“No! Valene.”
“Diesel sent her home. A rare alien council meeting is about to take place to talk about Daphne Charlene being a possible tattletale along with the dispiriting news about Indigo Smith likely hiding in another country after being gone for over a day longer than we suspected.
“I’m afraid that there are only two scenarios in your case. Either you will be shackled and sent to Alpha-Prime or, more likely, your memory will be erased.”
Wyatt thought about it for a few moments. “My memory will be erased to before you told me about the Big Bang Truck Stop?”
Cam didn’t answer right away. “That’s one scenario. But I’m afraid the more popular plan is to take your memories all the way back to before you and Valene became a secret couple.”
“How will that work? There are other humans that know we’re together. Hunter Valero, to just name one. And, of course, my family.”
Cam shrugged. “The process looks into the mind and identifies any possible points of contact and an analysis will suggest possible action for each one. They’ll be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. This is not our first rodeo.”
Wyatt nodded, but his mind was zipping here and there at a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out how Daphne Charlene could have found out anything. Nothing came to mind. How in the world could he convince anyone he didn’t tattle? Again, nothing came to mind.
“I can see into your mind, Wyatt,” Cam said all of a sudden. He seemed less hostile, if that were possible.
“What do you see?”
“You believe you didn’t tell anyone about us. Therefore, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, which I probably would have anyway.”
Wyatt took small comfort that at least Cam believed him, to a degree. Would Valene? What would he say to her if he was granted the opportunity before his memories were blasted away? He was very worried about Valene being hurt by what Daphne Charlene said. He wouldn’t feel better until he could look her in the eyes, hold her hand and tell her in person that he wasn’t responsible.
Wyatt nodded. “Can I ask a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Is there any way I could talk to Valene before any drastic measures are taken with me regarding my pending memory loss?”
“I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.”
Perhaps his best bet was convincing Valene to move to Alpha-Prime with him. Would she consider that or believe that he’d spentintimatetime with Daphne Charlene?
And if he couldn’t convince Valene he’d been true, maybe it would be best if a year’s worth of memoriesweredeleted. It was the only way he could think of not to be miserable for the rest of his natural life.
Valene had been summarily dismissed. She wanted to attend the special council meeting. Diesel decided differently and sent her home. She didn’t want to go home to pace and brood. She wanted to talk to Wyatt and discover the truth, but likely Diesel or one of her annoying brothers would keep her from that until they determined if he’d outed them. Deep down, Valene believed he couldn’t possibly have done it, but she wouldn’t know for certain until she looked him in the eyes, held his hand and asked.
Instead, she went to drown her sorrows at the Cosmos Café using giant Mason jar glasses full of sweet tea. She slurped the last bit of her second glass through a straw and signaled for another.
Aunt Dixie put the third large glass on the table and said, “After this, I’m cutting you off.”
“Why? It’s sweet tea not whiskey.”
“For your own good. You don’t want to spend the rest of the night in the bathroom peeing, do you?”
“Whatever.”
Her aunt crossed her arms and let out a distasteful harrumph. “Is this a pity party for one or may I join you?”
“It’s just for one.” She didn’t want company or any advice.
“Too bad.” Aunt Dixie seated herself across the booth and put a hand on Valene’s. “Tell me what happened.”
Valene resisted for about two seconds, but knew her aunt was like a bulldog on a discovery mission and would not stop hounding her until she gave in and spilled all. Valene gave her the quick version in whispers so none of the few other patrons would hear how she’d spent the night with Wyatt, and about Daphne Charlene’s catastrophic gossip that she supposedly learned from Wyatt during intimate pillow talk in the kitchen last night.
She finished with Nova’s mind reading vision of Wyatt in his pajamas showing his appendix scar, giving some credibility to Daphne Charlene’s version of events.
