Chapter 8 #2
"These are going to be perfect for the restaurant," I said, already imagining the dishes I could create. Tomato tarts, tomato basil biscuit cups, fresh tomato spice cake, tomato and almond galette… "Buck, if you can supply us regularly..."
"That's the plan, darlin'. We've got four more greenhouses coming online next month. You'll have all the tomatoes you can handle, plus peppers, eggplant, zucchini—the whole garden, if you want it."
Cristox accepted a tomato from Buck and ate it thoughtfully. "This is remarkable. I've had Earth food before, but this tastes..." He paused, searching for the word. "Alive."
"That's because they're grown with love," Lula said, patting Buck's arm. "And a whole lot of cussing when things go wrong."
Buck chuckled. "Speaking of things going wrong, we had a hell of a time getting the plants back to normal after that mumje incident. You remember that, Ruby?"
I felt my stomach drop. "Yeah. I remember."
How could I forget? The whole village had been drugged with mumje by that bastard Atkins Parlow, the old mayor. He'd set it off in the air during the harvest festival, trying to control everyone for God knew what reason. The whole thing was a nightmare.
"Teddy and I were affected," I said quietly to Cristox's worried gaze. "The last thing I remember was reading him a bedtime story. Then we woke up days later in the school gymnasium with everyone else."
"Scared the hell out of all of us," Buck said, shaking his head. "I was lucky—it didn't affect me. But Lula..." He swallowed hard, and I could see remnants of the fear he'd felt.
"Thankfully, Mei's friend Clara figured out an antidote," Lula added. "That woman's a genius. She and her husband Tarook visited just last month with their baby son. Sweetest little thing."
I glanced at Cristox and found him watching me, his expression carefully neutral, but I could see the anger simmering in his eyes. I'd been drugged with mumje during my captivity on Kwado, along with an aphrodisiac. That's why everything had spiraled so out of control.
Heat crept up my neck, and I glanced away quickly, my heart racing at the memory of that night. His hands on my skin, his breath against my neck, the way he'd made me feel things I'd never felt before.
"Lost about half the crops that season," Buck continued, oblivious to the tension crackling between Cristox and me. "Nobody tended to them for nearly a week. But we bounced back. Everything's normal now, thank God."
"More than normal," Lula said brightly. "Best harvest we've had in years."
The kids came running back then, Teddy chattering excitedly about an eight-legged frog he'd found and other things little boys feel are most important in the world.
Cristox appeared enraptured by the tale, but I could still feel his gaze on me, heavy with memory and something else.
Something that made my skin tingle with awareness.
After we'd admired the rest of the crops and Buck showed Cristox his irrigation system with the pride of a man showing off his prized possession, Lula insisted we stay for lunch.
We sat around their big farmhouse table—fresh lamb chops, asparagus, and potato salad, while the kids were content to munch on homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Cristox and Fred fell into an easy conversation about the Historia.
Fred wanted to be an Alliance guard when he grew older, and both he and Teddy hung on every word Cristox offered.
I half-listened while picking at my food, my mind still on that look Cristox and I had shared.
The heat in his eyes, the barely restrained desire that mirrored my own confusing feelings.
"So," Lula said quietly, leaning toward me to keep our conversation private. "How are you feeling about all this? About Cristox?"
I nearly choked on my lemonade. "What?"
"Oh, don't play coy with me, honey. I've got eyes." She smiled warmly, her expression knowing. "He's a good male. The way he is with Teddy... and the way he looks at you when you're not watching? Lord, have mercy."
"He is good with Teddy," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. "He's... he's a good male. I know that."
"But?"
"But I don't know, Lula. I feel so confused about everything." I set down my glass and stared at it, afraid to meet her eyes. "It's complicated."
"The best things usually are," she said, patting my hand gently. "Just don't overthink it, darlin'. Sometimes you've got to trust your gut. And your heart."
I wished it were that simple. I wished I could just let myself feel without all the fear and doubt holding me back. Not that I didn’t trust Cristox. I did. I just couldn’t get over the nagging worry that the hand of fate would intervene to separate us again.
When we finally left, Buck loaded us up with a huge basket of produce—tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, eggplant, and fresh herbs. "You cook something good with these and let me know how they work out," he said with a wink.
As we drove back toward town, Cristox and Teddy engaged in another rousing game of I Spy, I perused recipes in my mind. "Hey, how about I cook ratatouille with all these vegetables?"
Cristox glanced at me, eyebrows raised. "A... what?" From his expression, I suspected he'd only caught the ‘rat’ part of ratatouille.
"Ratatouille. It's a French vegetable dish. Really simple but delicious."
"I have no idea what that is," he admitted with a smile that made my stomach do a little flip, "but everything you cook is delicious."
"Yay!" Teddy cheered from the back seat. For Cristox, not the ratatouille.
My heart flipped a little at how happy he made my son. And maybe at how he made me feel happy too. A dangerous, terrifying kind of happy that I wasn't sure I was ready for.
The drive back to the village went quickly, and before we could finish what felt like our hundredth game of I Spy, Cristox pulled the truck into the driveway behind the bakery.
We started unloading the car, and I was juggling the big basket of vegetables when I heard a feminine voice with a heavy southern accent.
"Cristox! There you are!"
I glanced up to see Charlene practically skipping across the street toward us, her short dark hair bouncing, her smile wide and predatory. I’d met both her and her brother Peanut during the last market day when they’d stopped by my booth to buy Peanut a honey tart.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," she said, immediately draping herself over Cristox’s arm, pressing her chest against him and nearly making him drop the basket of tomatoes he held. "Where have you been hiding? I've missed you."
I saw Teddy's face scrunch in annoyance and felt a similar irritation rising in my chest—hot and sharp and completely irrational. The way she was pawing at him, pressing herself against his side like she had every right to touch him... I had the most insistent urge to snatch her hair out.
Cristox gently extracted his arm from her grip, taking a polite step back. His tail lashed once behind him, a quick, agitated movement that I'd started to recognize as displeasure. "Just spending time with friends," he said easily. "Been keeping busy."
Charlene's gaze finally shifted past him, landing on Teddy before flicking back to Cristox. Her eyes went wide, and I saw the exact moment realization hit her. Her smile faltered, her expression hardening into something cold and calculating.
"Well," she said, her voice taking on a sugary sweetness that didn't reach her eyes, "maybe we could have dinner tonight? Catch up properly?"
"That's kind of you," Cristox said, his tone still friendly but firm, "but my time's pretty full until I leave town." His golden gaze flickered to our son with unmistakable affection. "I've got commitments."
Charlene's jaw tightened imperceptibly, her perfectly manicured nails digging into her palms.
"I wish you all the best, though," he added, then turned to Teddy. "Come on, buddy. Let's get these vegetables inside."
Teddy practically bounced after him, and they disappeared through the bakery's back door, leaving me alone with Charlene.
The mask dropped immediately.
"You work fast," she said, her voice dripping with venom. "Didn't take you long to sink your claws in."
I shifted the basket to my other hip, meeting her glare with what I hoped was calm indifference. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Please." She laughed, but there was no humor in it—just bitter jealousy. "You think you're special? Honey, I've already had him. Multiple times. He's just being polite to you because of your kid."
The words stung more than I wanted to admit, cutting deep into the vulnerable places I'd been trying so hard to protect.
But I kept my face neutral, refusing to give her the satisfaction.
I didn't want to believe her. I wanted to believe in Cristox, in the way he looked at me.
But a wad of doubt settled in my gut like a stone.
Of course, I'd die before I let Charlene know that.
"Funny," I said, meeting her eyes with as much confidence as I could muster. "If that's true, he sure acts like he didn't enjoy it much."
Charlene's face flushed red, her eyes flashing with rage. For a moment, I thought she might actually slap me. Instead, she spun around and stalked off, her heels clicking angrily against the pavement. Seriously, who wears four-inch heels on a Wednesday afternoon?
I stood there for a moment, watching her go, my heart pounding against my ribs.
And then it hit me.
I was jealous. Actually, genuinely green-eyed jealous. The thought of Cristox with her—with anyone—made something possessive and fierce rise up in my chest.
The realization made my stomach twist. Cristox was leaving in a few days.
Sure, he was Teddy's father, but there was nothing between us other than the one night we'd spent together—and he'd only done that to save my life.
He'd been the perfect gentleman since then.
Dammit! This was... what was this? And why did the thought of him with Charlene—or anyone else—make me want to throw something?
I headed inside, still brooding, and found Cristox in the kitchen with Teddy, already unpacking the vegetables. He looked up when I entered, his expression immediately growing concerned, his eyes searching my face.
"Everything okay?" he asked, his voice low and gentle.
"Fine," I said more sharply than I intended, then forced a smile. I didn't want Cristox to know Charlene had gotten under my skin either.
His tail swished behind him, slow and contemplative, and I could tell he didn't believe me.
Then the tip curled forward gently, brushing my lower back as he passed by to get a bowl from the cupboard.
The touch was brief, almost tentative, but it sent a warm shiver up my spine—a silent reassurance. It felt comforting. Intimate.
I caught myself leaning slightly into the touch before he pulled away, and that realization was almost worse than the jealousy. When had this happened? When had I started craving his touch, wanting more than just his presence in Teddy's life?
Maybe it was the way he'd been so patient with our son, never pushing, always gentle.
Or how he looked at me sometimes when he thought I wasn't paying attention—like I was something precious he was afraid might shatter.
Or maybe it was simply that beneath all the alien features and the tail and the circumstances that brought us together, Cristox was just..
. good. Kind. Real. And incredibly attractive in a way that made my pulse race.
And I was terrified.
Because in a few days, he'd be gone. Back to his ship, his duties, his world that had nothing to do with mine. And I'd be here, alone again, except now I'd know exactly what I was missing. Now I'd have tasted the possibility of something more—something that could break my heart if I let it.