Chapter Three
Michelle opened the door and stepped over the threshold of her parents’ home. The smell of food reached her nose, setting off a chain reaction of stomach growls that would rival a bear’s.
“Mom?”
“Honey,” her mother, Galilani crooned, wiping her hands on her apron as she rounded the corner. “I’m so glad you came. I made your favorite.”
“Meatloaf?”
“With mashed potatoes,” replied with a grin. “Yo He Waah is pleased with you, daughter. You glow from your eyes.”
Taking her daughter by the hand, Galilani led her to the kitchen.
Michelle wrapped her mom in a hug, thinking how fortunate she was to have a mother to teach her the ways of her Native people. She couldn’t imagine what God could possibly be pleased with her about, but she would gladly take it.
She kissed her beautiful mother’s cheek. Galilani meant friend in Cherokee, and Michelle couldn’t think of a more fitting name for someone as sweet as her mom.
“Ah, Lani,” Jack announced, using his wife’s nickname as he entered the room. “Something smells delicious.”
“Have a seat. It’ll be ready in a moment.” Lani raised her face for her husband’s traditional kiss on her cheek.
The stiff set of her mother’s shoulders told Michelle what Lani had tried for years to ignore. Trouble had definitely taken up residence in paradise.
“I’m so glad you could make it, buttercup.” Jack meandered into the dining room and pulled out a chair for his daughter before taking a seat of his own.
“Thanks for the invite.” Michelle followed suit, sat, and accepted a glass of tea that her mother had promptly placed in front of her.
“You are always welcome here, baby. No need to wait for an invitation,” Lani murmured, joining them at the table. “Now say grace and help yourself.”
After giving thanks for the meal, Michelle spooned some of her favorite foods onto her plate and ate like a woman starved. “So, how is the election coming, Dad?”
Her stepfather looked up from the task of cutting up his meatloaf. “I’d rather talk about your work. Politics are as boring as ever.”
Michelle had grown used to Jack’s evading over the years and decided not to press. “What would you like to know?”
“Tell me about the strange call you received last night involving a little girl and a structure fire.”
“Oh dear, I hope she wasn’t injured.” Genuine concern shown from Lani’s eyes. She studied her daughter’s face before taking another bite of her mashed potatoes.
Lani was the only surviving daughter of the late Chief Koatohee. She had her father’s dark brown eyes, coal-black hair, and calm temperament. The complete opposite of Michelle.
Where Lani was tiny and petite, Michelle was tall and curvy. Michelle’s long dark hair boasted of highlights and a slight wave, and she had pale blue eyes that mirrored her biological father’s.
Michelle met her mother’s ebony gaze. “The little girl was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and third-degree burns on her legs.”
Jack cleared his throat. “I heard she had a rescuer that ran off before identifying himself.”
“Yeah. And the strange thing is that I took the call from him, but the system didn’t log the call as it came in, nor did it record his voice.”
Lani lifted a hand to her throat. “Has that ever happened before?”
Michelle hesitated. “A few months back, I took a similar call about the Shueller fire in DeFuniak. But I don’t think the caller could hear me. I only know that once I hung up, the computer recorded my voice and not his. And there was no record of his call ever coming in.”
“Strange.” Lani stared back at her long enough that Michelle grew uncomfortable.
“Enough about that,” Jack muttered. “Or your mother will be burning sage and smoking a peace pipe before sunset to call forth ghosts.”
Silence descended over the table for a long moment.
“Please excuse me.” Lani rose gracefully from her chair and left the room.
Michelle turned to Jack. “Why do you always do that to her? You know how sensitive she is about her beliefs.”
“No one knows better than me how sensitive your mother is. And she grows worse with age. I think she may be going through the change.”
“What makes you think that?”
He paused to refill his drink. “She cries more than usual, and I’ve noticed her disappearing into the woods a lot lately. Not sure what that’s about.”
“Have you asked her about it?”
“Sure, I have. She claims to be praying.” He took a sip of his tea. “I don’t understand why she can’t worship at home or in church like everyone else does.”
“Come on, Dad. You know she has different beliefs than you. I think you should cut her some slack.”
A deep chuckle ensued. “You definitely got your spunk from someone other than Lani.”
Michelle didn’t return his smile. “Yeah well, in my line of work, it pays to have a certain amount of spunk; else the caller controls the call.”
“Speaking of callers—”
“I really don’t want to talk about that right now, if you don’t mind.” Truth was, Michelle hadn’t been able to get the unknown caller’s voice out of her head. She’d even dreamed about him the night before.
“I’m sorry, honey. I just find it strange that there was no evidence of him calling.”
“You think I made it up?” Michelle asked incredulously.
“Of course not. Now calm down and finish your lunch. I was merely pointing out the oddity of it.”
Michelle didn’t buy his reasoning for a second. “I’m going to check on Mom and then head on to work.” She stood, rounded the table, and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you again for the invite.”
“You’re welcome here anytime, buttercup. I’m sorry if I upset you.”
“You didn’t. I had trouble sleeping last night, and I’m fighting cramps.”
He lifted a hand. “I’ll pass on the feminine details. Have a good night at work.”
A laugh bubbled up. “Not a fan of PMS?”
Jack turned his head and made a shooing motion. “Get out of here, goofball.”
“Yes, sir,” she teased before breezing out of the room in search of her mother.
* * * *
Utah appeared in front of Michelle’s modest, quaint house and entered her screened-in porch.
She loved plants, he noticed, taking in the greenery scattered around the small space.
Guilt rode close to the surface as he stood there, contemplating going inside.
Her car wasn’t in the driveway, which meant she wasn’t home. He closed his eyes and faded, appearing a second later inside her living room.
The power of her essence invaded his senses, leaving him weak in the knees.
Too bad he hadn’t met her before his demise, he thought as he moved around the room. He would have spent days inhaling her sweet flavor.
A low growl came from behind the couch, resembling more of a bumblebee buzzing than an actual dog growling.
Utah ambled over to the corner of the piece of furniture and dropped to his haunches.
“Hey there,” he crooned, slowly lifting a hand toward the animal. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”
The smallest Chihuahua Utah had ever seen crawled out enough that only its face became visible.
“What’s your name, little one? Come on out. Come on,” he continued to whisper until he managed to coax the dog forward.
“That’s a good boy.”
The growling continued in a low rumble, letting Utah know how the little dog felt about trespassers.
A car door slamming brought Utah back to his feet. He rushed over to the window to peek outside. Michelle’s car sat in the driveway with no one in sight.
Keys briefly rattled in the front door lock before the object of Utah’s fascination stepped inside.
“Peanut? Mama’s home,” Michelle called out as she closed the door behind her.
Utah could only watch as the tiny dog disregarded him and scurried across the floor to jump around Michelle’s feet.
She scooped the little pooch known as Peanut up into her arms and kissed his nose. “You’re such a good boy. Mama has to go to work, little man, but I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
After a few more hugs and kisses, she set the dog on the floor and trailed off down the hall.
Utah followed close behind, coming to a stop as she entered her bedroom and pulled her shirt over her head. He knew he should turn and leave before she bared anymore skin, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He moved deeper into the room, close enough to feel the heat of her body warming his ice-cold skin.
Not even the fires he continued to run into warmed him, yet Michelle’s very presence seemed to do just that.
She shimmied out of her jeans, and his stomach clenched.
Standing before him in a matching set of pink bra and panties was the most exquisite woman he’d ever seen.
She wasn’t skinny in the traditional sense, no; she had curves and an ass that would bring a man to his knees. The dark olive color of her skin only enhanced her beautiful body and made him want her more.
A soft intake of breath shattered the silence of the room as she spun and moved right through him.
Her arms lifted out to her sides, and she slowly backed toward her dresser.
Utah’s heart seized with the realization that she sensed his presence. “Michelle?” he whispered, lifting a hand toward her.
The sudden trill of a phone ricocheted off the walls of the room, triggering them both to jump back.
Michelle was visibly shaken as she scrambled for her discarded jeans and fished out her cell. “Hello?”
There was a pause before she continued. “Yes, I can come in early. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Pressing the End key, she tossed the phone onto the bed and rushed to her closet.
After donning her uniform, shoes, and nametag, she pocketed her phone, grabbed her keys, and breezed right through Utah without a backward glance, leaving him to stand there in awe once again.