Diesel said, “Miss Penny needed to ask you an important question. Isn’t that right, Miss Penny?”
Miss Penny looked over her shoulder at Juliana and the confused look returned. “I came looking for you, dear. I wanted to go get some groceries. You promised to take me. Did you forget again?”
“No. I didn’t forget. I took you to get groceries on Friday. Don’tyouremember? And you didn’t answer the question of how you got to Alienn.”
Miss Penny gave an exaggerated eye roll to Diesel’s Aunt Dixie and said, “Land sakes, child. It’s no great mystery. I called Hail-A-Ride, and a nice young girl picked me up in her Subaru and brought me to the gas station…I mean, truck stop.”
“You called Hail-A-Ride?” Juliana was living in an alternate reality.
“Yes. And it looks like I’ll have to call them when I need to go get groceries from now on, since you’re obviously too busy with your young man to take an old woman to the store.”
Juliana pushed out a sigh, realizing she should be a better friend to her neighbor. “I’m sorry, Miss Penny. I didn’t mean for you to travel all the way here to find me.”
“Well, to be honest, I was also more than a little worried when you didn’t come home last night.” Miss Penny walked toward her a few steps and took one of Juliana’s hands in hers. “No need to fret, though.” She looked at Diesel, who had moved right behind her at the entryway of his home.
“Don’t for a minute believe that I don’t remember what it’s like to be a young girl, free to go out with boys and believe you’re falling in love. I remember all right and there’s nothing wrong with it, to a point, Juliana.” She frowned at Diesel. “Just make sure you don’t give any milk away for free or else you might regret it, because why would a man buy a cow if he’s already getting free milk.”
“Miss Penny!” The heat of Juliana’s embarrassment rippled from her belly to the top of her head. Her cheeks must be the color of a fire engine. How did Miss Penny even guess what had happened the night before? Was she psychic all of a sudden as well as being befuddled when it came to grocery shopping?
Aunt Dixie marched up to the front door to rejoin the group. She poked Diesel in the chest with her forefinger and asked, “Have you already gotten free milk, Diesel? If so, it seems like you should go ahead and buy the cow. Don’t you think that’s the right thing to do in this situation?”
Chapter Fifteen
Diesel couldn’t speak for a moment, finding himself in one of the most horrifyingly uncomfortable situations of his life. And that was saying a lot, considering he’d faced down a malevolent being racing through town unchecked not too long ago, but the current free milk-and-cow discussion certainly surpassed that on the fear scale by an exponential factor. He absolutely did not want to discuss his love life with his crazy aunt or Juliana’s confused, nosy neighbor in a public place, or ever, really.
His aunt crossed her arms, impatiently tapping one foot on the porch as she waited for him to answer the question of whether he was going to buy a cow if he’d already gotten free milk, which every person standing here knew meant they wanted to know if he and Juliana had slept together.
It was no one else’s business, and time to end this ridiculous confrontation.
Behind him, Axel poked him in the shoulder and said in a low tone, “Bro, I’m totally on your side here, but you should really consider buying the cow. It’s the right thing to do. My two cents.”
Juliana gave Axel an incredulous look.
Diesel said in an equally low tone, “You’re not helping.”
Axel grinned. “Well, whatcanI do to help?”
Diesel pointed to his truck and said, “My keys are still in the ignition. Take Aunt Dixie back to the truck stop and help Juliana’s neighbor get back home to Doraydo, with more groceries if she needs them.Thatwould be a big help.”
“Will do. And I won’t even expect a response to the free milk-and-cow questions that have gone unanswered, but don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“Whatever,” Diesel said under his breath. He made an announcement to the group. “Listen up. Axel is in charge of taking care of the two of you.” He pointed to both Miss Penny and Aunt Dixie. “Do what he says, or else.”
“Or else what?” Dixie said, her gaze narrowing suspiciously.
“Or else he’ll take away the all-you-can-eat-anytime-of-day-Jell-O policy at the Starlight Old Folks’ Home,” Axel said, winking at Diesel over one shoulder.
“He wouldn’t dare. That’s blasphemy.” Dixie uncrossed her arms to plant them firmly on her hips.
Axel stepped out onto the porch. “If you start talking about cows and free milk again he might, so let’s go, ladies.” Axel somehow managed to herd the two elderly women toward Diesel’s truck, loading them into the front seat before driving away.
“I don’t understand why Miss Penny came all the way here.”
Diesel squinted in the direction of the departing truck. “She said she was worried about you. Maybe she realized you didn’t come home last night and wanted to ensure you understood the whole free milk-and-cow theory she wanted to impart.”
“Yeah, about that—”
“You’re about to ask me if I want me to buy a cow, aren’t you?” Diesel didn’t have mixed feelings about Juliana. He wanted her. He expected her to be in his life from now on. There were hurdles, of course, but he wasn’t ready to discuss them yet. He’d marry her today if she knew he was an alien from another planet. However, it was too early to explain his true heritage and that to be together they’d possibly have to move to another galaxy.
