Stargazer Page 6

  It was all she was going to say, he sensed. She didn't feel comfortable enough with him yet to tell him her most troubling secrets. Okay, he could wait.

  Damn! What the hell was he thinking? He didn't want to know her secrets, didn't care one ounce what caused the sadness he saw lurking like a shadow on her soul. And he wasn't going to.

  Turning away from her, he busied himself digging into the dresser for some clean clothes. "I'll just shower and then we'll be on our way," he told her.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  He put her into a primitive vehicle that bounded and growled over bumpy paths, amid beautiful lands. She could not take her gaze from the scene outside the noisy vehicle. Wide, vivid green fields, and golden ones, their crops swaying like a dance with every touch of the breeze. All beneath a sky so blue and cloudless it nearly brought tears to her eyes. So different here. At home the crops were grown in special buildings, without benefit of natural soil. Only chemical mineral solutions and artificial sunlight. And with the population problem, there were no more open spaces like this. Just cities, sterile immaculate cities, everywhere. And the only animals were those on display in a few scattered facilities. Trapped behind fences with man-made rocks and streams, imitation trees and grass.

  His vehicle bumped along onto a paved path, between neat rows of small buildings. Sumac Feed and Grain, she read, and inhaled the sweet scents coming from the place. Sumac Farm Supply. Sumac John Deere, whatever that was. Sumac Health Center.

  “There's a combination grocery store, pharmacy and gas station a little farther on this street,” Thomas said. “The post office and a used-car dealership are down that road on the right. Across from those, there's a restaurant, a hardware store and a bar. And that's about it.”

  She did not know what he meant by all those things, but she would learn. He pulled the vehicle to a stop in front of a small brick building, which had been painted garishly pink. The sign above the door read The Pink Petunia, and had a flower surrounding the words. Female shaped forms stood in the big front window, probably to display the clothing the forms wore.

  He got out first, then came around and opened her door. She smiled, glad to see he was finally showing some deference to her gender. He took her hand and led her inside, again holding the door for her. Some of the people passing by turned to stare openly at her, and Janella squirmed a bit, wondering what they were thinking.

  "Well, look who's come to call." Eugenia eyed Janella, the clothes she wore. "Oh, my, no wonder I'm your first stop."

  There were others in the shop, as well. An older woman, who peered curiously over her antiquated eyeglasses. A young, attractive one, who watched Janella with raised brows. A teenager who wore paint on her face and ornaments in her ears.

  "Well, come on, hon, we've got no time to lose." Janella only stared at Thomas as Eugenia took her by the hand. "You can go on to the clinic, Thomas," Eugenia told him. "I'll bring her over when we finish up here.”

  Janella stiffened, not wanting to be left alone here with these strangers. Fear twisted in her stomach and she shot Thomas a pleading look.

  He met her gaze, then glanced down at the band around his wrist. "I've still got some time before my first appointment. Think I'll hang around."

  Relief flooded her, and Janella sighed with it. Eugenia only looked from her to Thomas and back again, then shrugged and led her into a back room.

  Then, one by one, Eugenia brought articles of clothing for her to try on. The tops and bottoms—she called them jeans—were self-evident, but the torturous-looking scraps of material that could only be made to harness the breasts were ludicrous. Janella refused even to consider them. There were pretty things, though. Soft, lacy undergarments, and blouses of something she called silk. The jeans were comfortable, and she liked them at once. She kept a pair of them on, along with a silk blouse of vivid green.

  It took over an hour to choose, and when she finished, she paused a moment to consider that this primitive culture likely still used some form of currency. She had none, did not even know what value might be placed on the clothing Eugenia was packing into bags right now. She stepped into the front room again to ask about it, when she saw Thomas hand the woman several green-colored slips of paper.

  Eugenia took only a portion and gave him back the rest. "You handle half, Thomas, and I'll eat the other half. It’s the least I can do." She winked at him and smiled.

  "Not thinking of adopting her like you do every stray thing that comes along, are you, Eugenia?"

  She shrugged. "What's the harm? Unless you plan to keep her all to yourself?"

  "Dream on, lady."

  Janella frowned, wondering again if this female planned to choose Thomas as her mate. In fact, several females in the store seemed to be looking at him with some degree of speculation in their eyes. Janella found she did not like the idea. In fact, she hated it. No doubt any wife of his would make it her first order of business to sweep Janella out of her household like unwanted dust. And that just would not do.

  Besides, she thought as she studied him from behind, she had decided to keep him for herself. She had known he would be hers from the day she had met him so long ago. And despite his coolness toward her, she had not changed her mind. He had as many good qualities as bad. He would have to learn to take orders a bit better, but all in all, he would not make a bad mate. He was certainly nice enough to look at, and Janella imagined coupling with him would be extremely pleasant.

  She stood closer to him and slipped her arm through his as a broad hint the other women could not help but take. She doubted any of them would be willing to fight for the right to claim him. But if they did, then Janella was more than up for the challenge. She eyed them all, one by one, her message clear. She knew they received it. Women were women, after all, no matter which planet they called home.

  When he turned and looked at her in those tight-fitting jeans, with the thin silk whispering over her breasts and no bra underneath, Thomas almost choked. And when she stood so close, her body pressed to his from thigh to shoulder, and gripped his arm, he felt himself squirm. Every woman in that shop was gawking, and he knew damned well the whole town would start speculating about her before the day was out. What the hell was she up to, clinging to his arm like that?

  He sidled away from her, scooped up the packages and carried them out the door, feeling too many female eyes on his back as he left. 'Lisbeth Crabtree had been in there. And God knew there wasn't a bigger gossip in Sumac than 'Lisbeth. Besides which, she'd been actively trying to rope and brand him for one of her four daughters. He didn't think she much cared which one, either.

  He loaded the back of the Jeep with the things she'd bought and left it parked where it was, in the small square lot in front of The Pink Petunia. Taking Janella's hand, he led her across the road to the clinic. As he did, she looked over her shoulder at the gaping women in the shop they’d left behind, and unless he was seriously mistaken, gave her head an almost triumphant toss.

  Damn if he understood why. Whatever.

  Opening the clinic door with a flourish, he held it for her and she went in before him.

  "This is where I work."

  "Where you heal," she said, nodding. Her gaze scanned the carpeted room, the rack of magazines and the chairs lining the walls. She walked over to the toy box and peeked inside, glanced up at the television mounted on a pole in the corner.

  "This is a waiting room, Janella. I can only see one person at a time. The others sit here and wait their turn." He pointed to the desk, on the other side of a partition. "And this is Rosa, my receptionist. Rosa, meet Janella...uh, Smith. She's going to be working with us for a little while." Rosa stood, eyeing Janella curiously, muttering a rather unwelcoming hello. He glanced at Janella and saw a distasteful look on her face. The two seemed to be sizing each other up like a couple of boxers in opposite corners of a ring, waiting for the bell.

  "Working with us?" Rosa glanced back at him, her brows arching, her brown eyes more than cur
ious.

  "That’s right. She's a friend of mine, visiting from out of town. I've been telling her what a friendly little town we have here."

  Rosa's lips thinned a little. "Doing what?"

  Seemed she was choosing to ignore his hint.

  "Assisting me with patients."

  "She's a nurse?"

  "Is there any coffee made, Rosa?" He was damned if he'd put up with the third degree from an employee.

  Rosa turned to the fresh pot on the counter behind her, poured him a cup and handed it to him. She glanced at Janella. "Feel free to help yourself."

  Janella's glare heated a bit. "I do not like coffee."

  Thomas sighed hard. "Come on, Janella. I'll show you around."

  As they walked past her, Rosa went to the desk, pulled the chair out and started to sit. Thomas saw the mischievous gleam in Janella's eyes just before the chair suddenly scooted a foot backward. Rosa was on the floor, spitting mad, before he could even shout a warning. And Janella smiled with contentment.

  He pulled her into the first treatment room they came to and closed the door. "Dammit Janella, just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

  She blinked up at him, ebony eyes all innocence.

  "You moved that chair, didn't you?"

  She bit her lip, but it didn't prevent her contented smile. "She made me angry."

  "That’s no excuse."

  A little frown appeared between her brows. "I was not aware I needed an excuse."

  Thomas closed his eyes, praying for mercy. Just what the hell had he gotten himself into? He gripped Janella's shoulders for emphasis. "Don't ever do anything like that again. Understand?"

  “Thomas? Are you telling me what to do? Giving me an order?"

  "Damn straight, I am. You might have been some kind of despot-in-training back in Nowhere Land, but here, you're no better than anybody else."

  "But I am a woman!"

  "So what? You want a medal?"

  She blinked as if in shock.

  Thomas shook his head, trying to stay angry with her. He knew damned well, though, that Rosa had been just as rude as was humanly possible, and probably deserved what she got. And there was part of him that wanted to laugh out loud about it. That part that never took any crap from anybody. He couldn't help but admire Janella's spunk. Not only that, but when her eyes sparkled with mischief they damn near blinded him.

  And now they were clouded and puzzled and she looked like that lost, frightened little girl again. Hell, how was he going to keep the cold, unemotional moat he'd built around himself intact with someone like Janella? Especially if he kept noticing those almond-shaped eyes, and the feelings they expressed so plainly. Wasn't it bad enough that his body was rapidly developing a strong hankering to get to know hers...intimately? Did he have to like the damned woman, as well?

  Sighing, he yanked the door open. "Rosa, bring me the file on the Meyers kid. And call Saint Luke's for a report on Hugh Connor, will you?"

  When Rosa arrived with the file folder, Thomas knew Janella was staring. Her eyes registered something between confusion and disbelief. Rosa left to make the call, and Thomas closed the door again.

  "What's the matter now?"

  Janella only shook her head, blinking. "She... she obeyed you."

  The way she'd said the word "obeyed" made it sound like something obscene. "She works for me, Janella. I pay her to obey me."

  There wasn't time to delve into whatever was making her look so thunderstruck. The first patient arrived, and Rosa led mother and son into the room.

  Eugenia didn't like the looks of the three strangers who waltzed into her shop. Not one bit. City folks, she could tell at a glance. They wore nearly identical dark-colored suits, and long black coats that were too heavy for early autumn.

  Still, she pasted a smile on her face and set her paperback on the counter. "What can I do for you gentlemen? You lost?"

  Only the tall blond one came forward, leaving the other two lingering behind him like shadows. His smile was toothy, big and, she thought, probably false. He was handsome. Dangerously so. He thrust a hand at her. She shook it, just to be polite. "I'm Captain Mark Halloway, ma'am. I'm with the U.S. Air Force."

  She lifted her brows. "Oh, yeah? Where's your uniform?"

  He smiled again. "Don't wear them in my line of work. Are you Ms. Overton?"

  She nodded, feeling more uneasy by the second. The bell over the door jangled. Sylvie Grayson peeked in, frowned hard and backed right out again.

  "Maybe you ought to tell me what you want and be on your way, Mr. Halloway. You're scaring off my customers."

  “Captain Halloway,” he corrected. "We're investigating that reported UFO sighting. You must have seen it in this morning's paper."

  She nodded, wary. "Didn't see any UFO, though. Don't tell me my tax dollars pay you guys to chase flying saucers around Iowa."

  "Now, Ms. Overton, no one said anything about a flying saucer."

  Eugenia tilted her head. "Some government test thing, wasn't it? Lord, I hope you nuts haven't decided to use Sumac skies to try out some nuclear-powered war machine. This is a farming town, mister. We don't need your experiments crashing in our woods, spreading whatever kinds of contaminants that power 'em into our water supply."

  His brows went up. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm here to prevent any such thing from happening." He laid a well-manicured hand on the counter. "Now, you say something crashed in the woods?"

  "I most certainly did not."

  "You alluded to it." He pinned her with his pale-blue gaze. "Come on, Ms. Overton. Why don't you tell me what you saw?"

  "Well...I, it’s just that I..." She felt trapped. She wasn't sure she should tell him about that funny glow that had briefly lit up the night sky out toward Thomas's place. He sure wouldn't want these men poking around over there. Besides, that flash of light was caused by Janella's car accident. Wasn't it?

  "What did you see, Ms. Overton?"

  A form stopped outside, drawing Eugenia's gaze. A tall man stood there, near the display window. She blinked as she stared at his close-cropped sable beard peppered with white here and there and those warm sapphire eyes. He looked at her, right at her, with those eyes and gave his head a nearly imperceptible shake.

  "Ms. Overton?" Halloway prompted.

  She licked her lips nervously, tugging her gaze free of the grip the newcomer’s had on it. What in the world was going on here? Who were all these strangers, anyway?

  Stiffening her spine, she made herself answer him. "I didn't see anything, Mr. Halloway. Not a thing. And I really don't think anyone else did, either. Sumac's a nice town, but it can get kind of dull for some tastes. We have a few overactive imaginations around here. We tend to let ‘em be. They keep things interesting. But honestly, a U.F.O.? Come on now.”

  The bearded man in the doorway gave her a heart-stopping smile, and then he winked. Eugenia caught her breath as he walked out of sight.

  Janella battled tears all day as she watched Thomas work. She didn't do much other than hand him things, quickly learning the names of various tools and medicines and bandages. But her emotions kept her from thinking as clearly as she might have been able to do. There had been an elderly man with a heart condition, who'd regaled her with one funny story after another as Thomas examined him. Then a little girl in a wheelchair, who'd gazed up at him with trusting eyes as he worked. And later, the sweetest six-year-old boy with what Thomas called Down's syndrome. He'd been nervous, and Janella had held his hand throughout his visit. Before the boy left, he'd hugged her neck and planted a wet kiss on her cheek. That was when her tears finally spilled over. She averted her face in time to hide them from the boy and his mother, but not from Thomas.

  He frowned at her after they'd gone. "What’s wrong?"

  She shook her head, brushing her face dry with the back of one hand. She could not tell him that at home, none of those people would have been given a chance at survival. No one there would care for the
m the way Thomas had done. If he knew, he would probably think her as barbaric and cold as the rest of her people. But she was not. And for so long, she had wondered if she was weak, somehow flawed because of her feelings.

  Seeing him with those special, wonderful people today had proved to her that she had been right all along. It was not she who was flawed; it was the society she had been born into. She only wished she could make them see it.

  "Janella?"

  She bit her lip against her tears. "Nothing is wrong, Thomas. I am just...just very happy to be here." She could not stop looking at him and thinking that she had never in her life known a man like him. No, that was not true. She had known one. Her father. "You are a special man, Thomas. A good man."

  The concern left his face then. He appeared wary, instead. "Not really."

  "Yes, you are. The way you care for these people, it—"

  "No, Janella. Don't get confused about it. I don't care for them. I just take care of them."

  She frowned. "I do not understand."

  Thomas lowered his head, his breath escaping in a rush. "First rule of medicine, Janella. Keep an emotional distance. It's necessary." His voice a little softer, he added, "Believe me, I know."

  Janella tried to see his meaning in his eyes, but they were carefully blank, as they had been for most of the day. In fact, now that she thought about it, she realized that he had not held the little boy's hand or hugged him. He had not laughed at any of the old man's stories. He had just gone about his examination, almost pretending not to hear them.

  "Emotional distance" was the term he had used. But in the short time she had known him, she had not seen him show much emotion at all. Except when he had laughed at her in the shower.

  It was so confusing. Why would a man spend his life helping people unless he cared? And if he did not care, then was he just like the people she had left behind? Unfeeling? Cold?

  Somehow she just could not believe that. She decided to watch him more closely from now on. Maybe she would figure it out. Maybe she would figure a lot of things out. Like why he did not seem to have any deference to women, and why Rosa had rushed all day to obey his every request. This Earth was a puzzling place.