Irrefutable Proof: Mars Origin "I" Series Book II by Abby L. Vandiver Read Free Book Online Page A

watch Justin, just in case, and she would
wait.
    No
matter how long it took.

 
     
    Chapter
Seven
    Cleveland
Heights , Ohio
    May 23, 2011
     
    Cool,
dark dirt invaded my senses. I could smell it as I let it filter through my
stretched out fingers. I had taken off one of my flowered garden gloves and sat
on the cobblestone path that edged my flowerbed. I was planting a row of deep
pink New Guinea impatiens and sat down to ease the pain in my knees. Mase came
out through the French doors of my study and sat on one of the two steps that
led to my flower garden.
    “Hi.”
I smiled at him.
    “Hey,
babe.” He smiled back. “You got a letter from your publisher.”
    “Oh.
Okay.” I leaned back on my hands and looked up at the sky. Not too much
daylight left. Probably wouldn’t get all my plants in the ground today.
    “I
sat it on your desk.”
    “Thanks,”
I said.
    “Is
it about the new book? ‘The sequel?’”
    I
laughed. He just wasn’t letting up. “Yeah. ‘The sequel.’” I closed my eyes and
let the sun’s warmth cover my face.
    Opening
one eye, I looked over at Mase. There was no peace for me, as long as those AHM
manuscripts were holding on to more secrets.
    He
must have read my thoughts. “So, what are you calling the new book?”
    “The
Dead Sea Fish.” I grabbed my gardening gloves, put them on, and picked up another
flower. I pushed it down into the last hole I had dug.
    “The
Dead Sea Fish?” He turned up his nose. “Are you serious?
    I
nodded my head.
    “How
did you come up with that?”
    “Brigitt
came up with it.”
    “Your
cousin, Brigitt?”
    “Yep.”
    “That
lives in North Carolina?”
    How
many cousins named Brigitt do I have?
    “Yes,
my cousin Brigitt that lives in North Carolina.” I glanced over at him.
    “How
does she know about the book?” he asked.
    “I
told her.”
    He
made a face. “Thought you weren’t telling anyone about that book?”
    I
pursed my lips and shook my head. I was doing a lot of things with those
manuscripts that I didn’t think I would do.
    He
looked at me questioningly. 
    “I
told her.” I held up my hands as if to surrender.  “Yes, I told her I wrote it.
Then whenever we talked she would tease me, calling it, The Dead Sea Fish .”
    “What
did you tell her it was about?”
    “Aliens.”
    “No
you didn’t.”
    I
laughed. “I may as well have said aliens. She thought the story sounded crazy.”
    “Did
you tell her it was true?”
    “No.”
    “Hahaha.
That’s funny.” He put his elbows on the step behind him and leaned back,
shaking his head.
    “I
don’t see anything funny about it,” I said and smiled.
    “Did
she read it?” he asked.
    “No.
She only reads black authors - ”
    “You’re
black.”
    I
rolled my eyes up in my head. “Oh yeah. I forgot I’m black. And, oh my gosh!
You’re black, too!” I sat back on my legs and tugged at the fingers of my
gloves, pulling them off. “What I was going to say before I was interrupted,
Mase, is she likes black authors who write novels that are filled with love and
drama. She doesn’t do sci-fi.”
    “Love
and drama.” He chuckled.
    “Yep.
Just like her. Full of drama.”
    Mase
laughed. “Lucky for you, huh?”
    I
smiled because although I did tell her that I wrote it, for the longest time I
didn’t want her, or anyone else, to read it. I was too afraid of what might
happen.
    “So,
you decided to name the next book The Dead Sea Fish?”
    “Yep.”
I pulled my legs around and sat, Indian style, and fiddled with my gardening
glove.
    “That’s
like getting a title from your sister, Claire.”
    “I
like it.”
    “What
does it mean? Are there any fish in the Dead Sea?”
    “No.
And, there aren’t any men on Mars.”
    “What?”
    “Millions
of years ago, there were fish in the Dead Sea. It wasn’t as salty and could
sustain life. Just like Mars.”
    “I
don't get it.”
    “We’re
the Dead Sea Fish.”
    “Babe,
are you starting to feel depressed