Chapter Six
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Axel went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the space of a few seconds.
“Director Patmore! How? Why?”
Cam managed to look remorseful and perturbed at the same time. “He looked over my shoulder when the alert came through.”
“Alert?”
“The alert from the alarm that I put on the side door leading to the parking lot. I didn’t mean for him to see it, but he did and I can’t take it back, much as I want to.”
“And you have this alarm set why?” Axel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Cam was in charge of security. He took it seriously. That was fine. He had a job to do. They all did. But did Cam have to stick his nose in everyone’s personal romantic business all the time?
“You know why. Remember when Diesel took Juliana out the same side door to the same parking lot?”
“Yes. I remember. She saw an alien.” Axel shook his head. He pointed to Lucy. “Here is some news, though. Lucy already knows about the aliens living here, Cam. She is an alien.”
“True. But she doesn’t have permission to leave the premises, does she?”
Axel grinned. “Well, you were the one that set that bad example right into place last month, Bro.”
“I know, which is why I came out here by myself. Patmore wanted to ride shotgun. I told him no thanks. You’re welcome.”
“How did you know to come here?”
Cam’s expression stilled. “Did I fail to mention that I have GPS tracking on all of our vehicles?”
“Yes, you certainly failed to mention that tidbit of news. Why would you do that?”
“Because it saves tons on our insurance, why do you think?”
Lucy tugged on Axel’s sleeve. “We should probably be getting back anyway, don’t you think?”
He nodded. “Yes. We probably should. But I want you to know that I truly hate to go.” He turned his whole body to stare into her luscious green eyes, trying to think of the right words to tell her how much he liked her and wanted to see her again.
A bit of bad boy attitude popped into his head. He wondered what would happen if he didn’t take her back to the airship. What if they got “lost” on the way back to the truck stop? What if he took her to all of his favorite places on Earth? What would the prestigious Duvall family do, fire her? That would be fine with him. Then she could stay here on Earth. He’d help her get a better job where she didn’t have to bow and scrape to rich people.
“I don’t want to leave either.” Her voice trembled with emotion. They stared at each other until Cam said, “You two are gonna go back to the way station, right?”
“I suppose,” Axel said.
His brother cleared his throat. “Don’t make me come back out here and insist on providing an escort.”
“No worries. We’ll be right behind you.” He wanted to add, as if.
Cam retreated around the hill. Axel didn’t move until he heard an engine start up and a vehicle drive away. He took Lucy into his arms, kissing her gently.
When the kiss ended, she said, “I’ve memorized everything about this date. The tall trees, the clear water, the rock steps down into the pool, also the lovely smells and sounds of this perfect hidden space. But most of all I memorized you. I loved being with you today. And I want you to know that I especially loved all the kissing.”
“Me, too. I can’t wait until we are together again. When will that be, by the way?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. As their lovely knee-weakening kiss took place, Axel took his own assessment of the area around him.
The birds chirped. The trees rustled in a gust of wind. The scent of wildflowers with a hint of skunk weed fought for attention on the breeze around and above them. The sound of a lone cicada meant dusk was coming, though not for a while. He was mindful that they needed to get back. Cam had been dispatched to ensure their immediate return. Her employers were looking for her and he didn’t want her to get into trouble, not really.
Axel almost made a pitch for her to quit her job and move to Earth, but didn’t want to spoil their lovely time with anything but kisses and the amazing quiet atmosphere here at the Hidden Hope Springs where he hoped they would come again very soon.
No matter what happened between them, Axel would never forget this day. He dearly looked forward to the next time they’d be together. He released her and the lovely kiss, which took an amazing amount of perseverance on his part.
They gathered up the blanket and the bundle of wet towels. Slowly, hand-in-hand, they walked back to his truck.
Once they were both seated, seat belts in place, he turned to her and said, “I want you to know that I have no regrets about bending the rules to come out here with you.”
Her face turned a lovely shade of rose. “Neither do I.”
Her statement was accompanied by a wide grin. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned over, straining against the tug of his seat belt to kiss her again.
After another long minute of lip-licking passion, he retreated back to his seat and put the truck in gear. Axel drove away from their idyllic swimming hole. He glanced at the dashboard clock, noted the time and mashed his foot down on the gas, making the trip back to the highway rather bumpy.
Lucy didn’t seem to mind. She reached up and held the grab handle, fingers tightening sporadically with each pothole he couldn’t avoid as they bounced their way toward the blacktop.
He didn’t know what to say on the return trip, so he remained quiet. Lucy seemed content to just look out the window and stare at the trees. When he got back to the truck stop, he parked in the same spot. He got out and walked around to help her out of the vehicle. She wrapped one arm around his neck and pulled him in for a final luscious kiss before he shut her door. He linked his fingers with hers, squeezing a couple of times, and enjoyed the softness of her hand.
They walked toward the door leading into the basement facility. Before they reached it, the door popped open, and a familiar figure filled the frame.
Director Patmore. Crap.
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Lucy almost swallowed her tongue when she saw Director Patmore waiting at the door like she was some errant passenger late for a port of call deadline. She wasn’t late. But it was also true she shouldn’t have been out and about with Axel on Earth without special permission.
She wasn’t the least bit sorry. It was oddly exhilarating, being escorted back, knowing trouble likely awaited her. Even so, any forthcoming punishment had been worth the wonderful experience by the pool, and all that kissing with Axel.
Obviously, someone in her family—likely her mother—had been surprised when the purchases from the convenience store showed up without her. She hoped her family would think she was exploring the way station, but should have realized they knew her better than that. It wasn’t something she would typically do.
“Mr. Grey,” the director said, a thick layer of disdain in his tone.
“Director Patmore,” Axel said with a wide grin as if laughing at the man’s contempt.
Before any further animosity could flare between the two men, Adeline Duvall stepped past the director to give Lucy a motherly look that would make lesser folk weep and beg for mercy.
Lucy had already decided she didn’t have any regrets, so her mother staring at her like she was a felon caught on the run from a gulag wasn’t going to work this time.
Her mother didn’t say a word. She simply shifted her gaze to Axel and gave him a death stare as she made a single motion of her hand for Lucy to join her.
Axel squeezed her fingers once more before releasing her. He leaned in and whispered, “Sorry if you’re in trouble, but I’m afraid I still have no regrets.”
Lucy giggled. She kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Axel. I had the best time ever.”
She stepped toward her mother.
“When can I see you again?” She turned to him with a shy smile as heat filled her cheeks. She was about to tell him she’d send a note, but her mother interrupted.
“Never again,” Adeline Duvall said in a quietly hostile tone. “She is not meant for someone like you.” Lucy frowned.
“Isn’t that up to her?” Axel asked, his level of amusement having dipped considerably.
“No, it is not up to her.” To Director Patmore, the older woman said, “I assume you will apprise this man of the consequences of his actions.”
“Yes, Mrs. Duvall. I’ll take care of it.”
Lucy gave him one last long angsty look before the door shut behind her and they were back inside the way station.
“What has gotten in to you, Lucinda? I was worried sick when you didn’t come back with the items from the store.” Lucy tried to keep pace with her mother’s long-legged stride across the vast basement area as she headed for the luxury entrance to the Royal Caldera Forte.
“Sorry, Mother. I was invited on a date to see Earth and I wanted to go. So, I did.”
Her mother stopped dead in her tracks half a dozen steps from the gangplank leading to the airship. “Young lady, you are in an arranged marriage.”
“But the paperwork hasn’t even been started yet and I still get to decide whether I accept the man you’ve arranged for me, isn’t that correct?”
Her mother stared at her silently. Shaking her head a couple of times with an expression of disbelief, she finally said, “Of all my daughters, I expected you to be the least trouble where the arranged marriages were concerned. You’ve never said a word against it.”
Maybe that had been true before meeting Axel, but no more. Now she had plenty to say against her future arranged marriage. It felt like small circus animals were doing acrobatics in her belly, but she wanted to let her mother know that things had changed regarding those arranged marriages her parents were so proud of.
Her mother continued, “Then the moment I turn my back on this strange backwater planet, you run off on an illicit assignation with some stranger? I certainly hope your father never finds out. He will not be pleased.”
Lucy sort of hoped that, too, until Axel’s face came to her mind. Her knees went weak, but her lovelorn heart roared forward. She shrugged as if she didn’t care what her father thought. Her mother’s lips parted in surprise.
Lucy squared her shoulders. “About that. You didn’t answer before, but I really need to know. Do I truly have to marry the person you chose for me days after I was born, or is there some path where I’m allowed to choose my own groom?”
“Lucinda! What in the world are you talking about? Of course you have to marry the young man we selected for you. That’s the very definition of an arranged marriage. You marry and if not immediately infatuated you will learn to love the young man we’ve specially selected for you.”
“Well, what if I don’t want to marry some stranger you picked out over twenty years ago? What if I want to spend my life with someone else? Someone better.”
“Another stranger?” her mother railed with righteous indignation.
A few passengers walked by them on a trajectory to the ship’s gangplank. One elderly woman’s eyebrows lifted all the way to her perfectly coifed gray-blue hair as she watched them with interest.
Her mother suddenly went on high alert as if only now realizing they were not at home on Alpha-Prime or in any sort of private place for a delicate discussion.
“We shall discuss this subject once we’re aboard and in our private quarters.”
“No.”
“No? What’s gotten into you that you’d be so disrespectful?”
Lucy pushed out a long sigh. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, Mother. I’m trying to tell you that unless Axel Grey is the person you’ve named to be my future husband, I’m not interested.”
Adeline Duvall’s eyes grew wider than Lucy had ever seen. Her gaze went to one side as if she furiously thought about…something, before she straightened and pointed to the luxury entrance. “Go.”
Lucy was pushing the narrow limits of decorum as defined by her family by even speaking out, let alone as she was lectured the entire march back to the ship. But her mother was acting oddly quiet.
Much like the trip in Axel’s truck after leaving the swimming hole had been quiet. They hadn’t spoken much as he drove. She had been thinking about this exact conversation with not only her mother but both of her parents, wondering if she’d have the nerve to say anything.
She hadn’t expected to have this discussion so soon. But she was moved to speak her mind. How else could her family understand her feelings if she didn’t express them, forcefully?
Lucy lowered her tone when she said, “I’ve tried to be good and go along and not complain. I’ve tried to be civil and understanding. I honestly never cared much about this arranged marriage business. But something has changed and now I do care very much.
“I believe it’s only fair that you appreciate my feelings in this matter since it has to do with the rest of my life and not yours.
“There are lots of girls my age who don’t want to waste their time with someone they have to ‘learn’ to love instead of finding someone they actually care about from the beginning. I wish you would make an effort to understand my feelings.”
“That is not our way.” Her mother’s stern expression didn’t soften in the least in the face of Lucy’s newfound ideas.
“Well, it should be.” Lucy marched aboard the ship and went straight to her room. When she turned to close the door, her mother pushed her way inside with an expression that said Lucy had gone too far. She closed the door with an audible thump, crossed her arms and gave Lucy a death stare.
“Listen to me, young lady. Your father and I have made alliances with these families that you so cavalierly want us to dismiss. To your point, we certainly didn’t want to have husbands for our daughters who were not of the highest caliber of Alpha.
“To that end, we’ve kept in touch every five years or so to ensure the arrangements made would be fulfilled and that nothing has changed, such as death, dismemberment or disfigurement. Barring those and a few other plights regarding health and mental state, there is no reason not to at least meet your prospective bridegroom before making your choice.”
“Do I get a choice?” Lucy asked. The fluttering in her belly had far from abated.
“Once Drucilla turns twenty, we will instigate the process for all of you to meet your intended bridegrooms. If you all are accepted by both parties—and we fully expect you to be—then the weddings will begin in order of birth, one every two months until they are completed, starting with Ardelia.
“I hope you won’t embarrass us, Lucinda.”
Lucy’s mouth trembled. “Well, I hope you’ve made the correct selection for me, Mother.”
Her mother’s unsettled expression said Lucy was about to be disappointed. But she was in for a huge surprise.
“In fact, we do have an arranged marriage with the Grey family on Earth, and one of the reasons we travelled here is to see what their operation looked like. We wanted to ensure that their son was good enough for one of our daughters.”
“And is their operation good enough, is their son?” Which son was chosen? That was the better question in Lucy’s mind.
Her mother nodded reluctantly, and glanced around the large space. “Yes. It’s acceptable.” Lucy released a breath she hadn’t realized she held. Even though her mother sounded like the operation here was barely suitable.
“Am I supposed to marry Axel Grey?” Lucy sucked in a deep breath, willing her mother to say there was a chance for them to be together. Don’t name another brother. Don’t name another brother.
“Axel Zebulon Grey has been named in the arranged marriage document.” She paused and frowned. “But he will marry Francine.” What? No!
“But why?” Lucy asked, her voice barely below a squeal.
“He’s the second son and she’s our second daughter. As you well know, it’s good luck for the second born to marry a second born and—”
“No,” Lucy said, shaking her head. “That is just a foolish ancient legend,” she added under her breath. Her mother kept talking, but Lucy stopped listening to her justifications for the match once she heard the man she’d cared deeply for had been selected for Francine, her very best friend in the world.
Axel in an arranged marriage to Francine was so much worse than having to marry some other stranger.