Khol (Rescued by the Alien)

7. Nancy

Chapter 7

Nancy

T his wasn’t possible. I didn’t believe in magic, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I completely believed in gods, let alone spirits, though I’d always hoped there was someone out there watching over us, maybe even guiding us.

But water spirits who delivered clothing at our request? Not happening.

Yet my daughter now wore a dry, green gown much like a princess would in a Disney movie.

She twirled around. “I’s pwetty, right Mommy?”

I stooped down and held her arms, bringing her dance to a halt. “Where did you get the dress?”

“Da floor,” she said, flaring the skirt and smiling down at the tiny shells adorning the fabric. “Pink and gween. Pwetty.”

“You are pretty, sweetie.” I released her, straightening. Flora spun and sang about princesses in a lilting voice while I frowned at Khol. “This can’t be true.” Yet . . . Yet . . . “Tell me more about this water spirit.”

“Change out of your wet clothing,” he said in a gentle voice that made me feel melty. “I’ll prepare a meal, though the house spirit will help. Join me, and while we eat, I’ll explain.”

“This better be good.”

He flashed another smile that made my heart thump like horses galloping along the shore. “It will be very good.”

He didn’t mean anything sexual by the comment; I could tell that by the way he smiled and the kindness in his eyes. But my body heated just the same, coming to a low simmer when it shouldn’t. He’d rescued me. He was giving us rooms inside his house to ensure Flora and I were comfortable. And now he was going to cook lunch. Breakfast. Dinner. Whatever the meal might be.

But he wasn’t suggesting that he wanted anything else from me.

Why did that thought make me sad?

I wasn’t that attracted to him, was I?

Okay, maybe a little. But my ex burned me, and it would take more than sweet smiles and a bit of kindness to make me let down my guard.

“Alright.” There was no harm in changing out of this wet dress. Eating. Listening to what he had to say.

I also needed to wash off the mark on my hand.

“Would you like to help me make dinner?” he asked Flora, holding out his hand .

She twirled over to him and bowed. “I’s a pwincess. I’s don’t cook.”

His laugh rang out. “Then you can sit nearby and give me direction while your mother changes.”

“Alright.” She took his hand and danced beside him as he shut the door. Their footsteps retreated.

Since I was an overprotective mom, I rushed to the door, cracked it open, and watched as he led Flora into the small kitchen area. He placed her on the table with her legs dangling.

“Don’t wiggle or you’ll fall,” he said softly. “Promise?”

“I pwomise,” she chirped.

“What do you want for dinner?”

“Chicken nuggets. Mac ‘n cheese. Donuts!” The swing of her legs punctuated each item.

“Fish and tubers?” he asked with a grin.

“Yucky.”

His grin widened. “Are you sure? I think they taste amazing.”

She crossed her arms on her chest and scowled. “Fish is yucky.”

“Hmm.” He tapped his chin, looking comically huge standing next to my petite daughter. “Let me see if we can create what you want.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t fall.”

“I won’t, Khol. Pwomise.”

He backed away and turned to the counter, though he kept an eye on her. If she so much as started to slide off the table, he’d scoop her up and hold her in his arms.

I suspected he’d give his own life to protect her .

That was good enough for me.

With new tears in my eyes, I shut the door and turned back to frown at the pile of clothing.

“I’d like a sundress,” I said firmly. “Tea length. Sleeveless. Tank style will do. A flared skirt, though not as wide as what you made for Flora. White with . . . yellow flowers.” Was I out of my mind to ask for something like this from a “water spirit”?

Nah, I was testing this out, not expecting anything to happen.

A folded item oozed up from the floor beside the pile I’d shifted.

I blinked at it, expecting it to disappear. There was no such thing as house spirits giving a person clothing. I’d imagined the other items appearing earlier. They were stacked beneath the bed and Khol had . . . somehow slid them out from beneath with his foot when I wasn’t looking. They just happened to look about my size. He had a smaller friend who wasn’t here right now.

Or maybe all of this was real.

Had his water spirit played a role in bringing me and my daughter here, and if so, why?

“Dress,” I told myself. “Go out there and get your answer from Khol. Ignore how cute he is, how nice he is to Flora, how eager he appears to want to please you. It’s a front he’s put on to lull you. Once you succumb, like you did with Richard, jerk that he is, Khol will start showing his true colors and they won’t be pretty. Then you can walk away and form a new life on this alien planet with your daughter.”

With that, I lifted the dress from the floor. White, but with purple flowers .

Oh yeah, Khol said the water spirit used limited colors, and they couldn’t do yellow.

Green worked.

I scurried into the bathroom and after I finally figured out how to make water rush from the sort-of sink, I scrubbed and scrubbed at the mark on my hand. It didn’t come off, but I’d keep trying.

It was just a coincidence that it matched Khol’s.

Dressed, I emerged from the room to find plates on the table and Flora sitting on a tall, Flora-sized chair, digging into her meal.

Khol leaned against the counter, watching her eat with a big smile on his face. He shouldn’t do that all the time, because it made my heart skip and heat flare deep inside me. It also made me want to throw away my inhibitions and climb all over him.

No can do. Only pain lay in that direction.

And unexpected pregnancies. It wasn’t like the robocops had tucked a pack of Khol-sized condoms into the space pod they’d used to send me here.

“What are you eating?” I asked Flora as I stopped beside the table. It looked like her favorite food, but it couldn’t be.

“Chicken nuggets.” She pointed to the pale lavender chunks on one side of the plate. “Mac ‘n cheese.” Her finger traced across the top of the pasta-appearing, cheese-coated mound near the nugget. “And a donut.”

The donut looked like the chocolate one I used to buy as a treat on Sunday, but it couldn’t be real. This was an alien planet.

Khol came over to stand beside me, and why did he smell so yummy? I caught a hint of something like spicy ginger, fresh air, sunshine, and another scent I couldn’t place. He’d swam in the sea, just like me, and I didn’t smell anywhere near as good. My hair was sticky from the salt, and I was going to need a tube of deodorant soon. Could the water spirit provide something like that?

He leaned close and whispered, his words teasing across my ear. “It’s grains and tubers, but the water spirit formed them into her favorite treats. It makes Flora happy, and if nothing else, my water spirit wants us to smile.”

“This isn’t possible.” Yet, here I stood, wearing a sundress that had oozed up from the wooden floorboards.

Perhaps the best thing to do was just roll with it until I could determine the exact cause.

“I asked the water spirit to prepare a meal for you as well,” he said. Before I could say a peep, he swept me up and placed me in another big chair. My chin could rest on the table’s surface without me leaning forward. “Water spirit?”

The world rumbled beneath me, the chair stretching up and shrinking at the same time.

I yelped and leaped out of it, backing away from it while Flora laughed and pointed.

“Funny, Mommy.”

“What did you do?” I snarled at Khol.

“The chair was too big for you.”

“Yes, but—”

“The house spirit made it smaller.” He cracked another smile that chipped away at the wall I kept trying to build around my heart. “If you’d prefer to sit in the large one, just say so. ”

“No, um . . . No. This is okay.” I tentatively went over and sat in the chair again, noting how it had shrunk to fit me perfectly. “My name isn’t Goldilocks,” I called to the room in general. “Despite my hair color.”

I swore a low hum rang out.

Khol settled in the third chair that fit him perfectly already. “Your name is Nancy.”

“The name comes from a story,” I blurted out. “She has golden locks or hair. There are three bears. Chairs that don’t fit. Food that’s . . .” The plate holding what had previously looked like rice and chunks of potatoes slid closer to me, only now the food resembled what Flora kept shoveling into her mouth.

She hummed and wiggled with happiness, eating better than she had in months. “Yummy.”

“This is overwhelming,” I told Khol weakly.

“I agree.”

“Has this always been your home?”

“No. I’ve only been here a short time. I used to live on one of the floating islands, but left, resigning myself to . . .” He cleared his throat and dragged his gaze away from mine. “I like solitude.”

“Which we’ve disrupted.”

“I don’t mind. I like having you and Flora here.”

“Give us a minute, and you might change your mind.”

The mark on his arm flared, and a burning feeling seared across the back of my hand. I gaped down as the matching symbol rippled with tiny sparks. “What’s happening?” Again, I erupted from my chair, backing away with my hand clutched to my chest. I didn’t stop until I ran into the sofa. “You did something to it.”

“The water spirit caused this.” He nudged his head to my chair. “Sit, and I’ll explain.”

“I’s done.” Flora slid off the chair, and grabbing her plate, brought it over to place on the counter, like I’d taught her.

Who washed the dishes here? The water spirit?

Shrill laughter bubbled up my throat, and I worried if I didn’t hold it back, I’d be rolling on the floor, shrieking while crying for the rest of my life.

That would go over well with my daughter. I was supposed to be the strong person here. The parent who made sure she was safe and secure.

Flora’s plate sunk into the wooden counter, disappearing.

I slumped onto the sofa, done with this world for the moment.