Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“I never thought of that…” Ollie said.
Zane smiled. She was good with him. Very good with him.
CHAPTER 23
TANYA
As soon as Ollie Sr. and Zane left the pool area, Ollie was ready to jump back in the pool when there was noise and two boys, one quite tall with dark hair and dark eyes, who looked like he was in his teens and another boy, Ollie’s size who was a miniature version of the tall one, were knocking on the outside of the greenhouse door which was attached to the pool area.
“That’s my friend Daylin and his big brother Marko.”
Ollie ran to the door to let them in.
“Why is that locked? Is it because of the danger?” The little one asked when Ollie got the door open.
“What danger?” Ollie gasped.
“Is this the one you wanted him to get?” The little boy asked, looking at me with wide eyes.
“Yup!” Ollie replied.
“She’s a fox!” the older one said, eyeballing me with a kind of lusty look that made my skin kind of crawl. He had to be, maybe fifteen or sixteen, I was guessing.
“I’m Tanya, boys. Nice to meet you,” I said.
“She talks weird. What did she say?” the littler one asked.
Oh. Translators.
“She says her name is Tanya and it’s nice to meet you. What danger, Daylin? What danger?”
“The bad guys that came here to steal her. Your father shot three of them. Killed ‘em all.”
Zane was suddenly in the space, looking tweaked. “Boys?”
“Did bad guys try to steal you, Tanya?” Ollie stared with big eyes.
“I’m okay. They didn’t succeed, as you can see,” I said.
His little face went red and he looked very angry.
“It’s fine, pal. All’s well that ends well,” Zane’s father said, standing behind Zane.
“It’s fine, Ollie,” Zane squatted in front of his son and put his hand on his shoulder. “The authorities are involved. We’re keeping security systems engaged all day. Don’t open the door again. Only I open the door. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddo.” He still looked angry.
“I’m fine, Ollie. Really,” I tried to assure him.
His little chin trembled, and he fought back tears and nodded.
“Do you boys want to stay for a swim?” Zane’s father asked.
“Yeah, we do!” Daylin exclaimed.
“Sure!” The older teenaged one, Marko, agreed. Marko’s eyes were on me. In a little bit of an awestruck way.
“Can they stay after the swim, Daddo?” Ollie asked, perking up a bit. “For milkshakes and cheesebur-jers and funion rings?”
“If their grandfather says it’s fine,” Zane replied.
“I think I’ll go on up and change and,” I said, lifting Chili’s cage. “I’ll put him somewhere quiet.”
“We can stay. Grandfather is coming too to see your woman,” the littler of the two said. “He should be here any second.”
“Don’t go, Tanya. Keep swimming with all of us,” Ollie called out.
“What’s in there?” the older boy asked.
“It’s a fuschilla,” Ollie informed. “It’s a wee baby one. His momma died and Tanya made Daddo save it. We’ve been feeding him a bottle and playing with him. His name is Chili.”
“It’ll tear your house apart,” Marko said, a look of disgust on his face. And then he looked at me and smiled. His eyes moved down and then stopped on my legs, which were bare from mid-thigh as I was in my swimsuit coverup. I felt very self-conscious being ogled by a teenaged boy like this.
Another man was suddenly in the pool area with us. A typically Phallyxian tall man with salt and pepper short hair, a mustache and beard, and kind-looking dark eyes. He was on the heavy-set side and had a big smile on his face. A kind smile. He stopped just inside the door and looked me over.
“Oh!” He gasped in a dramatic way. “Is this the new Mrs. Zenith?” He opened his arms wide. “I’m the neighborhood welcoming committee. Come give us a hug!”
“Oy,” Zane stepped in front of me. “This one won’t be puttin’ his mitts on you.”
The man laughed in hysterics and hugged Zane. “Throw ya in the swimmin’ pool and then I’ll steal her from ya. Look at this one.”
He deeked Zane out and picked me up right off my feet and squeezed. And then he smiled big at me.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hello?”
“It means hello,” Zane said.
Weird. These people without translators who I understood but who didn’t understand me.
“We should all get those ear ball things, shouldn’t we, Zane? Since we’re neighbors and will get to spend a lot of time together.” The man winked at me.
“Tanya, this is Zorald, Marko and Daylin’s grandfather. He’s raising them. He lives on the other side of my father’s house and as these boys love to swim and this man is too lazy to put in a pool, they’re over often.”
I reached out and shook the hand of the man who had just set me on my feet.
“So nice to meet you.”
“So nice to meet you, she says,” Ollie parroted, helpfully.