tourists waiting to pick berries and the little one was nearly in front of her. There was no place to turn. And the tractor wasn’t slowing.

  He was not supposed to use his gift in public.

  But it wasn’t even a decision, not really.

  Riggs ran, pushing his muscles until he could feel them burning, and reached the child seconds before impact.

  He wrapped his arms around the unsuspecting little one and rolled into the crowd as the tractor smashed into his shoulder.

  He could hear Tansy’s scream over the terrified shouts of the crowd and the sobs of the toddler in his arms.

  He could already feel his shoulder mending, the ligaments tightening back into place.

  “Oh my god, oh my god,” the child’s mother repeated taking him from Riggs. “Thank you.”

  But Riggs was already turning to see what happened to the runaway hayride.

  And now he understood Tansy’s frenzied scream.

  The tractor and wagon were out of control, hurtling straight at the storage shed by the old berry field.

  “Sage,” he moaned, running again but knowing that this time he would be too late.

  There was a horrible crash as the tractor went straight through the shed and half-ejected itself on the other side, finally coming to a stop as it smashed against a massive oak tree that was just two feet outside the shed.

  Smoke billowed from the engine and small flames licked the back of the shed.

  Most of the wagon was trapped inside.

  Tansy dragged herself off the tractor, yanking the keys from the engine, and staggered toward the side of the shed. She reached it at the same time as Riggs.

  Burton arrived by her side a few seconds later.

  “We have to get them out,” she screamed.

  “We will, it’s okay, they’re going to be okay,” he reassured her. “You need to sit down. That was a bad crash.”

  “The brakes weren’t working,” Tansy whined, clawing at the side of the shed. “We have to get them out. There are propane tanks stored in there.”

  Riggs’s heart dropped to his stomach.

  “I’ll call 9-1-1,” Tansy said pulling out her phone.

  “I’ll grab an ax from the barn,” Burton added, taking off faster than Riggs had ever seen him move.

  A tearing sound came from inside the shed.

  A section of wall opened and he could see a small child trying to climb out.

  “That’s it, there you go,” Sage said in a happy way. “Just climb right out.”

  “I’m here to catch you,” Riggs said, tugging on the section of wall until it came loose.

  Tourists were wandering down the hill to witness what had happened.

  The little girl climbed out into Riggs’s arms an
d he set her down.

  She ran down the hill to her father, who swept her up in his arms.

  But Riggs focused his attention on the next child, who was already heading his way.

  “Sage, you need to look for another opening,” he said as calmly as he could, not wanting to frighten the children.

  “I can’t do that right now,” she said lightly. “Here you go!”

  Another child came out and another. Some were crying. But more than one was shouting, “Again!” So Riggs figured they were going to be just fine, as long as they could get them all away from the shed before…

  “Sage, do you know what is stored in that shed?” he asked.

  “I do,” she said. “Come on, honey, you can do it.”

  Another little girl came out, then two boys.

  “That’s the last of the little ones. Go on, Bond and Posey,” Sage said. “I’ll come right after you.”

  Riggs moved aside, and helped his brother down, then his sister-in-law, who held the baby tight to her chest.

  “Okay, Sage, now you,” Riggs said anxiously, holding his arms out.

  “I can’t,” she said calmly. “I’m pinned to the wall.”

  “What do you mean you can’t?” he howled. The words refused to make sense. “Just push.”

  “This thing weighs two tons,” she told him sensibly. “Even I’m not that determined.”

  “Tansy is calling 9-1-1,” he told her. “Burton is on his way from the barn with an ax.”

  “Maybe one of them will get me out in time,” Sage said, not sounding hopeful. “But I need you to do something for me.”

  He could hear Tansy in the background telling the tourists to get away from the shed.

  “Anything. I’ll do anything,” he said. “You know that.”

  “I want you to move away from the shed now,” she said softly.

  “Sage,” he sobbed.

  “Listen to that,” she whispered.

  He quieted his own ragged breath and heard a hissing noise coming from inside.