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He looked outside the window as he cooked. She sat on the porch, looking over at the cows. He wanted to go outside and talk with her, but he didn’t.
Give her a little space for now. It’s still early. We still hardly know each other. We can talk more tomorrow.
After dinner, Hope excused herself for bed. Both she and the critter were out for the night. He sat in the living room, questioning how he could find reasons for her to stay.
They worked great together. It was a good reason for her stay. They were a great team. Wasn’t that good enough?
He knew she was going to need more than that. She wasn’t going to leave Earth for just that. But he wasn’t sure that she was ready for the truth either.
He sighed, knowing it was late. He might as well head to bed. He would get a fresh start on the day and see what he could do then. So, he headed to his room.
He lay in bed, still plagued with questions of how to handle the situation. He didn’t want Hope to just be here for a while. He didn’t want their time together to end. He rolled over, stuffing his head into his pillow. If he wasn’t thinking about her, it was about the cattle and all the problems with the dragons.
He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but the last time he checked the time, it was a little after one in the morning. He was going to have a long day ahead of him in the morning.
Early the next morning, his phone rang. He jumped up, blinking, looking for it. He stumbled out of bed, stubbing his toe on his bedside table.
“Shit!” he cursed, holding onto his bedside table. His phone was still ringing, shining light over his face and blinding him. He hoped he didn’t wake Hope with everything as he grabbed his phone. He answered it, trying to hold back his irritation.
“Hello.”
“Deimos. We have your results down here at the lab.” Lou said in a calm tone. He didn’t expect anything less. He was always an early bird.
His entire body froze. He wasn’t expecting them to come back so soon. It was either good news or it was bad, but he couldn’t tell which.
He swallowed. “Okay and?”
Lou paused for a second, and his stomach lurched. “It will be easier to talk to you about this when you get down here. There is a lot to go over.”
He frowned. Not that he was going to understand most of it anyway. He nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose. His big toe ached, and his eyes burned. But he had to get himself moving. “Yes, sure. I’ll be down in a bit.”
He hung up and turned, looking around his room. He glanced at his alarm clock, seeing it was just a little past eight.
He grabbed some clothes and changed quickly. He looked through his contacts looking for Jia, his housekeeper for his house in the city. He wanted someone to be at the ranch with Hope.
She was still new to everything, and if he was going into town, he might as well make it a full-day trip and get other things done. That, and he had no idea how long it would take him at the lab.
He walked toward the kitchen, stopping at Hope’s door. It was quiet, so he guessed she was still asleep. He smiled, proud he didn’t wake her with his clumsiness. He shuffled into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and call Jia.
She answered after the second ring. “Good morning, Deimos. Are you coming into town today?”
It was her normal question as she never knew when to stop at the house to clean.
He nodded, looking at his mug. “I am, but that’s not what I’m going to have you doing today. I’ll be out of the house all day, and I would like for you to come down to the ranch.”
He’d had her come down a handful of times when he needed an extra hand cleaning and someone to stop by and check the house while he was out of town.
“Did you throw a big party and need someone to come clean it up?” He could hear her sarcasm, and after a few moments, she started to laugh.
He smirked, grabbing his glass. “You know I don’t throw parties. But if you’re down here, you could clean some things. I actually need you to just be here because I have a …” He paused.
What was Hope? Could he call her a guest? She was more than a guest. But they weren’t anything else yet.
“I have a guest staying, and I’ll be in town for most of the day. They aren’t from Nova Aurora, and I want to make sure they stay comfortable while they’re here. I just need you to be around if they need a hand.”
He could hear her clicking her tongue. “I can do that. But you paused there ona guest. Who is she?”
“How do you even know it’s a girl?” he asked, knowing he never said who.
