“No. Thanks. I don’t want anyone from my former life to find me or know where I am.”
“But I need—” Ruby didn’t want to tell him she needed the money. She understood not wanting to share personal information and all, but if he didn’t accept the package and issue a response, she didn’t get paid the second portion of her fee.
He stared at her again, focusing hard.
“Stop trying to read my mind.”
“I don’t understand about the money.”
“Never mind.” She walked around him and headed for the door.
“Wait. Tell me about the money.”
“No thanks. I don’t want anyone to know about my life, either.” She echoed his words on purpose, trying to keep him from finding out the truth.
Ruby felt foolish as she started singing an Earth jingle in her head over and over. It was like a song from something called a commercial. She’d heard it while living in Alienn, Arkansas.
“Aunt Idee’s itty bitty pig snouts. Deep fried for lip-licking flavor.In your grocer’s freezer.” Ruby concentrated on singing the little jingle in her head, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see beyond that to just how nearly desperate she was to receive the second portion of that generous fee.
Max frowned as he dogged her heels to the door. “Who is Aunt Idee? Pig snouts? What’s that? Sounds bad. Are they really in a freezer?”
“Stop reading my mind.”
“Okay. I’ll stop. It’s very taxing anyway.”
They stared at each other for a count of ten.
“Will you accept the package?”
“I don’t know. Will you marry me?”
“I don’t know. Will you come to my office and give me a response to whatever is in the package? You can find out the truth that way.” Two could play this game.
“The truth is that I love you. Will you marry me?”
Ruby threw up her hands. “We haven’t even known each other for a full day. I don’t believe that you love me. No. I will not marry you.”But I’m starting to like you, even though I shouldn’t.
Max released a long sigh. “I guess we are at a standoff then.”
Ruby tilted her head back and tried not to scream her frustration to the heavens above. What to do? How could she get him to cooperate?
She lowered her head and stared at him. “Will you at least look at the package? Maybe it’s not what you think. Maybe it’s good news.”
He looked dubious at the suggestion of any good news coming his way and gave her a searching glance.
“You don’t get paid if you don’t deliver the package to me? Is that true?”
Ruby said a very bad curse word in her head. “Stop reading my mind, Max. Or I won’t ever love you or marry you,” she lied.
Max was in a panic. He needed to calm down. Someone was looking for him. Who was it? What did they want? To give him grief? To hound him until the end of his days?
Also, Ruby wouldn’t ever love him or marry him if he didn’t cooperate? That seemed unfair.
He saw in her mind that Ruby needed to give him that package. She also needed to relay a response from him back to the sender or she wouldn’t receive the rest of the money owed to her for this investigation job. He couldn’t fathom who might be on his trail or seeking to deliver a message.
It had been made very clear to him that no one in his family or previous circle of close friends wanted anything to do with him. His parents hadn’t even insisted on hearing from him to ensure he made the trip to Earth alive, like they always had when he traveled pre-incident.
