All Fired Up (Stardust) (10 page)

And she didn’t have to, unfortunately for him.

With a shaking hand, she removed her hearing aid. “This conversation is over. We can’t see each other again, so don’t even try. I’m going home now, and I’m going to stay there until you’re far gone. If you’re smart, you’ll leave soon.”

Stunned speechless, Slo watched her walk off, feeling like he’d been sucker punched in the gut, feeling the quiet of the town settle over him like a lead shroud, not another soul in sight, not a whisper of hope… Then the church chimes struck the hour of noon, breaking the silence almost as if they were breaking a curse.

Roxanne stopped in mid-step and spun around.

“I hear them! I hear the chimes!” She raced back, hitting Slo with a flying tackle hug. “I’m not wearing my aid, and I can hear! I’m fixed!”

“I never thought you were broken,” he strained out, half suffocated by her stranglehold on his neck. Not that he was complaining.

“No, you just thought I was crazy. And now you’ll never know I wasn’t.” She pushed back, her face ecstatic, all sunshine and smiles.

Slo basked in her glow. He had no idea what was going on, but hoped like hell it would continue.

“I went deaf about the same time I became pyrokinetic,” Roxanne explained. “I’ve always figured the two problems were connected, and if one disappeared the other would, too. But there’s only one way to be sure.”

“Which is?” Slo had a warm fuzzy feeling about this.

“You’ll have to kiss me.”

Damn, life was tough sometimes.

He gathered her close, ready to answer the call of duty however arduous it might be. “How hot am I allowed to make this?”

“As hot as you can. This is a test. If no fires start, we’ll know I’m cured.”

“If no fires start, I’ve lost my touch.”

“Slo, shut up and kiss.”

Yes, ma’am.

She asked for it.

He got it.

Wham—

Roller coasters, rockets, and rainbows for all!

The second Slo’s mouth covered hers, fireworks lit up his sky. Roxanne pressed against him, hanging on tight, kissing him hard. Volcanoes erupted, the Earth moved, angels sang—

No…someone was playing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.” The music blared out of a building midway down the street.

Breathless and flushed, Roxanne surface for air.

“Sam must be home,” she panted out. “He told me yesterday he’d be going to Lubbock this morning to buy new speakers for his sound system. He must have just hooked them up.”

“They sound good,” Slo drawled. But to him, Roxanne sounded even better.

“
Everything
sounds good. And I didn’t burn anything!”

That’s what she thought. Slo felt cheerfully charbroiled. Smiling and still smoldering, he pulled her back into the embrace. None of this made any sense, but then nothing had before, and he wasn’t so stuck on logic that he’d argue against craziness when it worked in his favor. If nothing else, you had to acknowledge her hearing had returned, which seemed pretty damned miraculous.

“I just want to know
how
.” Roxanne rested her head on his shoulder, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m beginning to think there really was a lightning strike near the tent. I don’t mean that’s what started the fire – I know a pyrokinetic flare up when I feel one, and I sure felt one then. But I also felt an extra jolt – like an electric shock – which could have come from a close strike, I guess. That would explain why I passed out at the cave. It was a delayed reaction from an electrical overload to my ‘psychic circuits.’ Lightning knocked out my pyrokinetic power and me with it.”

Amazing. She made it sound
almost
logical.

“Either that, or you did,” she added, “because I felt the same electric jolt when we met. I think I knew right then you were either going to kill me or cure me.”

She tilted back her head to give him a vixen’s grin. Foxy Roxy. “Anyway, it looks like I can date you now. Is that offer still open?”

Slo couldn’t answer. He was suddenly too busy kissing her again. Which was an answer in and off itself. With an angel in his arms, Star, Texas felt like heaven.

God, he was glad to be home!

=========

Epilogue

As the
Star Gazette
reported things, it was a whirlwind courtship that blew straight into a wedding the whole town helped to plan. However, the impatient bride and groom foiled the big plan by eloping on a motorcycle borrowed from Mr. Harper Rourke, and then riding off into the sunset for a honeymoon under the stars.

Roxanne wanted to experience the wonders of nature. Slo wanted to experience the wonders of Roxanne, and didn’t care how or where. In any case, the gully did hold rather romantic associations for them. He showed Roxanne the proper way to pitch a tent and how to zip two sleeping bags into one. Then he showed her what amorous people did on their wedding night. No storms broke, and nothing caught fire – except Mr. and Mrs. Larkin. Yes, the tent did collapse on top of them at the climactic moment. But the
Star Gazette
didn’t report that part.

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About the author:

Mimi Riser is a multi-published, award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction. Her books celebrate the upbeat and the offbeat, and “happy endings” are her specialty. She began life in the urban northeast, but now resides in the rural southwest with one husband, two dogs, and more cats than anyone wants to know about. Her current locale inspires many of her stories. And, yes, she believes in love at first sight. Doesn’t everyone?

http://www.mimiriser.com

(Note: For those interested, the stories of Jack & Jileana Jones and Harper Rourke & Evangeline are told in the full-length novel
Every Jack Needs His Jil
, volume 1 of the Stardust series, available on Kindle.)

ALSO BY MIMI RISER:

Novels

Eyes of the Cat

Sherwood Charade

Space Rats and Rebels

Lifestyles of the Witch & Famous

Kiss My Blarney Stone

The “Stardust” Series:

Every Jack Needs His Jil
(novel)

All Fired Up
(novella)

Star Cookies & Comfort
(short story)

Short Stories

The Great Race

If Wishes Were Kisses

Joy to the Worlds

The Robin Flies Again

The “Lovestruck” Series:

Marrying Mona

Seducing Sophia

Nonfiction

Texas Treats

Cooking Up Christmas

Homemade Halloween Treats

The Kitchen Witch Glossary of Cooking Herbs & Spices

The Kitchen Witch Guide to the Timeless Art of Herbal Tea

Spice Up Your Love Life! Aphrodisiacs from the Kitchen

The Naughty Girl’s Guide to Divining by the Dots

The Kitchen Witch Spring Into Summer Book

The Kitchen Witch Yuletide Book

The Kitchen Witch Halloween Book

The “Odd True Tales” Series

Anthologies

Romance: Fantasy, Food, and Fortune Telling

Breaking the Thought Barrier

Erotic Romance

Cymric’s Rose

Samantha White & The Seven Dwarves

Dungeons & Dirty Dreams

Romeo’s Revenge

Tina Takes a Tumble

Saving Sally Savoy

A Knight to Remember

Just Another Lonely Knight

In the Heat of the Knight

The Adventures of Cassie Nova

The Cowboys & The Courtesan

Wicked Comes the Beast

Playing Pirates

Pirates Do It With Passion

The Sylver & Steele Series

Paperback Anthologies

My Knightly Adventures

Return to the Burn

Can’t Fight the Feeling

Pirates & Other Wicked Pleasures

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