Page 29 of After 5
“I had a few implants to make me bum a little fuller, like Beyoncé.”
I looked behind him and he huffed, “You can’t see it when I’m sitting down. I need to stand for you to see its magnificence.” I thought about the fact Ace had missed the last moon cycle. He told Jake his grandfather was ill.
Mr. Raney and his son finally retired to the house. “Coast is clear,” Ace said.
We tiptoed to the end of the house and stood, stretching our legs.
“What do you think?” He lifted his shirttail.
I noticed his behind was a bit rounder at the top, but I didn’t think it was enough to warrant surgery or risk Jake’s wrath.
“I’m impressed, but what if you get fired?”
“They can’t fire me, doll. We have so many brigands trying to muck up the past they need every available traveler. We don’t have enough defenders to chase them all, and even fewer transporters.”
I agreed. We did have the WTF by their short hairs. They needed us, which made negotiating some things simple. The last few travels, the transporters were restricted to base. We mutinied, and Jake relented, petitioning General Potts to make allowances for the transporters to travel with their defenders instead of being summoned.
Now, I was under the microscope to prove I can travel and not muck up things in the past. Bending the rule made watching Marco’s back easier and my sleepless nights disappear. I had to ensure I didn’t screw up.
The sun showed pinks and oranges as we made our way to the middle of the pecan grove. The Raneys long inside, we didn’t have time to return to the clearing we landed in originally.
With Mr. Raney’s poor eyesight, I felt safe to call my vessel at a respectable distance from the house. As my vessel appeared, I turned for one last look.
“Let’s go doll, I need to ice me buns,” Ace said, stepping into my outhouse.
I followed him, but there was a gnawing feeling in my gut that this wasn’t the last time I would meet Sam Raney.
Chapter 5
Iopened the sliding glass door and entered my house. The fatigue that accompanied time travel was beginning to rear its ugly head. Food and sleep were first and second on my priority list.
“Gertie, I’m home,” I hollered out in my best Ricky Ricardo impersonation. Gertie worked at the library on the SMU college campus. Sometimes she stayed late on Saturdays, but I expected she’d be home by now.
Gertie rounded the corner from the den. Her freckled face broke into a wide smile and she wrapped me in one of her full-on hugs. Gertie always hugged tight. It was one of the things I loved about her. There were no secrets with Gertie. She wasn’t afraid to show everyone who she was or tell them what she thought. Her life was an open book and mine was written with disappearing ink. I trusted her completely.
“Hey, glad you’re back safe and sound,” she said as she released me.
“Yeah me too.” I moved toward the fridge. My trip to Purley had been a little unnerving. Meeting the younger version of Caiyan called for a glass of wine.
Gertie wore a cute pair of Lululemon leggings and a flowing top that accentuated her blue eyes.
“Cute leggings,” I said.
“Thanks, I hope Brodie feels the same. He’s on his way over. We’re going out to eat and then to a movie. Want to come?”
Brodie always stopped by his farm in Australia when he returned from a travel. His family thought he worked in sales and traveled with his job. He left the running of the farm to his brothers but helped out between moon cycles.
“No thanks. I’m beat, and I’m starving,” I said and reached for the refrigerator door.
“About that…”
I opened the refrigerator and surveyed the contents. Empty, except for a sad head of lettuce, a six pack of Brodie’s favorite beer, some questionable yogurt, a can of whipped cream, and a box from the Cheesecake factory.
“You didn’t go to the grocery store?”
“I know it was my turn, but I met some girlfriends after work for drinks, and we ended up catching a concert at the House of Blues. There was so much pot passed around we got high off the secondhand smoke. Afterward, we came back here and had pizza and cheesecake.” She motioned to the stack of dirty dishes on the counter. “I saved you the leftover cheesecake, and I picked up a can of that whipped cream you like when I stopped for beer and gas on my way home from work today.”
Whipped cream from the gas station might be a little risky, but what the hell. I was a girl who looked danger in the face and told it to F-off. I uncapped the can, squirted a large dollop into my mouth, and devoured the delicious topping.
