“No, the less people the better,” Karli said. “If anybody asks, I’ll just say I’m your daughter. When you get Willow Rayne and Dusty Rose, you can say Dusty Rose is your daughter from your first marriage and I’m the one from you and Willow Rayne. We can be a family. I can go to a regular school with real friends. Please. Please help us. I hate it there.”
“So you’ve told me.”
“We just have to wait until morning, just after sunrise. I can show you,” Karli said. “I can ease in and tell them we’re being rescued, they follow me back to the truck, and we’re outta there!”
“Karli, it’s not that simple,” Raphael tried to warn the child, who popped up on the back seat.
One look at her sweet cherubic face did him in. The idea of a ten-year-old child being taken to grown men for date night made the acid in his stomach bubble and his trigger finger itch. A thing he didn’t care for were people with vices who hurt others. Him, whoever ‘him’ was, had earned an assessment from Mr. Exit. It wasn’t his place to pass judgement, but he didn’t mind expelling a few bullets when needed.
“Helping people is easy. Help me. Help my Mothers,” Karli pleaded.
The sign came up for Pine Knot. Before he knew it, he had hit the turn signal to exit the interstate. Once he secured Willow Rayne and Dusty Rose, a call would be made to Gabriel Neary for assistance with the women. Tonight, he needed a place to rest. Karli needed more food and a hot bath once he collected her mothers, and the rest he’d have to figure out.
“I’ll grab a couple of burgers and fries for right now,” Raphael told the small face in the back seat.
“Oh, for you maybe. But we don’t eat animals,” she said, arching her tiny little eyebrows as if she were passing judgement. “I’m not too keen on fried food either.”
On second thought, he reached for his cell phone. The number programmed into each Technician’s phone, but seldom used stared at him. He didn’t want to call but he had to, he needed to, and he reluctantly hit the icon of the angel. The line rang three times when the voice came across the line.
“State your need,” the voice said.
“Archangel, it’s Mr. Exit, I have a three serious issues outside of Pine Knot near Daniel Boone National Park. I’ve been told that the best time to go in is right after sunrise,” Mr. Exit said. “I don’t know what I’m walking into and could use some guidance.”
The voice replied, “we are aware. Our eyes are on it.”
“Should I make a move?”
“Sending support at sunrise; anything else I need to know?”
“Yeah,” Mr. Exit said, “she’s about ten and in my backseat. I saved her from a date night; I think that’s the word she used. There are two mothers. I don’t know what that means. The little lady wants me to go in at sunrise to get the Moms.”
The line was quiet except the clicking of computer keys. Mr. Exit held his breath, awaiting a response. The normal calm which kept him company began to quickly evaporate and the thought of having to spend the night with a ten-year-old made him extremely uncomfortable.
“Archangel?”
“This may be sticky,” the Archangel replied. “Wait for the diversion. Go in. Get the women.”
“Then what? Do I bring them to you?” Mr. Exit asked.
“No, take them home, lay low and I’ll be in touch in a week,” Gabriel Neary said into the line. He looked at his schedule. It would be more like three weeks, but in seven days he would call the man.
“Take them home? Are you out of your mutherf...hello? Archangel? Hello?” He looked in his rear-view mirror at the adorable face. Truly, the Archangel didn’t expect him to take a ten-year-old and two hippie, commune living women to his home. What if they smelled weird and wanted to bathe him in rose water and cook vegetable stew? “Hello?”
From the backseat the small voice piped up, “I heard what he said. We are going home with you. We can be a family,” Karli said.
Mr. Exit didn’t know about all of that. He wasn’t the family type. Raphael Ian Hoyt was a loner, who appreciated the life he led with no ties outside of his sister and niece. They were self-sufficient. He touched base and checked in with them on a regular basis and sent money when needed. Now, the Archangel expected him to take the women home with him for a week?
“The Devil you know...,” He mumbled, looking for a restaurant that sold a variety of meals which were not fried and had vegetarian options. Raphael Hoyt was already making adjustments for a little lady in his backseat that he barely knew. The idea of taking her home along with her ‘mothers’ made his nut sack itch.
“Damn you Archangel,” he growled between pursed lips. This was always the way it started. As much as he hated the idea of having three more people in his home, he hated the idea of letting down Karli Jebsen who smiled at him with hope and wonderment in her eyes. To think of a grown man touching that little girl hurt the spot in his chest where he believed his heart rested. The other issue that he had to reconcile more than his nut sack itching, was his trigger finger.
That bitch was itching too. His eyes went to the rear-view mirror. She was the key to more than just rescuing the ‘mothers’. Karli was also the key to unlocking the heart Raphael Hoyt hid away in the back of the closet away from prying eyes. If there was one thing which chapped his ass, it was nasty people with nasty vices. The man who ran the ‘nests’ as she called them was about to get a pink slip terminating his employment as the leader of the cult of sexual sadists.
“Karli, can you tell me what Him looks like?”
- Fin -
Book Club Questions:
By chapter three, did you find yourself judging Tempest, even before you knew her back story?
Once you knew her backstory, did you still dislike the woman, even knowing what she did for a living?
In the book, Tempest references several other technicians. Which Technician’s story are you anxious to know more about?
When Zeke came into the scene, did you like the way he handled Tempest?
Do you think that after seeing what Tempest went through, that Zeke will start working with his brothers to help other women in trouble?
Tameka wasn’t pulling any punches with Tempest, do you think she was too hard on a woman who’d just lost her vision?
Are you a site member and have you earned the first two badges?
Blind Copy:
Hey, I must tell you, Raphael kept me awake one night as he dictated his entire story to me. I’m ready to write it and introduce you to Mr. Exit. I will let you know ahead of time, his story will more than likely be the sexiest technician I have written thus far.
Willow Rayne is older than she looks; much older.
It will be available Summer 2020.
Your next Mail Order Bride- Maple Sundaes and Cider Donuts
This will be Book 10. Leta and Evan spoke first before the characters in the scheduled next entry, so they were moved up. Trust me, when I force a story you can feel it, but if it flows esoterically, the reader can feel the love in me penning the words.
I included the first chapter of this one for you. Turn the page and read on...
Chapter One - Gemütlichkeit
Nervousness took over shaking hands as Leta Feldman punched the office address into the app for car service to Hartsfield Airport. Today, if all went well, she would say "I DO" at three o'clock on the dot to one Evan Eaton of Meredith, New Hampshire. Over and over she second-guessed herself until the day arrived. There would be no looking back from this point forward. The apartment was cleared, the goods packaged and shipped to New Hampshire, which left only her to get on the plane.
The lease was over on the Lexus she loved to drive about the Atlanta freeways, but the crowd, hustle, and bustle of it all left a dry coating on her tongue. Talking about living life and doing it were separate animals in two opposing cages. Life was a call to action and she'd been called. Seated in the rear of the vehicle, she Leta's eyes ran over the screen of the phone, double-checking the
flights to ensure she could board on time, but more importantly arrive on time. To save a few bucks on the airfare, the flight into Portland, Maine got in the air on a nonstop journey from Hartsfield to Maine, arriving in less than three hours. Leta reserved a rental car from the airport to drive over to Meredith and say the I Dos.
Tight hands fisted and clenched, then unclenched, as the car came to a stop. Most of everything she owned was neatly packed, rolled and sorted in three very large suitcases plus one carry-on bag. At some point, she gathered in her zooming thoughts, she would want to get a small dog as a companion. Right now, Evan Eaton would have to suffice. She knew he was a busy man, serving as the Town Clerk of Meredith and a part-time photographer. The images he'd taken of the home they would share, the land and lake were breathtakingly astonishing. A man with an eye for that much detail and composition should make a find husband and companion.
"Excuse me," Leta said, pushing past the crowd waiting at the curbside. "I need to check these bags, please."
"Of course. Right this way. Need to see your ticket," the sky captain said, almost snapping his fingers at her. "Tickets out. Have your tickets ready."
He was a rude man in her estimation. She was the one catching the plane, not him, and it was clearly over an hour before her flight. Leta tipped her driver plus the sky captain as the doors to her new life opened, ushering out the cold air of the building, mixing with the heat she'd be bringing inside. Smiling as he high heels clicked on the tiled floor of the busy hub, Leta made a beeline for security, checking in with little to no effort, skirting her way around slower passengers walking in the middle of the thoroughfare. Hopping onto the downward escalators to the subway cars, excited bodies flooded off the trains to make connections as anxious bodies piled on the train to make destinations.
"This is it," Leta said excitedly as the doors closed. The calming voice came across the intercom announcing the terminals as the train slowed, dumping off more bodies, before collecting additional people and rolling on as if it were not a moving statement on the plight of mankind.
"D Terminal and the D Gates," the calm voice said. Leta, in the throng of bodies, inched her way off the train, to journey up the escalator to the departure gate. Moving at a clip, she arrived, just as the boarding began. More aggressive people stood, waiting, giving others the side-eye in an effort to get on board and be seated.
"We're all going the same place on the same vehicle which means we all get there at the same time," Leta said in a husky, low voice.
A little old lady with stark white hair gave a half-hearted smile as if she wanted to take a running sucker punch at Leta's mouth. No one was going to ruin this day for her. It was the day she was getting married. Evan waited for her in Meredith, New Hampshire, and tonight before they made love, he would hand feed her a maple sundae, seated on top of a cider donut, as he gazed deep into her eyes and confessed his love.
An entire year of long love letters, only one phone call with photos outside of the one from the Mail-Order Bride agency. The first-class seat, while spacious, seemed cramped by the judging eyes of people passing down the aisle, looking down their noses at a black woman in the front rows. Everything was going to be first class from now on in her life. No more back seats, sidecars or honorable mentions.
"I'm going to be Evan's wife," she said, smiling, allowing the tension to ease as the doors of the plane were closed, and the attendants prepared the cabin for departure. The week had been spent in such fervor preparing to take the life-changing journey from the four seasons of the south; well technically two- hot and not as hot- to a part of the country that would be buried under snow six months of the year. Droopy eyes gave up the fight as eyes closed, dreaming of her wedding night to a man she fell in love with through his letters.
EVAN EATON WAITED IN his office for the arrival of the mail-order bride. Today was the day. He really didn't want to be married any more than he desired to have his left nut snipped off in a cigar cutter, but life didn't always give you what you wanted. He knew he didn't necessarily want this, but he'd given it the old college try, by doing things the old fashioned way- courting through his words. Meticulous word choices were selected to avoid the misuse of clichés and oversexualized language. As a matter of fact, he'd intentionally went out of his way to write as asexually as humanly possible to avoid leading her on to believe the marriage would anything more than what it was.
He needed a wife and an heir in the upcoming year. Evan didn't want to romanticize the marriage, but the match was scientifically calculated which increased the probability that he would be able to share the house with another person without wanting to run a hot poker in his own eye. Twice, he'd offered to pick her up at the airport and twice she'd refused. This, of course, made him all the more nervous.
"Hell, I just hope she has all of her teeth," he grouched, picking up her last letter. He sniffed the linen stationary, inhaling bits of hyacinth and jasmine, hoping she smelled the same way. One last look into his computer, he clicked on the image, pulling up her smiling face. Long blond tresses hung down the side of her face and baby blue eyes stared back at him. She was a pretty woman with fetching eyes.
He'd had a lifetime of pretty and really wanted sustenance, but at this point, he was a beggar, and he really couldn't be choosy. Four candidates. Evan had been through four candidates who either wanted to chat, meet up and spend hours on the phone. That wasn't his style. This was his last chance to lock this one in, get hitched, produce an heir, and hopefully, she would want to return to her life and he keeps the kid.
"At least that's what I hope," he said looking at his watch. "Any minute now. Any minute now."
The bride to be would come through that door. A couple of signatures on six sheets of paper, a walk across the hall to the judge and by 3:15, he would be a married man. He could keep his land for at least another six months as long as his wife conceived. He was the last Eaton. Technically, he needed an heir and a spare, but he'd take what he could get.
In a few sweet moments, he would be getting what life had sent him to get. If nothing else, Evan hoped for a bit of Gemutlichkeit, a term his grandmother used to express a cordiality or friendliness between two people. If they could be cordial, the marriage could work. Besides, they lived in a small town covered in snow most of the year. There’s wasn’t much to do in winter other than make children and eat chili. He looked forward to welcoming her to Meredith.
MEREDITH WASN'T A BIG town. During summer hikers, men who called sitting by the lake taking a nap to be fishing, and other tourist flooded the area. Having one or two more unknown cars in town wasn't that unusual as the black SUV pulled up in front of City Hall. Evan watched the tall, statuesque woman leave the car with just one bag, walking with purpose into the building. The way she moved with such confidence drew him to the private show, as long legs marched her right into the building and the front desk.
His heart rate increased as he got to his feet walking towards the door, spying her, wanting to know more about the stranger, and hear the voice which he knew was going to be melodic. Chastising himself for sounding like a smitten kitten with a ball of yarn, he stood behind the counter. Uncertain if he were holding his breath or simply had stopped breathing, the door swung wide as she entered. Her presence filled the room and he nearly sucked in all the air his lungs could hold.
"Hello Evan," she said. "We had a bit of delay on takeoff out of Hartsfield, but I'm here and ready to be your wife."
"I've been waiting for you," he said with squinted eyes as his secretary watched with interest.
"Let's see the paperwork, I know I have to sign a few things, then you said we'd go across the hall and see the judge, have it all notarized," Leta said, with a wide smile.
Evan's thoughts ran amok as he flipped the folder around. There were lots of blanks on the page. Leta asked for a blue pen, writing as she spoke. "Okay, Leta Feldman, bride to be, goes here," she said looking up at her soon to be husband in approximately fifteen minutes.
"Yes, your name is in all the right spots. Excuse me, shall you be the witness?”
"Yes ma'am, I'm Magda," she said. "I'm Evan’s, I mean Mr. Eaton's secretary. I guess you city folk call us administrative assistants."
"Magda, both Evan and I appreciate your help," she said, looking at her about to be husband whose facial expression hadn't changed. "Evan, again I apologize but we're almost out of time. The Judge's office closes at 4 and the time is 3:45. Today is it, right?"
"Uhmm, right," he said, looking over the paperwork ensuring everything was in order. Stepping out from around the desk, he offered her his arm, leading her to the judge's chambers, where they stood side by side, declaring to the town of Meredith, New Hampshire to love and honor each other in sickness and in health, until death.
"I now pronounce you man and wife, Evan, you may kiss your bride," Judge Harriman said.
Leta's cheeks warmed under her husband's intense gaze. The gold wedding band, inlaid with three diamonds she'd picked up to represent the three children she planned to give to him over the years, but she'd explain that part to him later. Intense brown eyes met hers as he lowered his head, their lips touching briefly as sparks shot through his body. Leta clung to him as if he were providing much-needed puffs of oxygen to sustain her life as his lips slanted over her mouth. The Judge clapped, Magda sniffled, and it was nearly a done deal.
"Sign here, and here," Judge Harriman said, turning the papers around. "Get those across the hall and have Magda stamp them before 4:00 son!"
"On it," Evan said, handing the documents to his assistant who slid them into the time stamper, recording for history and prosperity the marriage of Leta Feldman and Evan Eaton. The forms were added to the safe and sealed for the weekend. The time seal on the safe made it impossible to open again before eight on Monday morning, leaving husband and wife to head home. "Honey, I'll ride with you to the house, then in the morning, I'll show you around town."
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