Home Again

by Lisa Emme

  Naked, she scooped up his pants and chucked them at him and then dashed down the hall to the bathroom. After discarding the condom, Mike smiled and lay back on the bed, listening to the sound of water running in the bathroom. Maybe she was jumping in the shower. The thought of joining her and watching soapy water slide down her heavenly body had him off the bed and down the hall in seconds.

  He came up short at the door. The sight before him wasn’t her slippery body, covered in suds, but just as provocative. She stood with her head under the flowing water in the sink, her naked ass wiggling as she shimmied her head back and forth soaking her hair. He stepped into the room and stopped behind her. God, what a gorgeous ass. The thought of sinking himself to the hilt from behind had him instantly hard again. He watched as she reached up and turned the water off, her hand reaching blindly for the towel she had placed on the counter beside the sink. He quickly nicked the towel from her and with a snap, flicked it at her bare ass.

  “Yeouch!” Allie yelped and stood up, flinging water from her head. “Mike!” She stopped, eying his erection. “Oh no, no time for seconds.” She shook her head like a dog and sprayed him with water.

  “Hey!” he laughed.

  “Consider that your shower.” She snatched the towel from him and rubbed her head. “Now would you please go get dressed before I do something I’ll regret?”

  “Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?” Mike leered.

  “This!” Grinning, she snapped the towel at him, hitting his bare thigh with a stinging blow.

  “Ouch! Shit! Nice shot.” He backed up a step to get out of reach, and then eyeing the towel bar, he dodged past her and grabbed his own weapon.

  “Oh no…no, no, no. We do not have time for this.” Allie shouted as she snatched the pile of clothes off the counter and pelted back down the hall to the bedroom, Mike in fast pursuit.

  The door slammed in his face and Mike pulled up short, laughing. “Come on Allie, take your licks like a big girl.” He pushed on the door but it only budged open an inch or two before it slammed closed again.

  Allie leaned spread eagle against the door and laughed. “Forget it. You started it. We’re even now.” Mike pushed the door again, but she pushed back, leaning all her weight against it.

  “Alright, alright. Truce?” said Mike, laughing.

  “Okay, truce.” She sprang from the door and jumped on the bed. Mike burst through the door and hit the bed at a run, barrelling her over. They both laughed as they hit the mattress with a whumpf! Mike kissed her soundly then, leaving her breathless, jumped up and pulled on his pants.

  “Well, come on, Kitten. I thought you were in a hurry.”

  “What! Oh, you…” She rolled from the bed and snagged the clothes she had tossed there. She pulled a t-shirt over her head. Mike pulled on his own shirt then stopped and stared at her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” he replied. She just looked so damned sexy wearing nothing but his shirt. “Come on, Beautiful. Let’s get you home.”

  Blushing, she looked down and pulled on a pair of sweats. She cinched the drawstring tight and rolled the waist down, leaving the shirt to hang loose over top, and then ran her hands through her damp hair. “Do you have any gel or mousse or anything?”

  Mike shrugged and ran a hand through his own tousled hair. “I think there might be something in the bathroom.” He jammed his shirt into his pants and buckled his belt.

  Allie made another quick stop at the bathroom to gather her wet clothes off the floor and then rifled through his bathroom cabinet, looking for something to fix her hair. She found a tube of hair gel and squirted a dollop into her hand. She rubbed her hands together, then hung her head upside down and rubbed the gel into her hair. She stood up again, hair sticking up everywhere and primped in front of the mirror for a minute or so. Then, tucking her hair behind her ears, she shrugged, deeming herself acceptable, and turned to leave the bathroom. Mike stood in the doorway, a grin on his face.

  “So that’s how you get it like that,” he mused.

  “What can I say, I’m a wash-and-wear kind of gal.” She gathered up her wet clothes and gave him a peck on the cheek on the way past. “Saddle up cowboy. We’ve gotta roll.”

  “Why are you here Brian?” Rowdy frowned as Brian, obviously there in an official capacity, judging by the fact he was in uniform, stepped into his office. The two men had gone to school together since childhood and there had always been a less than friendly rivalry between them. Rowdy had tended to think his family’s standing in the community should lend him some privilege and Brian had been more than happy to knock him down a peg or two, something Rowdy wasn’t quick to forget even though high school was a thing of the past. “Allie sent you, didn’t she?” His frown turned to a scowl.

  “I’m here on official business.” Brian hitched his belt then hooked his thumbs over it. “True the complaint has to do with some vandalism out at the Roberts place, but it’s not like I came out here automatically, nor does Allie or anyone one else for that matter, dictate how I run an investigation.”

  “Vandalism?” Rowdy looked confused. He thought that Allie had finally followed through on her threat and reported the trespassing from the week before. “What happened?”

  “Seems some yahoos decided it might be fun to cut the fence on their pasture and the cows got out onto the road. Luckily no one was hurt and, other than the fence, no damage done,” Brian replied. He pulled a folded list from his pocket. “You’ve got five Honda Rincons registered. I’ll need to see them.”

  Rowdy looked surprised. “Yeah, so? What does that have to do with anything?”

  “We have an eye witness account of two such vehicles in the immediate vicinity at the time the vandalism occurred. I’m checking with all the farms in the area that have that model of vehicle registered. Can you account for all of yours?”

  Rowdy scowled. “Not likely. They’re kept out back and the keys are right there in the lock box. All the guys have access to them and they don’t have to sign them out or anything. I couldn’t tell you if any or all of them are even there now.”

  “So you wouldn’t know if a couple of them went missing?”

  “They were all accounted for last night.”

  “How about last Sunday?”

  “Don’t know.” Rowdy pulled a two-way off his belt and spoke into it. “Seth.”

  “Yeah Boss?” A voice came back over the two-way.

  “I’m at the office. Where are you?”

  “Actually, just heading that way. Be there in a minute.”

  “Okay. Come to my office when you get here.” Rowdy clipped the two-way back to his belt and looked up at Brian. “Seth Granger, my foreman, closed up the office on Sunday. He’d know if all the vehicles were back.”

  “Granger?” Brian frowned, not recognizing the name. “New guy?”

  “Yeah, hired him on three months ago.” Rowdy grinned. “My grandfather may have liked to keep his fingernails dirty taking care of things, but I prefer to delegate.”

  There was a knock on the door before it swung open. A man Brian assumed was Seth walked in. In his early fifties, he was short and wiry, with salt and pepper grey hair. He came up short when he noticed Brian standing there in his uniform. “You wanted to see me Boss?”

  “Yeah. When you locked up on Sunday were all the ATVs accounted for?”

  “Yes sir. Made sure all the keys were back in the box too. Some of the guys keep forgetting and leaving them in their pockets.”

  “Good. Thanks. Will you take Deputy Rogers here around back and show them where they’re kept?”

  “Will do,” answered Seth. “Follow me, Deputy.”

  “Thanks for your time, Rowdy.” Brian replaced his hat on his head and followed Seth out the door.

  ***

  A while later, Seth knocked on Rowdy’s half-ope
n door then let himself back in. He was carrying a postal tube. Rowdy gestured for Seth to take a seat and grabbed the tube that Seth held out for him.

  “What was all that about?” asked Seth.

  “What? Oh, Brian. I mean Deputy Rogers.” He smirked. “Dudley Do-Right is more like it.” He grinned at his joke then narrowed his eyes and looked at Seth. “Seems there was some trouble out at the Roberts’ place last Sunday. You wouldn’t know anything about that now would you?”

  Seth raised his eyebrows in question. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Hell, no,” Rowdy replied.

  Seth smiled then shook his head, a look of mock innocence on his face. “Well then, no, can’t say that I do.”

  “Cops think it was just some dumb kids playing a prank.” Rowdy snorted. “Course them dumb kids may have done me a favour. I’m sure old man Roberts was less than impressed with having to round up his cattle and fix the fence. Might make retiring look that much more appealing.” He frowned for a moment. “I do think that maybe cutting the fence was taking things a bit too far though. Small pranks don’t hurt, but I don’t want anyone to get injured.”

  Seth shrugged again, hands held up in a ‘what can you do’ gesture. “They may have taken things a bit far this time. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  Rowdy nodded distractedly, the topic closed as far as he was concerned. He opened the postal tube in front of him, pulled out the rolled paper from inside and spread it out on his desk. It was a map of the area. Rowdy scowled. “What the hell? This isn’t the geological map I ordered. This is a damn topographical map.”

  “What?” Seth looked surprised. “The clerk must have sent the wrong one.”

  “Well, I’m sure I asked for the new geological survey,” Rowdy grumbled.

  “Sorry, Boss. Want me to call again first thing tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. Make sure they don’t charge us a second time. Don’t see why I should have to pay for their mistake.”

  “So you think the Roberts are going to sell? Seems to me that young daughter of theirs coming home may put a wrench in your plans.”

  “Niece. She’s their niece.” He scrunched up the map in front of him and tossed it in the trash with a scowl. “Yeah. Didn’t count on her coming home like that. But I doubt if she’ll stay long.”

  “I don’t know. She looked like she was getting pretty tight with that new, young vet. Might be she may decide to stay on.”

  Rowdy frowned again, looking pensive. “Hmm, we’ll see about that.”

  ***

  “Thanks Jock.” Allie smiled at the old rancher, who grabbed his mug of beer and with a tip of his hat, ambled back to his table. She grabbed a well-worn, folded map and made a couple of quick notations.

  “What are you up to there, Sugar?” Marla nodded at the map in Allie’s hands and dropped her empty tray down on the bar with a clatter. It was a Tuesday night and the bar was slow, so she gratefully plopped herself down on a barstool to take a load off.

  Allie was deep in thought, studying the map. “What? Oh sorry Marla, what can I get you?”

  Marla snorted, “An answer as to why that ratty old map is so interesting. You’ve been writing on the damn thing or staring at it every time I look at you.”

  Allie smiled sheepishly. “Oh, sorry. I was just making a few notes.” She opened the map up and spread it on the bar in front of Marla. “I’ve been talking to my neighbours when they come in, trying to establish a pattern to the vandalism and pranks.”

  “Establish a pattern? Well, la-di-dah, don’t you just sound like Little Miss Detective?” Marla snorted. “Well, and what have you learned Miss Marple?”

  “Miss Marple? Wasn’t she some old spinster lady? Puh-lease.” Allie rolled her eyes dramatically and put her hands on her hips in mock indignation.

  “Alright, alright. Nancy Drew then.” Marla winked. “Well, come on. What have you learned?”

  Allie smiled and pointed to the map. “Well, it’s kind of interesting actually. I’ve marked all the hinky stuff with an ‘X’.” Marla looked the map over, there were more than a dozen small red ‘X’s marked on it and they all seemed to concentrate in one area.

  “That’s your farm there?” Marla pointed.

  “Yeah, it is. And it seems to be right smack in the middle of all the weirdness. All of our neighbours have had at least one strange thing happen - things moved or gone missing, equipment mysteriously breaking down, property damaged, that sort of thing. And everything started about 2 or 3 months ago.”

  “Well, what do you think it all means?”

  “I don’t know, but besides the fact that we’re all neighbours, there is one other thing that all the affected farms and homes have in common.”

  “Yeah, what’s that, Sugar?”

  “Every one of the places has easy access to the badlands on their property.” Allie pointed to the large area on the map that represented the local Badlands Conservation Reserve. The Badlands were a large area that ran south down to the border. Rugged and barren, from a farming point of view, they weren’t good for much, but the designated conservation area was a great place for hiking or horseback riding. Allie’s aunt and uncle’s place backed onto the area and had several good trails that led down into the heart of the Badlands. “I think that may be how the culprits are sneaking around.”

  “You might just be on to something there. What are you going to do about it though?” Marla hopped off her stool and grabbed her tray.

  “Well, I guess I’ll go by and talk to Brian tomorrow. I doubt if they bothered to canvass the area and most of the people I’ve spoken to didn’t bother reporting the small pranks to the police. Brian probably doesn’t realize how widespread the problem is.”

  “Sounds like you have a plan, Nancy Drew.” Marla chuckled and hustled off to take an order from a table in the back.

  Allie folded the map and tucked it under the counter. As she looked down the bar to check her customers, her smile slid from her face. A man she had never seen before was scowling at her. When he noticed her attention, he looked away, grabbed his almost empty mug and drained it.

  “Hey cowboy. Get you a fresh one?” Allie plastered on a fake smile, despite the misgivings she felt. Wonder what the hell his problem is? An empty beer glass isn’t the end of the world.

  “No.” He slammed his mug to the bar and pushed away. Jamming his hat on his head he made a beeline for the exit, not looking back.

  “Sheesh! What got his gitch in a twist?” Allie shrugged, putting the strange encounter behind her and turned her thoughts to Mike instead. He was planning on stopping by later and she felt kind of jittery at the thought of seeing him again. Since their steamy encounter the week before, they had both been so busy they had only managed to connect for some late night phone calls. Over the phone, it seemed like nothing had changed between them, they had such a good rapport and he was so easy to talk to, but now, the thought of seeing him in person was giving her that ‘morning after’ awkward feeling. What did she think she was doing? After first claiming she wasn’t looking for a relationship, then saying she wanted to take it slow, she jumped into Mike’s bed like it was a lifeboat and she was on the Titanic. So much for taking it slow. But now what? They weren’t exactly dating, were they?

  Allie didn’t have a lot of relationship experience. Being the town pariah sort of put a damper on her teenage dating years, so she wasn’t really sure how she was supposed to behave. Should she try to act casual, like they were still just pals and their afternoon horizontal tango didn’t happen, or should she do what she really wanted to do and just throw herself at him? Yeah, real smooth Allie.

  What did she really want? More sex was the first thing that came to mind. Oh man, sex with Mike had been incredible, and it wasn’t just because she had been having a particularly long dry spell. Allie had spent the last week
reliving their afternoon encounter, imagining his hands, his tongue, his – Allie blushed and busied herself behind the bar trying to think about something, anything else, but it was no use. Her body ached to feel his touch again, but it was so much more than just the sex. She found that she really missed him, being with him, seeing his twinkling, green eyes and his cheeky grin. Allie Daniels, you are in so much trouble.

  Allie’s thoughts were interrupted by the bar door opening. She looked up, a smile lighting up her face as Mike ambled in, heading straight for her. She had a moment of that ‘deer caught in the headlights’ feeling before Mike was suddenly standing before her. Without so much as a hello, he reached across the bar and pulled her head to his. The kiss was urgent and hungry and Allie forgot everything she had just been worrying about and simply went with the feeling.

  Mike slid his hand to her cheek and cupped it gently. He leaned against her, forehead to forehead and quietly said, “Hey. I missed you.”

  Allie smiled. “I missed you too.” This time, she kissed him, long and deep. A wolf whistle sounded from somewhere nearby, followed by a chorus of catcalls. Allie and Mike parted, both grinning sheepishly.

  “Who-wee, Sugar. I think you neglected to tell me something.” Marla came up beside Mike, a big, knowing grin on her face. Allie blushed.

  “Hey Marla. How’s it going?” Mike smiled.

  “Well, not as good as it seems to be going for you there, Sugar.” Marla winked at Mike. “You treating our girl right?”

  “Always.” Mike smiled at Allie.

  “Um, alright then.” Allie shifted uncomfortably and then looked at Mike. “What can I get you Mike?”

  Mike cocked an eyebrow and gave her a mischievous look. “I’ll start with a beer.”

  Marla snorted and put her tray down on the bar. “I need another pitcher too, Allie.”