Chapter Twenty-Nine
Luca Radbourne walked into the Supernova Supermarket on a mission. It was a new mission he had assigned to himself. While he was usually confident in all of the secret and dangerous missions assigned to him, he knew this one might prove to be highly lethal to his heart and soul.
It had been almost one week since Vanthex had restored his memories. The most disturbing were those he’d made as Jake Jones, a made-up person he had created to complete a mission on Earth.
It was odd. When those memories had seeped in, Luca felt like they were someone else’s. Like having a vault full of someone else’s dreams dumped into his mind. Someone else’s memories. Certainly not his.
As he scanned through the weeks he’d spent as the Jake Jones who’d fallen instantly in love with Beryl Ashcraft and her family, he realized that if nothing else, he at least owed her a conversation, no matter what she’d told him via Wyatt Campbell regarding her regrets.
Luca needed to acknowledge Jake’s feelings for her. Which was sort of how he felt about those weeks—like they weren’t his feelings. They were Jake’s feelings.
They were akin to the feelings of some other personality living in his head, of this fictional character he had created to live a short-term life for a mission-critical job.
Jake Jones was never meant to exist in the real world where real people with real emotions resided. Where real people fell in love.
The problem was, the longer he lived with those memories as Jake Jones, the more he started feeling like they were his feelings.
Ian had helped him realize that after they returned to Alpha-Prime and closed the case involving Vanthex, the memory thief.
“All of your memories have been fully restored, right?” Ian asked as they relaxed in Luca’s quarters—quarters that felt like they belonged to a stranger.
“Yes.”
“Then you remember when I went to Dark Matter Metal & Leather and ordered a special gift for someone?”
Luca searched his restored memories and nodded. “Yes, I remember. Wow. You spent a lot of money to have Jake Jones create a special necklace for your imaginary girlfriend.” He laughed.
Ian did not laugh. “And did Jake Jones finish that project?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Because I want it. I think you should go back to Earth and get it for me.”
Luca frowned. “Why? So you can go give it to somebody that you aren’t allowed to date? Just like I’m not allowed to date.”
“We can date. Relationships in our world are just a greater challenge. And not always in the best interests of our profession. Still, I’ve discovered it might be worth any difficulties.”
Luca thought his own difficulties seemed insurmountable. “I believe you’re right. But I don’t think Beryl ever wants to see me again. She did leave her regrets with the sheriff to give me closure.”
“But you don’t want closure, do you?”
Luca sighed. “I don’t know what I want.”
“Listen to me. I’m your best friend. You need to do yourself a favor and go speak to Beryl.”
“Because I was a big dirtbag jerk to her and made her cry when she visited me in the hospital and I didn’t know who she was?”
“No. That’s not what I mean. You were confused, not a dirtbag jerk. You didn’t have all your memories. And what memories you did have told you that you would never have dated someone or brought them into your life as a girlfriend because of your occupation and the mission you were on.”
“What if she thinks I’m a dirtbag jerk?”
“Stop calling yourself that. Listen, maybe you’re right.
Maybe it won’t matter, even if you go see her, but I think that you owe it to her to explain the memories you now have.
Knowing her even the little bit that I do, I believe she would understand.
At the very worst, perhaps you could be good friends. ”
Luca did not want to be good friends with Beryl.
He wanted her to be his, no matter how difficult or complicated it was.
“And as her newly discovered eldest brother, I give my approval,” Ian said magnanimously. “I find you an acceptable candidate for my sister’s affections. If she’ll have you.”
“Yeah, thanks. That won’t be strange at all, will it.”
“I don’t think so.” Ian smiled in a way that Luca recognized as genuine joy from his friend.
“It seems my new family has accepted me with open arms, though I only talked to Mica and Jett before we left Earth. I’m hoping Beryl, Jasper and Jade will also welcome me, along with my true father, Aldus Ashcraft.
And if they do, I’ll put a good word in for you. ”
“Have you spoken with your, uh, the Monteros about this revelation yet?”
“No. I haven’t quite decided how to handle it. Plus, I received an urgent message that Darkfall the Corrector needs to handle. I may be out of touch for a while. So go to Earth and get my special gift.”
“Fine. I’ll get it. Stay safe.”
“Sure. Be good to my sister.” Ian winked.
Luca packed a bag and left Alpha-Prime immediately.
He was on leave for the next two months anyway, due to his memory issues.
Cmdr. Goddard and The Calderian insisted he take the time off.
He would have to pass a physical and mental stress test to ensure the alien apparatus hadn’t left any permanent damage. He hoped it wouldn’t hamper his career.
Back on Earth, he dropped his stuff off at the house Jake Jones rented, picked up Ian’s special necklace from Dark Matter Metal & Leather, and drove to the Supernova Supermarket.
Jake Jones was madly in love with Beryl Ashcraft and she needed to understand that.
Maybe she would listen when he told her he wasn’t sure how he could live without her. And that they needed to make a plan to be together, even if she never wanted to get married.
When he passed Tanya the cashier, she waved. “Hi, Jake. You look great. Beryl is in her office, if that’s who you’re looking for.” She grinned as she said it, like she knew a big secret and not that he was a dirtbag.
Interesting. Had Beryl not told everyone Jake Jones was persona non grata? Clearly not. He took it as a good sign.
Hope wound its way around his heart. He thought her office might be at the back of the store and headed that way. He didn’t have to go that far. In the produce section, he saw Beryl talking to her brother, Jett.
Luckily, her back was to him, and she didn’t see his approach. Jett did. Luca thought her brother would point at him and yell at his sister to run. Instead, he smiled.
Luca didn’t know what possessed him, but when he got close enough, he put one arm around Beryl’s shoulders, the other behind her knees, scooped her up into his arms and started carrying her toward the exit.
Beryl screamed, “Jake! What do you think you’re you doing?” The fact she looped her arms around his neck made him think she didn’t mind.
“I recently recovered a vast number of memories and would like to have a discussion with you about them. Given your last message to me, I figured this was my best bet in order to make my mission happen.”
Her expression softened. “And are you pretending to be a caveman this time?”
“Nope. Just a man on a mission doing his best to see it through.”
She relaxed in his arms. “Do you remember everything?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Will you ever tell me your real name?”
“Of course, but not here.” He grinned. “While I’m in Alienn, Arkansas, I’ll be Jake Jones. Problem with that?”
A beautiful smile shaped her lips, “No. I’ve missed you, Jake.”
“I’d ask you to marry me, but last I checked, you didn’t want to get married.”
“Well, things have shifted regarding your…human status, shall we say.”
“True.”
As he carried her through the checkout area, Beryl surprised him. She put a palm on his cheek, pulled his face close to hers, and said, “I would marry Jake Jones, if ever he decided to ask.” And then she kissed him.
She was not tender and neither was he.
Luca heard Tanya squeal in delight.
“Aw, you two are so sweet. And carrying Beryl away from her job just like in that romantic movie I saw last week. You go, girl!”
The sliding glass doors closed behind them.
Next up: The Alien Crown Affair