warmed quickly as she held it tight.
There was only one wish she’d like to make and she knew it was one that could never come true. She released her hold on the charm and headed to her car in the driveway.
Behind her car was parked a large black pickup she knew must belong to Benjamin. Funny, she would assume he was more the sweet little sports car type than the big, bruising truck.
She’d packed light and grabbed the small suitcase and overnight bag from her backseat, then headed inside the house. She heard no sound from the living room. Apparently the current chess game was intense enough that both men were concentrating.
She carried the suitcase up the stairs, the third and seventh steps creaking beneath her weight as they had when she’d been a child. She entered the last bedroom at the end of the hall, the room where she’d always stayed when she and her mother had come for a visit. The dusty pink paint on the wall and the pink floral spread covering the double bed brought another wave of memories.
Every night that she’d slept here she’d been tucked into bed lovingly not only by her mother, but also by her grandmother. And often Poppy would come upstairs to sneak her a cookie or a little bowl of popcorn. In this house, she’d always felt loved like nowhere else on earth.
It took her only minutes to stow her items in the dresser and closet, then she headed back downstairs where it sounded like the chess game had ended.
As she entered the living room, Benjamin and Poppy got up from the small game table. “He beat me both games,” Benjamin said. He smiled at Edie, a warm, sexy smile that once again fluttered a faint heat through her veins.
“Maybe you and Edie could play a few games together, you know, practice so eventually you can beat the master.” Poppy grinned.
Benjamin laughed. “I’d love to hang around and play a game of chess with Edie, but unfortunately I’ve got some reports that need to be written before morning.”
The twinkle in Poppy’s eyes faded as he looked at Benjamin seriously. “You know how to find those girls. Find the aliens and you’ll find out what happened to that Hightower young woman and your sister.”
“Aliens?” Edie looked from her grandfather to Benjamin with curiosity.
Poppy nodded. “Space aliens. I keep telling Benjamin and his brothers that they’ve landed here in Black Rock and until we get them rounded up, nobody is safe.”
A sick feeling swept through Edie as she stared at her grandfather, hoping to see the familiar twinkle of a joke in his eyes. But there was no twinkle—only a faint tinge of fear coupled with the determination of an intergalactic warrior. And then she knew why somebody had called her to check on her Poppy. It was because he was losing his mind.
Chapter 2
Benjamin saw the dismay that swept over Edie’s features at Walt’s words. She was a pretty woman and he knew her statistics from looking at her license. She was five foot four and weighed 117 pounds. Her hair was auburn and her eyes were green.
But those statistics didn’t begin to really describe the woman who stood before him. Yes, her short curly hair was auburn, but it shone with a luster that made his fingers itch with the need to touch. Green was too ordinary a word to describe her eyes, which sparkled with tiny shards of glittering gold.
The orange sweater she wore complemented the burnished highlights in her hair and intensified the color of her eyes. Something about her stirred him in a way he hadn’t been stirred in a very long time.
“I’ll walk you out,” she said, casting a meaningful look at him.
“Walt, as always, thanks for the meal and the chess game,” Benjamin said.
“Thanks for the company,” Walt replied, obviously unaware that his previous words had upset his granddaughter. “Edie, you can pull your car into the garage. I sold my car a year ago. I got tired of paying for insurance.”
Edie nodded. “Thanks, Poppy, I’ll do that.”
As Benjamin walked out with Edie, he caught a whiff of her perfume, something subtle and spicy that reminded him of tangy fall air and cinnamon.
“I’m the one who called you,” he said when they were far enough away from the front door that Walt wouldn’t hear. “I’ve been worried about him.”
In the illumination from a nearby streetlight, he could see the confusion on her pretty face. “I didn’t catch the name of the person who’d called me and once I got here I thought maybe it was just a cranky neighbor upset because the yard needs some work. He seemed so normal.”
“He appears to be normal in every way except for the little issue that he thinks space aliens are trying to take over Black Rock. It wouldn’t be a big problem but he’s often out in the middle of the night alien hunting and I’m afraid he’ll get hit by a car or fall down someplace where nobody will be able to help him.”
“How long has this been going on?” she asked. She still looked overwhelmed by this news and as he remembered the things she’d told him when he’d pulled her over for speeding, he had a crazy desire to take her into his arms and assure her that everything was going to be all right.
Instead he rocked back on his heels and frowned thoughtfully. “About six months. My brothers and I have tried to assure him that there are no space aliens in town, but he’s adamant in his belief and gets downright cranky when you try to tell him different. Look, I’d recommend you take him into his doctor and get a full checkup done. Maybe this is some sort of a medical issue.”
“I guess that’s as good a place to start as anywhere,” she replied. “Well, thanks for all your help with him. I guess I’ll see you around over the next couple of days, but hopefully not in my rearview mirror with your lights spinning.”
He grinned at her. “As long as you’re not a fast woman, we won’t have any problems in that area. But I can’t promise I won’t follow you just because I think you’re pretty.” Someplace deep inside he recognized he was flirting a little bit.
She must have realized it, too. But her eyes cooled and she took a step back from him. “I am a fast woman, probably way too fast for a small-town deputy.”
He wasn’t sure who was more surprised by her response, him or her. Her lush lips compressed as she frowned once again. “Thanks again for you help. See you around.”
She turned and headed back to the house in short quick steps that swayed her shapely hips. Benjamin watched until she disappeared behind the front door and then released a sigh as he got into his truck.
He had no idea what had possessed him to attempt a little flirt with her. It was obvious by her response he wasn’t very good at it. Still, her cool response had surprised him.
Since his brothers Tom and Caleb had hooked up with their soul mates, Benjamin had become the toast of the town when it came to the single women. But all the women who were interested in him left him cold.
He’d been cold since his sister, Brittany, had disappeared over two months ago. Tom, his oldest brother and the sheriff of Black Rock, still held out hope that she would be found alive and well, but even though Benjamin never said anything out loud, as each day had passed with
