The Pineview Incident (6 page)

Chapter 9

Donna sat next to the kitchen window, smiling and seeing nothing at all. Her mind wandered among all the memories of Mark Lewis, both bad and good, as she tried to make sense of the direction her life now took. She automatically took another sip of coffee. She needed to get ready for church soon, but all she could do right now was remember and feel. In fact, she teetered on sensation overload.

Her lips were puffy and a bit tender. Her legs felt like they’d run a marathon, which she’d nearly done to get away from the Gilbertson farm. They even trembled when she stood too long. More importantly, her toes ached from overuse.

Who knew aching toes could feel so amazingly good?

Her body, with the exception of her legs, felt more alive than it had for the past five years. The tense pain in her shoulders was gone and she could finally breathe again, as if the loss of John had left her unable to catch her breath since his death. Her stomach tickled with an expectancy and energy she’d forgotten it could possess.

She closed her eyes and replayed the events of the day before. Her stomach responded to the memories, and she found herself giggling.

“Get a hold of yourself, Donna. You’ve got it worse than a school girl.” She opened her eyes and rolled them at herself.  Still, she didn’t budge from her spot by the window until she heard a soft tapping and a head appeared where one shouldn’t be.

The coffee cup flew back and shattered against the refrigerator and she screamed loud enough to wake every neighbor on her street. When she managed to push her pounding heart back down into her chest, Donna made a beeline for the back door and yanked it open.

“Mark Lewis, don’t you ever do that again! You nearly killed me and broke a coffee cup. I could have—you wipe that smirk off your face this instant! What in the world were you thinking?”

Mark stood looking at her, his eyes sheepish and his mouth twitching at the corners.

“Well? What have you got to say for yourself?” she demanded.

Mark coughed several times to hide an obvious chuckle and then spoke with a slightly quivering voice. “I tried knocking on your door, but you never heard me. I came to make sure you’re all right. After last night, I figure we need to adjust our plans a bit. Our stories need to match.”

“You made me break my coffee cup because we need to change
plans
?” The tickling feeling that had been scared out of Donna’s stomach returned as a not-so-ticklish fire.

Mark’s eyes grew wide and he backed up a step. He raised his hands. “I meant that if we aren’t careful, the whole town will be involved in our relationship. And we need a story for what happened on the Gilbertsons’ land.”

“It’s seven in the morning. You couldn’t just call?” Donna’s eyes narrowed.

Mark looked down at his shoe. “I also wanted to see you. I couldn’t sleep last night. I wanted to make sure it really happened.” Mark’s voice dropped to a barely discernable volume. “I was afraid it might have been alien mind rays or something.”

Donna burst out laughing. She walked over to Mark and tried to stand on tiptoes, but her toes instantly rebelled. “Bend down,” she ordered. “I’m going to get a Charlie horse if I have to come up to you again.”

Mark’s face lit up and his arms slipped over her shoulders, pulling her close. “Stepstool. Definitely a stepstool,” he murmured before his lips gently touched hers.

It only chafed a little.

#

Donna looked over at the time as she handed Mark his second cup of coffee. She began to play through all the possible excuses she could give for being late to church. As the pastor’s widow, she knew the congregation would come looking for her en masse if she didn’t show up at all.

If they knew she’d been making out with Mark Lewis, they would probably call in an exorcist.

“I’m not sure a prolonged illness will work. Too many people would bring casseroles and home made cures. What about a broken leg or something? I have a pair of old crutches here somewhere.” She sat down and sipped on her steaming cup.

“Same issue; too many casseroles,” said Mark. “Besides, I’ve worked on crutches plenty of times.”

Donna sighed. “There just aren’t any good ways to keep these town folk out of our lives.” The hairs on her neck stood on end with the very thought of walking into the bowling alley hand in hand with Mark Lewis. There would be a riot.

“What about the Gilbertsons?” Mark asked. “The chief is going to call me any minute demanding a report.”

Donna chewed her lip. There was no good solution to either situation. “The whole sheep love thing is hard to ignore.”

“But what did we see, really? Was it enough to get the town up in arms?”

“We saw Pa Gilbertson resembling a suspicious clown and children carrying sheep to go have sheep love with,” Donna said. “There were three possibly kidnapped teenagers, strange metal poles, odd men, and way too many bad scenarios for my peace of mind. Right now, a mother ship full of lethal barnyard animals led by supremacist ewes all preparing for an invasion of Earth is just about as good an answer as any.”

Mark took a long drink from his cup. “I’m not sure. Lots of farmers hire teens to work on the farm, and if I’m not mistaken, two of those teens graduated. Being a sheep farmer in Idaho isn’t unusual. Metal poles could be used for any number of reasons.”

“Name one.”

“Maybe they’re making a high tech sheep pen.”

“So, we need to convince the town the Gilbertsons have gone high tech? Do you really expect that story to fly?”

Mark fell silent and rubbed his jaw. At that moment, his cell phone began to vibrate, and Mark picked it up. “It’s Rob Michaels.” He looked at Donna expectantly.

“Tell him the truth, that we don’t know exactly what’s up there and we plan to go back to the farm to figure it out. Not only will it hold off the town, but we can spend time together while we’re supposed to be spying.”

Mike gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I knew there was a reason I fell for you.” He pushed the speak button on the phone. “Hey, Rob. No, we’re fine. Nope, no burn marks or anything.” He paused for a moment, and Donna leaned in. Rob was saying something about mortal enemies.

“No, no serious injuries. Hard to work with that cantankerous woman, though. She’s demanding.”

Donna stuck her tongue out at him.

“Preacher’s wives are a strange breed,” said Chief Michaels in agreement. “Did you guys have a knock-down, drag-out fight?”

“You wouldn’t believe how bad it got. The woman virtually attacked me. Once she got her mouth going, there was no stopping her. It got pretty physical there for a bit.”

Donna kicked Mark under the table and covered her laugh with her hands.

“Thanks for taking one for the team, Mark. Now, did you two learn anything about the suspicious events at the Gilbertsons’ place?”

Donna bit her lip.

“It was hard to make out,” Mark began. He cleared his throat. “It looks from the outside like they’ve got some kind of high tech sheep operation going on. Something with invisible fences and such. I saw the workmen, and they seemed human enough.”

“
Sheep
?” Rob Michaels’s voice sounded incredulous. “Are you trying to convince me this is about high tech
sheep
?” His voice rose with every word.

“No, of course not,” Marks said quickly. “I’m saying we couldn’t make out anything other than the outside activities. I want to go back over the next week or two to try and catch them at whatever it is they’re doing. We need solid evidence, not hearsay.”

“True enough,” Rob agreed. “Are you sure you didn’t see any ray guns or anything?”

“Well, there were these shiny poles…”

“I knew it!” Rob whooped in victory. “Told you. Decorating show, my fat ass.”

“Hold off there, Chief. I said shiny poles, not ray guns. I need to head back up that mountain to really get a fix on things.”

Rob grunted. “Take Donna with you. I trust her more than you. She’s a preacher’s wife and all.”

“Ha! You couldn’t care less about her religion. You trust her because she’s not in on the bet,” Mark said.

“You can take her or me, Lewis. It’s your choice.”

Donna beamed at Mark. Their relationship was practically police sanctioned.

“You have no idea what you’re asking me, but I’ll do it,” Mark said with a heavy sigh. He hung up the phone and began chuckling.

Donna leaned over and stopped his laughter with a kiss. It took a while to pull back. “That was brilliant. We have at least two weeks before anyone will suspect a thing. The men in town will even expect us to drive off together. Where should we go first?” She had no desire to ever see the Gilbertson farm again. Not ever.

“Church first, Horseback Falls later.” Mark ran a finger along the side of her face, making her skin tingle. “I can’t wait to show you the cave behind the falls, and I don’t need every member of the Pine View Presbyterian Church coming here to look for you.” He tapped her on the nose and headed to the door.

“So, this is an official date?” Donna asked.

Mark put his finger to his lips. “No. This is surveillance of sheep-like aliens and scary, clownish farmers.” He winked and disappeared out the door.

#

Falling in love with Mark Lewis should have been impossible from the start. They were complete opposites, or so she’d thought. But the man who took her out almost every evening wasn’t the man she thought she knew.

This Mark Lewis fit her perfectly. In every way, through every new discovery, Donna felt more and more at home with Mark. It was as if he’d always been a part of her, which he had, only this time it was the good part of her.

They had the same twisted sense of humor, and now that he wasn’t in the same category as terrorists, Donna found him to be remarkably funny. His taste in books and movies was somewhat questionable, but his choice in music was pretty amazing. Most importantly, Donna loved the outdoors as much as he did, which shocked them both. They spent hours walking through the southern Idaho countryside. Since Mark ran multiple guide services and knew every nook and cranny in the backwoods, he shared the very best of them with Donna. She enjoyed every minute of it. She couldn’t get enough of the crisp air, quiet surroundings, and immense beauty. They were even both accomplished swing dancers, much to their combined surprise, and Donna loved dancing with Mark on rock outcroppings, behind waterfalls, and in the middle of sprawling meadows.

Mark and she acted as mortal enemies during the days, and fell into each other’s lives and arms each night. Two weeks flashed by before Donna had time to catch her breath, much less connive a good explanation for the mystery of the Gilbertsons’ farm. The two times they’d returned to spy on the rotund farmers, they’d seen nothing more than strange lights and metallic boxes next to the tall poles. Of course, that was enough to bring down the wrath of the town, so they tried to ignore the foreboding changes.

“Rob Michaels is getting suspicious,” Mark said as they walked along the pebbled bank of the Little Lost River. “Of the Gilbertsons and us.”

Donna gasped. “Oh, yeah, the Gilbertsons.” She’d been lost in quiet solitude of the river and the blissful feeling of Mark’s warm hand. She’d forgotten they were supposedly sneaking around the farm. They hadn’t been to the Gilbertson land for several days. “Some spies we are.”

“We’re not even good at being enemies any longer. The men in my shop are starting to look at me funny. Cory suggested the alien rays were getting to my head because I’ve been smiling too much.”

“The girls in the school kitchen are starting to ask questions, too.” Donna tightened her grip on Mark’s strong hand. “I suppose we should just admit what we’re doing.”

“No way. Did you hear the talk in the bowling alley on Monday? The whole town is just waiting for any reason to launch an all out attack on that family.” Mark stopped and turned to Donna. “However, I would surely like to admit to the world how much I love you.”

Donna felt a rush of warmth at his words. She reached up and touched his face, smoothing away the lines that represented lost time. “It feels as though we’ve been in love forever and yet it feels new every time I see you.”

“Was it like that with John?” Mark’s words were rough.

Donna thought a moment. “Yes and no. John and I really had been in love forever, and he and I fit each other, like two pieces of a puzzle. I’ve known you all along, too, so loving you just feels
right,
like it did with John, but I’m not the same puzzle piece so it also feels different.” Donna moaned and shrugged apologetically. “I’m not sure that makes any sense.”

Mark pulled her into a long hug. She relaxed as his warmth spread to her on the cool autumn evening. His deep voice rumbled through his chest. “That makes perfect sense. And yeah, this does feel like a forever thing.”

“Mark Lewis, did you just hint at something permanent?” Her voice was teasing, but her words were not.

He laughed. “You’ve always been the only permanent thing in my life. Well, you and men’s hair.”

“Glad to know where I stand.”

“Yep, right up there with shaving cream.” He released Donna and led her back toward the truck. “We’d better get back. So, what should we tell Rob and the rest of the town?”