AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pulled the glue gun from the craft bucket, plugged it in and waited for it to heat up while Ty talked with his mother. Unnerved, I went in and checked on the boys. They were conked out, Bobby on his back with his arms flung over his head, Zach on the top bunk completely buried in the blanket except for one exposed foot.
When I returned, Ty was off the phone and downing the rest of his beer. “My mom can’t say for certain it comes from a bull. There’s really no way of knowing by looking at it. She said it also might be from a horse. Or, it might not be semen at all.”
Ick. I wrinkled my nose. “Could it be from a…person?”
Ty pondered my question for a moment. “It’s possible, but there’s no real black market for it. There are sperm banks and more than enough willing guys to make donations. This baggie was wrapped in with the vial.” He held up the plastic bag. “I think dry ice was in there to keep the semen fresh.”
Again, ick.
“If someone was selling it to make money, it would only be worthwhile if the semen was viable. My mom said it has to be kept below thirty-eight degrees to be worth anything. Frozen even, to last as long as possible.”
“I’m impressed you recognized what it is. If I’d found it on my own I probably would have opened it and used it as glue for a kid project.” I was making myself nauseated. “That’s so gross.”
He offered a small smile. “I grew up on a cattle ranch, so this isn’t all that gross for me. My parents still run it with my two brothers. Cows, chickens, pigs. The works. What freaks me out is the fact that it was in a garden gnome and that some crazy son-of-a-bitch has come back here twice to steal it. He could come back again.”
“So you’ve had tons of experience with horny bulls?” I kidded, trying not to think about the man returning, a possibledanger to the boys, cow sperm, no, make that bull semen. All of it.
He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. Obviously, he didn’t know how to respond to that. I guess I wouldn’t know what to say to that if I was asked, either. Nice. I’d done it again. Nerves made me say stupid things.
“Bulls, no.” He lifted a brow and said with a sly grin, “Horny, definitely.”
I rolled my eyes, realizing I’d set myself up for that one. I wanted some sexy times with him, but with bull semen on my kitchen counter between us, I’d lost some of my eagerness.
“Now what?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I suggest we look in the other gnome, see what’s inside that one. Then we throw out whatever we find,” he said as he tossed the plastic bag into the trash.
My roiling stomach gave way to anger. How dare someone steal from my kids! The man had taken the gnome right off my front stoop and the other night traipsed through the back yard. And Ty wanted to forget about it? “I’m going back to the garage sale where we bought the gnomes.”
His head whipped up to look at me, his blue eyes blazing, and not with heat, but with anger of his own. “No way. It might be dangerous.”
“A dangerous garage sale?”
A muscle in his neck grew taut as he was most likely grinding his teeth. “You have no idea why that vial was in the gnome or what kind of people we’re dealing with here. This guy,”—he pointed his thumb toward the front yard—“can’t be a big player in this. He’s pretty stupid to try and steal back his vial while it’s still light. He could have waited two hours when it was dark and you were asleep. He’s either desperate or an idiot.”
I stood facing him, arms folded over my chest. “That’s why I need to go back there. To find out why and who and what. I definitely want to know what.”
“Someone wanted this stuff enough to snoop around your backyard at night. He even came right up to your kitchen door. Which was unlocked!” He was breathing hard, his hands on his hips.
“That’s because I let you in!” I poked my finger at his chest with each word. He might be stubborn, but I could do stubborn really well. I could be more stubborn than a pack mule in the summer.
He took hold of my hand, held it over his heart. I felt it thump-thumping, its cadence strong and reassuring. “Why do you want to look into this? Let it go. It could be dangerous.”
I shook my head, pulled my hand free, although he’d felt pretty darn good “I don’t want the boys to get hurt.” Duh. “That crazy man could come back. So, I need to know what’s going on, to know that lunatic isn’t going to show up again on my doorstep. The next time he does, the kids might be awake. Or out front playing.”
Ty went to my fridge and helped himself to another beer. He downed half of it before he spoke. I watched his throat muscles work before he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Fine. When do we go?”
By six thirtythe next morning, I was out the door with the kids in the car. I had successfully glued George the Gnome back together before I went to bed, although he did look a little rough. Zack had minded a lot less than I expected and decided it neededa Band-Aid on one of the glued cracks. After close inspection, Bobby’s gnome had no signs of tampering. No vials. No semen.
I called Kelly, my freshman roommate at MSU and best friend, and dropped the boys and the gnomes—couldn’t leave them behind—off at her house so I could track down the Gnome Stealer.
Kelly lived west of town about ten miles, south of Four Corners in a neighborhood called Elk Grove. It was a subdivision about fifteen years old built on a swath of farmland. Surrounding it was more farmland. No trees. The Spanish Peaks were front and center and that meant Big Sky, the ski resort was nearby, and further on, Yellowstone. The Gallatin River flowed just across the road, home to some of the best rainbow trout anywhere. The houses were all different, the fences the same and the neighbors were friendly. You had to drive slowly or you’d run over a kid or two. They were everywhere. Kelly’s house looked like a red barn. You couldn’t miss it as it was the only one in that unusual style. With seven kids, they were piled in, but she was happy and that was what counted.
She’d married her college sweetheart, Tom, at twenty-one and pushed out her first kid a year later. Every two years after that another one came. She had a brood ranging in age from fourteen to two and she’d wanted each and every one. They were all planned, although she seemed to get pregnant by just being in the same room with Tom. They didn’t need any help from Goldilocks.
If Kelly was über-mom, I was average mom. She home schooled. I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than do it. Her kids were well mannered and they all got along really well. No bickering or fighting. Or at least not much. I was so impressed by her ability to juggle everything life had to offer. But she’d known what she wanted way back in college. A big, crazy family. I, onthe other hand, was still trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Zach and Bobby ran to the jungle gym in the backyard to play with Kelly’s kids before I could get out of the car. I saw at least five or six heads jumping and swinging and heard a whole lot of screaming and yelling—even at seven in the morning. No hugs and kisses for me. Oh well.
